You Live In A Monarchy
By
Leonard Zwelling
There were Presidents of the United States who led what were known as imperial presidencies. In fact, there were two in a row—Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Interestingly both had been US senators. LBJ was the Democratic Senate majority leader and Nixon, as Eisenhower’s Republican Vice President, was president of the Senate. Thus, they were both very knowledgeable about the legislative process. They both were very experienced and canny politicians.
It is fascinating then, that neither man managed to serve a full eight years in the White House. Johnson got bogged down in the Vietnam War so despite his accomplishments in civil rights legislation and the passage of the first true health reform in decades, he decided not to run again in 1968. That decision was based on his accurate perception that he was very unpopular and the morass of the war gave way to Nixon’s win that year.
Nixon brought his paranoia to the Oval Office and despite the fact that there was no way his opponent in 1972, George McGovern, had any chance of defeating him, he created a network of dirty tricks and espionage against his Democratic opponents that was unearthed after the Watergate break-in on June 17, 1972. He resigned in August of 1974, the only president to have ever done so.
My point is only that we have had leaders who colored way outside the lines before, but the system in which they were operating eventually short circuited their attempt at imperial rule. They were hoist on their own petard because they tried to by-pass constitutional government.
Today, we have another man attempting to rule the country and flout the Constitution. Unlike his predecessors, he has no legislative experience. He, however, has executive experience since he was president before. And, he has learned a great deal about the wielding of power.
He has packed the Supreme Court with conservative justices. That’s not a problem on the surface. But these justices have been sucked into the politics of the day. They have granted him free reign to do whatever he wishes without consequences. This was not true of the Supreme Court with which Richard Nixon had to deal. If Nixon had Trump’s green light from the justices in 1974, he would not have had to resign. His claim to David Frost in 1977 that “when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal” has become true after all for Donald Trump.
Trump also has a compliant Congress. It is not so much that the GOP has a majority. It is that no Republican will speak up for classic Republican principles, even the ones that Trump ran on like improving the economic environment for his constituents and staying out of foreign wars. The few Republicans who have spoken up, are targeted by Trump in the primaries and usually defeated by Trump’s MAGA voters.
Let’s digress for a moment about primaries which are undermining the attractiveness of both parties to the expanding ranks of independent voters. Primaries tend to bring out the most extreme members of each party. This leads to the inevitable defeat of moderate candidates on both sides. Trump has now designated anyone who disagrees with him and is not 100% loyal as an enemy to be primaried and he is very successful at beating these “disloyal” incumbents (37 times on May 19).
So, let’s see. In our constitutional republic, the Supreme Court is supposed to be the final word on what is or is not constitutional. The Court has now given Trump permission to do just about anything, call it an official act, and not be held legally accountable.
Since he cannot run again (we hope) and will not have to stand before the people for election again, it is only Congress that can curb his power through impeachment and conviction and that will never happen. The Senate had ample reason to convict him during his last term and did not.
Donald Trump is functionally the first King of the United States. He can make war when he wishes to without informing Congress. He can send storm troopers into the streets of America, have them kill Americans, and there are no consequences. He wants to spend $1.8 billion of tax payer money for reparations to felons who he claims were unfairly prosecuted under the Biden Administration. This may include those who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and injured Capitol Police, were fairly tried, and found guilty. His ad interim Attorney General and former personal lawyer will not rule-out convicted felons as being beneficiaries of Trump largesse from the $1.8 billion “slush fund.”
Donald Trump is deciding what is right and what is wrong even as you know better. He has spent upward of $30 billion on a war that has made the world worse, more expensive, and more dangerous. In that he has given succor to our enemies and insulted our allies.
I am sure that there are those of you who will read this and accuse me of having Trump Derangement Syndrome. If that is so, what did I write above that is wrong? Let me know.
To me, having been steeped in the lore of American history and the fears our Founding Fathers had about factionalism and monarchy, I would say those brilliant men had it about right. Donald Trump is exactly what they were worried about. We will see if the Constitution they wrote and signed can withstand the onslaught of Trump’s ignoring what is in it.
