Yesterday, we learned that the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump’s use of IEEPA [the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977] to impose tariffs willy-nilly on other countries, in the case of Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump. My first thought was: Is the Supreme Court recovering its spine? Is Chief Justice John Roberts finally hearing people saying that he’s ceded his power to be a Trump toady? Is this the beginning of a return to the rule of law?

I had high hopes that this was a sign that the members of the Court had decided to not merely be a vestigial organ of our government, to embrace the legacy that John Marshall, William Howard Taft, and generations of justices had fought so hard to maintain: that we do indeed have three co-equal branches of government. And that, despite the current Congressional leaders ceding their power to Donald Trump, our government might continue to function after the Trumpians’ departure.

I heard the decision and thought, “Yes! Finally. Some of the adults in the room are standing up and telling the president ‘I think Canada’s commercial was insulting’ is NOT an international economic emergency granting the president the power to impose an outlandish tariff in response.”

But then I listened to the president’s seething response from the Briefing Room, and remembered why he truly is such a danger: because he demands that the world do what he wants, right or wrong, for good or ill, because his only goal is his own self-aggrandizement and enrichment.

No sane person could look at the Court’s decision and say, “it clarifies the fact that I as president can impose whatever tariffs I want for whatever reason I want, I just have to check a different box on the form.” But he did. He (or more likely his lickspittles) found a passage in a dissent penned by one of the justices, and decided to focus their entire argument on that, rather than the clear majority opinion which said, “No. You may not do this.”

And he is dangerous. He spews bile, invective, and lies with every breath. He accused the Supreme Court of being beholden to “foreign influences,” with no proof and no evidence. He called the justices who ruled in favor of the law and against his illegal acts “embarrassments, fools, and lapdogs.”

When asked why he doesn’t simply work with Congress to come up with a legal tariff plan, he reminded us that he is nothing more than a petulant child, saying “Because I don’t have to. I have the right to do what I want.” And showing his own vaunting intellect, he said of the decision, “it’s like it was written by not-smart people.”

And perhaps worst of all, he said, repeatedly, that the ruling means “I can destroy a country, I can embargo their goods, I can do anything I want.” The only thing this ruling says is that “I can’t charge them money. But I can do anything I want to them.” No rational president has ever threatened to “destroy” another country out of hand, simply because he wants to. But for this president, it’s simply a negotiating tactic.

No call to arms here. Sadly, frighteningly, this is nothing new. While I applaud the Supreme Court for finally having to the courage to say “No, Mr. President, you are wrong, and the laws do not permit you to do this,” I doubt it will make much difference.

(See also “The Disingenuousness: It Burns“.)