By Guest Contributors: Burton Blistein and Brigitte Savage
Donald Trump. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)
It is clear that Donald Trump, not President Biden, controls many of our most critical domestic and international decisions. The border issue cannot be solved because Trump does not want it solved. We cannot supply essential aid to Ukraine because Trump does not want it supplied. If in the future Ukraine is funded such funding must, according to Trump, take the form of a loan. (The nation defending the West with its blood and territory must pay for that privilege!) The Senate cannot appropriate funds unless the House agrees; and the House is clearly subservient to Trump. Trump does not control the presidency, but the president cannot act without the cooperation of the branches that Trump does control. Biden confirmed this and Trump’s supremacy when he twice asked Trump’s assistance to resolve the border issue.
The Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022 to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
To this we must add that the Supreme Court has surrendered to Trump by refusing to address the genuine constitutional issues that would prohibit his candidacy and by deliberately delaying a decision that would enable Trump’s trial for violating the constitution to proceed before the election. The Justices redefined the case before them so that the issue became whether Colorado was entitled to bring it, rather than whether Trump’s rebellion against the Constitution prohibited his candidacy, as in fact it clearly did. Both liberal and conservative justices appear to have concurred in this strategy. Their argument that such a momentous decision should be left to the electorate is contradicted by their decision to slow-walk Trump’s immunity claim and so possibly defer his trial until after the election, thus depriving the voters of the critical information they would need to choose wisely. How are we to account for such behavior, which appears to transcend political and philosophical differences and violates common sense?
Trump has carefully recruited and nurtured an army of thugs committed to making life impossible for those who oppose him. They have intimidated members of Congress, many of whom privately admit that they fear for themselves and for their families. Trump has made it a practice to include the judiciary among those certain victims. Members of the Supreme Court must have been aware that, should they prevent Trump’s candidacy as the Constitution required, they would have been forever subject to the vicious predations of his devoted minions, and indeed would become their primary targets. There was, accordingly, virtually no chance that they would have denied his candidacy. Trump subsequently thanked the Justices publicly, indicating that because of their submission they need not fear his wrath or that of his followers. The Court’s unnecessary delay adjudicating Trump’s claim of Presidential immunity figures as another similarly motivated submissive gesture on Trump’s behalf. The Court thus committed us to a course in which the very rule of law is threatened while itself affording the chief example of why and how this occurred. One must assume that like considerations, plus perhaps hope of advancement, dictate Judge Cannon’s otherwise inexplicable behavior.
In sum, with respect to the issues that concern him Trump effectively controls two of the three branches of government. Those who warn us that our votes will determine whether we will live in a democracy in the future or in a dictatorship are therefore wrong. That “future” is our present.
The press actively contributes to this sorry state of affairs when they speak of the “new normal” or use similar terms to describe Trump’s depredations. They thus “train” the public to accept those abominations and ignore their truly horrific consequences.
The gravity of our current situation requires first, that the government and press acknowledge it, and second decisive action by Biden to restore the balance. He should not seek accommodation with Trump or those beholden to him. He should use his remaining powers to shut down the border if that proves necessary and his drawdown authority to immediately channel essential weapons to the Ukrainians. He must demonstrate that he, not Trump, is in charge and seek every opportunity to do so. Currently, the “optics” are very bad for Biden. Notwithstanding Congress’s delay in acting, he has managed to continue to supply Israel with the weapons to kill thousands yet has been languid in supplying the most advanced weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against an unprovoked attack, resulting in the deaths of thousands.
Trump has deliberately created a climate of fear. To this he owes much of his power. We urge a task force devoted to dealing specifically with Trump’s domestic terrorism, which is much more diffuse, prevalent, transparent, and dependent upon the internet than that of foreign adversaries. We hear a great deal about threats to individuals by Trump’s followers, but very little about the apprehension of those who make such threats. That must change if we are to restore confidence in the rule of law. Should Trump lose the election we can expect a significant increase in the nefarious activity of his minions. We must be prepared for this. A task force such as that described would clearly help and define and make explicit for the voters the importance of the issues confronting them.
Trump has carefully recruited and nurtured an army of thugs committed to making life impossible for those who oppose him. They have intimidated members of Congress, many of whom privately admit that they fear for themselves and for their families. Trump has made it a practice to include the judiciary among those certain victims. Members of the Supreme Court must have been aware that, should they prevent Trump’s candidacy as the Constitution required, they would have been forever subject to the vicious predations of his devoted minions, and indeed would become their primary targets. There was, accordingly, virtually no chance that they would have denied his candidacy. Trump subsequently thanked the Justices publicly, indicating that because of their submission they need not fear his wrath or that of his followers. The Court’s unnecessary delay adjudicating Trump’s claim of Presidential immunity figures as another similarly motivated submissive gesture on Trump’s behalf. The Court thus committed us to a course in which the very rule of law is threatened while itself affording the chief example of why and how this occurred. One must assume that like considerations, plus perhaps hope of advancement, dictate Judge Cannon’s otherwise inexplicable behavior.
In sum, with respect to the issues that concern him Trump effectively controls two of the three branches of government. Those who warn us that our votes will determine whether we will live in a democracy in the future or in a dictatorship are therefore wrong. That “future” is our present.
The press actively contributes to this sorry state of affairs when they speak of the “new normal” or use similar terms to describe Trump’s depredations. They thus “train” the public to accept those abominations and ignore their truly horrific consequences.
The gravity of our current situation requires first, that the government and press acknowledge it, and second decisive action by Biden to restore the balance. He should not seek accommodation with Trump or those beholden to him. He should use his remaining powers to shut down the border if that proves necessary and his drawdown authority to immediately channel essential weapons to the Ukrainians. He must demonstrate that he, not Trump, is in charge and seek every opportunity to do so. Currently, the “optics” are very bad for Biden. Notwithstanding Congress’s delay in acting, he has managed to continue to supply Israel with the weapons to kill thousands yet has been languid in supplying the most advanced weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against an unprovoked attack, resulting in the deaths of thousands.
Trump has deliberately created a climate of fear. To this he owes much of his power. We urge a task force devoted to dealing specifically with Trump’s domestic terrorism, which is much more diffuse, prevalent, transparent, and dependent upon the internet than that of foreign adversaries. We hear a great deal about threats to individuals by Trump’s followers, but very little about the apprehension of those who make such threats. That must change if we are to restore confidence in the rule of law. Should Trump lose the election we can expect a significant increase in the nefarious activity of his minions. We must be prepared for this. A task force such as that described would clearly help and define and make explicit for the voters the importance of the issues confronting them.