John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.
That quote is attributed to our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, although it wasn’t printed for decades later and is most likely something that was never said, at least verbatim; however, Jackson did indeed ignore the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1832 case, Worcester v. Georgia, which determined the federal government, not the states, was in charge of treaties pertaining to relations with Native American tribes. Jackson sided with Georgia, which intended to strong-arm the Cherokee tribe, and was known for his Indian removal endeavors.
Jackson did nothing to “enforce” the Marshall Court’s decision and did not send any force to compel Georgia authorities to execute the other staples of the ruling, such as freeing the Christian missionary (Worcester) who lived with the Cherokee. As you likely know, Indian removal ramped up under Jackson and the Cherokee were eventually expelled in the infamous Trail of Tears catastrophe in 1838. My point here is not to honor maltreatment of Native tribes, but rather to point out a precedent in presidents playing hardball with court decisions.
I’ve pointed out Donald Trump’s unique commonalities with Jackson in this journal before. From the linked article “The Jackson Portrait: Did President Trump Know About 2020 All Along?”:
I correctly predicted in 2024 that Trump would channel Jackson’s rage against the machine after what history now refers to as the Corrupt Bargain of 1824, even though many in polite Republican society were begging him to move on from 2020. Wisely, Trump never let go of his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and by extension, from the forgotten men and women of the United States. Trump, like Jackson, successfully harnessed the animosity of the people and to this day, even while back in the White House, is backed by a majority of Americans who agree with him about 2020, but relish the strengthening possibility that that corrupt bargain may have doomed Democrats for a generation.
President Trump, beginning in the early stages of the COVID hoax and extending to and beyond Election Night 2020, maintained the Democrats would try to steal the election. My question, now that Andrew Jackson’s portrait once again resides in the Oval Office, is a simple one.
Did Trump know all along that he would overcome a stolen election and return to vanquish the elites who foisted their own corrupt bargain upon the nation?
While the 1832 Worcester v. Georgia decision is a morally upright decision, the actions of present courts are blatantly immoral, illogical, and against all reason and logic. In this sense, yet another Jackson contrast waits to be studied. I have believed, with Trump elected in a modern landslide and Republicans controlling both federal chambers of the legislature, that the anti-Trump resistance (not simply “the left”) would have no options available other than to weaponize activist judges and use lawfare against the will of the people, and the people’s president.
Yesterday, Obama judicial appointee and U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia, James “Jeb” Boasberg jumped as quickly as ordered to prevent President Trump from deporting Tren de Aragua gang members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, going as far as to order the aircraft deporting these worthless animals to turn around midflight. Boasberg, a political sycophant doing exactly what he was appointed to do, went as far as to cite concern over the wellbeing of those slated for deportation, apparently not giving a rat’s ass about Americans killed by illegal aliens imported by his political masters over the past several decades.
Unfortunately for Boasberg, those flights landed in El Salvador, and the deported were quickly processed for admission into that country’s mega prison, open for business to collect the garbage of the world in one tidy place. Still, without intervention from a higher court, Boasberg’s decision will provide lasting damage in the form of precedent. I don’t think Boasberg cares about the animals deported to El Salvador – I suspect, rather, that he is looking to constrain Trump’s creativity in amassing lawful powers to do extraordinary tasks, such as deporting 10, 15, 20, or even more millions of illegals in four short years. Realizing that without mustering significant emergency powers Trump will only be able to process deportations with what is currently staffed and funded, Boasberg’s statement is basically:
Nope, you’re going too far there, Trump. You have immigration enforcement operations already running, even though they’re only on pace to get a few hundred thousand out this year. Too bad. They’re here to stay and permanently alter the future of America.
Boasberg is a particularly vile human being - as you may expect any Obama appointee to be – someone who is so depraved he slips Taylor Swift references into his opinions.