I’m very bored by all the noise about Trump’s over steps. What the fuck did people expect? The public, fueled by media (legacy and new), seems to love being pulled in one direction or the other and give their blind faith to the guy in power that is from their tribe. Trump isn’t to blame for taking power he is being given by a compliant Congress and an electorate that loves living in a cult. There is only outrage from the opposite side they’re not in power. When they are it’s all roses and candy canes. It’s beyond stupid. Our loyalty should be to The Constitution. The closer we live according to its elegant system of checks and balances the better our country will be. But, each side seems happy with electing a four year king… as long as it’s “their guy.”
An article in the Wall Street Journal fleshes out what I’ve been saying for a long time. We’re living under a tyranny of our own making.
Writing to Madison shortly before George Washington’s first inauguration, Thomas Jefferson concurred—in part. “The tyranny of the Legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come.” Then a caveat: “The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.”
Jefferson proved more farsighted than Madison. Since the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. has experienced several periods of expanding executive power. Progressive Era intellectual Randolph Bourne famously remarked that “war is the health of the state.” In the American context, it would have been more accurate to say that war is the health of the executive branch, whose constitutional powers expand during extended armed conflicts. Abraham Lincoln’s conduct during the Civil War evoked charges of tyranny. Woodrow Wilson curtailed civil liberties, including free speech and minority rights, during World War I. But after these wars, Congress reasserted its authority, and periods of relatively weak presidencies ensued.
The presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman broke this historical pattern. FDR regarded the Great Depression as the domestic equivalent of war, and he persuaded Congress to expand the executive branch to wage this war. Many of the institutions created in that era still exist. Similarly, Truman’s decision after 1945 to maintain a large standing military to oppose the Soviet Union expanded executive power over defense and foreign policy. During the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon further concentrated power within the White House and expanded the war into Cambodia secretly, without congressional authorization.
In 1973, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. penned “The Imperial Presidency,” which warned against a runaway executive branch that threatened to “override the separation of powers and burst the bonds of the Constitution.”
The Wall Street Journal (free link)
Trump isn’t to blame. We are. I’m against a powerful federal government. If you’re traumatized by what’s happening out of Washington D.C. that means the federal government is too large and is governing beyond its authority. Our country is designed for people to be largely governed at the state level with disputes between states arbitrated by the federal government. So I’m against many of the things Trump is doing. I was against many of the things Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton before him. I’m against an imperial president and a Congress that allows it to regulate our lives.
But, if this is the way we’re going to live let’s just go all in! Pass a constitutional amendment that disbands Congress. Let’s codify the 4 year (8 years at most) monarchy. Let’s also change the official title from President to King. Let’s just get on with it so I don’t have to tune out all this noise. I only have another 2 to three decades left on the planet. I’d like to enjoy myself.
Leave a Reply