If I Could Have Five Minutes With President Trump; If I Could Have Five Minutes With Dr. Pisters

If I Could Have Five Minutes With President Trump; If I Could Have Five Minutes With Dr. Pisters

By

Leonard Zwelling

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/us/politics/gorsuch-congress-trump-tariffs.html

But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design. Through that process, the nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man.”

 Neil Gorsuch

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

     My question for the past thirteen months has been whether or not the United States was going to be protected by its Constitution. It was very clear that some people in power, particularly the current President of the United States who swore an oath to uphold that document, were not going to do so. This should have come as a surprise to no one. Mr. Trump does not believe the law applies to him. Why should he think that the Constitution does? He demonstrated on January 6, 2021 that he was willing to encourage those who would overthrow the process by which power is peacefully transferred in the United State, even encouraging the hanging of his own vice president. To this day, Trump insists the fair election of 2020 was rigged. If the Democrats were so good at rigging the 2020 election, why didn’t they do it again in 2024?

What has followed Trump’s second inauguration has been a flurry of executive orders, federal troops on the ground killing American citizens, American military adventurism the likes of which has not been seen for over 100 years, and, of course, the imposition of tariffs under a law meant for emergencies which we were not in. Tariffs are taxes. Congress taxes, not the President.

Finally, the Supreme Court acted properly and put some guard rails up around Trump. Of course, Trump immediately imposed new tariffs under some other law and this will need to be untangled through adjudication.

The quote from Neil Gorsuch demonstrates that even the Trump appointees value their fealty to the Constitution above that to the man who appointed them. Good. They should. Brett Kavanaugh—shame on you!

So, if I could get five minutes with Mr. Trump, I would ask what does he want to accomplish in the next three years after having thrown the world into chaos? Does he want to reduce our entire foreign policy to large power battles over the world’s territory and resources or does he want to improve the world to be better than the way he found it? And in this country, does he want to improve economic equity so the middle-class American dream is not eliminated or is he content with a Darwinian economy that feeds the rich and taxes everyone else unfairly?

At least in Trump’s case, there is a Congress that could represent the people even as it has chosen to represent the White House only for now. The government as designed by the Founders and delineated in the Constitution is definitely at risk under Trump. But, maybe, the Supreme Court will do its job more than just this once.

At MD Anderson, the representation of the faculty, the Faculty Senate, has now been eliminated by the state, but could be recreated albeit in modified form by Dr. Pisters. He has chosen not to do that. Why would he? He can do whatever he wants to whomever he wants now without consulting with anyone. He has already ruined more than a few promising academic careers for the sake of his fawning buddies. And, now, with no Senate, there is no one to even question what Pisters does.

If I had five minutes with Pisters, and several years ago I had far more than that at several meals early in his presidential tenure, I would reiterate what I said those many years ago about emphasizing scientific excellence in basic and clinical research. I would urge him to surround himself with creative people who naturally disagree with him so he could get all viewpoints. And I would urge him to stop taking an enormous salary for himself. It’s unseemly.

However, what I really want to know from Pisters is what his vision for the cancer center is because after his seven or so years of putative leadership, I have no idea what it is. He is both the Teflon president who seems to get away with anything and the vapid president who has no thoughts at all.

Donald Trump is in the process of trying to wreck the American Constitutional representative government through ignoring a sycophantic Congress.

Peter Pisters strides through MD Anderson unopposed and unchecked. This is unhealthy. This is autocracy. This is hurting a lot of people and those appointed to prevent this in Austin don’t seem to care.

So sad.