We would have better government if it obeyed the ConstitutionPoliticians take an oath to the Constitution, but in practice, many do not adhere to it if it gets in their way. Trump doesn't know if he has to uphold the Constitution. Chipping away at it has allowed Republicans over decades to bring fascism to the homeland. WWII was yet another battle between authoritarians and democracy we thought we won, but we could still lose it. Congress has willingly surrendered much of its Constitution-granted power to the President; the Supreme Court has not blocked it, twisted it into unrecognizability, and it has been disastrous. Tariffs have recently been applied recklessly, exacerbating inflation, disrupting supply chains, annoying other countries, upsetting markets, and likely being exploited by well-connected insider traders. Congress needs to reclaim the power to determine tariffs and should itself be prohibited from trading stocks. The emoluments clause has lost any meaning as merchandise is peddled from the White House. The President’s far-flung businesses proceed, while extortion against lawyers, higher education, and others weakens the republic. A bitcoin heist is in progress. Foreign dark money, notably from Russia, is laundered to the Republicans, the President, and his family. The Supreme Court has loosened the law on corruption, and it is not immune. The Constitution assigned war power to Congress but was given up by the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), leading to pointless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and others. The President should be allowed to go to war only if the U.S. mainland is under attack. "Under the UN charter, a country can use armed force against another country only in self-defense or when the Security Council approves. Neither of those conditions was met before the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban did not attack us on 9/11. Nineteen men - 15 from Saudi Arabia - did, and there was no imminent threat that Afghanistan would attack the US or another UN member country. The council did not authorize the United States or any other country to use military force against Afghanistan. The US war in Afghanistan is illegal." Afghanistan: Where Empires Go to Die The Fourth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, yet Republican Presidents have felt free to inflict it offshore. Secret prisons, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and El Salvador are examples. The Supreme Court kept it secret instead of providing the moral stability that they were assumed to represent. Congress did not stop it. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship by executive order, not through the amendment process that would require the consent of the people. Republicans do not condemn violence, pardon it if it is in their interest, and it is part of their continuing strategy. The Brooks Brothers riot stopped Florida vote counting and gave the Republican-influenced Supreme Court the opportunity to settle the election for Bush. The 1/6 attack on the capital was a violent attempt to overthrow the government. Trump pardoned the participants. There was no standing army when the Constitution was signed, so the 2nd Amendment begins with “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State”. “Many are startled to learn that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't rule that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun until 2008, when District of Columbia v. Heller struck down the capital's law effectively banning handguns in the home. In fact, every other time the court had ruled previously, it had ruled otherwise. Why such a head-snapping turnaround? Don't look for answers in dusty law books or the arcane reaches of theory.” How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment (5/2014) If Trump hadn’t been reelected, he might have gone to jail. So the DOJ has been stripped of prosecutors involved in investigating him or the 1/6 coup, and even the archivist overseeing evidence has been fired. The law is being weaponized to punish political opponents, including opposing media. Judges, who should act as checks, are attacked, and the First and Eighth Amendments are threatened as people with unwanted opinions are disappeared and sent to concentration camps in El Salvador. The Fourteenth Amendment is clear: no one who has engaged in insurrection is eligible to hold public office. That no longer holds meaning. We now have a President who would be a dictator for life, a demagogue with a history of poor decisions and bad character who is concentrating power in his office. That is exactly what the Constitution was designed to resist. The three branches of government were supposed to check and balance each other and prevent concentration of power. The Supreme Court steered a course toward a “unitary executive” who would have unchecked power. That is contrary to the intent of separation of power. Today, Trump has almost no guardrails, and judged immune from the law for official acts. Neither Congress nor the Courts have done much to prevent the President from becoming a dictator. The Supreme Court has actually enabled this transition by allowing his election, putting the President above the law, and more. Congress, so far, has not only enabled a dictator; they have given up much of their Constitutionally authorized power to him. He has taken the power of the purse and used it to dismantle agencies with disastrous consequences for public health as the NIH has lost funds for research into cancer, alzheimer’s, clinical trials, shutting down grants to universities. The US won’t just lose progress made for these health issues, it may experience a brain drain as scientists are recruited by other countries, where they can work. The IRS will lose revenue as a result of cuts. The USAID will cut help for the poorest countries. The Department of Education slashed. Even Social Security, SNAP, Meals on Wheels, Medicaid, are on the chopping block. Republicans call it ‘small government’. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has taken on the power to raid and dismantle agencies and to rob them of their databases. Combining all that data will create the most powerful surveillance state ever, yet Congress raised no objections to this data breach. Although the US has record breaking wealth disparities, selling off vital services so that wealthy donors can get perks is not in the public interest and sure to make things worse. Government has been decapitated, with unqualified loyalists replacing civil servants. Watchdog agencies like the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) which protects people from fraud, dismantled. ‘The Trump administration eliminated two key food safety advisory committees, which has raised concerns among experts about the potential risks to public health and food safety standards in the U.S. These committees were responsible for providing scientific advice on preventing foodborne illnesses and ensuring food safety regulations.’ Exacerbating wealth inequality with tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the vulnerable and a failing empire contributes to where we are. In history, fascists seek to expand their empire by force. Denmark, Greenland, Canada, and Panama are worried that the U.S. may take such a course. Under Trump, the US has switched sides from democracy to authoritarians. It no longer supports Ukraine. Some Republicans think the Twenty-Second Amendment should be nullified to allow Trump a third term, which seems to prevent other GOP candidates from running. The process for amending the Constitution is slow and difficult and may be enough to prevent that; however, as we have seen, the process might not hold.
The U.S. is on a slippery slope toward fascism. Jason Stanley,
author of the prescient book
Checks and balances are in a sad state of disrepair. Some Republicans think the Twenty-Second Amendment should be nullified to allow Trump a third term, which seems to prevent other GOP candidates from running. The process for amending the Constitution is slow and difficult and may be enough to prevent that; however, as we have seen, the process might not hold. There is plenty of evidence that the Republican party has always been home to fascists is full-on fascist now, and working toward dictatorship. Government does not take the Constitution seriously. In an interview, Trump is not clear what it means, especially if it gets in his way. If this Republican regime is not soundly rejected, the kids will live in a tyranny. If we ever get a chance to fix the Constitution, here are some suggestions. Bibliography
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