democracy can't be saved with good ideas, hard work, and a never-give-up attitude alone

A quick bit of linguistic history to start us off today: - The acronym SCOTUS — for Supreme Court Of The United States — has been in use since the 1870s. - POTUS — for President Of The United States — came into use two decades later, in the 1890s. - And now, in 2024, we sadly have to add KOTUS — for King Of The United States — to our vocabulary. That’s because the Supreme Court, with its profoundly misguided ruling in Donald Trump’s immunity case, has in effect given U.S. presidents sweeping power to break the law with impunity — the kind of power heretofore associated with foreign despots, dictators, and kings. In other words, SCOTUS mangled POTUS into KOTUS. So the American people have a choice to make — a choice that could not be more critical. Do we consent to be subjects of a de facto king? Or do we fight to overturn the Supreme Court’s absurd immunity ruling and to restore the foundational principle that no one — not even, especially not, the president of the United States — is above the law? It’s obvious: We have to overturn this ruling. And the most surefire way to do that is with a constitutional amendment. Now, winning a constitutional amendment will not be easy. It is not supposed to be easy. But does that mean we should just roll over and let our country devolve into a dictatorship? Hell. No. And here at Public Citizen, we know something about “not easy.” Just to give you one example we’re sort of famous for: Today, nobody would buy — and no company would try to sell — a new car without airbags. That was us. We battled Detroit for decades. And we didn’t stop until we won. Here are the initial steps in our just-launched campaign for a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme’s Court’s disastrous ruling in Donald Trump’s immunity case. - Through our unparalleled lobbying expertise and by mobilizing Public Citizen’s 500,000 supporters, we will keep the pressure on members of Congress — in the House and Senate alike — to push the amendment through the legislative process. - We will work with our allies in the Not Above the Law coalition to support an amendment and to activate their supporters. (Public Citizen helped found the Not Above the Law coalition — a diverse, nationwide group of over 100 partner organizations — back in 2017 in recognition that holding Trump accountable would require a coordinated, sustained movement.) - Calling on our 50-plus years of success engaging the media in vital causes, we will generate ongoing press focus — across traditional print and broadcast journalism as well as leading social media platforms — on how extreme the ruling is and how an amendment is key to counteracting it. We said above that winning a constitutional amendment will not be, and is not supposed to be, easy. One way that plays out comes down to this: democracy can’t be saved with good ideas, hard work, and a never-give-up attitude alone. [There are unavoidable, real-world financial costs to a campaign this big and this important.]( [And that’s where we need help right now, at the beginning of such a major undertaking.]( [So, if you can, please donate today. Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will make a difference.]( [CONTRIBUTE NOW]( If donating today is not a good fit, that’s okay. Either way, we hope you appreciate knowing a little more about the work we’re doing together. And thank you for being part of this shared project called Public Citizen. For democracy, - Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | [Unsubscribe]( [supporter]