Cry baby Dems need to pick their fights with whirlwind Trump

Wrecking ball, bull in a China shop, disrupter, Constitution-buster — choose your own metaphor.

Just about everything President Donald J. Trump has unleashed in the first three weeks of his second term is what he said he would unleash.

He was not kidding. He was prepared. Call it shock and awe, flooding the zone, a blitzkrieg, whatever. He is the chaos candidate.

He has signed more than 50 executive orders,  setting a Presidential  record. (Second place: Joe Biden.)

His goal: To reshape the mechanism of government and the formation of policy. That is what a plurality of Americans voted for.

His we’ll-see-if-it’s-a-Midas-touch has extended from tariffs, to firing inspectors generals, to perhaps decimating the FBI and the CIA, to curtailing USAID and maybe the Department of Education, stabbing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ending DEI, prohibiting trans in the military, sending migrants to Gitmo, and even dooming pennies and paper straws.

Some of these things are within his power. Others are not. I am not a Constitutional lawyer, so I can’t separate the sheep from the goats, but others are and a lot of his orders are already in local courts. Others will follow.

Prediction: They will be decided, and appealed, and eventually will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

That is what Trump wants, because he thinks a conservative majority court will rubber stamp him.

I disagree.

The conservatives on the Court are strict constructionists, meaning they believe in what the words actually say, not what they have been interpreted to mean by activist judges who believe the Constitution is a living document.

I do not. It should not be subject to swiftly changing cultural whims or fads.

It has been a bulwark that has shielded our democracy from villains. We are the most powerful nation on earth for many reasons — diversity, capitalism, democracy, the Constitution among them.

If the Constitution is not living, does that means it is dead?

No. The geniuses who fashioned it knew they were fallible and could foresee the need for possible change. They provided a route for that, through amendments.

Six of the nine justices believe in the text of it, but within that parameter there is room to maneuver.

Yes, it did give partial immunity to the executive, not just to Donald J. Trump, but for all Presidents who follow him. A liberal-majority Court ruled that political contributions are speech. Go figure.

The current Court  also has ruled against him in several cases.

The Court’s members rule along the belief lines of the President who appointed them about 80% of the time, but that leaves one-fifth of the rulings going against.

Take the case of Birthright citizenship, which will be decided by the Court.

Trump wants to banish it, although it is rooted in the XIV Amendment. Here is the pertinent language: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

It says if you are born here (even to undocumented parents) you are a citizen. I don’t like it, but that’s what it says.

But wait! What about that clause that reads “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” what does that mean?

That would mean, say, diplomats of foreign countries. They are not subject to local laws, and their children born here would not be citizens. Same for the offspring of, say, an invading army.

As I see it, here is the flaw in Trump’s argument: If the children are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, how does the U.S. have the right to remove them?

But what do I know?

The Supremes will make that decision and I think it will not be to his liking.

I believe the Court conservatives believe more strongly in the document than in the duck who sits behind the Resolute desk. Yes, I could be wrong, but until then —

Democrats have to stop behaving like spoiled children throwing tantrums over every damn thing he does.

It’s not just me saying it. It is loyal Democrats like David Axelrod, James Carville, Maine’s Jared Golden.

Who?

You may not have heard of him, but he said the Democrats’ response to Trump has not been effective. “In fact, I’m frustrated by it. If you make everything DEFCON 5, then eventually nothing is DEFCON 5, you know what I mean? And on questions of overreach of constitutional authority, it’s not always so cut and dry,” Golden told the Washington Post.

By the way, I think he meant DEFCON 1. DEFCON 5 is the least ready state of preparedness.

In his colorful way, Carville condemned the “level of jackassery” in his party that has gender voting rules not even the chair could understand, see this clip and a commitment to identity politics, social and cultural issues that do not resonate with most Americans.

For his part, Axelrod said the Democrats had become an increasingly “smarty-pants, suburban, college-educated party”, suggesting that they failed to appeal to people from lower-class and non-college educated backgrounds.

In other words, stop being candy asses.

By the way, Trump’s approval rating is 53%, the highest it has ever been.

Where am I going with this?

Instead of standing on the steps of the Capitol and “declaring war” on all of Trump’s policies, Dems need to take a chill pill.

Separate the legislative from the social crap. Have lawyers take the legal stuff to court.

On the social and cultural issues, it might be a good idea to find out where most Americans stand, and in the current language of politics, “meet them where they are.” About 80% of Americans agree that trans females should not compete against actual women.

Pick your fights carefully. Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons were disliked even by a majority of Republicans. That’s a good talking point, but not a screeching point. Just needle him with it. His wild idea for “owning” Gaza: No one wants that. Use ridicule, not ridiculous threats.

Stop the insane hyperventilating. It may enthuse your base, but the latest polls shows that Democratic positions are disliked by 57% of Americans.

Only 31% approve.

Yes, yes, I know it is tempting to think the 57% is wrong.

But if you think and act that way, you will remain in the minority.

In the meanwhile, get out of the way of the Supremes.