My stated faith in our constitutional government to withstand direct assaults on its very existence remains strong … but today I want to briefly examine the existential threat that poses a significant threat to the democratic principles to which we adhere.
Readers of this blog have seen me refer to Gerald Ford’s declaration that “our Constitution works,” a statement he made moments after assuming the presidency after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. President Ford was correct to make that declaration, as the crisis that forced Nixon out of office spoke volumes to the resiliency of the Constitution’s balance of power.
The court system ultimately had the final say in the Watergate scandal, declaring that Nixon’s attempt to cover up what he knew about the firestorm could not last. The Supreme Court ruled the president had to turn over the tape recordings of him telling the CIA to cover it up.
It was “game over.”
Fast-forward more than 50 years and we have another individual seeking to usurp power from Congress, defying the federal court system and actually fomenting the notion that the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limiting the president to two elected terms could be tossed aside.
This is real stuff, man! It is, as they say, a big fu**ing deal!
I will not sell short the current president’s aims. It is clear through his repeated public statements and his actions since taking office at the beginning of the year that he intends to exact revenge on his political foes. He has loaded his Cabinet with yes men and women. And he has bullied the Republican majority in Congress into becoming a cabal of cowards unwilling to stand their ground against these blatant and bald-faced efforts to take power out of their hands.
He seeks to rig congressional elections to ensure a greater GOP majority in Congress. Look at what he is doing in Texas, demanding the Legislature to redraw congressional boundaries to make them more suitable for Republicans. The GOP majority in Austin, to its enormous discredit, has rolled over. It has let the MAGA morons call the shots.
This assault is being launched on multiple fronts. In the end — and there is an end to it — I believe the assault will fail because the Constitution, as designed, will hold up. It will beat back these efforts to water it down. It will withstand the assault that Trump and his cowardly gang will launch.
I have said it once again. I know that saying something won’t make it happen. Our shared belief in the system, though, can help sustain it against the existential threat posed by the tinhorn despots like Donald Trump.