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.
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My favorite description of the Democratic resistance: I haven't seen liberals this upset -- since yesterday.
haha, I am going to "liberate" that thought and share with friends. Thanks for sharing!
😂
My understanding is that the X!V Amendment was passed immediately following the end of the Civil War so as to make the formerly enslaved people in the USA full citizens, That Birthright law has been twisted out of shape, and it will take a Supreme Court ruling to fix it, to prevent the insanity of giving citizenship to the offspring of illegal immigrants.
And love him or hate him, DT is doing EXACTLY what he said he would do if elected. To hear the Left whine and squeal after forcing the nation to endure all the LGBTQ sex-gender silliness, Title IX abuses, genderless bathrooms nonsense, Sanctuary City lawbreaking, et cetera ad nauseam is music to many ears.
Well, Vince, I do recall Trump denying he knew anything about Project 2025, yet it appears that was a bold-faced lie, since everything he has done so far has been taken from that very document, and he has even appointed one of the architects to a key cabinet position. But by all mean, don't let the facts in the way of your narrative.
Yep, he is doing what he said. Per XIV, I’ve read the various interpretations. USSC will decide.
The XIV amendment requires another amendment to repeal it, just as amendment XVIII, which brought about prohibition. That was repealed with another amendment.
Trump gets things done. I still can’t believe all the stupid people who voted for Kamala Harris. She is a bigger buffoon than brain dead Biden. The people have finally woken up and the Democratic party is being run by a bunch of woke idiots. Trump listened to the American people and is keeping his promises.
That's wonderful, genius, but if the things he is getting done are harmful and dangerous to the Democracy, that would not be a good thing, right? And no, the Democratic Party is not being run by a bunch of "woke idiots." The only idiot I see here is (guess who).
Everything is going great . All of the smart people who voted for Trump are very happy. Remember we are the majority. What would Harris have accomplished by now? Absolutely nothing like Biden. Love watching you suffer the next 4 years.
I’m a middle of the road person. I believe that people should be here legally. I think that DEI was a monster that took on a life of its own and created a huge bureaucracy, promoted speech codes, and which privileged minority populations in job searches and awarding of federal grants. You just had to look at the last president of Harvard to see proof of that. I am 100% against biological males competing in women’s sports. I am mad as hell at the Democrats and their tone deafness and their disgusting cover up of Biden’s cognitive incapacity. I don’t think abortion should be used as birth control I am pretty much a fiscal conservative and a law and order person and I think that we deserve a more efficient and nimble federal government. So, understand that I DO NOT write this from a woke ideological perspective. But, Stu, you know I don’t mince words. I think this essay is bullshit. Trump did tell us some of what he was going to do, like put totally unqualified people in charge of important agencies and especially promising the dictator part. BUT........
No one voted to have Elon Musk and his group of adolescent hacker incels in charge of their personal data.
No one voted to have him ransacking federal agencies that people rely on for various services.
No one voted to take people from land that they've inhabited and tell them what their future should be.
No one voted to abolish agencies that were established by Congress.
No one voted to purge the FBI, CIA and IRS.
No one voted to get rid of the NPS. So we now have another winner in the, “whoops, we didn’t really think that one through” sweepstakes on executive orders. NPS employees were originally fired with everyone else, but the summer season is coming up and parks without rangers and staff are useless and dangerous.
Deluded by Fox propaganda Americans have now fucked around with fascism and are going to find out what it really looks like. Americans will also find out that Trump’s economic policies are a bunch of snake oil. Tariffs will increase inflation, not decrease it. Opposing a livable minimum wage and breaking unions will hurt workers, not help them. And for those who read the WSJ, the GOP's latest plan into making up numbers rather than relying on economists will prove disastrous for the economy when the newest tax cuts for billionaires is enacted. And you think that the Supremes will prove a bulwark against amoral sociopaths who don't give a shit about the rule of law. God help us all.
Until you got to the but, you sounded like a conservative.
NO ONE VOTED FOR ANYONE except Trump and Vance. You did not vote for any of Biden’s appointees or anyone else’s so that objection is just silly. You don’t like Musk? Fine. But he is legit as Merrick Garland.
I don’t like many of Trump’s moves, and some are illegal, I think.
Yes, I think SCOTUS will be a bulwark. We will soon find out.
P.S.: I have said many times Trump will overreach, resulting in a Dem House in 2 years, tying his hand. That alsi we will find out.
Merrick Garland was approved as the AG by the Senate. Elon Musk was approved by no one, except Trump, who was elected as president, not anointed as an emperor. I'm more with Wanda on this one.
And I would agree, too. Had she had the case you made — approval. But she did not.
🎯 Like you, I have no faith in SCOTUS. Not with venal , corrupt justices like the execrable Clarence Thomas. For ex. this court slowed down the Trump election case ensuring it wouldn't be prosecuted before election day. Yet they ruled pretty quickly when Colorado tried to keep him off the ballot. Stu places way too much faith in SCOTUS.
BTW, Stu I agree that the Democratic party is in disarray, but instead of constantly harping on it, how about opining on the new "Gilded Age" we are in, how Republican politicians have kowtowed to Trump and have put Trump (& party) above America. How about criticizing his cabinet picks? RFK,jr is...CRAZY, Gabbart is a Russian troll, Hegseth is a drunken women abuser who was fired from Veterans charities for misuse of funds (where I come from that's called stealing). Opine about gutting USAID which in many countries is the face of American soft power. Opine about how gutting NIH funding is bad for America and American leadership in medical & biomedical research, too say nothing about our health.
The Democrats ought to do to Trump & Republicans what was done to Obama by "Sen. No" McConnell and the Republicans. Refuse to work with them and when things go south make damn sure that every bad thing sticks to Trump.
And the hatred continues, unabated.
Disgust, revulsion not hatred; I'm not a trumpican🤡
A gunshot is hatred.