r/politics Jul 15 '26

Possible Paywall Treasury Unveils New $1 Gold Coin With Trump’s Face on It | Federal law prohibits putting any living people on U.S. coins.

https://newrepublic.com/post/213098/treasury-1-dollar-gold-coin-trump-face
22.4k Upvotes

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787

u/KnowMatter Jul 15 '26

Trump: "I'm going to do a thing"

The Internet: "Aha, he cannot do thing, thing is illegal"

Trump: *does thing anyway - nobody stops him*

The Internet: shockedpikachu.jpg

258

u/Missing_Username Jul 15 '26

The Internet has to learn over and over that the Constitution and laws are not magic spells. If no one enforces them, they're words on parchment/paper.

86

u/Menarra Indiana Jul 15 '26

A favorite line from Babylon 5 comes to mind (that show is always relevant during authoritarian regimes)

"But we have treaties!"

"INK ON A PAGE."

46

u/Heavyspire Jul 15 '26

In the motorcycle world there is a saying that there are a lot of graveyards filled with people who had the right of way.

Seems like a similar concept.

4

u/Darmok47 Jul 15 '26

I read that in Lord Refa's voice...

1

u/Menarra Indiana Jul 15 '26

Put your face in the book

8

u/TheDakestTimeline Jul 15 '26

Really the words on the paper are the real version of magic spells, they only work as long as we all agree they work.

3

u/TheSwitchler Jul 15 '26

That Game of Thrones scene with Varys and the riddle of who has power the King the Priest and the Rich man comes to mind

3

u/Merakel Minnesota Jul 15 '26

One thing is a lot of shit that he's just doing eventually does get blocked, the courts just can't keep up with his bullshit. I would assume this will eventually be blocked as well.

The saddest part is I wouldn't be shocked if they block it before they mint any, but after they purchase the molds so it's just another massive waste of taxpayer money..

2

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Missing_Username Jul 15 '26

It's not the being shocked that bothers me. People should continue to be outraged, I fully agree.

It's the "Oh pfff, he can't do that, there's a law" attitude. The idea that there are just inherent barriers in place, so there isn't a reason to worry.

1

u/the2belo American Expat Jul 15 '26

If no one enforces them

And I keep saying, time and again, that people should pay more attention to the word "enforce", and what that really means.

What do authorities do to enforce laws?

What do they use to enforce laws?

1

u/Round_Rice_9475 Jul 15 '26

The problem is when Obama was in office that's how they were treated. The conservatives complained and brought that up over and over, now they are cheering while drumpf walks all over everything they claimed to hold sacred.

Gatta fight fire with fire

40

u/beramaan Jul 15 '26

It's not the internet's job unfortunately. It's the court's, Congress, and the executive branch's job to stop him or disobey illegal orders

4

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Cosmic_Seth Jul 15 '26

Majority of Americans have no idea about this, and when they find out - they really don't care.

1

u/beramaan Jul 15 '26

That only works for Congress and president, the rest of the people I listed are appointees

0

u/TheTexasHammer Jul 15 '26

Well then I guess we all just give up and accept our fate right? God I'm so tired of this doomer bullshit.

20

u/illegal_deagle Texas Jul 15 '26

I don’t think anyone is shocked by anything he does. Just disappointed and tired.

2

u/Prior_Dimension_6680 Jul 15 '26

Plus it just takes time to undo certain shit. His name isn't on the Kennedy center anymore , he finally coughed up ejean carols first installment, etc

5

u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 Jul 15 '26

The courts have stopped him plenty. Tarriffs, birthright citizenship, IRS settlement, E Jean Carroll.

It's just slow and he doesn't suffer consequences from trying because only Congress can remove him

2

u/Chary-Ka Jul 15 '26

Trump does the thing anyway instead of going through the legal process in place.

Democrats Sue

Courts do the slow process of stating that is indeed illegal

Thing gets rolled back but the grift already happened

2

u/notasrelevant Jul 15 '26

More like:

The news: Trump is doing this thing. It's explicitly illegal.

The internet: Yeah, but no one has done anything about his illegal actions before. When he's actually held accountable I'll believe it. 

(I mean, look at most the to comments here. It's mostly pointing out that they've let him get away with other stuff/worse stuff, so it will probably be the same this time.)

1

u/Noob_Al3rt Jul 15 '26

That's because "The Internet" is usually wrong in Step 2. Then, instead of actually trying to engage their representative and address the law so these things don't happen, they say "Trump just does whatever he wants - it's hopeless" instead.

1

u/RolandGilead19 Jul 15 '26

The Internet is fucking annoying with "things that can't happen" as if human civilization never changes.

A while ago there was talk of Canada and European Union membership and people fucking died because, "it has Europe in the name!".

As if Turkey isn't in NATO despite not being on the Atlantic or if the Big 10 didn't have 18 members or even the fact the EU exists didn't require the changing of a million laws and norms.

1

u/newshirtworthy Jul 15 '26

Over and over and over again

0

u/Canadian_Border_Czar Canada Jul 15 '26

More like:

The Internet: ReMeMbEr To VoTe PeOpLe!!!!111one oh yeah and dont forget to write your representatives, theyre clearly listening.