I appreciate the shoutouts, Tom, but with respect to why Trump behaves the way he does, you’re overthinking this. Trump is a narcissistic sociopath and all he cares about is inflating his own ego. Whether the harm he inflicts upon the country and world at large is rooted in “malevolence” or “ignorance” is irrelevant - the point is, he’s a dangerous, unhinges psychopath who will do absolutely anything to advance his personal agenda. There’s no reason to delve any deeper into Trump’s psychology than that.
The real question is: what are we all going to do about this?
68
Trump’s ignorance of history,civics and most other repositories of knowledge, is a facort in the current impasses. But more potent and established is the perversion of the notion of “checks and balances” installed in the constitution. Once the balancing competitors were the branches of the government,I.e.,Congress,judicial and executive. Today the division is party based.
Daylight does not pass between Trump and the republican senators and representatives.Party membership alone determines votes and policies..not the different perspectives and functions that are embedded in the separate governmental entities.
Trump derides most values that motivate conservative voters but he is revered by the political party that recently endorsed those values..because he led them to power ..but now he supports irrational,stupid and contradictory policies contrary to conservatism yet they continue to support him...because they see him as the source of their power.
Power corrupts..absolute power corrupts absolutely.
21
It appears that the USA is hurtling towards “1984” - Orwell. Where big brother controls all. POTUS controls the Senate and the Supreme Court - what is to stop him from having a National Emergency and cancelling the 2020 election?
Naturally, there are many folks in the US who want to live in a past where only selected folks (no women) are allowed to vote...1984 is just a stopping point as we hurtle into a totalitarian slave state past.
Maybe Trump wants to us to all live in a “Celestial North Korea” (Hitchens). He has his allies, the religiously right. Here the “Dear Leader’s” words are always true! Who needs to care about science, facts and the future of all of humanity.
14
You have probably read Solzhennytsin's great book, "The Gulag Archipelago." Very long. Exceedingly grim.
In this book, the author casts a scornful eye upon the Constitution of the Soviet Union. Namely, the judicial system. Now let's see--let's begin at the beginning.
(1) The suspect is arrested and held.
(2) The suspect is tried.
(3) The suspect is convicted and punished.
Are we all hunky-dory with this? Sounds good. Oh but--
--WAIT A MINUTE. STOP. STOP THE CAMERAS.
Something got by these marvels of judicial integrity. Which they sought to amend in subsequent editions of their "Constitution."
We didn't mean to IMPLY, they declared--
--that all suspects in the Soviet Union are automatically--
--FOUND GUILTY.
Oh no! Never that!
Does this not underscore, Mr. Friedman--vividly, unforgettably--the inestimable value of a free, independent judicature?
It was Sir Francis Bacon (four centuries ago) that declared English judges "lions under the throne." Their job was basically: support the monarch.
His opponent: Sir Edward Coke. Even KINGS, this great judge and parliamentarian declared, are subject to the LAWS.
Guess who enjoyed wealth and honor in his own day?
Guess who was a guiding light to the Founding Fathers when they framed our own Constitution.
Which was NOT, Mr. Friedman--
--a sham. A pile of paper.
Like the Soviet Constitution.
Thanks for your piece. We needed a piece like that.
Sakes, how we needed it!
5
Rubbish: Roberts=Trump:
Citizens United; Janus; Shelby County; Crawford v Marion County;.... there are others. Roberts has slightly better social skills but an identical vision. He voted for Trump and is glad for his two new perjurer associate justices who now with Thomas can have the perjurer sexual predator caucus.
11
What a load Tom.
Roberts is only "bravely" speaking because he has life time tenure.
Bravery? That would be if Mitch McConnell risked his seat by calling Trump out for his more outlandish behavior.
Sorry but you missed the boat with this column.
21
Friedman, you cannot be serious. What a lazy piece you have written here.
An independent judiciary would be great, but we don't have one: we have political judges who act as super-legislators. We always know in advance what the 9th Circuit will rule: Left wing, anti-Trump, and far removed from the Constitution. To be overturned later, it we're lucky, by the Supremes if we can manage to up the quality of that group with Trump appointments.
Oh, our FBI is "nonpartisan"? Do you even ever read a newspaper?
3
We need to vote. Roberts and his court ruled in the Janus case that state employees did not have to pay their fair share. IL voted out the R governor who wanted to destroy the union for state employees. We now have a D governor (again). Janus be damned. The union survives and more non-union members joined up after the SCOTUS opinion came down. Don't get mad, VOTE
7
Putin is dancing.
9
Amen to all of this.
In addition, I recommend How Democracies Die by Levitsky and Ziblatt. It is a well written and insightful report on the ways of autocrats and how we can work against such tendencies in our country.
5
Failure isn't in the judicial system per se. If you don't think judicial appointments are partisan though you might not be with the program. Why would it be so critical for Trump to pick another Supreme Court Justice if that were the case or why would it have been important to deny Obama pick? The real problem is legislators legislating. Which they don't, they allow corporations to write the legislature that they are going to sponsor. Judges are in place to determine whether that meets the letter of the Constitution and partisanship plays a role in that. Judges are hard pressed not uphold a law just because they don't like it. That's why the "rule of law"is such a ridiculous statement. You could legalize slavery and you could legalize polygamy you could legalize discrimination. That's the way it used to be. Because something is legal doesn't mean that it's either just or fair. That's why judges shouldn't be ambivalent to justice or fairness in favor of the rule of law. Made me think about the phrase jury nullification. Where a jury actually overrides rule of law. I believe judges don't advocate or express the ability of a jury to override a legal decision like that because they don't want to violate the rule of law. You wouldn't want to usurp your own authority would you? This is one of those things where binding arbitration has become the norm and probably comes to some detriment as far as fair and just. You get it rule of law doesn't have anything to do with fair or just
2
If the judges and government institutions weren't so highly politicized, Trump's blathering would have no effect.
2
Thank you for your beautifully and truthfully written
Opinion on Roberts and others ,who unsolicited wrote the truth
About the shameless behavior of Trump.I have had
Fears of a conservative appointed Court and still do,however
The rebuke from Roberts and the others has given me
Renewed hope for our Democracy,which Trump has attempted to
Destroy with every act of disrespect and attack he can think of.
We must work to see the powers of the President reduced
And the lack of blocking such a man be made stronger.getting rid of citizens united wouldn’t hurt either.
4
The coming years are going to be rough. As rough as Trump is, he is not beholden to either political party or the attendant interests. He thus disrupts everything and is hated by everyone. The usually reliable Friedman misses that.
4
Perhaps their numbers are declining, but some Americans will recognise these words:
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
If you've had enough suffering and losing already, rest assured the document goes on to say:
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, IT IS THEIR DUTY, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
The Despotism is manifest in so many ways:
(1) The complete intellectual and moral failure to address human-induced climate change in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence of its impact on humanity and our shared planet.
(2) The blatant gerrymandering and suppression of voter rights.
(3) The daily lies from POTUS and his entourage.
(4) The manipulative power of the richest 1% to distort democracy through propaganda and ignore the conventions of good government.
(5) Selfish tax cuts and health system changes that benefit only the rich.
(6) The willingness to walk away from a proud history of defending good in this world and long standing allies and instead to consort with scoundrels like Putin, Duterte and bin Salman.
7
Read up on Trump's theory of vengeance. It is pure malevolence.
3
Oh what a luxury to be able to write these editorials - no worrying about your marriage declared illegal, no concern that your reproductive rights might disappear, no worries that a corporation might poison your water and leave you with no recourse, no concerns that the company for which you work may tie you into knots with mandatory arbitration, and no concerns for getting justice when you find out you are underpaid because of your gender or race. What a luxury. The court is illegitimate and has become more so with each decision that favors the powerful and connected over the rest of us.
11
And, in turn, I give a big shout out to Fredeiman. His and those other prominent voices give me hope. Those who see the emperor has no clothes, but say nothing do us all a disservice.
2
Tom Friedman "think's Trump never took a course in civics" If he had, and it grabbed his interest, he may never been who he is, but it's obvious, from the time he referenced the supreme court signing a bill, that he has no interest in government. Had he been required to pass a course, maybe in high school, that required a written test, he may have learned enough to admire this complex convoluted patched together mess, that we call "government."
It's because of his obliviousness that he reacts with hatred. He justifies his contempt with, "it must be worthless, something to destroy." Not even the founders of classic liberalism, from Adam Smith to Friedrich Heyich dismissed the place of government, and even taxation sufficient for the poor to get by, and as a vital component in the dominant free market invisible hand.
Trump has never given this any thought at all. His words, "I have a big brain, so my gut feelings are better than the experts" This is not an attitude that he can just let go of, rather it is the scaffolding of his entire existence.
It's as though MIT brought in an uneducated Chancellor, one with vast plenary authority to define and even eliminate courses, and every one he couldn't master, he trashed.
That's what America did. It's we who should be ashamed, Acknowledging our mistake, and forgoing rancor, just may be the only way to ameliorate the vast damage already done.
5
This article totally nails the long-term, existential threat to American democracy posed by Trump’s utterly narcissistic approach to the Presidency. The wall, the tax cuts, the Supreme Court picks, the racism and sexism, even the threatened Syria pullout and NATO withdrawal, are all recoverable wounds in the long term. Denigration and destruction of our institutions and the removal of our faith in America as a place where right, not might, matters most will be the fatal wounds. The millions upon millions of people who didn't vote in 2016 or 2018 need to get out in 2020.
2
"What a contrast with the silence of the lambs — how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan bent their institution, their branch of government, to Trump’s will."
Mr. Friedman, you know what made the difference? Roberts' position is a life time appointment. Trump, or his enablers and cronies, can neither fire him nor "primary" him. The rest of the GOP cowards in the Congress look at their position is a cushy job, not public service, and so they are deadly afraid of trump pumping up someone to "primary" them. The concept of "public service" in the present GOP group is dead, been dead for years. It is only a job. Hence when Steve King won his re-election by the slimmest margin it became safe to attack his racist statements that he has been mouthing off for years. Hence Liz Cheney's word to King; "find another line of work". It is, after all, just a job. I guess anything that is worth doing is worth getting paid for.
Mark my word, if and when trump's hold on the "base" goes way down you will hear the GOPers condemn his racism, racial attitude, and a host other offenses. But until then, the GOP crowd in the Congress will keep telling themselves: Be afraid, be very afraid, of trump. Then and only until then, none will ever stand up to him.
2
Cheers for Friedman! He has said exactly what needs to be said. Cheers for those whom he has praised: they represent precisely those whom we need in order to salvage our nearly extinct democracy. I want to recommend the book HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE by Steven Levitsky. It clearly points out that our so-called president just another dictator, who -- backed by McConnell, Fox "News," and other toadies -- must be overthrown before there's no going back. We are at the edge of the precipice!
3
What continues to appall me is how the Republican majority Senate continues to "normalize" Trump's abuses and shenanigans! They are just as guilty of trying to destroy our democracy. I hope the next two years changes dramatically in the Senate! But sadly, I'm not hopeful. And there is no hope for Trump to change.
3
Although, we, Liberals were and are disappointed it’s Justice Roberts about “Citizens United,” I am grateful for his fair rulings on the ACA,Marriage Equality, and most recently on a case the Special Counsel is working on regarding a “foreign company.”
Friedman mentioned in his op-ed that just before Thanksgiving, Roberts mentioned “we should all be thankful for the independent judicial system “ ....indeed we should! Those patriots, like Roberts, who sit on our nation’s courts uphold and defend our Constitution! Justice Roberts may be the only bulwark We, the People have to keep Donald J Trump from gettin away with his crimes!
Thank YOU, Justice Roberts! Please sir, continue to uphold and defend our democracy and Constitution!
5
If federal Judges are so independent and non-partisan how come the Democrats always know exactly where to forum-shop for a friendly liberal hack in Hawaii, San Francisco, or Manhattan when they need a judge to issue a nation-wide injunction against whatever Trump does?
This is just another a phoned-in column about how everything Trump has ever done is evil. Very boring and repetitive.
2
The foolishness of Friedman is monumental. One hardly knows where to begin. First, the impartiality of the FBI? What universe is he living in? The FBI was, from the getgo, biased against Trump and actively conspired against him. In effect, the FBI is trying to do a coup. Secondly, watching AGs from democratic states "judge shop" sure doesn't seem impartial to me. Think about it, some low level judge can issue a nationwide injunction against whatever federal policy he doesn't like. So, you don't need a biased judiciary, you just need one and they are out there (can we say 9th Federal District court anyone?).
"McRaven, a Navy SEAL for 37 years, wrote: “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”
You cannot exaggerate how unusual it is for our chief justice and retired senior military officers to challenge Trump’s excesses the way they have. They were bred to keep themselves and their institutions out of politics at all costs. But they understand the greater costs of what Trump is doing."
40 million americans support this bum!
How amazing and putrid is THAT!
3
A party without spine and a network without integrity. Yes, Mr Friedman, that is the crux of how America got stuck with a debt-ridden, bill-bilking, litigious, one-trick salesman.
Americans have had it. With the obstinance - with the Wall that couldn't be passed as legislation FOR 2 YEARS - and, now, with the Shutdown enablers, Mitch McConnell & Co.
Flim Flam's loyal base of customers, on the other hand, are ready to sign on the dotted line for The Magic TIMESHARE Wall. "Give him $5.7B" says our gullible Republican spouse - buying into the hype with no examination of the promises, no knowledge of the MAINTENANCE FEES, and no clue that ceding to Flim Flam's nuclear option means that he will threaten and will deploy shutdown again and again.
No, the Pinocchio President and his MORPHING Wall that was never longer than 1000 of the 2000-mile southern boundary, that was touted at least 35-ft high and 5-ft deep (to prevent tunneling), that was concrete then metal slats, and that IS STILL CLAIMED to be on Mexico's dime (through his unproven trade deal & magical replenishment of gov't revenues).
The scope/price tag WILL MORPH UNTIL he's done wielding his Wall - which means that he'll ALWAYS be demanding for the next upgrade. $5.7B is the 5- to 20-percent down payment. Doesn't include annual upkeep. It's bonifide only as a MONEY PIT!
https://www.viatechnik.com/blog/insane-math-behind-trump-wall/
2
Mr. Friedman writes:
"It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance."
I strongly disagree.
To my mind, Trump is not ignorant, or naive, or uneducated, as so many commentators write. And even what he is ignorant about is not anything he wants to be educated about.
By continually giving Trump this excuse for his actions, these commentators are missing the intentional, malicious destruction of our country's democratic institutions by an autocrat fascist hell-bent on becoming the first dictator of the United States.
Trump is not the least bit ignorant or uneducated. He is cunning (and a lot smarter than those who keep writing him off as ignorant or uneducated) and he is very dangerous. Even the word "treason" (which comes closer to the truth of Trump's behavior than "ignorant" or "uneducated") does not describe his deeper and more narcissistic motivation.
Trump really does want our generals to be 'his generals.' He wants the press to be 'his press.' He wants the courts to be 'his courts,' and the Justice Department to be 'his law firm."
He is trying to get full control of the US with every action and word. And he is priming his true-believers to resort to violence in the streets, on his behalf, when he is required to surrender his office.
Trump is the most dangerous criminal in our country. Do not keep underestimating him. He knows exactly where he wants to get, and is doing a very good job of getting there.
5
I don't know how the Supreme Court recovers from the performance of Kavanaugh last Fall.
12
"how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan bent their institution, their branch of government, to Trump’s will" … Mr. Friedman was too kind to McConnell and Ryan.
9
President Trump and Chief Justice Roberts both have a point. Roberts is right about most judges—they put ideology below their duty to be impartial. But there is a reason that many anti-Trump cases are brought in San Francisco. Just as there was a reason that the recent ruling invalidating Obamacare was filed in Texas. Some judges do what they want and ignore the law in favor of politics.
3
I stopped reading after the subtitle. Our institutions were under attack long before now. The left has been waging a war against the institutions of organized religion, the military, and the traditional family going at least back to the 1960s. Those institutions they haven't attacked, they've corrupted. Civil servants are supposed to be the employees of the people, the same people who elected Donald Trump. And yet the level of "resistance" and leaking from inside the government falls somewhere between sedition and a coup.
Trump isn't corrupting anything. He isn't undermining anything. He isn't delegitimizing or subverting anything. All that was taken care of before he even moved into 1600 Pennsylvania.
2
There really should be term limits for Supreme Court Justices. I think 10 years would be just fine.
9
An independent judiciary is only truly independent if there are a broad cross section legal views and demographics on the bench.
Our selection processes are designed to choose judges that represent the views of the majority. In the case of federal judges, whichever party has the majority in the Senate. In the case of many local judges, as elected by the majority of votes
This is a basic weakness of majority rule. Mich McConnell intends on fully exploiting this weakness to pack the federal judiciary as quickly as he can with people that share his point of view. He has stated this openly.
While in independent judiciary is the ideal, in practice it's politics that rule the day.
6
We have to accept any pushback right now, even if small, without worrying about motivation. That's how desperate the situation has become.
5
THANK YOU!!!!
3
Americans need to stop hoping for individuals to save us and get out and vote.
131
@Roy: For the real facts behind the mess our nation is in please read the newest book, "America The Farewell Tour", by Chris Hedges. If, for instance, you ask yourself why is Chief Justice, John Roberts being eulogized here when it was his "Roberts Five" cabal of justices that sold, destroyed our 240 year old electoral system with their "Citizens United" decision. Because, (Para) " . . money is Free Speech and allowing Billions $$$$$ into our electoral system will - never - affect the outcome of an election ." How has that worked out ? And, " . . Voter suppression no longer exists in our nation.", so they, "The Five", repealed the "Voting Rights Act". Brilliant, or NO ? This travesty has been bubbling to fruition for 35 plus years . A slow moving coup d' etat planned and financed with the power and money of the hugely wealthy 'One Percent' families/corporations. They put the "Great Communicator", Ronald Reagan, in the White House, emasculated the countervailing forces of Labor Unions and bought both major political parties. It takes many Millions $$$$$ to get elected to a major political office, so when the entities who supply the cash ask for something they get it, or the "contributions"(bribes?) go to your competitor. Depending upon your age, you have lived trough this whole episode, but didn't connect the dots. This book will do the connecting ! Further, the author, Hedges, has impeccable credentials
6
All of Trump’s actions make sense in the context of acting in the interests of Putin to undermine the concepts and institutions of democracy and freedom. Even this sensless shutdown projects our democracy as chaotic and hurting the people its supposed to serve - which supports Putin’s agenda to cast democracy as inferior to his eay of governing.
2
Actually, it's the Left that's trying to destroy what makes America great. It's the Left that's trying to turn the country into a government-dominated, government-dependent, society where individual freedom is sacrificed to equality-of-results, to sacrifices to the apocalyptic religion of "climate change," to government over-regulation--in lieu of ownership--of "the means of production."
America was never intended to be dominated by any government at all, and least of all by the federal government. But by endless sophistries and power-grabs, the Left keeps more and more intruding the federal government into our lives. Would "the Founders" ever have countenanced Obamacare? Of course not. Would the Founders ever have tolerated "redistribution?"
What gave us strength wasn't our "institutions," it was our people. It wasn't "regulatory foundations" that made America great, it was, among many other things, freedom from over-regulation. It wasn't "regulatory foundations" that "enabled innovation," it was freedom to innovate without the incessant impediment of regulatory hurdles.
It's often been observed in recent years that America's greatness is fading. It's no coincidence that that fade coincides with the growth of the Left's Big Government. As much as the Left wants to think otherwise, American greatness was not, is not, created by government. It was and is created by individuals, often in spite of government
2
@Henry Miller Literally all of my formerly Republican friends, including my Marine friends, have dropped out of the GOP to become Independents/Unaffiliateds over the past couple of decades. Don't think they're "socialists" LOL. They are only "left" in that they've "left" the GOP.
12
You say that the country was never intended to be "dominated" by any government, especially the federal government. You're only acknowledging part of the story. Jeffersonian democrats indeed wanted to minimize the power of the federal government, however they did approve robust state government. The federalists believed in the need for a strong federal government and included many in the founding generation including Washington and Hamilton. Neither group approved of politics in the judiciary. They believed that government should respect the wishes of the majority of the voters in most cases. They disdained the idea of the personal interests of any member of the cover being used to determine policy. You are correct that we do not have this type of government today, but reasoning based on only part of the facts is not accurate.
4
Henry, your case lacks specifics and so is instead just another vague, ideological statement. Friedman cited multiple actions and behaviors of Trump to make his case. You do not; your generalizing is weak and unconvincing.
1
I'm thinking Friedman's motives are a bit disingenuous. I'm thinking he may be throwing down the gauntlet to Justice Roberts to keep up the good work. I'm thinking that the real motivation for this obvious flattery is to goad Justice Roberts to simply "continue doing the right thing". Just sayin'
2
The more President Trump is successful where the previous president was obviously not, the more we see the propaganda machine crank out cover for the establishment.
Just like this piece under which we are commenting.
Nobody gives a rip about roberts, the author and all of his fans as well as his employer would detest the man if not for the obamacare ruling, which was a travesty anyhow.
Enjoy your true recovery.
2
One of the horrors of the Trump Administration for me has been how the truly abnormal has become acceptable to so many people. It’s bad enough that Republicans and people on the right give Trump’s avarice, perversity, vulgarity, and incompetence a pass; people on the left are becoming numb also as one outrage follows another. How long can you stay angry about children being separated from their parents and put into what are basically cages when hours, or minutes, later you learn that Trump wants to pull out of NATO, or he’s trashing a decorated, retired Navy SEAL, or putting an oil and gas lobbyist in charge of the EPA? These are just recent examples; the insanity never stops.
And the media hasn’t seemed to learn a thing about how to counter Trump’s using them for free advertising. I was furious watching the news about Trump’s visit to the border, and he stood there wearing a MAGA hat, using border security agents, the head of Homeland Security, and others as props for what was really just a campaign event; there were other ways to report on the visit without doing PR work for Trump’s 2020 campaign. This exploitation of the media, abetted by the media itself, is just another example of how abnormal things have gotten.
The political environment is starting to seem analogous to the actual environment: a situation that is becoming so damaged and altered that it may be approaching the point of no return.
191
As much as I hate to say it, Mr. Trump and I are in the same cohort, the designation NYS Regents give to students expected to graduate from high school in the same year. Consequently, for us to receive diplomas, we had the same expectations and requirements, uniform around the entire state. These requirements may change from year to year, and Mr. Trump may not remember what he learned, but my group of friends from Mepham High School Class of 1964 do.
New York State required economics, world history, and two years of American history, including in-depth understanding of how New York government works and how the American government works, all three independent parts. I even remember having to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution (and how much easier that was when Schoolhouse Rock set it to music). It didn’t matter that he supposedly graduated from a military academy. All accredited private schools were and still are required to follow the same courses and expectations.
All of which means, somewhere a group of former Social Studies teachers have a lot to answer for, and hopefully the current crop of Social Studies, Civics, History, and Economics teachers realize just how much their teaching can impact our country.
9
Glad to see that John Roberts might be changing his ways. If he doesn't, he could wind up with a legacy that rivals Trump.
6
This is a beautiful piece and should be considered seriously by one and all. Do we want fair and impartial (INDEPENDENT) judges or do we want POLITICAL judges who have a strict agenda in their heads instead of the National good?
3
Let us all hope Mr. Barr uses his discretion with Mueller's report to the benefit of the general public. He should consciously err in favor the public's right to know how and why events unfolded as they did. The governed, too often ignored, deserves more than a whitewash of Russian interference and the fall out from it.
Trump has trumpeted his innocence, utilized the powers of his office to undermine and demean the FBI, Justice Department, and Mueller directly. Hoax and witch hunt labels reinforced daily attached to his pet statement, there is no collusion, no collusion.
Mr.Barr should recognize the President's right to deny an interview with the Mueller team without rewarding him for his silence. He has the discretion to turn the report over the Congress and the public. His offer of a summary indirectly hands Trump and Rudy a victory.
Instead of reading Mueller's analysis and evidence we get the Cliff Notes version from Mr. Barr. Respectfully sir that is not good enough. Make an honest effort to inform your fellow citizens rather than favoring the powerful, hiding behind phrases to justify distorting the facts. The integrity of Mr. Mueller demands clarity on the questions of fact. Did he conduct a witch hunt or lay a hoax on us? The work by his team deserves the daylight to answer the President's allegations.
1
Indeed! We, the People deserve to know exactly what Special Counsel Mueller has found, word per word!
What seems incredible to me is the amount of corruption being exposed as a result of the Trump Presidency. Yes, Trump has commented about the SCOTUS, but we have never had a supreme court Justice weigh in on a presidential candidate (RBG). We have never had this level of high level FBI and DOJ officials get demoted or fired for violating internal policy. Trump didn't cause these people to do this. But Trump's presidency has exposed it to the American people. It's not Trump that is destroying what makes America Great. It is unchecked corruption within the ranks of unelected officials that is destroying America.
3
What evidence to you have of corruption in the FBI or DOJ?! the corruption is squarely on the shoulders of Trump, who has:
1. Fired an FBI Director because he would not end the Russia probe into Michael Flynn.
2. Since when are the Constitutional rights of FBI agents taken away?! When Peter Stcork (sp.?) was revealed to have text his unfavorable opinion about Trump to his mistress he ends up fired! Peter was an expert on Russian counter espionage!
3. Trump who nominated Sessions, berates and bullies AG Sessions, for refusing himself from the Russian Investigation! Sessions was doing what he MUST do under our laws and Constitution!
I could go on, but IF there’s corruption it’s with Donald J Trump and the complicit Republicans!
2
A late comment. Thomas Freidman is an excellent opinion columnist (and he comes from Minnesota). I agree with almost everything said in this piece. But I also agree with a number of comments that do not agree with Friedman's support of John Roberts.
The Citizens United decision has really created a siutation where corporate power over the United States has really put democracy in serious danger. Comments below cite the Koch Brothers and other wealthy individuals. However, the corporate monetary rule over election finance and lobbying has grown and grown since the 1980s. Corporate rule through the dominance of one political party started with Ronald Reagan. Corporate ability to promote oligopoly control over many market areas has had no interference from the Roberts Court (anti-trust law has been largely forgotten). Globally hiding money in tax-free countries means substantial tax avoidance for corporations (and CEOs and CFOs). SEC charges for corporate bribery were substantial under the Obama administration.
Trump is clearly our worst President but the Roberts Court is right up there with him.
7
It's interesting to me that the two countries that Rupert Murdoch has gotten an outsize foothold in - U.S. and U.K. - are both pulling apart at the seems. He seems to have much invested in the empowering of the worst and most xenophobic populations of either country. What is he really trying to accomplish? Is this what he wants? Is it really a matter of power equalling money, and vice versa? The zombie army of bigots he has gotten control of are indeed deplorable, but was he truly hoping to tear apart western civilization so that Russia could rise to dominance? Why?
14
It is great we now have Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic majority in the House.
8
As we have learned since the Reagan Era, the United States has a disproportionate percentage of greedy, selfish, cowardly, proudly ignorant, and hate-filled citizens than the other democracies do. Also definitely the highest percentage of fake "Christians." Deplorable is too kind and generous a word.
12
Geez. Tough times. Friedman touts Roberts but then admits he's not the best example.
3
Underestimating your opponent is virtually always fatal.
3
The right-wing think tanks are on a hell-bent crusade to Right the courts. To bend the law in their favor and to think otherwise is at our nation's peril. When McConnell (who should be arrested for criminal obstruction of governmental administration) prides himself on ignoring the Constitution it's a signal of what's to come. Courts of true law, authored by the people, disappear when their meaning and spirit are ravaged by a politically "conservative" court charged with crushing the peoples' law with a corrupt corporate, racist and fear laden version.
American courts are no longer an idealized fantasy-land version of true judicial independence and impartiality, those days are over.
8
January 16, 2019
We surely test our own system of political decision making opening and with serious regards for our elected leaders. Some are great and some will be great in the future we should expect - for enjoyment ones craft is natural maturity. With smart effective leaders at all levels of our culture we will overcome brand names reductionist fatigue.
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How do we capture the essence of this essay in a political movement and candidate? Who, what words, when, for people who would never read Friedman.
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“Sheer ignorance” + a Narcissistic Personality Disorder + the Power of the Presidency = TRUMP
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All my life - all 60 + years I believed that our democracy was strong and could withstand outside forces. But this inside job? How naive am I? I do believe that there are plenty of people working behind the scenes to undermine this authoritarian rule, and our democracy will prevail. Am I still naive?
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I often wonder whether Trump's word and actions are driven more by ignorance or malevolence. To be sure, he is dangerously ignorant as well as deeply malicious. Add to that his narcissistic personality disorder, and you have a veritable trifecta of pathologies unmatched by any previous president. I guess at the end of the day it doesn't matter why Trump behaves as he does. It only matters that he be stopped before he completely destroys our once-great nation.
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Dead on! That's why I say "Thank God for 'The Deep State','The failing New York Times,' the First Amendment, and those who pursue the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth wherever it takes them."
I do have a minor quibble, while no fan of Fox News, I think they do a better job of presenting legitimate liberal criticism then MSNBC and CNN do of presenting legitimate conservative views.
Fox is pure propaganda. Can’t compare them to MSNBC nor to CNN who do their best to give voice to both sides!
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Neurotic, insecure people by accident or some perverse talent to deceive, can achieve high office . The stress of leadership reveals their incompetence and their overarching insecurity and poor self esteem.
Even when unstressed, the “emperor without clothes” requires the constant affirmation of others that they really are the great leader they imagine.
When criticized for failure or bad judgment, the leader’s response is rage. Scapegoates and enemies must be blamed.By sacrificing subordinates, the flawed leader’s responsibility for his failure is projected onto others. Thereby, his delusions of granduer, and power are preserved.
Legions of acolytes, whose own success depend on the favors of the impaired leader, refuse to act. Constitutional checks and balances are ,thus, ineffective.
The constitution requires mature, reasonable, talented and self-sufficient men and women who recognize the leader’s impairment. Placing national interest and the public welfare above self interest, they may act to minimize the damage.
Since the leadership of the Republican party in the Senate and House has refused to act , only the judiciary led by the example of John Roberts and the other federal appelate courts remain to check our deeply impaired president.
The supreme irony is that without the support of Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, or Kavanaugh The chief justice can only succeed with the vote of a more liberal assiciate justice.
I strongly disagree with the idea that Trump's behavior is explained by ignorance. He probably is ignorant of many things, but the underlying basis of Trump's behavior is that he is only motivated by self-interest. Unless you consider self-interest an ideal (I don't), Trump is completely lacking in ideals. Self-interest completely and fully defines Trump.
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And that’s why today I would like to give a shout-out to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for having the integrity and courage to call Trump out for this behavior but not the courage to call out mitch mcconnell for kidnapping 1/3 of our government because he didn't want the black president sitting another impartial Justice...Merrick Garland.
And for staying completely silent as a potential Justice kavanaugh committed perjury.
Yeah tom, mr. roberts is a real peach.
Mr. roberts is the best money the kochs ever spent.
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Excited for Trump to have the opportunity to pick a new Justice whenever that may happen!
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@J W
If your message is a joke, I don’t find it funny.
If you meant what you said, I hope you don’t have a daughter or you yourself or partner will never need an abortion in case you are a woman.
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@J W Never, I hope.
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@J W
Why? And please show your work and sources that support your answer. I ask this because I cannot understand what outcome you hope for and I honestly do not think you know why or put any serious thought into it, and are simply repeating what FOX, Rush, Hannity, and the rest of those rogues told you to believe.
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Don't worry about Trump. Worry about the millions who voted for him and stand by him to this day. They are the ones who will kill America.
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Chris Wallace has integrity and is an actual journalist, but the rest of Fox, not so much, at least from what I see in my checking it out every so often to hear what they are saying.
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Your comments are spot-on. But Bill Maher has made the exact same point from day one of Trump’s takeover of America. Mr. Maher’s organization has pointed out how Trump’s organization has systematically tried to tear at each branch of our American government and the media to cause hate and discontent. I believe with his 1933 playbook he has followed this proven format, and has been trying to destroy everything America has built so he can become our last President. But his continued distractions of his daily Tweets have prevented our true news agencies from concentrating on his subversive agenda of destroying our EPA regulations and oversight because of the costs to large cooperations. I am sure the Trump organization has profited quite largely for these actions. But this is where I believe his real treason begins, Treason Against Humanity! And he wants to be King Trump and have everyone bow to him. Well he does have the Republican’s in Washington accommodating that need. But I guess this is what happens when a country gets complacent. It is nice to see the majority of America fighting back. I just hope it doesn’t turn to fighting in the streets, because then, according to his playbook, he gets to enact Martial Law as Trump the King. Then he will tell everyone that only he can save America now. We live in troubled times, and I believe that is an understatement of America’s situation. Please keep the information coming. Education is the only way out of this mess.
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@John Paul Lafferty
Mr Trump has already stated that only he has the answers to the world's problems.
Way too many have bought into this idea.
Mr Trump has also said he loves the uneducated. That's insulting and demeaning to my countrymen.
Snake Oil anyone?
Good points! I believe that just as in the latest polls where Trump’s approval keeps dropping (now at35%) the majority will win in the end. Good always beats ....evil!
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Um, wasn't Roberts the one who brought us Citizens United, and overturned the Voting Rights Act?
Seems a little specious to be hailing the corrupt right-wing Federalist Society establishment that brought us to this brink.
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'Greatness' we don't need, certainly not by our own claims. But stoutness of citizen voices we certainly do need to make the country functional again.
No one knows now how long it will take for that kind of upwelling to occur. In the meantime, yes, let's do praise famous men like the Chief Justice who seem to embody the spirit of our laws.
To that end, Thomas, please repeat your message again in these coming months. And find others like yourself to speak up.
It's good Robert's is helping because he certainly helped get us here. Citizen's United. We're all in the dark. Dark money.
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Friedman is wrong. Trump is why America is great. Trump means that you don't have to be a member of the party elitists to be elected president. Trump means that the status quo will not always remain the status quo. Trump is the resistance to the same ol', same ol' that got us to a place where no one was happy with what was going on in D.C.
I'd hold the applause for Justice Roberts. He's done as much as anyone to create the problem in the first place.
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Mr. Friedman;
When 4 Associate Justices of the Supreme Court attend a Federalist Society diner, it clearly validates in its appearance the partisan judicial viewpoint of Trump, and undercuts Roberts' rebuke.
Unfortunately, the reality is that when the stakes are high there are Democratic and Republican Judges which I thought Bush v. Gore made quite obvious.
Alan Seidler
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Knowing Justice Roberts' political leanings, his statement to Trump is as likely to be a warning -- for Trump to go a bit slower in his removal of civil rights, to not push too hard on crazy, and certainly not to alienate his natural allies. Roberts' prior silence speaks loudly - baby steps toward limited liberty and democracy are OK (no response from him), broad provocation is too much (JR applies the brakes), and Trump may freely tread the middle ground. I would dearly love to believe Justice Roberts is concerned about fundamental rights (to make up for historical assaults). But we see evidence of civil rights' and human rights' limitations just about daily. Maybe the term "conservative" will re-emerge in the restoration of traditional practices in our Constitution. I hope, pray, speak, swear and vote that this will happen.
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In "The Nine, Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court," Jeffrey Toobin says that supreme court decisions reflect the views of the politicians who appoint the judges. He cites Bush v. Gore, the decision in which the Supreme Court stopped the recount of votes in the 2000 presidential election, as a prime example of the politicization of this court.
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I am unsure about the headline, which represents the evident conclusion of this column.
What is it that Roberts is trying to save? The high court is a corrupted institution, corrupted by the decisions of the justices in the 2000 presidential election and, just recently, the angry blurted partisanship of Kavanaugh has he sought to save his endangered appoint to the Court. It is corrupted, furthermore, by the intent of the far right to appoint as justices those who, by their record and prior public statements, are virtually guaranteed to rule in favor of the wealthy and against the desires and needs of ordinary citizens. It is even more corrupted by 200+ years of rulings holding African-Americans in their place and pushing them farther down.
Those who become lawyers and who are later trusted with judgeships are, for all intents and purposes, defenders of the status quo. Those who identify as right wingers are even more likely to turn away progressive change and reenforce the privileges of the privileged.
The right in America has vowed to use the courts to get what they cannot get through the ballot and the legislative process. This is corruption of a high order. They also peg their victories at the polls to promising to deliver right wing judges.
I have sat in on Supreme Court oral arguments and visited the interior world wherein federal judges live. There is a fundamental need to re-think the role of judges and the law and to see the flaws clearly once and for all.
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If Chief Justice Roberts really wanted to protect democracy, he would have voted against the deplorable Citizens United ruling which has greatly increased the power of corporate money at the expense of voters and has made the sources of the money far less accountable. He also would have voted against gutting the Voting Rights Act which unleashed a torrent of anti-democratic voter suppression efforts. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether the current supreme court is going to place any limits on partisan gerrymandering. If not, the co-opting of our democracy by monied interests, essentially allowing the wealthy to buy our government.
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The Presidential Oath:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
A beautiful phrase with one important loophole: To the best of my ability"
To a President with no ability except to distort or avoid the truth, who is corrupt and self serving the oath becomes just a collection of words.
God help us all!
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I am quite concerned, that like Trump, a lot of my fellow citizens didn't take high school civics, which explains why they voted for Trump.
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For whatever reason, Friedman and the Times refuse to use the word "lie" when it comes to Trump.
Those who have sought to make change for the better have always faced misinformation and lies. The only difference is that with 500-channel TV and the internet, it is now easier to immerse yourself 24/7 in sources of lies that support whatever it is you already believe.
Almost a half century ago Hannah Arendt wrote, "...lies are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes or expects to hear. He has prepared his story for public consumption with a careful eye to making it credible, whereas reality has the disconcerting habit of confronting us with the unexpected for which we were not prepared." (New York Review; Nov. 18, 1971)
We have managed to elect an entertainer, not a politician, as President. Arendt's words are sadly but perceptively appropriate.
Meanwhile, Friedman's "hope" about Justice Roberts is significant. It is time for the three branches of the American government to reestablish their proper roles in our Constitutionally defined separation of powers. Let us see how Roberts deals with Trump "ordering" unpaid Federal labor. The Constitution's 13th Amendment seems clear on this subject:
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States ...."
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There should be no question in anyone's mind Donald Trump is unfit to be President of the United States. To the degree there are some people who do not realize this, they represent the real danger to our country and its failure.
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The fact that the Roberts court made corporations “people”, does little to make me think they will stand up to the administration or the GOP when it wants a certain outcome. Let’s revisit this theme when the newest Justice leads the charge to strike down Roe v. Wade.
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You should also chastise the media which repeatedly after a controversial decision will point out who appointed the judge who made the decision.
"Justice" Roberts? You mean the "Justice" Roberts who gave us Citizens United? who refused to stand up for Merrick Garland? who went out of his way to clear a path for Kavanaugh? who stuck a knife into the Voting Rights Act? That "Justice" Roberts?
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Dr. Freidman your article exquisitely lays out the dangers we face with Trump as president. I applaud your taking the time to show the extent to which his actions erode our safety nets, both within & without the country. I am reminded of Edmund Burk who said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
McRaven & Roberts have led the charge, and you have documented it well.
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@NM
Dr Friedman?
I don’t know who would award him a doctorate. Maybe Trump University?
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@Blunt
Trump is catching.
Two words: Citizens United.
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@Jann McCarthy - that means that the First Amendment lives.
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@JOK Only if you believe corporations are people and money is the same thing as speech. I do not think either of those is true.
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Justice Roberts knows full well, despite what he said, that alas we do have Obama judges, Trump judges and Clinton judges. (We also have Clarence Thomas, another subject entirely.) We do not have Merrick Garland. Government by platitude.
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Let’s see how our beloved institutions hold up if Mueller, SDNY, the FBI, and possibly Congress reveals that the Trump’s victory was not legitimate. Certainly in that scenario Pence should not be made the successor to the President. And what about the lifetime appointments of an illegitimate President? Everyday it feels like we are teetering closer to this problem. If that occurs, we will finally see what we’re made.
It will make everything that came before feel like a dress rehearsal.
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My faith in the Supreme Court was pretty much scuttled by their Citizens United ruling. That did more to destroy American institutions than anything else because it gave us a toxic political scene in DC.
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I teared up reading this. Seriously. Thank you Mr. Friedman for the reminder about those institutions that we so often ignore in the carnival Trump brought to town. Thank you again.
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Gee, Justice Roberts. Thanks for the comment about judges.
Now, let's talk about the profound damage Citizens United and dark money is doing to our country.
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Roberts and other members of the GOP establishment have not done nearly enough to make it clear that Trump's behavior is frequently destructive of our values and institutions.
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Yes, Old blue, WE THE PEOPLE are the ones who need to make clear our contempt for the 40+ year attempt at a hostile financial/political takeover of OUR United States by the Robber Baron complex - who now controls five justices on OUR U.S. Supreme Court - including Roberts.
There is an immediate way to show our disdain. The third annual "Women's March" is scheduled for this Saturday, January 19, in cities and towns across OUR United States of America and the world.
The link with information is below. Scroll down on the page to the "sister marches" to find a march near you. The media has not promoted the march - again - but it's one of the most important ways to show our contempt for The Con Don, his shutdown of OUR government and his corruption. All people may participate - it's not for women only. Every government employee and every military person - and their family members - should join the march to say NO. No more shutdown. NO WW3.
Please, Good People, help get the word out and let's march in numbers never seen before. Take a sign that supports your main concern. Let's show the world what really makes America great. WE THE PEOPLE.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE TO STAND UP FOR OUR COUNTRY.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/womensmarch2019
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I can't help but wonder how things will look after the GOP Senate, with the help of the Federalist Society, has stacked the courts with conservative judges who may not, in the future, be liable to stem the tide of bad ideas as they have (mostly) so far in the Trump Administration. Are we sure these aren't 'Trump judges?' or 'McConnell judges?' I'm not. Holding our breath for RBG's continued health is not a great model to live by either.
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Question: Why is America seemingly sleepwalking towards fascism? So many causes, trends, reasons and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey blame-shiftings are offered as explanations. Perhaps, though, the mantle beneath the bedrock beneath the soil of all this is that more and more of the American people are utterly ignorant of what truly happened in the 1930s and through the Second World War. People who lived through those times, and those who have imprinted upon them vicarious memories instilled by participants or witnesses of this apocalypse, are disappearing from the face of the Earth. To grasp anything at all about what happened, and the slow, shameful slide into the abyss, is to be alert and fearful of all the events we are seeing presently.
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And when the history taught in high school is mostly mythology and some colleges are even thinking of dropping history as a field of study, we are losing knowledge of what’s happened before we were born.
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“All Governments govern via the consent of the governed.” When I first heard this from an Air War College speaker in 1974, my first thought was that the speaker had never heard of Hitler or Stalin. Giving it more thought, I concluded that the speaker was correct. We can collectively get rid of our would be dictator by simply staying home and not showing up for work. It wouldn’t take long. America is facing its most dangerous moment in our history, worse than the Civil War. Our democratic republic is in peril. We are facing Benjamin Franklin’s “If you can keep it” crisis. We have to get rid of Trump.
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I wish the courts and/or the Congress could find a way to revisit and overturn Citizens United.
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Tom you were part right when you titled you book "Hot, Flat and Crowded." It should have been "Crowded, Hot, and Flat."
The elite are clueless. With 81,000,000 net souls added to this planet every day our first concern has to be "Crowded." It is not an after thought.
Everything flows from overpopulation. This is exacerbated by technology developments which replaces the need for human labor. Not a Luddite -- its just the truth.
We need to learn how to live sustainably, with a sustainable population, and not define ourselves by or work and what we consume.
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The population growth is 83 million every year, not every day, though the point still holds.
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@JWinder yes, that is correct thank you
Standing Orders: We protect our country not its or our own political beliefs.
So essentially he’s now trying to save what he played a part in critically wounding.
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The 'acid test' will be when - no, if - the election of Donald Trump is shown to have been won by gaming the system to deny the American people a free and fair election, will the Chief Justice call for the resignation of any and all lifetime appointments made by an ostensibly illegitimate officeholder? I can't see a judicial rationale to permit any other outcome but am pretty sure the GOP will attempt to find a way to pretend that Trump's corrosive input into our judicial system is 'regrettable but cannot be undone'. I can hear the words coming out of Mitch McConnell's mouth as I type them. How absurd would that be? It's like letting the cheapo paint job the guy who carjacked your Bimmer stay sprayed on until it flakes off.
Election thieves ought not get to name members for life of our judiciary.
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Canada and not America is the great. Canada has guts to stand up to S Arabia at a great economical loss to it and it welcomes migrants from all over the world and grants citizenship to qaulified people in the shortest period
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Roberts can afford to stand on his newly discovered principles since McConnell handed him another conservative Justice, the seat stolen from Obama. And now he worries about the SCOTUS image? With the suspiciously quick departure of Justice Kennedy, I consider SCOTUS tainted beyond repair.
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Having to rely on Chief Justice Roberts to save and protect our core democratic norms and institutions is a desperation expedient that leans upon a weak reed indeed - however much better he may be than the lackeys of the fringe Federalist Society who otherwise have full charge of the Supreme Court .
But, apart from that tactical hail Mary, Friedman provides us here with one of the most succinct and trenchant accounts I have seen of the nature and depth of the great danger presented to our country and its Constitution - in both its written and unwritten components - because of the appalling incompetence of the reckless fool our clueless electorate has placed in charge of the executive branch.
As a self-serving con artist entirely out of his depth, Donald Trump has in the space of a mere two years not only inflicted enormous damage on our polity and upon the alliances that have espoused and defended liberal and democratic values internationally; he has, in addition, provided autocratic regimes around the globe with a great example for them to invoke in support of their argument that democracies are incapable of being well governed.
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"Responding to a query made by The Associated Press, Chief Justice Roberts said: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”"
Citizen's United, Janus and Corporations are people. Partisan
hacks in wizard cloaks.
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You forgot to mention that Trump works for Putin and that's why he is doing everything he can to undermine our democracy. Let's also not forget that just about every member of the GOP are in lockstep behind him, also proxies for Vladimir. This is our reality, nothing less.
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As is being now proven, and has been repeatedly for decades, it is the average American who makes America the great nation. Since the 1970s, it has solely been politicians eroding that greatness, which was forged from blood on the battlefields of Europe and oceans of the world, and from sheer hard work in the factories and on the docks to sustain that fight. Politicians have been riding on the back of that hard-fought war for decades - no different to the British riding on the back of a non-existent empire. Complacency has gotten us to this point, and complacency is complicit in exacerbating everything that is wrong with allowing a demented man to control the helm -- and more than willing to steer it to disaster if it will save himself; just like every egomaniacal dictator before him. The Republicans have been a disgrace, an unhinged failure at every level for the past two years. Politicians, pick up a history book and read it! Then pick up another and actually begin to learn something. You just might find the similarities, the dangerous similarities. Moreover, you might also find the solution.
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@njglea
Please let’s stop this “Great” story. No nation is great. The USA is not and it’s people are not. Jingoism does not get us anywhere. Empty rhetoric gets us GW Bush and DJ Trump.
If we were great we would not have those guys elected as Presidents, and we would not have Cheney and Pence as Vices.
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Mr. Friedman: Although I agree with your point that Trump never took civics or appreciated the concept of the separation of powers, and I agree also that much of it is indeed ignorance, I think more directly the larger problem is that Trump is a diagnosed malignant narcissist. Everything that comes into Trump's world is judged by how it encourages or deifies Trump, or if he can use it to do so. This is the first and the last hurdle anything must pass for Trump. Ignorance comes from that too.
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The republicans are not spineless. They have power and they want to use it to accomplish their agenda of less government, control of the supreme court and their every man for himself philosophy. Get rid of SS, get rid of food stamps, etc.
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Corruption does not come on all at once, it creeps in like a fog little by little. The carrier of this virus is excessive partisanship on the part of ordinary citizens, especially as exhibited by the far right in America who have been told, and have come to believe, the idea that citizens, person to person, are involved in a fight to the death to defeat ugly liberals who seek not just to change, but to undermine and destroy American values and America itself. This is the old red baiting transmogrified into a new form.
We who are citizens, living our daily lives outside the swirl of political passions, should never think of ourselves or become harsh partisans. We should never assume that most of those who think and vote differently are our enemies. We should never take the bait offered by eager, grubby politicians and their propaganda spewing media supporters and parrot their words of anger, distrust and hatred. These things should be left to politicians, activists and full time campaigners. It does not become us to take on their battles nor to seek to scream from the sidelines the "talking points" of those who are highly paid to create division.
Trump's words are most often those of a thug intent on getting his way over all others. Why do so many citizens not only tolerate this but welcome it? Partisanship.
We are a great nation with an incredible history of progressive change and extension of humanity and rights to more and more. Why are so many silent in this crisis?
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Sad...so very sad!
"It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance."
But that means "a lot of it" still is malevolence. Wise folks have said that you can deal with the smart and evil person, and you can deal with the ignorant and nice person. But the worst is dealing with the someone both ignorant and evil because that combination is the most unpredictable.
Trump's selfishness covers both his ignorance and malevolence. He is too selfish to think he needs to learn anything and so selfish about corrupting the government for his own ends that the results are malevolent. I doubt any other president, even the worst in our history, has displayed such selfishness.
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Interesting that Mr. Friedman bemoans Trump's undermining of the "independence ... of ... our military ...." If there is any institution that we have never allowed to be "independent" and never want to be "independent" it is the military. It is very dangerous when anti-Trump sentiment turns into mad ideas such as that the military should not be under the control of the country's civilian leadership, even if the civilian leadership is not to our particular tastes...
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We cannot depend on the judiciary as its flooded with anti democratic judges. Many appointed this past 2 years did not even get ABA approval. Unprecedented! Roberts damaged our rights with his Citizens United decision and eliminating part of the Voting Rights legislation. Roberts should use his righteousness, not to defend his court, but the just needs of every person in our nation.
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Chief Justice Roberts is treated kindly in this opinion piece. However, in my view Roberts has much to atone for, things like the Citizens United decision that allowed the flood of money, much of it dark money, into our political system. He's got to share the responsibility for this and many other 'decisions' that have enhanced corruption in our nation's political system.
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I agree with your comment, but at this point in our history I believe we need to look to Justice Roberts to moderate the obviously partisan judges seated by this flawed President. I think he sees clearly the damage that could be done to our Democracy and will align himself with the more moderate point of view.
1
Hope and possibility have always resided within our institutions and people who try each day to do their jobs with their belief in America. We may not all have the courage to speak up but the ones who do make the rest of us better. I am thankful for Sally Yates and those mentioned by Mr. Friedman. There are many more doing what is right without much recognition but their contribution to American democracy and our government is essential daily. Thank you Mr. Friedman for a very important reminder of who we are with our many flaws.
Friedman refers to the supposedly desirable "independence and nonpartisan character of our courts, our military, our F.B.I., our Border Patrol and our whole federal bureaucracy." The judiciary indeed is supposed to be independent. I don't think the military or Border Patrol etc is supposed to be independent. I think they are supposed to be supervised and to take orders from their civilian leadership. I don't think most of us would want an "independent" military.
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Absolutely! The military should in no way be independent. Military, FBI etc need to be politically neutral, but their powers need oversight from elected officials.
1
WE THE PEOPLE are what makes America great.
There is a way to show the supposed "power brokers" that truth. The third annual "Women's March" is scheduled for this Saturday, January 19, in cities and towns across OUR United States of America and the world.
The link with information is below. Scroll down on the page to the "sister marches" to find a march near you. The media has not promoted the march - again - but it's one of the most important ways to show our contempt for The Con Don, his shutdown of OUR government and his corruption. All people may participate - it's not for women only.
Please, Good People, help get the word out and let's march in numbers never seen before.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE TO STAND UP FOR OUR COUNTRY.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/womensmarch2019
1
@njglea
Please let’s stop this “Great” story. No nation is great. The USA is not and it’s people are not. Jingoism does not get us anywhere. Empty rhetoric gets us GW Bush and DJ Trump.
If we were great we would not have those guys elected as Presidents, and we would not have Cheney and Pence as Vices.
5
As usual, You put it so beautifully and succinctly.
The critical importance of our country's non-partisan institutions, and Mr. Trump's constant undermining of them, cannot be overstated. This topic gets far too little attention from journalists, who have spent decades under the impression that their job is to undermine the credibility of any and all sources of authority -- often regardless of facts.
In the face of Trump, Republicans have abandoned all pretense of principle, and Democrats have doubled down on identity politics as their only value. Who is left to defend the institutions of democracy itself?
3
Our institutions are barely being held together.
We all need to hope and pray that Justice Ginsburg stays healthy enough to serve at least until 2022; if she were to pass before then, giving Trump the ability to nominate another justice in the mold of Scalia, Thomas or even Gorsuch, then any semblance of an independent judiciary at the highest level of that branch of government is gone for decades.
Clearly, our founding fathers didn't even envision the likes of Trump or today's Republican Party.
3
Trump has a very long history of stiffing his creditors. And for not caring one jot about the consequences for others. 3500 to 4000 legal cases tells a story. The shutdown is more of the same attitude. He does not care about the consequences for anyone else, especially the little guy.
3
Trump’s Presidency is not the cause of our democracy’s dismantling, but rather the most alarming indication of how far we have already fallen.
“At their best, these institutions have created the regulatory foundations and legal and security frameworks that have made America great”. It has been a very long time since many of our institutions have operated at their best. Newt Gingrich welcomed a parade of the lobbyists into every crevice of government, and enables a Congress that serves the agendas of Koch brothers and their ilk, NOT the American people. Reagan, Clinton and Bush deregulated many sectors of our economy (banking, mortgage lending, food, pharma, etc.), leaving Americans unprotected from shady lending practices, poisonous plastics, chemicals and food ingredients that aren’t allowed in China or the EU, and obscenely high drug prices. The very conservative SCOTUS has protected the free speech of corporations while gutting the rights of real citizens to vote.
Trump may never have taken a civics class, but the rest of America better do so, and fast!
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So the federal bureaucracy or "swamp" is what makes America great? (Actual swamps, like the Atchafalaya, DO make America great, IMO.) If your livelihood depends greatly on federal bureacracy, this view makes sense. But for all other taxpayers who contribute to it, it can seem a poor return. Fortunately, it IS possible to tighten society's safety net without expanding the federal government. We can expand services and support MORE LOCALLY, where it is actually applied. If we can also promote commerce more locally, we may just have something to leave our grandkids.
IMO, the locii of citizen and government activities in our social network should be at the same scale or level. Physics suggests, unfortunately, that it may be hard to regulate our complex, socioeconomic system efficiently if it remains an "open system", i.e. it's hard to clean up your household if it doesn't have borders or walls and blends in with the neighboring households.
1
The Supreme court is there to uphold the Constitution, the DOJ is there to uphold the law. Neither are in the business of politics. The voters, the Electoral College and Congress are the only entities that can get rid of Trump. Move voting day to a Sunday, eliminate gerrymandering, obstacles to vote, and you have the change you want.
2
While Mr. Trump merits a lot of focus, even more so does Senator McConnell. He needs to feel the responsibility for what he is enabling. This isn't just politics; it is an attempted subversion of democracy. The NYT and others should profile the senator a lot more.
10
THIS COMMENT WAS INCORRECTLY ATTACHED TO THE "BREXIT" OPED INSTEAD OF TOM FRIEDMAN.
If the Chief Justice of the United States is serious about guarding an independent and non-partisan judiciary, he should tell the nation that the sort of partisan statements made by Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing violated the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, that these sorts of statements by federal judges will not be tolerated, that Justice Kavanaugh recognizes that his statements ran afoul of the Code, that Justice Kavanaugh asked the Chief Justice to express his sincere regrets to his fellow judges and to the nation, and that Justice Kavanaugh assured the Chief Justice he would disqualify himself from any contentious case where the two political parties are in direct conflict to avoid the appearance of bias. Donald Trump is not the only person who has dishonored the judiciary.
6
Trump endangers national security and does not have the knowledge or disposition to be president. The 25th amendment should be invoked.
2
A valid and important observation by Mr. Friedman. Let us not forget to add a free democratic press to the list of maligned institutions by this president. The simple fact is this man is not worthy of the high office he holds, at least not in a democracy. Perhaps he would be happier in a banana republic. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have remained silent even as Trump tramples these institutions. We need more individuals to speak out against the dangerous behavior that is tearing apart the fabric of our country.
3
It was the Roberts' court that gave us Citizen's United. Until this wrong is righted, our country is compromised by special interests.
Roberts having a backbone now is years late.
8
Really.....? Is it always so necessary for American thinkers to preface or end with notions of American exceptionalism?? This requirement of sentiment seems second only to that of being “blessed by God” - (while no doubt he/she also blesses other countries.....yes, yes... I am sure the USA is her/his favourite)
The separation of powers and placement of checks and balances is hardly unique to the USA?? The concept of separating governmental powers in an effort to balance the forces of government can be traced back to the ancient Greece and beyond - and (I think) is a key feature of democracies worldwide - to some degree or other.
But YES PLEASE AMERICA - find ways to protect & strengthen your institutions against the current forces of populism, anti intellectualism and technological malfeasance - we do need you to “be able” to stand up to that.
Just submit that a little less flag waiving, chest thumping and “needs to be special” would strengthen your leadership role rather than diminish it.
6
It is possible, though unlikely, that Trump is an unwitting agent of Putin. At this point we still don’t have a way to grasp the depths of his ignorance. McConnell, on the other hand, gets no such pass. He is enabling Russia’s machinations with malice aforethought.
3
“It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance. I don’t think Trump ever took civics. I don’t think he ever understood the separation of powers or the meaning of independent agencies. That’s why the shutdown doesn’t bother him. His instincts are those of a banana republic dictator.”
Seriously?? Trump is taking a torch to our institutions and everything good that this country stands for because doesn’t know any better? I would forgive this assessment from you, Mr. Friedman, in 2015, perhaps. After this long, it is abundantly clear that it is malevolence and amorality. Trump cares about nothing and nobody other than his bank account and being able to go to rallies and feel adored. Plus of course, it is becoming clearer and clearer that he is Putin’s agent in America, seeking to sow chaos and destroy not only America’s institutions, but those of our alliances as well. (Putin and his minions probably are able to control him because they have a hook into his bank account and because they pretend to adore him.)
Mr. Friedman, please wake up - the future of our country and our world are in great peril.
2
Democracies die when their leaders do not believe in democracy. I fear for the United States.
1
Does Friedman actually believe this?
I hate to sound too jaded, but let’s face it.
As long as your paycheck depends on “what you write”, true journalism can’t exist.
Roberts’ views generally have little to do with what’s good for the country, and a lot to do with what is best for the richest people in the country.
Like this administration, he is interested in what is best for himself.
And a high profile, wealthy journalist is no different.
As Les Moonves said during the 2016 presidential campaign, “it may be bad for the country, but it’s great for CBS”.
I guess Roberts was right on one thing, money is speech, and that’s a bad thing.
4
There s not a doubt in my mind that he is and will be the worst president of our lifetimes. By far.
4
Re-read Erik Larsen's In the Garden of Beasts detailing the experiences of the American ambassador and his family in Hitler's Germany, noting the astonishing and frightening parallels to our own day. Regardless of what happens with Trump, America will remain in dangerous circumstances for years. The individuals and dynamics putting him in place will most assuredly be working to establish a more competent tyrant.
7
Great article. Thank you. It inspires hope to me sort of.
One "high fastball" hardly balances Roberts' vote in Citizens United. The gerrymandering cases in the upcoming term will tell much more about Roberts' true grit.
6
And this and other upcoming votes will tell us a lot about Kavanaugh et al and whether the Constitution or politics guide them. We will know by their actions if there really is any JUSTICE left in this country!
1
It's time for General Mattis, Rex Tillerson, and others to come forward and tell the country what they know about this presidency. Lay it bare for the American people.
9
"This is not a test. This is a real, live emergency."
-cue the blood curdling squeal of the emergency broadcasting system
"I’ve spent four decades reporting from countries with weak institutions — like Russia, China, every Arab state, Turkey, Iran, Venezuela — where the arbitrary whims of the leader or his party are the basis of all decision-making, not the rule of law, built on independent institutions. "
-6 more years of Trump and we are China at least, Russia at the worse
“It’s an incredibly dangerous cycle. In countries where democracy breaks down, you have institutions of the state that do not serve the people — they serve political parties’ interests. And when people stop believing that security protects people equally,"
-This is exactly how democracy dies
"We owe these people a debt for their civic courage, because the biggest national security threat to our country today is from within "
-all evil needs to grow root is that good men stay silent and let it grow
"That threat is from a president without any shame or respect for the impartiality of our core institutions, who is backed by a party without any spine and by a network, Fox,"
-Donald trump is the first president to have his own broadcasting network, which defends every word he says without question
One of the best essays Friedman has ever written, and maybe the most important.
5
What would it say about the institutions of our 250 year old democracy if they could be taken down in two years by a deceitful carny barker? The weakness lies in a congress that seems frozen in fear and will take no action against Trump - yet. A military that is working without pay? Other government workers called to work without pay? How about a national strike. 71 million people did not vote for Trump. A good time for a few of us to show up on the White House lawn. Our institutions can survive this - but we need to get Trump out and start repairing the damage.
2
When I was in Central America 2 months ago, several people to,d me at different times and in different countries that the USA now had “the type of leader we try hard to get rid of”.
5
Most eloquent!
I think many of us, myself included, had become a bit lazy and took our democracy for granted despite whatever flaws it has. I am guilty of it. But now we have to work to vote the devil himself out of office. Somehow I think that would be better than impeachment, as people would have to get involved in our country again. I have not walked neighborhoods and knocked on doors in many years but I am ready to hit the road.
4
What makes America great is its citizens, there are just to many holes in our Constitution for it alone to protect us. There are no checks and balances if the likes Mitch McConnell and his fellow Senators do not stand up to the immoral and unconstitutional actions of a president who just happens to be in their political party. Justice Roberts and Mr Friedman understand this and it is time that all Republicans look reality in the face and see the damage this president is doing to our country and our Constitution and stop the damage.
1
"...the the biggest national security threat to our country today is from within from within"
No more beating around the bush. The biggest national security threat to our country today is from the GOP. The anti-democratic, party over country and power over principles GOP.
5
Only question left: why didn't the Chief Justice spoke up "there are no Obama judges" when Judge Garland was by passed?
7
Absolutely T. Friedman. Keep writing the best context !
In 1947 a Vermont school principal, Doris E. Robbins, wrote an essay ("Everybody's Business") on how Vermont's government worked. She reminded people that it was the citizen's duty to get the right people in office. "Any effective government needs some professionals (though Vermont uses fewer than most states); only the voters can make sure that these professionals are true public servants rather than selfish, shifty politicians in the bad sense." The innocence underlying this comment comes from another age, founded as it was on reason and responsibility and trust in the vote. R.I.P.
2
If most of the 800,000 federal workers are Democrats, is this one of the reasons why the government shutdown continues, with no impasse in sight? This is such a shame. And, even one of the federal judges refusing to support the workers' union plight.
We have one of the greatest democracies. We set the example to the whole wide world. Those countries that emulated and followed our model, are far better off, making wiser decisions.
Unfortunately, we are seeing a different situation in our country today. People's trust in our elected leaders have eroded. Today's Opinion, says it all.
People will depend much on the Judicial Branch to make decisions impartially. They have a duty to safeguard our country's Constitution, our institutions and values. The fact that those selected to serve in the SCOTUS, are political appointments, is what makes us all doubt if the justices will follow ideology, or serve the best interests of the people and country? One would not know, until a decision is made.
4
It now seems inevitable that the day is approaching when John Roberts will have to make a decision concerning Donald Trump. That decision, however, will not be delivered in a speech but from the bench in the Supreme Court of the United States. In whatever form the case comes before the Court, the fundamental question will be whether one man is above the law. That day will be the true test of the Chief Justice's mettle.
8
If our "institutions" factored into our "greatness", then it should be recalled that President Reagan presaged the Republican Party's concerted effort to undermine our institutions when he argued that our own government is the source of many of our problems. It should also be recalled that the Federalist Society largely shares Reagan's philosophy on this point and that John Roberts is a member of the Federalist Society, along with 5 other supreme court justices. If America is to become great again, in other words, it's unlikely to be due to the actions of the Supreme Court...with or without John Roberts. We'll need to look elsewhere.
3
The judiciary is going to run out of money on 1/25/19.
If the United States of America is to survive the 45th presidency, the courts need to function as prescribed by the Constitution.
The Trump shutdown is damaging the country, but giving in to his ransom demands isn't the way to do it - the Article 1 body needs to override the Article 2 disaster.
7
these are terrific sentiments, mr. friedman, but they are not accurate. too many federal judges today are not "non-partisan". most republican appointed judges are politicians first.
everyone familiar with the history of judicial appointments since the reagan administration introduced its rigorous "litmus-testing" of potential federal judges understands that the republicans have made the judiciary a political battleground--at least for them.
so, let's attempt to motivate a change--many would love to see a non-partisan "nominating commission" for federal judges, taking at least some of that authority from the president.
until that happens, though, democrats will have to learn to prioritize and fight to "balance" the make-up of the federal judiciary, including the supreme court, to prevent the federal judiciary from slipping in its public perception to an outpost of white house p.r. broadsides.
today, opinions by justices thomas and alito and, possibly, the trump appointees (we don't know yet) will
be regarded as broadsides from sarah huckabee sanders.
4
As a foreigner (who has spent a lot of time in this country since 1968), I am flabbergasted by the time and energy spent by American politicians, journalists, historians, intellectuals of all kinds, to decide when and whether the US of A are, were, will be, great, greater, the greatest. Despite Justice Roberts and countless "g.o.a.t.s" in all kinds of domains, how can a country that chose "the stable genius" Donald Trump as its leader be undisputably great ? Trying obsessively to reassure yourself by asserting that you are great is, I believe, a symptom of deep and dangerous insecurity. I find it disturbing for such a powerful (sometimes great, sometimes not) nation. And worrisome for the rest of the world. JL
9
@Jean Lesieur
We have Cheeto, France has Macron. Let he who lives in a glass house throw the first stone.
Roberts and the Federalist will go down in history as the cause for America's loss of freedom, and the possible end of democracy as we know it. Dear Roberts, lobbyist, and republican not just for me but for our children please put people before money.
2
The broader question is -- where are the Republicans that call themselves patriots every chance they get? How rich is it that history will show the Democrats as the true patriots and defenders of our country, while Republicans like Ryan and Senators like Graham and Susan Collins cowered, afraid to call out the clear and present danger to our country that Trump represents. And while the article is decidedly non-partisan, should it be?? Congress was built as a co-equal branch, along with the judiciary, as a system of checks and balances. We would not be in this situation if the cowardly, amoral Republicans weren't so worried about their own political skins. Where is the patriotism? Instead, they pander to a yahoo group of white and largely uneducated men who are scared to death of losing their standing. In that way, their senators and congresspeople reflect their concerns.
6
A good column, Mr. Friedman, but I have a quibble. There is no mention of those "independent agencies" you love so much in our Constitution. They improperly wield executive, legislative and judicial power with no obvious home in our Constitutional system. They are far more dangerous to our liberties in the long term than Mr. Trump.
2
I would take issue with several points in the second half of Mr. Friedman's thesis. The senate and the electoral college system were deliberately designed to be conservative--specifically, to conserve the institution of slavery--in order to gain ratification of the Constitution by the southern states. More immediately, although he may have saved the ACA, Roberts has been a leader in the destruction of the Voting Rights Act, and the principle of one person-one vote through his endorsement of unlimited avenues for campaign donations and spending. Trump is a destroyer, but Roberts is an enabler of the destruction of our most egalitarian institutions, now and in the future, even if he personally dislikes the current president.
8
Justice Roberts should have written an open letter to Mitch McConnell back when McConnell refused a hearing for Obama's SCOTUS nomination of Merrick Garland. That was partisan politics, and Roberts remained silent. Roberts should have come out publicly against his court being short-handed because of Republican manipulation of the process.
Roberts' court is already stacked, and he let it happen.
20
But the institutions are conservative and liberal...that is a fact, and he is reacting to it.
1
Well, it is not all pristine. Yes, the US has institutions that make it different from a large number of countries. But let us not forget, the SC elected President of the US in 2000. Dont forget who allowed big money to influence elections? Who allowed fair Voting Law to become meaningless? Dont forget FBI's Comey triggered the defeat of Hillary Clinton by inserting himself in the campaign by unfounded assertion that he had some evidence after all. Why forget Hoover's 50 years at FBI. He is widely suspected for the murder of Mr. King.
3
Is this the end of democracy?
2
I guess if you think telling women what they can do with their own bodies and lives, suppressing voting rights, saying an individuals "religious" rights give employers a right to dictate to employees and saying money is free speech are right John Roberts is "saving" America.
I do not. He is a corporate/catholic operative who would take us back to roman/catholic times.
NO. Not now. Not ever again.
9
when you slaughter the ship and the get flesh out of it you have to salt the flesh to avoid of decaying ,but what will you going to do when the salt starting to decay.United States is the salt of the countries that are administrating under dictators .What will we do If this country starts to decay.
Every member of the Supreme Court worked to undermine justice when they went to Congress and refused to answer questions on their suitability.
None of them believe in an independent court if they believe that timed retirement is a morally just way of composing the court. Further, none spoke out when votes to fill the court didn't happen.
They pretend to be above the fray, but that is a lie. It is a lie about the nature of the court, and liars should not be judges.
Our courts have constantly failed us. And Justice Roberts is no great Republican savior. Because if it wasn't about his party, Mr Friedman would not be discussing him.
That is the reality. The court is a sham, and needs drastic reform. That is a brutal truth. But truth is the basis for justice.
5
Kaptain Kaos is not just ignorant, he is also malevolent. His world view is such that he thinks the position of president is the same in the U.S. as it is in Russia. He thinks he should have the same influence as Putin. He has always run his company that way and doesn't see why he can't run the government the same way. And, of course, the RepubliCONs are willing to allow him to do it so they can achieve their stated goals of reducing the size of government and enriching their donors. In fact, I think many believe that the current shutdown is a good thing since it dramatically reduces the government.
I hope we survive until 2020 so this can be fixed at the polls.
5
Securities agencies writing insurance policies against voters stupidity. Don’t know a country where that worked out well. Let’s call it loose- loose. The press complicity cost them and is costing them dearly. The subscriptions jump by upset partisans is not worth it. Too late.
Mau-Mauing Roberts probably works but to what greater purpose? He cannot restore the establishments’ legitimacy. Nor will Trump’s departure.
"Other times he’s disappointed liberals and will surely do so again. Judges judge."
Citizens United, of course, but he also buried the large stack of complaints filed against Kavanaugh.
5
Citizens United? The unconstitutional blocking of a Supreme Court nominee for almost a year, with no guidance from the courts? We're not buying the hot air in this overinflated article.
There is always hope that Roberts will have his 'Auldgrace' moment, but judging from his track record it's unlikely.
9
Greed:
Greed dictates Trumps entire motivation, he became president to enrich himself and his family.....end of mystery!
He went to Russia looking to make money, what a better position to do so, than as the president of the United States.
Jackpot!
7
Our country has fallen so far down that we applaud one comment made by one (wholely partisan) judge from a few weeks ago?
This constitutes "saving" America?
I guess as a pundit, it's hard to churn out columns week after week, and you sometimes have to scrape the bottom of the barrel....
4
"It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance."
It's neither malevolence nor ignorance: the President acts out of cynicism having come of age in the golden era of the rule of law, got away with everything. Don't fancy going to Vietnam? Get Dad's tenant, the doctor, to cook up bone spurs. Want to discriminate against black people in housing opportunities? Deny, deny, deny and then pay a fine. Treat women like disposable napkins? Who cares. Lie? so what. He long ago figured out that the rule of law is for suckers; influence and power are all that matter. Nixon? He should have thumbed his nose at the Congress and the Supreme Court. He should have made sure he had, by virtue of blackmail or other means, enough juice to prevent the 67th vote to convict in the Senate. As long as he pays his debt to his handler, Vladimir, and delivers NATO on a silver platter, after he's left office, V will take care of him. The only justice would be for his new AG William Barr to smile that sardonic smile of his as he holds the door open for his friend 'Bob' Mueller at the take-down.
1
Now we'll have to see what Justice Roberts and SCOTUS do when our Wannabe Supreme Leader for Life refuses to leave the White House at Noon on January 20, 2021, should he lose the election in 2020. Will he and the Court uphold the Rule of Law?
2
I say and say again: Trump is a reflection of the millions of Americans who support him. They have what they want in Trump complete with his racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and authoritarianism.
2
tRump is a wrecking ball intent on destroying our country's institutions because they do not accommodate his dictatorial impulses. He is a spoiled brat who only sees the world through his own lens. He in no way is a business man or developer, he is a con man and a grifter who has been put in the position of not getting everything he wants and he therefore intends to destroy that which will not bow down to him. The GOP has sealed their fate by co-opting with him. I would not vote for a repub if they were running against the devil himself. What tRump and McConnell are doing to our judicial system is a crime, what they have done to the federal employees who are not being paid should put them in jail.
6
If Mr. Trump has a chance to appoint
one or two more judges to the supreme
court, the quality of the court will
deteriorate too. I wasn't too impressed
with Mr. kavannaugh. Time will tell how
he turns out. The fact that justices
Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and probably
Kavannaugh consistently vote along
conservative line shows ideological
bias in interpreting law. Sometime
they fail to see big picutre like on
Citizen United and its effects on
spawning corruption in politics and
policy making a hostage to the wealthy
donors. issues like gun control, climate
change, drug prices or health care in
general and perpetual wars remain
at the mercy of what the 1% want
and not the majority of the people.
It has infilicted serious damage on
democracy.
1
734 days until January 20, 2021, when the Trumpster is unpresidented, and this four-year, chaotic nightmare will come to an end. Let's work to that goal and let nothing stop us. Nothing. Our future as a democracy is at stake.
3
"U.S. troops are fighting in Afghanistan to prevent terrorists from reaching ‘our shores again.’”
I've heard a few of my brothers and sisters in arms make this declaration but it seems like a platitude to make the invasion of Iraq more palatable. But in fact we were provoked into sending our troops where they could be killed in numbers far greater than the terrorists could have managed had we kept our people home (on the "positive" side: lots of tax money shoveled into Halliburton's no-bid contract to provide subpar goods and services to the troops).
Don't thank us for our service; that seems like a form of virtue signalling and an attempt to assuage guilt you may have over our national mania for warfare. Instead please work to keep amoral thieves and incompetent dunderheads from taking control of the executive branch and getting our people killed.
4
Excellent. Despite political leanings, every justice knows “that central to our system is that every American is able to expect an impartial hearing before those judges, who, once they assume their place on the bench, should be loyal only to the Constitution and their interpretations of it.”
Now about the “party without any spine”. What must be obvious to the great majority of Republican members of Congress is that, by any standard of Presidential competency, Trump is incompetent. What is also obvious is that Trump is immoral by any standard of morality.
I remain an optimist in this regard. I do believe that enough Republicans in Congress will grow some spine and deal with this.
2
Mr. Trump has managed to revive the Confederacy with his shutdown. Federal workers toiling with ZERO PAY for the "MASTER". Slavery is alive and well under Mr. Trump.
This is a man who has a long history, in his personal business activities, of cheating contractors and their workers out of their pay via bankruptcy court. And his comments about all Federal workers being Democrats, indicated that as a leader, they are not worthy of pay for their work. You must worship or be punished by the "Master."
I keep praying that my friends with federal jobs, mortgages, tuition to pay and other bills will receive more respect from the GOP and their mentally challenged leader. So far, their issues are quite secondary to finger pointing over an issue they failed to handle when in charge of Congress themselves.
Their failure should not be ours. It is indeed, time for all of America to consider the impeachment of a man who prefers conflict over justice or peace.
Americans can solve the border problems, but I suspect only when they face the reality of their "bigly" mistake in 2016. Immigrants are not our biggest issue.. Ignorance and arrogance are what is eating us alive. We cannot allow ourselves to be blackmailed by a political bully.
4
Is this editorial supposed to be humor? Trump judiciary is about as independent as McConnell.
2
"Only I can fix all these horrible problems in America":
t rump's campaign motto.
Yet the 4th Estate put their credentials of reporting in the drawer marked false equivalence and cast him in the same light as Clinton.
He ran to become dictator and now those that could have pointed that out are surprised.
I hope to my core that our top brass in the military take their oath to the Constitution seriously, unlike t rump and mcconnell. They might have to arrest one or the other at some time in the not too distant future.
I also hope to my core that Roberts has become Kennedy the swing vote and will not judge according to his ideology; the ideology that put him on the bench. It would have been nice had he tsk tsked mcconnell for not doing his Constitutional duty and holding the vote for Garland.
America will once again have to figure out what to do about a mad king. Or so called king.
The irony of all of this is that Trump won the election and was able to appoint these conservative judges *precisely* because his predecessor, Obama a Harvard lawyer who taught Constitutional Law at U. Chicago Law, broke his oath to uphold The Constitution.
Trump only won because of a few tens of thousands of vote margins in several states. The election was that close.
But instead of working with a Democratic Congress in 2008 to 2010, Obama took it upon himself to legislate DACA which effectively gives amnesty to people living in the country illegally enabling them to take jobs and university spots from people who follow the law and live here legally.
In addition, to me at least, it is hard to believe that the lawyer Obama would have his administration effectively take away due process from those accused of sexual assault in college. In other words, no longer a right to confront one's accuser.
What parent of a young man and a young man attending college feel comfortable in an environment like that? And yet, Obama the lawyer was responsible for this unfairness.
As much as Friedman and others might hate Trump or call him stupid, whatever, at least he took his oath of the Presidency seriously and told Congress to legislate DACA (or not). He also restored due process to men accused of sexual assault in college.
Many would prefer Congress to legislate and would like to keep due process. Hence the election of Trump and the result the appointment of conservative judges.
2
"...But Trump appreciates none of this. It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance. I don’t think Trump ever took civics. I don’t think he ever understood the separation of powers or the meaning of independent agencies. That’s why the shutdown doesn’t bother him. His instincts are those of a banana republic dictator..."
Thank you Chief Justice John Roberts for your integrity and statesmanship!!!
Amazing ... Justice Robert's standing up to your "president" must be trumpeted! We however would prefer he not.
It's time to realize that Mitch McConnell has also been compromised by Trump in some way, like Trump has been by Putin. What is Mitch after? Why has he become a lackey? Someone needs to investigate...
2
Good for Pelosi stopping his State of the Union Address until the end of shutdown, you just can't negotiate with terrorist, who is holding millions of federal workers hostages.
Too bad for T-Mobile T-Mobile CEO John Legere and executives who after relentlessly mocking the trump hotel now flocking there to get their merger approval.
I know the bottom line...Worth caving in.
Boycott T-Mobile anyone.
Can't wait for Michael Cohen testimony in February, hopefully moves some severely brainwashed cells of his base.
According to Cohen it will be chilling!!!
2
I think Trump was not brought up to respect the rule of law. He was brought up to believe that only his law counted. I think that is called a "spoiled brat". Some children outgrow this childish and destructive behavior and clearly some don't. We are unfortunate now to have a leader who is still a spoiled brat with no respect for the people or the country he is supposed to be leading. I cheer for the few people who have publicly stood up against him, but they are too few. His party members are too afraid to lose their positions of power. Or perhaps they share the spoiled brat gene with him.
1
Many eloquent commenters have made the obvious point that the USA is in terrible danger if we are looking to a defender of white male wealth/corporations to save democracy from a white supremacist Russian asset. Roberts seems more aligned with oligarchy than a government of, for, and by the people.
1
Before his carnage speech, there was a scary military formation, that was out of place for Democratic transition. That was when I knew our country was in jeopardy.
1
Trump took advantage of an already broken system. I have maintained since his candidacy that he is a symptom (albeit a malignant one), not the root cause itself.
Money in politics, lobbying, supercharged by Citizen's United, and a malevolent GOP (since Newt) have brought us this scourge we know as Trump. A system supported by the state news (Fox) and decisions (rescinding of the Fairness Doctrine) that led to its creation and the creation of conservative talk radio.
The direct damage being done to the Justice Department, our intelligence community, our trade, our allies' trust, etc. are all secondary effects of a political party gone rabid at least since 1994, if not 1987.
5
I agree Democracy is under siege, now tell us what can be done? As an American who values our democracy, I feel we have expressed enough outrage. Now I need specific tactics to help protect our country from the damage that is being done. Of course I vote, but how else can a citizen help prevent any further damage to our government and democracy, from a bad president? I’m not asking for radical answers, but specifics that people can employ to help solve the standoff, and try to bring our country together, instead of divisiveness?
1
Excellent job by Friedman, this essay should be required reading throughout American schools. Donald trump is like no President this country has ever had, in that he always makes it about himself, while every President before him made it about America. Trump acts and speaks unilaterally, completely enabled by congressman and Senators who should be charged with treason, or at the least censured for not living up to their oath to protect the constitution of the United States.
1
My experience in the workplace is that CEOs are authoritarian in nature.
1
Mr. Friedman, you give Chief Justice Roberts far more credit than I do. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he spoke up and clearly understood the corrosive potential of this kind of rhetoric - I just wish he also understood the corrosive impact of letting the wealthy spend as much as they want on elections with little oversight, while simultaneously letting states suppress the vote.
He ain't a hero - and it's not just liberals who should feel that way.
3
We can thank Donald J Trump for one thing. He has exposed the Achilles Heel of American democracy. History has demonstrated time and time again, no society, no government is immune from self destruction. The United States is no exception. First Trump has exposed the dangers of executive power. Declaring fake emergencies, closing down sections of the government. Basically making the government non functional. Second, Trump has exposed the dangers of one party rule. Trump had complete control of two of the three supposedly equal branches of government. Only the judicial branch escaped Trump’s control. Image the perfect political storm where the President has the opportunity to replace 2 or 3 judges who have complete loyalty to the President. Seems like we get closer and closer to the perfect political storm, with each passing day.
7
Hope: As a second generation American, whose Grandparents fled the rising threats in Europe, and came to this country for it’s values of democracy and welcoming emigrants, I thank you for summing up what is happening in the United States, in a simple and easy to understand few paragraphs, but that give us hope, that our constitution is, and will be, enforced by our highest judicial system.
America was great before our current President, I hope that the democratic countries that his administration have ‘thrown under the train’, will return as true friends, after his two years are up, but hopefully sooner!
Thomas, thank you for your wisdom and insights!
2
Methinks Mr. Friedman way overstates the significance of Justice Roberts response to Trump's Obama Judges remark. How about we wait and see what Roberts and his brethren do with the many important Trump related issues that are likely to end up at the Supreme Court before we pass judgment on his independence?
2
No modern president has been more willing to use U.S. service members or border police as props for his politics.
Do we remember "mission accomplished"?
3
Yes, good for all those people for saying things that point out Trump's whacky ideas and actions. But, to call them brave for making a simple observation is going a little overboard.
1
In theory, Roberts comments reflect what “makes America great”—though the current state of our country is anything but great. But in practice the Supreme Court’s decisions are almost always divided among party partisans. The enduring expression “swing vote” on the Court is tacit acknowledgement of that partisanship. For example, based on the history of his “votes,” is there ever any doubt of Clarence Thomas’ deeply conservative ideology? The same might be said of certain Justices on the other side. As the Court has tilted evermore to the right, Roberts, surprisingly, has occasionally been a swing voter himself. But his overall claims about the impartiality of the U.S. judiciary ring false, and that is very troubling.
2
Thanks to the Chief Justice, but not enough. All decent men and women who understand the nature and working of real democracies, spot and all, must stand up to denounce the likes of Trump and in the end get rid of him and his ilk at the ballot box or by removal from office as prescribed lawfully.
3
Many comments focus on Robert’s complicity in rolling back civil rights protections and giving us the wretched Citizens United decision. This is true. Yet, we need to face the reality that these are desperate times. Chief Justice Roberts more than leans right: he’s firmly planted on the right side. But there is evidence that this is not automatically reflexive, which is the most dangerous kind of partisan, the kind that gave us Trump. His occasional opinions that come down on the liberal side would seem to indicate that he at least considers both sides thoroughly and deeply, which is all we can ask for nowadays.
He managed to stand up to Trump with dignity. He spoke the right words about our judges. Various Trump judicial appointees have recently ruled against him. Let’s face it: the judicial system is our last hope in so many ways, and we must pray that this institution continues to function despite the strain of the debasement and scorn Trump has been shoveling on all our institutions.
3
The "real, live emergency" you portray so astutely has been undermined much earlier by Congressman Newt Gingrich - "kill the beast." Until we all understand the insidious nature of home-grown American terrorists who are dangerously rallying citizens to destroy our government by labelling it the "deep state", our country will continue to suffer. The remedy is for our leaders, especially politicians from both parties, to strongly defend the core values that have made America great. We are much more than a slogan that has been stolen for political gain. The challenge within is greater than from without. Justice Roberts cannot do it alone. It's not premature to urge Democrats and Republicans to treat the attacks on our system of government before our democracy is openly murdered from within.
2
I have spent my career as a civil trial lawyer. It is very important that the public views our courts as impartial and non-political, as the Chief Justice reminds us. However, while that view is mostly correct we lawyers know that in practice that view is often mistaken. I am sure Roberts earnestly believes there are no Republican or Democratic justices. (We lawyers are hardly the only ones who know better). And I believe that he wants to demonstrate that in his work. Reasonable people disagree on whether he shows this consistently.
3
Surely Mr. Friedman is joking with regard to Mr. Roberts.
John Roberts wants to be a right-wing political operative without it being obvious that’s what he is. He realizes that if he consistently votes with the rest of the Opus Dei Five, even more Americans will come to realize the Court is not an independent branch of government but an arm of the Republican Party.
Also: he’s thinking of his legacy - and hedging his bets. If in the future the United States becomes the theocratic/plutocratic state he fervently desires, then he will be revered. However, if we manage to step back from the abyss and preserve some vestiges of democracy, his name could be tossed around with the likes of Joseph McCarthy, Aaron Burr, Jesse Helms, Father Coughlin, and George Wallace.
3
@Robbiesimon I respectfully disagree. An institution often shapes a good person and makes him/her both part of that institution and an even better person. That's what's happening here.
1
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for succinctly and precisely setting forth the state of our union. And thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, for reminding all of our fellow citizens of the vital role of our independent judiciary.
The president does not tolerate anyone who disagrees with him. He surrounds himself with sycophants who want a nation made up solely of their supporters. The president would be delighted if everyone who holds views different from his would self-deport him/herself.
It is long past time for us, as citizens, to demand that our president serve all of us. If his (apparent) narcissistic personality disorder prevents him from doing that, members of his political party who have the slightest level of honor and integrity (and there are a few) must stand up for country ahead of a would-be dictator.
Fellow citizens: join the Chief Justice in making known your support for our Constitution-based democracy. Our nation's future depends on our stopping the president's attempted tyranny in its tracks - now.
2
There is no question that Roberts is concerned with the court being separate and apart from the Executive. God knows this president has not even a hint of the concept of tripartite government. He is a thoroughly low information president. Worse, he is unwilling to learn.
But even more immediate and perhaps more impactful is Mitch McConnell. McConnell has hitched his star—and thus the Senate majority's—to Trump's fortunes. He has apparently come to the conclusion that to defy Trump in any way is political poison.
The Republican Party is not only Trump's to do as he pleases with, it is also Trump's Senate as long as its leader, McConnell, bows to the Executive branch every day and in every way.
As it is, he is MIA in the struggle to reopen government. With 18% favorable in his home state he, too, will soon see how his strategy works.
7
Roberts is a partisan, no matter what he says. The Roberts court, after all, is responsible for Citizens United, the biggest threat to our democracy ever, and the one that allowed the 1% to take control of the other 99%. The pushback that is needed is by the American people. We must march in the streets to have both Trump and McConnell removed from office. The chaos has gone on far too long already. These men have forgotten (or in Trump's case, never known) that their obligation is to the American people, not to self-interest or the interests of a political party. Our founders are rolling over in their graves that men of such low civic character are currently occupying such high positions of power.
4
Trump is a product of the immigration issue. And it's a big issue. Immigration can be a difficult sell, even in the best of times. What with the epidemic of drug deaths, the tales of terror in central America, and the overall chaos and corruption that has torn our southern neighbors apart, it is no wonder that the immigration issue is tearing America apart, as well.
A real leader would back up a bit and come up with reasonable solutions. I don't think either Trump or Pelosi qualifies as one of those leaders.
We had better resolve this issue and come together, soon. There are bigger issues coming down the pike. Like China, for example.
2
@caveman007, seriously, you are letting Mitch off the hook? He could have gotten the government going in a day or so, and THEN moved on to immigration, which Nancy Pelosi is perfectly capable as a leader to discuss and legislate.
1
I encourage you to keep a sharp eye on Chairman Powell at the Federal Reserve. As the leader of a critical "independent" agency of the government he has been improperly criticized and blamed by Mr. Trump and his agents for market conditions and potential slowing of the national economy. Powell's pushback, not in words but in his actions in maintaining his data and experience driven approach to monetary policy, is critical to balance the approach of the administration and Republican Senate to their fiscal responsibilities.
2
Thank you for your recent article. This should be required reading for all US history students to foster continued reverence for the institutions that truly protect our democracy.
I hope two of our new representatives, one Republican and one Democratic would read it out loud in Congress. C-Span should record it. Teachers should use it to spark conversations.
Barbara Denny
3
In general, I agree with Thomas Friedman, and particularly on the efforts by President Trump to erode the separation of powers and the independence of some federal agencies. The president either has no concept of how our constitutional government is supposed to work or he simply doesn't care and wants it all to work like a Trump-led business, with him at the helm. But I also have some fear of the presence of corrupt leaders such as Trump and of a squabbling and timid nonfunctioning congress becoming factors that could lead our citizens, Friedman included, to put their faith in an independent military establishment. The celebration of forthright generals, the welcoming of a cadre of generals as the president's cabinet and top advisors, and the assumption that the military is some kind of independent entity led by wise and world-knowledgeable generals, is what has led countries such as Egypt to allow the military to be not only the most trusted branch of government, but to take over in times of political and societal chaos. We celebrate our military too much in America and endow them with wisdom and selfless dedication as we try to salvage something about our country to believe in. But down this pathway lies danger. We must make our elected government work, because unelected branches such as the FBI and the military have dangerous powers, which they have abused in the past. Sanctifying them, while disparaging our elected government can be dangerous.
3
Why don’t commentators remember always these two things: Trump lies constantly and willingly for so many reasons; and Trump is the only thing important to him, so he needs no understanding of others’ beliefs or situation because the Universe revolves around Trump and his needs.
Mr. Friedman, you floated a possible event on CNN with Wolf Blitzer the other day, that Justice Roberts whose virtues you discuss here, accompanied by former Presidents Bush and Obama will form a triumvirate to remove President Trump from office, presumably in some kind of extra-constitutional coup.
You didn't mention, as far as I heard, what the reaction of US citizens would be.
Just wondering why you are not advancing that idea in this article. It would seem apt, especially given your view of Justice Roberts' merits.
1
A little while ago an article on MSN with a Conservative Talking Head Ann Coulter stating in an interview that Trump is toast unless the wall is built.
When she was questioned about the Government shutdown her response was I care about drugs coming in our country not if the Yosemite Gift Shop is open. This is not a quote but an approximation of her comment.
I was gobsmacked shocked and saddened that anyone who supposedly cares about the U.S. would make that statement. Really Miss Coulter you think Federal Employees are to man gift shops? Do you really have that low opinion of the Federal Government? I thought that Conservatives had descend into a Alternative Reality but it seems it's way beyond that.
How about instead of a wall we increase the number of folk patrolling the southern boarder with better training and equipment increasing our security forces in ports of entry with better training and equipment. Mandate the use of E-verify and tighten the penalties for firms not using E-verify with stiff fines how about tracking visas issued to folk coming into our country electronically.
We need desperately our GOVERNMENT open and functional not used as a political tool.
The last article I read on the government shutdown described how the ripple effect is not only the Federal Employees but contractors the supply chain's on and on. The stated the effect will be showing up now at a minimum this will affect 1.5 million people. I truly believe it will be greater than that.
5
Perhaps you are right to point out the strength of Roberts. But I have to point out that the onslaught itself is damaging, no matter how well our institutional heroes withstand it. We, The People, are changed.
6
Chief Justice Roberts greatly weakened the SCOTUS by making no objection to the shameful treatment of Judge Garland's nomination in 2016. The year long delay in making an appointment is no a painful asterisk which will carry forward politicizing the court for many years. Silence is consent and the High Justice was silent during this political theft of a seat on the Court.
16
@Tom Thumb, agree that this was the time for Roberts to have his moment of courage-- he should have been willing to fall on the sword if need. However, we must blame Obama as well. Tired he may have been, and preparing for a life of leisure and wealth. But this was a battle for the ages, one that he could have taken to the streets, and should have. The democratic party was too weak on this as well. I guess they thought HRC would win and that is how they played the cards. As a life long negotiator, I know this: you never position yourself as a sure winner--that is a road to weakness in the process and failure as a result. This battle for the courts is now lost. That is a generational loss, not just for today.
2
While you rail against trump, don't forget his enablers in congress and the administration.
4
Citizens United; the law that allows autocrats to rule in our
nation; We The People have no voice …..; we are itby the Robert's Court overrule of our right to
have our votes count...
Citizens United allows corporations to act as 'personhood' or
equal to the vote of any US citizens....
So...please Tom Friedman...ask ethics lawyers about this
illogical premise...that a Corporation is equal to the vote of
the individual citizen...this is the road to a monarchy ; this
is why there was a American Revolution....we are now
colonized against the autocratic rule of those who can surpress or overrule our votes.
12
Sorry but Trump is using chaos to destroy the republic. No federal government, no need for him to be president. State’s rights? No need, they are separate countries now. The only lovely irony is that the Senators who failed to act to remove Putin;s puppet should be out of their jobs.
1
Really, you don't think that Trump is motivated by malevolence? Even now, after he's starving 800,000 Federal employee, and God only knows how many associated contractors? After his child separation policies? After is refusing to continue DACA?
What *would* indicate malevolence to you, Mr. Friedman? I guess something that directly affected you personally.
8
More a shout-out to the right for Dr. Friedman that belies his always more conservative inclinations. Someone should tell him there is no shame in being conservative. Elasticity of the will is required for the honest broker of ideas. Less a waste of time and of disingenuousness from such a thoughtful individual.
Roberts our savior? Please.
He gave us Citizens United. Roberts made Trump possible, through the Mercers and their dark money.
5
This has been going on since way before Trump. Politics was overwhelmingly obvious years ago in the Robert Bork Supreme Court confirmation hearings that his last name morphed into a verb....as in “that nominee got Borked at his hearings and is gone!”
The minute political dogma became more important than legal and judicial excellence in determining who is elevated to the Supreme Court, our country entered that whirlpool that spins inexorably down the drain. The Supreme Court was the last bastion for the average Joe and Jane Citizen to get justice when the megalomaniacs in all levels of power rode roughshod over us. Now that’s all gone. It’s down the drain for all of us! Maybe slow...but sure (unless we have the guts to change things back to the way it should be!)
4
Well said. I agree this country is in for a bumpy ride. It is also VERY clear it is the republicans who hold the responsibility for the crisis in our nation. I believe WE THE PEOPLE will be victorious. I believe the branches that have been bent (tainted) will be replaced as the house fell in 2018 so will the other branches in 2020. And we can put this disaster behind us and make Trump as a test of the very foundation of our great nation.
Normally I like all of Tom Friedman's work, but I take exception to this entire premise.
For starters, remember, Justice Roberts took the lead in writing the Citizens United decision, the gutting of the Voting Rights act in the Shelby v. Holder in 2013, and the allowance of the degrading strip search in Florence v. County of Burlington - and many other decisions that have systematically stripped Americans of their constitutional rights. Simultaneously he has worked to provide aid and cover to the gun lobby and corporations, that are apparently now "people" whose free speech rights include funneling unlimited dark money into the American electoral system.
So before you go breaking your arm patting Chief Justice on the back, remember, part of the reason we're in this current mess is due to the decisions that he championed.
16
Dr. Friedman, once again you could not have said it better. It is the rule of law and the independence of our civic institutions which make democracies robust. I may disagree with some decisions made by the individuals you quote. However, they do the United States a great service by standing up to your president when he seeks to weaken the independence of those institutions. This, indeed, stands in stark contrast to “the silence of the lambs” within the bulk of the Republican Party.
1
I'm sorry, but please stop clutching your pearls. You can't really believe in "the independence and nonpartisan character of our courts, our military, our F.B.I., our Border Patrol and our whole federal bureaucracy."
In the most platonic sense we have elections every 2, 4, and 6 years for the express purpose of determining the course those institutions will take. In the more cynical/realistic sense, those institutions are constantly under pressure to be partisan.
All Trump is doing is removing the thin veil of plausible deniability about all that. I understand he is doing this out of reckless self interest, not some high-minded sense of truth telling, but, still, it has value.
The sooner we remove the rose-colored glasses the better. As a liberal, I want my side to understand that and fight accordingly.
3
"For me, the most disturbing thing about the Trump presidency is the way each week, like a steady drip of acid, Donald Trump tries to erode the thing that truly makes us great as a country and the envy of so many around the world — the independence and nonpartisan character of our courts, our military, our F.B.I., our Border Patrol and our whole federal bureaucracy."
Thomas, the most disturbing thing is that too many people support the actions of politicians whose sole purpose is to expand the federal bureaucracy. Presidents view the nomination of a Supreme Court justice as part of their legacy. Commentators make comments about which president appointed any particular judge who has made a recent decision. Trump's crudeness doesn't change that.
"So when an American leader denigrates those institutions, tries to erode their independence or turns them into political props, he damages the very core of what makes our country unique."
The core of our country is a limited federal government whose power is constrained by the Constitution. Our core is the idea of natural rights we are born with and not granted by government. It is not defined by government granting favors to the well-connected or bickering political parties that whine when they don't get their way. Our core is not defined by group identity.
Chief Justice Roberts should know that the Constitution grants the federal government no power to compel any person to purchase a product or service.
1
@hm1342, spoken like a true resident of the Confederacy. If what you say is true, then CA should be its own fiefdom-- instead of donating our tax receipts and GDP to the south as we presently do. Thanks for the hall pass! But the truth is, the federal government's power was expanded after the Civil War as it needed to be-- otherwise there would still be Jim row in your 'hood, etc.
1
@karen: "...hm1342, spoken like a true resident of the Confederacy."
Actually spoken by someone who believes in individual liberty and the Constitution more than you do. Certainly you can do better than that.
"If what you say is true, then CA should be its own fiefdom-- instead of donating our tax receipts and GDP to the south as we presently do."
Up until the passage of the 16th Amendment, the federal government was primarily funded by excise taxes, tariffs, and taxes paid directly by states based on their population. Most power was supposed to be at the state level, so each could be their own little laboratory of democracy. What worked in your state might not be successful in other states. That's what federalism is all about.
"But the truth is, the federal government's power was expanded after the Civil War as it needed to be-- otherwise there would still be Jim row in your 'hood, etc."
Jim Crow laws happened after Democrats took over state governments when Reconstruction ended. All were in violation of the 14th Amendment.
"They [governing institutions] were built to take our deepest values and our highest ideals and animate them, promote them and protect them." So where is that now part of the Republican ideology? Not in my America. Extreme gerrymandering, hacking away at voting rights, decreasing the number of polls in minority districts, a "racist" question on the census, tax cuts for the rich in order to eliminate Social Security and Medicare that Americans pay for out of their own pockets, and on an on.
However, we'll see what the five conservative justices do with the racist question on the census that is surely now moving to SCOTUS. We'll see if they are Americans, or right-wing ideologues.
3
The most chilling part is the support given by Republicans, generally proud of the American flag and the military, who now seem not to understand what the flag stands for and what so many fought and died for in defense of our country. Our form of government, which you have so keenly articulated here as a beacon to the world, is being stomped on by a man who would be king. Will those who follow him wake up and see that they have been willing to trade gold for slot machine coins in this Trump casino where we now find ourselves?
3
Is it that the sacred constitution allows the few to buy the consent of the multitude? If so, who will fight to change that other than Justice Roberts?
2
I've always argued that Trump's election would our Constitution's "stress test." The next 2 years will further push the limits of our system's ability to contain a man not fit for his office. The founders envisioned such a possibility, but the powers of the Article II branch have grown significantly since the founding. We can only hope the Article I and III branches steps up to their responsibility to restore balance.
1
One of the likely reasons for so much Republican complicity to Le Grand Orange's depredations--and something I hope the Mueller investigations delve into in great depth--is the probability that many of them are also compromised by Russian influence, likely through the funneling of campaign funds through the NRA (most Republicans take money form the NRA).
This has been discussed in certain venues, but we really haven't seen a wide emphasis on it in the reporting of the investigations into Trump and his circle's Russian connections.
It certainly is possible that at the time many of the Republican politicians, and even the NRA itself, were not entirely aware of just where a lot of these funds and social media communications were originating, but as the evidence is accumulating, the potential embarrassment to the Republicans has certainly expanded. And I believe many Republican politicians fear getting caught up in the mudpit that Trump has been wallowing in.
So it is only natural that they should be trying, overtly or covertly, to undermine these investigations at every turn.
7
You and Roberts live in a fantasy world. the Federal Courts have always been "political." The appointment to the federal judiciary is a matter of being in the right place at the right time and in the right Party. Obama appointed liberal social engineers. Trump has appointed conservative limited government people. That's reality. Forum shopping is, and has been, common among lawyers. The 9th Circuit District Courts and Court of Appeals is the obvious choice of liberal litigants. Roberts did not "save " Obama Care he, like Marshall, in Marbury vs Madison, made a ruling avoiding the issue by finding no jurisdiction. In essence Robert concluded that the 1900 page law was so flawed and created such a mess that the court could not rule on it. What Congress created Congress must fix.
2
Once again, Tom Friedman has hit the nail on the head! As a retired teacher (is there really such a thing?), I have been appalled by the poor examples of leadership, given to the youth of our nation, exhibited by both our "commander in chief" and the members of the political party that adopted him, tolerates his petulant ways and continues to place interests of Party above unity of Nation. Thank God there are those who truly know the strength contained within the bonds of our Constitution and who can call to mind the parting words of George Washington in his 1796 Farewell Address that "...there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands."
3
I think a key point of this column is to illustrate an example of courage by one man to defend our constitution and institutions that make our country great. As you point out, John Roberts is not perfect nor is he our ‘savior’. I regret reading the comments on this column focused on John Roberts. The writings about John Roberts land on me as simple argumentation wholly without any other purpose. I would hope that many readers will get the point that we need to exercise courage or lose it and all that goes with it. Perhaps then sufficient voters will pressure the likes of McConnell to do his job or to replace him. Apathy among voters is our biggest threat to freedom and we need courage of action by people from all walks of life.
4
Thank you, Tom. Your column is right on, as usual. But let me add something that you probably can’t. Trump, in addition to his profound ignorance of this country’s history, is not a smart man. Yes, we’ve heard he’s smart, but that assessment has come from only Trump himself.
He doesn’t think before he acts, as when he gladly accepted responsibility for the government shutdown, or when he decided we we leaving Syria right away, or when he implied our military would use guns against border crossers. This is just in the past month. It’s becoming scary to listen to a U.S. President rant against his enemies in an increasingly unhinged manner. A true megalomaniac that before our eyes is falling deeper and deeper into the isolation of his imagined world...
13
For any who *still* don't get it, just look at AG candidate Barr. One of a coterie of essentially lifelong foaming-at-the-mouth "conservatives" (read: extreme retrogressives)--just like Kavenaugh.
3
FYI to the great Tom Friedman: Roberts is the Chief Justice of the United States, not the Supreme Court.
Trump is dismantling and destroying any and all things having to do with "American" government. He must be stopped.
2
@Mish, agree, but trump is incapable of acting alone in such a mission. The construct of his team should be a far more significant focus of the press (still protected by the first, at least for now) than it has been to date. Who is helping trump and why? What is their motive; what is their end game?
1
Roberts + Citizens United = 0
1
I see lots of criticism about Citizens United. Has anyone here read the decision? The law that was overturned would have allowed "media corporations" to engage in unlimited electioneering communications, while prohibiting any other corporation from doing the same. A small business, organized as a corporation, with one owner, would be prohibited from making political statements on its website. The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, would be allowed to do whatever it wants. The Citizens United decision actually concerned whether the corporation could be allowed to make available on cable pay per view a movie about Hillary. The FEC said no. During oral argument, the government was forced to concede that it would be illegal to publish a book within 30 days before an election about a candidate.
The election rules that were struck down were extremely complex, but carried criminal penalties. The FEC allowed pre-clearance of communications to determine whether the FEC would view them as illegal, but the court, rightfully so, said that during the weeks before an election, there is no way that the pre-clearance system could have allowed the give and take that elections require, because the FEC might take longer than a few days to approve a communication.
Do we really want Trump's government to decide what election communications are legal? Elected officials and their appointees have no business telling us what we are allowed to say about our elected officials.
1
@William - so Citizens United saved us. Why no effort to fix the "unintended consequences" of saving us from the government to decide what election communications are legal that have poisoned the well?
3
Piffle, William. And I see you conveniently omitted any mention of money, which was really the point.
3
All that Trump and his supporters believe about civics is that it means two or more Hondas.
4
EXCUSE ME! Why didn't Justice Roberts speak out about McCONnell blocking nomination of Merrick Garland? HUH? So as to guarantee a CONservative justice would be elected?
Outrages me to this day that any of us, all of us, let McCONnell get away with that treasonous act!
14
For thirty years Trump has ignored everything the laws of the IRS, the State of New York, and the City of New York require of citizens, THEY trained him to ignore the law. Why, Mr. Friedman, are you at all surprised that he now has no respect for the laws and customs of the Federal America he rules?
3
@ken lockridge: "For thirty years Trump has ignored everything the laws of the IRS, the State of New York, and the City of New York require of citizens..."
Has Donald Trump ever been charged with tax fraud?
@hm1342
His foundation has by NY State. We’ll see if the IRS follows suit after the Grifter’s out of office.
He was also charged with housing discrimination.
He has ignored and evaded multiple laws throughout his business career.
1
“It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance. I don’t think Trump ever took civics. I don’t think he ever understood the separation of powers or the meaning of independent agencies.”
But Mr. Friedman, Trump has surely had the equivalent of many civics courses over the last two years, from countless advisors around him who have tried in vain to educate him about the Constitution, separation of powers, the historical traditions of equal protection under the law, and on and on. Any normal human being would have had an interest in absorbing this knowledge to better do their job and better serve the country as its President.
Trump is not simply ignorant. His brain is incapable of computing, let alone respecting, any concepts about life and the world that don’t directly relate to his own self-aggrandizement at every moment. The world around him is simply his reality TV stage, and our government, our traditions and our citizens are merely his props. He is sick.
4
"nonpartisan character of our courts" Really? Where have you been Friedman since 2000. Bush vs Gore?
9
“What a contrast with the silence of the lambs — how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan bent their institution, their branch of government, to Trump’s will.”
Nonsense. It’s their will too. Trump is a solid and true expression of the GOP platform and tactical approach for at least three decades, including trashing institutional, bi-partisan norms (think Merrill Garland), ignoring the majority of voters’ will (think bush v gore, ACA), and grasping hypocritically at moral superiority (think of all the divorces, affairs, abortions, and other dirty laundry of umpteen GOP operatives and elected reps) — all with the singular goal of retaining power for power’s sake.
John Roberts standing up for the institution he leads is hardly taking a moral or democratic high ground. It’s simply protecting his turf, and that’s a perfect fit with the GOP Way.
3
I won't matter once Trump get another justice because Roberts is the conservative justice who isn't a virulent Trumpian. Alito, Thomas, Gorsusch and Kavanaugh will rubber stamp ever Trump crime, much as the Politburo did for the Kremlin leader of the Soviet Union, much the way the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party does for Mao's successor, Chairman Xi.
3
I find it so interesting that Roberts could well be the swing vote on a divided court. Conservative though he has, I feel sure he has had enough of Trump and his pathetic bullying and lawlessness.
2
Not to mention he is playing into the hands of the Koch brothers and their kartel of billionaires who have wanted to destroy government for years. Government impinges on their profits and their ability to pollute the atmosphere and our water with their deadly chemicals.
1
Outstanding column Mr. Friedman. You said what I've been thinking, but of course much more eloquently. Thanks. We all needed this.
And you're right about Trump not knowing a thing about civics and our democratic principles. Added to this terrible shortfall, I suspect also that we are dealing with someone who has never swept a floor, cleaned a toilet, mowed a yard, changed oil, borrowed money for tuition, or put a worm on a hook.
And all this is a dangerous combination of ignorance and lack of practical experience.
1
the question now is the exit strategy. trump doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he survives. since no federal official can pardon him from state crimes, I believe trump will keep flailing around until he finds a way to avoid all charges. in the mean time we all pay the price. I hope some smart person finds a way for him to crawl back into his private life before he distress too much more.
3
Verbal pushbacks by Justice Roberts and a handful or two of retired military officers and a couple of retiring GOP politicians is appreciated but does not "Make America Great"
Closer to "America the Barely Adequate".
We have a Senate Majority Leader and his Party 100% complicit with an out of control President that openly attacks American democratic institutions and aligns himself with murderous authoritarians instead of trusted American allies.
Today they are well on the way to confirming an Attorney General hired by Individual-1 and who will not commit to making the full Muller report public or following the advice of career Justice department ethics experts.
The NYT is reporting that Trump has suggested on multiple occasions to withdraw from NATO!
Roberts brushback pitch "a high fastball right under Trump’s chin" is hardly enough.
Toss a few Articles of Impeachment, or indictments, or at least bi-partisan laws constraining his actions in his direction, and then we can talk about the strength of American institutions in the face of an anti-American President.
575
@LT
I not sure that Mr. Friedman has identified the root cause of the problems that plague America today.
Sure President Trump is hated and despised by half the country and just the mention of his name creates uncivility. But I believe the Real cause goes deeper than that. I think the spark that created this downward spiral, the psychological core, was the stunning, unexpected and irrational disappointment generated by Hillary Rodham Clinton's defeat in 2016. Half the country has not personally reconciled that in their own minds and hearts.
How could she have lost to such a man? That's it I believe!
13
@LT Agreed. A few words/mutterings from a few individuals, many of whom are off on the sidelines, without action from the GOP is practically useless. It's just pure grandstanding.
25
@Frank Leibold
But we know how the constant misuse of hearings against her, Russian cyber attacks, and fifth columnists like Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh and Fox News in almost its entirety lied, twisted and subverted truth, AND YET SHE WON THE POPULAR VOTE BY 3 MILLION!
The problem is the archaic electoral college and the way it gives too much power to lower population states. 70,000 votes versus 3,000,000 is absurd.
55
No, my apologies Dr. Friedman, but I don't buy it. These same institutions are the ones that gave us Citizens United. Our institutions are used to justify gerrymandering, and disenfranchisement. It is not so much that our institutions are "strong" but rather, to what ends they are put, who is it that controls them and, who do they serve.
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@PJM
If Citizens United had gone the other way Trump would have the power to ban distribution of critical books and films. That is what Citizens United was about and that is what the FEC was attempting to do.
4
Apart from the point that this is no longer the Roberts Court but rather the Kavanaugh Court: i have little sympathy for the putative Chief Justice: he is part of the overthrow of American democracy even if, to give him his due, he may not have seen it coming and perhaps could not have prevented this denigrated of the Court.
I do not hope or imagine that he is happy about this , but obviously I have no idea what might have been in his mind over the long term.
And I have little sense that, given his GOP orientation, he much cares about the Supreme Court, specifically becoming a subsidiary part of American governmental structure—no longer a coequal part of our governmental structure.
Unhappily, I fear, no Trump or GOP supporters ever read such comments, to understand how ordinary people see the predicament America is in.
39
@KBronson
What, Citizens United wasn't about corporations being people and having First Amendment rights, and political donations(money) equalling speech?
72
Thomas, I think you said it all with eloquence and honesty. I agree with you on all fronts. However, on a personal level, what I find most frightening is that our present political paradigm leaves us little choice but to depend solely upon the Supreme Court for the continuity of a strong and just democracy with its roots in the principles of equality for all peoples...with no discrimination and/or extremism to threaten our individuality and identity. There are more than a few people who keep me up at night: An unfit, unhinged, and corrupt president; a self-serving, spineless, and cowardly Republican Senate; and...the likes of a Clarence Thomas, Alito, and now Kavanaugh making judgements via the highest court in the land. Yes, I am thankful to have Roberts as the Chief Justice, and I am cautiously hopeful. But, I must say, it is unnerving and exhausting to constantly have to worry not only about this generation's health and well being, but also our children's and grandchildren's.
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@Kathy Lollock
Yes, you have an excellent point. There are other gears of government and oversight in action as well.
13
@Kathy Lollock
I would add Goresuch to that rogue's gallery on the Supremes. Very good points here, thank you.
12
One of the problems today, is the fact that Mr. Friedman's article constitutes an elite, talking to elites about elites. President Trump is a manifestation of the attitudes of the citizenry of the country. Citing the positions of Chief Justice John Roberts and retired general William H. McRaven does nothing to address the 35-40 percent of voters who consistently support the President. Until those voters understand the risks to American democracy posed by the actions of the President the threat to our form of government will persist.
Maybe the just Chose: Not to Know.
We are living in an era of majority rule by the minority. The minority clearly understands this and is not willing to let go. Currently our constitution is showing signs of needing and periodic update. Trump is not an all of a sudden event, but the erosion of trust in our institutions that when started with Reagan, saying, “government is not the the solution to our problems but is the problem”. It’s time to rethink the whole mindset of conservative (small) anti-government ideology and lay the ground work for the next 200 years, showing how for 204 years before Reagan -Trump the US government was the solution. Ask any European of the post WWll era and they will set the record straight. We’ve hit the wall, and will ricochet in circles until we can figure this out. An amalgamation of dying rural communities, can no longer have a more powerful vote than urban areas. The fact that we still have 2 Dakotas is a perfect example. Our institutions have failed to update and that has lead to Trump. Now he and his supporters on the right want to euthanize them.
8
I agree 100% that our democracy is at risk during this presidency. Fortunately some semblance of checks/balances was restored with the Democrats recapturing the House.
I would also agree that the damage POTUS does to the foundations of the republic are incremental and ongoing. God willing he will lose the 2020 election. I hope there is a Democratic candidate up to the tall task.
2
At the end of the day I even belive that Kavanaugh and Gorsuch and the other conservative justices, including Thomas, will read the Constitution sincerely in matters pertaining to the abuses and crimes of the current occupant of the oval office. Nothing would be more unifying to the country than a Supreme Court unanimously rendering verdicts against the illegal actions of our unfit misbegotten President.
4
@Mike Marks
I can only hope that your reading of the 4 is correct. I don’t hold out much for such unanimity.
Pundits still refuse to acknowledge the facts & evidence of the Trump presidency, just like the disastrous Brexit votes and increasing examples around the world like Brazil and Turkey, is a demonstration of how democracy and the whole voting charade is an utter failure. Roberts is NOT the savior but a player in the bankrupted system.
Sure people want to have their voice heard. But wise people who spoke are the minority and their voices get drown out by the loud, ignorant and selfish majority. Dictatorship is emerging from the so-called democracies because power hungry characters with the means find it easy to manipulate popular sentiments under the democratic system, where the so-called check & balance is a joke. Ultimately ignorant voters deserve what they get, like the ongoing government shut-down causing misery and hardship. But still many farmers support Trump. There you go.
Where are the political science people? Surely they ought to come up with something more robust, fair and workable. Only another bloody civil war can crack the egg to make omelette. Looks like France is back at it.
Trump is like the Alien as in Director Ridley Scott’s movie. At first a curiosity, then incubation period, everything seems right. Afterwards, the destructive power emerges destroying lives and creating chaos. Humans wants to destroy it, although there are sinister forces behind it, protecting the creature given chances to thrive. Unfortunately, at the end the Alien seems indestructible, just like Trump and his cronies. In reality we don’t know who exactly is behind this man and his family.
2
MAGA - Make America Great Again is, was, a lie. Just like all the other lies. First was that America was already great. Next is that the dismantling of what made America great is the opposite of making it great again.
Knowing that the right wing "opposite from it from it is" labeling machine operates overtime we all know now that Trump's real meaning of MAGA was Make America a Banana Republic. OK, MABR doesn't have a great ring, but it is the goal that Trump sought with a Republican controlled congress that was willing to see 240 years of history erased in 4. Maybe MAD - Make America Dictatorial - would be better? It sure seems Trump and his supporters are MAD.
Take all the things that make America an admirable and respected nation, even with our flaws, and turn it into a small and petty country where history, traditions, and institutions are meaningless and where service to the one and few are the only thing that matters.
Talk about conservative. Throwing away the hard won, sacrificed for respect, good will, power, and influence for small private gains is a terrible waste and conserves nothing of our greatness or our place in the world that has served all of us.
2
"...America’s core governing institutions were not built to be “conservative” or “liberal.”"
I hate to break to you Tom, but yes they were. The unequal representation of the Senate and the EC are baked into the cake of the Constitution and give rural, white, conservative voters more electoral power than urban, minority, liberal voters. Leveraging this reality, along with blatantly racist and partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression laws and tactics, are the only things that have allowed he GOP to maintain their death-grip on power in D.C. for the last 8 years.
Stepping back and looking at it impartially, it's ridiculous. In the last 7 Presidential elections, the Republican candidate has 'won' 3 times, yet only won the popular vote once, losing in 2016 by almost 3 million votes! We have 17 states with populations less than 3 million!
If we were a smaller developing nation, the experts would look at our electoral system and declare it decidedly broken at best, and a total sham at worst.
3
T.F. says Trump acts "not all out of malice but much out of sheer ignorance." One can also argue that Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun were ignorant about the finer points of diplomacy. There is something called 'willful ignorance,' which can be effectively a form of malevolence.
4
The thing that Trump Nation and the GOP that is grovelling to them don't understand, won't understand, is that the one thread that has kept the US from falling into the dung head other countries routinely face is respect for rule of law, but more importantly, respect for the institutions behind it. The military has respected the concept of civilian control, and as a result we have not seen a situation like in "7 Days in May". Federal troops, for example, when the Supreme Court forced integration on schools down south, and Eisenhower sent in troops to protect the students, the troops went (despite many of them being from the south, and not exactly pro integration). The Supreme Court in Citizens United ruled that corporations have the rights of people, yet even those who hate it respect it as rule of law. Presidents before Trump understand that the office of the presidency has the power it does because of respect for it, Trump by turning it into himself, and with his actions, has broken that bond, a president has the bully pulpit, but after Trump, like after Nixon, that power has been diminished (it took a long time after Nixon for the presidency to get back anything of what had been lost).
1
Once the Mueller probe finally solidifies a case for treason, Trump will simply offer to withdraw from the 2020 election in exchange for Mueller's dropping the charges.
@Hydra. I fear you’re right, but that would be unacceptable. People need to see that there are penalties beyond just losing your position. No one else gets that kind of “get out of jail free” card, and not giving jail time will just embolden people in the future. Who wouldn’t risk a slap on the wrist for all that power and gain?!?
>>>"What a contrast with the silence of the lambs — how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan bent their institution, their branch of government, to Trump’s will."<<<
This is largely inaccurate, though an understandable conclusion. Let's be clear... Trump has no will, at least not in the sense implied here.
McConnell and Ryan were at their highly partisan and un-American work long before 45 came into the picture. Ryan is a misguided idealogue, who admittedly takes at least some of his cues from Ayn Rand's objectivist theories; but is a liar and spinmeister nonetheless. McConnell is simply dirty; a craven, lying, self-serving, duplicitous rogue whose shameless political machinations are almost without parallel in these modern times. And he is an old-school southern racist, though he is very skilled at glossing over that.
1
Citizens United, gutting the Voting Rights Act, Hobby Lobby. Good god man, just think if the Roberts court really did damage ??!!
Citizens United alone has brought the US down around us. One dollar one vote , a million $'s a million votes. Roberts , as much as anyone, has doomed the country.
1
What does that say about Trump supporters?
FBI has a long history of interfering in politics.
Richard Nixon used the “blame the media” ruse to prop himself up, and it took two long years to get someone as corrupt as he was to get him out of office, and he probably would have remained if he didn’t stupidly tape his private conversations. Standing up to corrupt rulers is the necessary first step to end all this, and on that score, McConnell and Ryan failed miserably. Their epitaphs will read: “Allowed Democracy to Die."
1
Powerful prose here from a fine Minnesota lad who knows and speaks his political resolution vows of "let's find a way."
That said, a Supreme Court Justice calling out a President is bad form, folks. Our three branches shouldn't overlap or what are Founders for?
As for Trump, most of the rest of us can say, regardless of party or none, we need a new leader. Sad to say it's two years away. And don't forget what got us all to where we now are: Unworthy candidates on both sides and an electorate who eschews each other.
The good news is that Minnesota has a favorite daughter in Senator Amy Klobuchar who could lead us where we need to go. She's not a screamer, or nightmare dreamer, or a promiser of the what just won't work.
Check it out! Remember the presidential candidates from MN we offered and were ignorantly bypassed: Hubert H. Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy. Leaders and lovers of the people they served. All of them!
2
I don't understand how the courts can be non-partisan when the federalist society with republican full support packs the courts with their chosen judges.
TRump alone is not undermining our institutions. Government shutdowns have been a republican tactic since Gringrich. Members of the freedom Caucus are openly stating they hope furloughed workers find other jobs so administrative stated can be shrunk.
McConnell is aiding and abetting Trump. The entire republican party is trying to destroy our institutions not just Trump.
10
At times, Chief Justice Roberts has stood up to Trump, to his credit. However, we should be disappointed that he failed to stand up to Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans in 2016 when Merrick Garland's nomination was ignored. If Roberts was a real statesman and leader of our judiciary, he would have urged the Senators to give fair consideration to whomever Obama nominated and vote their conscience. He would have said that the nation needs a full bench on the Supreme Court, that it should not be waiting a year to fill a vacancy, for political purposes. Instead, he silently gave his blessing to McConnell's gambit, which has now tainted the court politically.
802
@Ken L
party always comes first with the conservatives justices, no second, groping comes first.
32
@Ken L Exactly!
13
@Ken L Not so. For Roberts to have taken a position on any nomination to the Supreme Court (Garland or anyone else) would have been for the Roberts (and of necessity the Court since Roberts is Chief Justice) to violate important constitution norms. It is for the President to nominate justices and the Senate to advise and consent. Quite rightly, the Supreme Court does not get a say on who goes on the court.
Mr. Friedman (whose great article is right on point) notes that Roberts must respect the Court's role while preserving its independence. For Roberts to engage in anything smacking of politics would undermine the important independent and impartial role of the Court.
30
As Friedman implies, there is no need for Donald Trump to declare a formal national emergency. On January 20, America will have existed in a defacto state of national emergency for two years, one which Trump himself has created. In fact, Trump, the administrative apparatus he has installed, and our listless Republican Congress constitute that emergency.
The past two years by any measure have numbered among the most upheaving in American history, at least when calibrated against major events such as wars and depressions. They have been relatively absent from such triggers. Other periods of major unrest, such as the social revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s were characterized by stable governance. Even Nixon's trauma appears mild compared to Trump's disruption, thanks to a responsible Congress and a conscientious Administration.
One school of thought holds forth that America is best served by allowing Trump to stumble his way through the balance of his term while letting Mitch McConnell continue to lead limp Senate Republicans along the path to self-destruction. A more potent question, which grows more serious with every Trump misstep, is whether America, as it originally was conceived and how it has been governed for nearly a quarter of a millennium, can survive intact over another two years of Trump. America never has experienced the combination of massive incompetence, corruption, indolence, immorality, insensitivity, and impropriety that epitomizes Donald Trump.
642
@Peter G Brabeck which begs the question if the republic can survive not so much Trump, but the widespread indifference to him when his target is so obviously the very American institutions that have sustained and strengthened us.
27
@Peter G Brabeck add to your list of things America has never experienced, Fox News, as Dr Friedman points out. The lack of integrity and honesty from a source of "news" for a lot of Americans is a huge part of the problem. In the past, we have counted on the free press as the fourth branch.
30
@Peter G Brabeck
"America never has experienced the combination of massive incompetence, corruption, indolence, immorality, insensitivity, and impropriety that epitomizes Donald Trump."
You forgot self-serving malice and masochism.
2
Sure, Roberts will try to save the influence of the Supreme Court as it continues to strengthen the power of big money in politics.
3
While I agree with Mr. Friedman's analysis in this column, he neglected Roberts' votes for Citizens United, while ending the Voting Rights Act. He referred to C.U. as a First Amendment decision for free speech. Then, he and his four toadies went along with the Jim Crow Republican argument that, the Voting Rights Act had worked so well, it had outlived its need to exist.
Citizens United has, of course, opened the floodgates for dark money from America's richest donor class. The end of the Voting Rights Act gave the Repupugnant National Committee an opening to expand gerrymandering while allowing states and localities to rig the system with voter registration scams and barriers, closing polling stations to make it more difficult for voters of color, and the poor, to actually get to a polling station.
If Chief Justice Roberts really believes in the Rule of Law, and the Constitution, he must reverse Citizens United and bring back The Voting Rights Act. Otherwise, his bonafides as the Chief Justice of the SCOTUS will forever be in question.
18
Somehow I doubt that in helping to decide Citizens United, Roberts foresaw the rise of Trump (although he should have known better than to presume that wealth was America's most important attribute).
I agree with Friedman in that Roberts deserves a shout-out for his Thanksgiving call-out to the school-yard bully. In the coming months and year, he again may be called upon to re-insure all of us that he is more concerned with the Court's legacy than Trump's.
If only McConnell had the same sense of patriotism as Justice Roberts. If only McConnell forced the Federal Government to re-open by hammering through a veto-proof plan. If only McConnell had the courage to face the President and say "enough is enough". If only McConnell took more seriously the positive impact all of this is having on Putin - clearly not our closest ally. If only McConnell put country before his own primary challenge.
In the words of Steve Martin's SNL character "Theodoric of York" the mid-evil Senate Majority Leader, "Naahhh!"
6
There are any number of value lessons to learn given "The Fact of Trump" and Mr. Friedman provides part of a framework, as well as more gauze. Too much hubris wraps any concept of making America great "again". Trump has proven any qualifications to be nominated and run for our highest office are indeed minimal and nowhere near "great". Our Constitution, laws, and institutions only provide the means to address the consequences ~ almost as an afterthought. Our hubris is found ~ but never admitted ~ that we are not a "united" states in relying on form over content in our governing institutions too often played as a trump card. Just ask one Mitch McConnell.
3
It's a sad day when we are literally begging for the likes of John Roberts to save our country. You know, the John Roberts who dismantled the Civil Rights Act because he didn't think we needed it anymore -- despite the Republicans' vicious voter suppression efforts in the South?
Mr. Friedman is doing what many of us are doing right -- casting about for one person whom we believe will "save us" -- perhaps Mr. Mueller, perhaps Liz, perhaps Beto, and on and on.
News flash - no one is coming to save us. If we are counting on John Roberts to rule that Mr. Mueller's report (at least the parts of it that don't involve legitimate national security concerns) would be made public, we are deluding ourselves. He has already given Trump expansive executive powers with the Muslim Ban case.
And if pressed, Roberts will most certainly rule that a sitting president may not be indicted. This leaves us with absolutely no legal, peaceful means to rid ourselves of this dictator, because the Republican Senate will never remove him from office.
Wait until 2020 you say? Trump has already created an "emergency", one wholly in his own mind, as a basis for declaring a national emergency. The powers of the Executive, as written in our Constitution, are facially very broad. I can easily see five of the current members of this court upholding Trump's decision to declare martial law and cancel elections. Think I'm wrong? Is anyone willing to bet otherwise at this point?
818
You wrote my exact fears, particularly about declaring martial law. It's like you did a mind meld with me!
36
@Nicholas Rush
Agreed - and this is where it gets especially dangerous. If the House even hints at impeachment, even though the Senate would likely never even bring it to a vote, we'll have one 'emergency' after another and in about two weeks tanks will be rolling down my street. I never expected that '... nice little country you have here. It'd be a shame if something would happen to it...' would come from our president. Talk about shame.
40
@Nicholas Rush
Thank you for your superb comment. The extent to which Friedman is "casting about" is reflected by his conflating Roberts and McRaven/McChrystal. The latter didn't have to evolve into standing up to Trump.
20
The historical facts do not allow for the deification of John Roberts.
“We don’t work as Democrats or Republicans{", Roberts said recently. However, the hypocrisy of John Roberts is appalling. The truth is that the Roberts Supreme Court majority has been a major ally in the Republican drive to roll back democracy on behalf of the super-wealthy.
Certainly we cannot forget the travesty of the GW Bush appointment to the presidency by the Roberts Court in 2000. But far more importantly, this nation may have said its last goodbyes to democracy with the Robert’s Supreme Court Citizens United decision. Roberts and his band of right wingers said corporations are “people” and have the rights of individual citizens. Roberts allowed a massive flow of dark corporate money to buy state governments in local elections where a little cash goes along way. This was part of a concerted GOP strategy to pursue systematic Red Map gerrymandering.
For example, Republicans needed only 48% of the vote to win both Houses of Congress in 2012. Furthermore, the GOP has acted to suppress much of the Voting Rights Act with even more willing help from the Roberts Supreme Court. The Roberts Court enabled the extremist Tea Party financed by the Koch brothers and their corporate brethren to corrupt our entire governmental system. Ergo Trump.
Robert's claims his Court majority is non-partisan just as Trump claims to be a great president. George Orwell is turning over in his grave.
965
@Jefflz Whatever Roberts' sins, he was not on the court in 2000 to help create Bush vs. Gore. On the other hand, as I remember, he was part of the GOP gang that went down to Florida whose actions culminated in the SC stopping the recount of ballots. (I don't think he was the only SC member auditioning at that occasion)
79
@Jefflz As you've already been corrected, Roberts was not appointed til 2005: there was no "Roberts Court" in
2000.
26
@Jefflz
For at least the hundredth time in this forum: The Roberts Court was the OUTCOME of the SCOTUS decision in the 2000 election. William Rehnquist was the Chief Justice at the time. Roberts was not on the court.
Both Roberts, and his even-more-far-right-wing ally, Alito, were appointed by Bush 43.
78
The democracy is in danger when you consider this:
"McDonnell Trump" federal judges appointed in two years: 170
Obama in eight years: 329
George W. Bush made 330 judicial appointments in eight years
There is an absolute ultra-right wing agenda being successfully administered by Mitch McConnell and Trump to stack the courts.
Citizens United and the undermining of the Voting Rights Act will forever diminish my opinion of Justice Roberts and further demonstrates the idea our justice system is being systematically usurped by the 0.1% right before our eyes.
10
Traitor:
From Merriam Webster: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty
From Cambridge:
a person who gives away or sells secrets of his or her country, or someone who is not loyal to particular beliefs or friends
From Collins:
a person who betrays his or her country, cause, friends, etc.; one guilty of treason or treachery
Anyone out there see a connection between what Trump has done and these definitions?
You say you want some proof beyond what we have seen in the public domain? Wait for the Mueller investigation or the coming House investigations.
Oh but you say that just saying things doesn't constitute traitorous activities? Or, it's OK if the individual doesn't realize that their actions can be viewed as such. Or freedom of speech justifies all of it.
We are talking about the president of the United States. Everything the president says and does IS US policy. The president is charged with upholding and defending the Constitution and our laws. He doesn't get to treat them like a political football. He has a grave responsibility toward those laws and the institutions that implement them.
Viewed in that light, Donald Trump is a traitor to his office and by extension to our nation. Is that what his supporters call, "Gettin it done?" Tearing the place apart is what he has done. How is that patriotic? It is not. If the president does not behave like a patriot, then isn't he, by default a traitor? But what about........
1040
Perfect, Bruce. 100 percent correct. Depressing and terrifying.
56
@Bruce Rozenblit Bruce is 100% correct, but I would add all his enablers to the traitors list. Put down Mitch as number one, Paul Ryan as number two, and fill out the rest of the list with anyone who carries an opinion and pot stirrer job description at Fox.
72
@Kevin I totally agree. Before he was elected and held forth at one of his rally that "Russia if you're listening, if you can get Hillary's emails, we would love to see them," made him a traitor right then and there. His numerous statements before the election were treasonous in too many ways to count.
I can understand that many people believed that the US government had already failed them, and they were ready to shake things up. What I didn't know is that so many could be conned. It now remains to be seen if those who were conned can be brave enough to admit it.
53
Roberts CREATED the Trump problem with his Citizens United judicial advocacy and the subsequent flood of dark money in politics from billionaires, oligarchs and Russians.
1659
@Muffy
You are right on. Citizens United is the root cause of our most severe political dysfunctions. We ceased to be a representative democracy in 2010. So few people seem to recognize this, but without overturning CU, we will never recover it.
239
@Muffy
Friedman and others helped to create the Trump problem with their support of the Iraq War. But for the Iraq War, the probability of Trump getting elected is long.
Minnesota Nice also gave short shrift through the years to Americans who work with their hands.
47
@Muffy
I know I will be pilloried for this, but I think it is right to support Mr. Friedman's shout out. We need logic, control and a willingness to stand up to the current administration.
If you feel Justice Roberts is a "Trump judge", then you are buying into total polarization of one of our most critical institutions. And from there? We may as well build as many walls as we have disagreements.
64
Seriously? As a lawyer who has cases before SCOTUS, I can say without hesitation that CJ Roberts - former corporate lawyer and Reagan foot soldier - is part of the problem, not the solution.
Just look at the court's heavy tilt favoring corporate interests case after case since 2005. No wonder the SCOTUS approval rating used to be consistently around 70% but is now in Trump territory.
SCOTUS is more tyranny of the right-wing minority, just masked by legal fictions stretched to the breaking point.
10
Through contrast ... and the more extreme, the better ... the great benefit is appreciation in the sense of informed realization. And so here we have described very accurately the grace and dignity and intellect and un-trivialized, courageous patriotism of Chief Justice Roberts, and the utter absence of these and their effects in the one we have presently as President of the United States of America. The point was made that in the case of the latter, his toxic, destructive way of being president may not be out of “malevolence.” Perhaps so ... who can be sure ... in the sense of intention, anyway. However, in essence ... systematically intended or not ... that’s what we have and suffer by, ie, malevolence. This is a practical matter, not an academic one. We’ve had enough description of our situation. What I haven’t heard much of is what to do about it ... in a way that accords with our basic civility, and remain unlike the one who is hurting us. In that respect Chief Justice Roberts serves as our inspiration to get on with it creatively. All the better that he is, apparently, a Republican!
1
The most important statement in this essay is that this is an emergency. For some unknown reason, unless it's fear of not being re-elected, our "leaders" have chosen to let one man destroy our government in twenty four months. We don't have a lot of time left to change direction.
9
Congress is an institution that also needs to serve as a check on the President. It is not doing so in our current crisis, however, because the majority party in the Senate is subservient to Trump. If it were functioning more as the framers envisioned it, then the senators would be allowed to vote on the bills passed by the House, and they would then go to the White House, where the President could veto them or not veto them— it would be his choice, and he would face the consequences, including a possible override of his veto. It would be messy and difficult, but no messier than what we have now. And it would be more democratic.
10
The retired generals' criticism of Tricky Trump is laudable. They can affect public opinion, but are not so practical in stymieing His Royal Hype-ness in his attempts to cover-up his 'deals' with Putin. That's where the Supreme Court and DOJ come in. Roberts, as the swing vote of the former, and Barr, as AG apparent, personally have the power to thwart Trump's race to the bottom of the Banana Republic barrel. Let's hope they rise to the occasion.
3
Bravo. Another well thought out, cogent and hard hitting piece Mr. Friedman. I wish that others, on both sides, would put some thought info what is really happening in our politics with an effort to not make it about 'party' but to make it about 'the Country.' Thank you.
6
Citizens United and the end of the Voting Rights Act - so much for "saving".
12
Citizens United: what was he thinking ?????
1
Like many of us, I look forward to reading Mr. Friedman's essays in The Times. If we ignore the start and the end of this OP-ED, then we have the usual mix of important truths in this Mr. Friedman's piece.
In the opening paragraph, he uses the word erode, where the more proper word in this context is corrode. Erosion is usually thought of as the action of water on a surface that eventually causes changes (wearing away) at the surface.
The Grand Canyon is an example of what the Colorado River was able to do over long periods of time. Corrosion is a chemical process where the acid damages/oxidizes a metal surface in much shorter period of time.
Mr. Friedman has spoken at conferences that I've attended. I wish that he had asked someone like Andy Revkin (whom we both respect) to ensure that his analog/metaphor is exactly what he had sought to illustrate and is on point.
Likewise, a gratuitous shot was taken at Fox News at the end of this otherwise superb piece. I recognize that there are readers of The Times on the Upper West Side of Manhattan who will disagree with me.
It is important to note that Fox News contributors such as former Judge Andrew Napolitano plus anchors Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace are men of integrity. Women such as Harris Faulkner and Martha MacCallum are journalists first.
Mr. Friedman needs to be reminded that there are "loud mouthed political hacks" on all of the major cable news stations, not just on Fox News.
3
"The independent, nonpartisan quality of our institutions is one of the biggest reasons so many people want to immigrate to America " Are you serous? Do you actually believe the stuff you write Mr Friedman? People are not coming here for that, as Europe does it much better. They come here because we are close, and we have a decent amount of jobs, opportunity, and a teeny bit of welfare. No one decides to go to a country because of their intuitions. This is the current problem with America, very few people love our democracy for democracy sake alone, they loved it because it brought prosperity, opportunity, and jobs. Since it rarely does anymore, democracy is losing favor...
4
@Prede
Few people love democracy for democracy sake other than empty words about 'freedom' (same people saying that then want, for example, to force their religious beliefs on others), but the reality is one of the reasons the US has been so successful is because unlike a lot of other countries, the rule of law is and has been respected. As a result, we haven't until now had the cycle of dictatorships happen after coups and revolutions, the military respects the rule of civilians, the states respect the ruling of judges, and love it or hate it people in this country respect the rulings of legislatures and leaders, though they also can protest them, since that is part of the rule of law as well.
What Trump nation and the GOP are totally ignoring is what happens when respect for institutions is killed. The ruling of courts relies on other courts respecting precedent, the Supreme Court has power because other courts and government agencies respect their rulings. Take that away, and you have the chaos we see all over the world, it is one of the reasons countries in Africa and South America (and yes, Mexico) have the problems they have for example.
1
@Prede I, for one, did come to live in the US because of the perceived freedom and openness of the society and indeed the nonpartisan quality of our institutions. I grew up in a country where only "white" people could vote and only white men had any power (South Africa). I remember my delight that an African American could walk into the same bathroom as I could or sit next to me in a restaurant. I also remember my amazement at how party did not seem to define our representatives who sometimes crossed the aisles to vote and was surprised that the President and the congress did not always march in lock step. That was the early 80's and I have now lived more than half my life in the US, most of that time as a naturalized citizen. I love this country, but I am not so sure that I would make the same choice were I to be a twenty-something in South Africa today.
1
When trying to ascribe reasons for Trump’s actions never discount that which wealth can conceal to a degree but never cure: stupidity.
12
It is good to be reminded of what constitutes true bipartisanship at its best. Such patriots are what we most hope for , all the way from the local level to the federal. They can be found if we look honestly and do the hard work of being a responsible citizen. No party has a corner on ethical smart people or dangerous idiots. We must promote by voting steadfastly for those who want our government to work for everybody, not just for those who are willing to sell their souls to keep their government jobs.
2
Sorry Tom. I'd like to believe that our institutions are without bias, but the evidence speaks otherwise. We probably do a lot better than most countries, but that by no means suggests we're perfect.
We know that the 9th circuit is packed with justices with a liberal bent -- and they have repeatedly ruled against Trump regardless of whether the law is on their side.
Of course, the Times wants to ignore that but screams partisanship when a Texas judge overturns Obamacare.
The FBI is full of upstanding men and women, but is there any question that several at the top were acting to stop a Trump presidency in 2016? This whole Russian investigation thing smacks of a bureau over reaching its mandate. And let's not forget the entire sordid history of J Edgar who used the FBI for political purposes.
Brennan and Clapper? Really?
And what about using the IRS to clamp down on tea party organizations under Obama.
If the supreme court doesn't have the slightest taint of political interests, then why do we routinely see it split along ideological grounds? Of course there are cross over votes, but why in the world was the opposition to Kavanaugh so extreme on the left? It wasn't because anyone on the left had an inkling about his legal mind, it was his political views and SC balance.
Again, most people who work in our institutions are fine people. But to think they are in some instances free of political thought or bias is a stretch, don't you think?
1
@Ralphie Not one of the situations or people you listed were intent on turning our Democracy into a Fascist Dictatorship. And our wannabee is very close to achieving his goal. The current shutdown is part of the plan to incite civilian unrest to be put down by Martial Law in the name of National security. Fortunately, at last a few good men and women are coming to the aid of our country and perhaps the resistance is taking hold with the loss of the House and Judges not willing to be neutered. Which side are you on, brother?
Trump's main value is, by his conduct, forcing us to realize the importance of the ideals set forth here by Mr. Friedman. Our job is to use his aberrant behavior to rededicate ourselves to those ideals and to the institutions created to serve those ideals.
11
Roberts presided over Citizen's United and Shelby. These two decisions, going against a great deal of precedent, allowed corporate money to take over our political system and eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, paving the way for the voter suppression tactics that have proliferated through the Red States.
Add to this his refusal to put an end to blatant political gerrymandering.
Now he wants to pretend that judges are non-partisan, just calling balls and strikes.
Sorry, Mr. Friedman, Justice Roberts is a political hack who has done more to undermine democracy in this country than almost any other long-serving politician. Don't let the robes fool you. There is nothing underneath except an unrelenting and unapologetic desire to advance the Republican Party's political fortunes.
Now he is trying to rehabilitate his image.
Don't fall for it. The damage has been done.
16
What never ceases to amaze me is that one of our nation's worst scofflaws -- tax evader, debt welcher, sexual predator, charity fraudster, deadbeat casino owner, founder of a phony university, landlord to Russian mobsters, launderer of Russian mob money and treasonous conspirator with a hostile foreign power -- gets to pick two, maybe three, Supreme Court justices
17
There was never much doubt that the aging, narcissistic, power crazed Trump wants to be a big time dictator but what is most nauseating are the so-called Americans who also want him to be a dictator.
16
Trump's is not a simple ignorance..It is an idiotic (ie, stupid), intentional, non-civil form of ignorance fueled by his extreme insecurity and narcissism. Most of us knew that about him even before he declared his candidacy, and that he would be like a 'wrecking ball in a china shop'. I hope that his base begins to emerge from their caves.
10
Thank you Mr. Friedman for giving voice to my lamentations and outrage against the man despoiling the presidency. Trump and his minions are our national nightmare.
9
The beauty of being ruled by an autocrat or dictator is decisions can be made and implemented quickly. The problem this presents is it increases the chance the decision is wrong and its implementation does more harm than good.
We are potentially, some would say likely, witnessing the decline of the United States from which it will be hard to recover.
We can blame the Republicans and others, but perhaps all of us Americans deserve some blame
9
If we don't have courts/laws, institutions, and government workers that are free of partisan politics, we are done. We follow the path of Rome into decline and ruin.
7
The Supreme Court needs to be a firewall in opposition to this Republican Party. Denying the need for the Voting Rights Act, validating Citizens United, allowing the Affordable Care Act to be eviscerated will cost lives, ruin the election process, and permit voter suppression which is blatantly undemocratic. Cases have to be interpreted with consideration for how the bigotry, immorality, and indecency of some citizens and lawmakers will abuse the system and cause irreparable harm. Roberts has clearly failed to protect the people and institutions of the country.
4
Talking about the independent judiciary America is respected for; which Donald Trump so evidently disrespects. Your column failed to mention that 45th President conveniently forgets to mention that his sister Maryanne Trump Barry became a US District Judge nominated by President Reagan, and nominated to become a Court of Appeals Judge by President Clinton.
1
It would be nice to think this is true:
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”
Sounds very noble. It's also nonsense. If you doubt it, I give you Bush v. Gore; Citizens United; Hobby Lobby; Janus.
Trump has simply stated the obvious. The Republicans and the right wing weaponized our federal judiciary long ago. Did you ever ask yourself why they went to so much trouble in 2000 and 2004 to steal the presidential elections? Look no further than the Supreme Court.
16
I remember his campaign rhetoric. All our treaties and alliances were stupid, negotiated by dummies. Only he knew how to do deals.
I thought at the time the comparison lacked context. After all, his 'deals' were all conducted as one-offs, usually followed by stiffed vendors or swindled banks who threw up their hands refusing to do business with him anymore. Working with Congress is a completely different world.
Let's recognize Speaker Pelosi. She and the Democrats who are standing up to him are saying emphatically "you're not the boss of me." Roberts is critical but so is Congress.
12
Myah, of course Roberts' own Supreme Court is being stacked with, if not Trump, definitely GOP drones. Also, Donald the Magnificent doesn't do "subtle" very well. So a gentle, yet firm reminder of the need to safeguard judicial independence may not have the impact that Tom Friedman hopes for, not like, say, a kick in the teeth would.
As to the retired military personnel speaking out. Yeah, it's better than nothing I suppose, but again, does Trumpie care what some exceedingly well paid pensioner says? Somehow I doubt it. Let's remind ourselves that this is the guy who disparaged the late John McCain for "having allowed himself to be taken prisoner".
It would probably have a far greater impact if serving generals and admirals retired early and gave as their reason for doing so that they find the individual holding the Office of President of the United States morally repugnant and a threat to National Security. But that is not very likely to happen...
I admire Tom Friedman for seeing sliver-thin silver linings, but the clouds are still overwhelmingly dark.
11
Donald Trump's disrespect for the judicial branch is even more ironic, given his sister Maryanne's legal career included roles as a US District Judge (nominated by President Reagan), and US Appelate Judge on the 3rd Circuit (nominated by President Clinton).
1
Border Patrol agents apparently love Trump and his policies. I don't know about you, but I have had enough of the boot licking. When border patrol agents are caught licking Trump boots they do so with no shame. Thus the border patrol folks must all be republicans. You shame your organization.
1
In the book, “How Democracies Die” the authors describe how elected officials subvert democracy. They cite three factors. One. Pack and weaponize the courts and other neutral agencies — Mitch McConnel and the GOP stole a Supreme Court seat. The FBI, Justice Dept, federal agencies are routinely attack and discredited. Two. Buying off the media or bullying them into silence. “The media is the enemy of the American people” - DJT, Feb. 17, 2017. Three. Rewrite the rules of politics to tilt the playing field in your favor, against your opponents. Can you hear the chants of “Lock Her Up” led by admitted felon Michael Flynn. There are many many examples of Donald Trump taking dead aim on our Democracy, and this is the point Thomas Friedman is making.
14
When was a kid in the seventies in school we studied the effects of propaganda in places like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Why is that all these years later people can't see that Trump is a master of propaganda and he has a TV network that is solely dedicated to being his official mouthpiece?
Roberts doesn't have a network so therefore he has no real power in America.
8
What we are seeing is how far this country will go both in pursuit of more money and pure stupidity. One side will break any norm in order to enrich themselves, even allowing the degradation of the planet. The other group is so woefully misinformed and frightened by Fox News that they will allow any action, no matter how despicable or ridiculous. Put these two groups together and we have our current situation. Greed and stupidity will be the downfall of this country.
8
There has been a notable trend, over the last 50 years anyway, for "conservative" supreme court justices to drift towards the "left" over time (actually, toward the center). Not all do so, but but many, as exemplified by Justices Stevens and Kennedy. Hopefully, Chief Justice Roberts will be another example.
2
Great article if not a depressing one. Hard to watch the president of the United States sell the country down the river. But it is happening every day in front or our eyes and tepid rebukes by CJ Roberts will not reverse the damage. I ask that Mr. Friedman start writing articles about what life is like for the "average guy" in places like Russia, Turkey, Arab countries etc. It's not a pretty picture but that is where Trump is leading his gullible base and the rest of us that see it but cant figure out what to do besides vote. The best chance for Trump's base is the America we had pre-Trump and pre- Roberts. Remember it was the Roberts court that took up Citizens United. A ruinous opinion for American democracy.
6
Ok but not so fast. Kavenaugh violated the ethics code concerning federal judges. Roberts had quoted one of those violations with approval. That is poor judgement. And it is why the house needs to either impeach kavenaugh or at least censure his ethics violation.
1
Difficult to take issue with the primary thrust of this column. But I see Roberts as a conundrum, with, pardon the pun, the jury very much still out on him. Hopefully his recent statements will prove to be a turning point resulting from consideration of his and his court's legacy. Much damage has been done so far during his tenure. Hopefully most of it can be undone, and hopefully he will become a catalyst to that end. But, as you describe, the current situation is dire, and time is of the essence.
4
Excellent essay, and a thankful respite from the fruitless analysis of why Trump acts the way he does.
The damage he does covers the gamut - from individual reputations to the effectiveness of government agencies, all the way to undermining our major institutions. Those who have the power have to step up and use their positions to defend what we value.
The recognition of Chief Robert's words is important: he still often continues to be maligned casually, but he has shown that he is an independent thinker, as well as a courageous one.
Once again Friedman is in a La La Land of his own making. He is determined to find heroes where none exist.
Consider his deification of “MBN”.
Roberts is part of a conservative majority on the Sumpreme Court that will continue to make decisions that erode rights,
attack unions and support the rule of an uber wealthy oligarchy.
Please Mr Friedman can you spare us any more insight into the political fantasy world you inhabit.
M
1
Well said Sir. Let us hope that Trump becomes a warning of the dangers an out of control president and a cowardly senate. Thank god that cracks are appearing in their support for this moron. Let the people vote him out and then let the law deal with him, his company and his family for all the crimes they have committed.
2
Maybe the New York Times should follow Roberts’ model and not always identify every judge or general who make a newsworthy decision by the president and party who appointed them.
1
Trump, like his followers and supporters, are ignorant people. Ignorance is worse than contempt and rage, for it fosters those energies without needing to define them. Rationality and courage will always prevail over indifference, cruelty and cowardness. Bravo to Mr. Roberts
Its unfortunate that the Department of Justice and the FBI under Obama didn't live up to your well articulated standard of impartiality. Holder, Lynch, and Comey/McCabe/Struck also deserve your opprobrium for having undermined our bedrock institutions of law.
When we examine history, Friedman's singing the praises of John Roberts leaves some harsh and discordant notes. We can ask, if we were in an inquisitive mood, why wasn't George Washington given the death penalty or any penalty for slavery? Why weren't Nixon, Johnson and Bush given the correct penalties for the killing of innocent people in the Vietnam and Middle East Holocausts?
If you, the reader, were seated on a court tasked with imposing the correct penalties, how would you have ruled? How can we then account for the the best legal system money can buy failing miserably to impose the correct penalties? (If someone were to suggest that it couldn't impose the correct penalties since it is obliged to follow the law, then why should we accept it as ethically legitimate, especially when we see that the Nuremberg Court was able to overcome the Nazi defense?)
Surely, Friedman is knowledgeable of the American government's evilism, and the failure of the SCOTUS to prevent it. Ignoring history, he not only leaves a gap in his argument, but offers no solutions for the future.
1
Its not just Trump. It's Jared.
If you or I had a mentally disturbed son who was acting the way Trump has over the course of the past two years, we’d have stopped talking to him, advised him to see a doctor, kicked him out of our house, called the cops and cut him out of our will a long time ago.
Unless we were Republicans.
In which case we would be cowards who looked the other way and betrayed our responsibility to him and to our family.
10
I have never commented before but I had to on this piece. Wow. As an attorney who appears before Judges arguing on behalf of clients the central theme of this piece could not be more true. I am disturbed and at times scared for our country if this continues. The Republican Party and the leaders of this party have the ability to stop this it’s called —grow a spine and rebuke him —call hm out —call him down. Bully’s get emboldened because no one stands up to them and Trump sure is emboldened.
13
The silence of the lambs? Wanna bet Roberts would be a "lamb" if he didn't have a lifetime appointment?
I have said for two years that the most dangerous man in the United States is sitting in the Oval Office. So far I have been proven right.
15
I'm not sure that Friedman has identified the beginning of the
real problem in America today? Sure President Trump is hated and despised by half the country and just the mention of his name creates uncivility. But I believe the Real cause goes deeper than that. I think the spark that created this downward spiral, the psychological core, was the stunning, unexpected and irrational disappointment generated by Hillary Rodham Clinton's defeat in 2016. Half the country has not personally reconciled that in their own minds and hearts.
How could she have lost to such a man? That's I believe it!
2
Trump, as many of his supporters will say, represents them, thinks like them and speaks to them. His supporters cheer when he issues his moronic tweets that belittles someone or one of our institutions.
As Mr. Friedman states, Trump possibly never took civics lessons. Perhaps his fan club members have not either as they espouse the third-rate banana republic despot's actions.
McConnell and Ryan are and were not silent lambs. They became co-conspirators in the rape of our form of government to further their agenda of one-party rule and erasing anything "liberal" from our government.
Mr. Friedman speaks of a judiciary that strives to rule on the law and constitution. At times there is hope we do have a politically neutral judiciary.
Lastly, as a retired service member I am dismayed that today's military would allow themselves to be used as a prop in order for Trump to further himself. The military is not his. The generals are not his.
Everything Trump does has an agenda behind his actions. And it isn't for the betterment of the country as many of his supporters believe.
14
I'm not sure that Friedman has identified the beginning of the
real problem in America today? Sure President Trump is hated and despised by half the country and just the mention of his name creates uncivility. But I believe the Real cause goes deeper than that. I think that the spark that created this downward spiral, the psychological core, was the stunning, unexpected and irrational disappointment generated by Hillary Rodham Clinton's defeat in 2016.
How could she have lost to such a man? That's I believe it!
Trump's behavior is not a surprise. He showed us what he was all about during his campaigns, both the Primary and the National Election. In addition, his past performance as a business man was a huge red flag.
That the people voted for him, though not the majority, chose to believe his lies, his bullying of other candidates and did so with glee.
A few people, like Roberts, McRaven and Lyons are not enough. All Republicans need to call him out and push him out.
But so long as Trump serves his donors an the RNC he will be lauded by these spineless creatures.
We have two hopes, that of the Mueller Investigation and the newly elected Congress. Mueller needs protection to finish his investigation and the Democratic Congress has to keep the pressure on Trump and call out McConnell as the true culprit that he is.
Trump would not be an almost Dictator if McConnell remembered the oath he took to uphold the Constitution and be the checks and balances that is required of the Senate and the House. The House will have checks and balances now that the Dems have taken over.
McConnell is what is between us and getting this country back on track
13
The significant word you use is “courage.” I suppose it doesn’t take much courage for a congressional Democrat to speak critically of Trump. But it does take courage for a Supreme Court Chief Justice, an admiral and Navy SEAL, or for that matter it seems, a Republican member of congress to stand up to the president.
J.F.K. did not write a book titled “Profiles in Towing the Party Line.” Action movies don’t portray heroes who refuse to oppose evil to protect their own butts.
If only more politicians and leaders would stand up for what is obviously right instead of approaching politics like a game. The courageous ones will be remembered by history.
5
Great column Mr.Friedman. We need writers such as you shining a bright light into the dark places where the rats live and wreak havoc on our country. Thank you.
2
Two things seem to be the foundation of the Trump presidency: Fealty to Putin/Russia; and fear. How sad that it takes courage to stand up to a president hellbent on taking down our democracy. How scary that we have a president hellbent on taking down our democracy; how disheartening that we have a major political party which, solely for party reasons, has abetted him; and how discouraging that so much of the electorate continues to adore him precisely because of his miserable, misfit child behavior of destruction.
4
Trump at the border, standing in front of the uniformed agents, looked more like a late addition to the Village People than an American president. No wonder the world is laughing at him.
3
Yes, but for how long?
I agree with many commenters that the Supreme Court Citizen's United decision causes us to believe they aren't really Supreme at all. I quit thinking they were when they made the decision in 2000 to interfere in a State Election process in Florida and handing the election to George Bush who lost to Al Gore. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they proved me wrong and actually protected our country from the Treasonsist Trump?
3
Great piece, and on the mark. Unlike many of those he criticizes, Trump has no discipline, has skated through life getting his way by bullying others, and through his gross sense of entitlement. For Trump, being president is a blend of pronouncements ("Make America Great Again"), tweets, and a reality show, where he is the star and others are his minions. He's the boss, the tough guy. In truth, how could anyone so lazy, corrupt, and ignorant make it this far? We may soon have our answers. Yes, Mr. Friedman, you are correct: this is a real, live emergency for our democracy, and the complacency of the meek GOP is truly shameful and has the makings of a budding autocracy.
172
Where was John Roberts when McConnell refused to follow the constitution and allow Merrick Garland a hearing?
Only in comparison to the likes of Trump is Roberts a hero.
10
@dfokdfok The matter was not brought to the Supreme Court to resolve. Supreme Court does not intervene in our politics. (I'm a registered Democrat.)
1
We'll know soon enough whether Mr. Friedman is correct (which he normally is) when the appeal of the decision on the census citizenship question hits his court.
5
Donald Trump was opposed in the 2016 presidential election by Americans, mostly Democrats and Independents, who were convinced that Trump was unfit to sit in the Oval Office.
Donald Trump unexpectedly won the election by garnering a majority of the electoral college. The manner in which that victory was achieved sparked a bipartisan appointment of Robert Mueller to investigate, and it has led to a number of indictments, convictions and guilty pleas.
Donald Trump, since taking office, has had utter contempt for American institutions, as Thomas Friedman writes today, by a making a series of questionable appointments and by showing an embarrassing ignorance of American history.
Donald Trump has actively tried to politicize career government employees – most notably our uniformed military personnel, our intelligence officers and our law enforcement forces.
Donald Trump has governed by whim and tantrum in every matter. His only consistency has been a slavish devotion to Vladimir Putin and the Russians, who have turned Trump against our traditional allies, against NATO, against the European Union and in favor of elevating the role of Russia in the Middle East.
If Chief Justice Roberts will stand up to Donald Trump, as Mr. Friedman optimistically hopes, the nation now needs all of the help it can get.
12
Mr. Friedman. Thank you for pointing this out.
"You cannot exaggerate how unusual it is for our chief justice and retired senior military officers to challenge Trump’s excesses the way they have. They were bred to keep themselves and their institutions out of politics at all costs. But they understand the greater costs of what Trump is doing.
We owe these people a debt for their civic courage, because the biggest national security threat to our country today is from within (and it is only going to get worse in the next two years)."
There are so very many in this country who do not understand how important neutrality is to Federal service and how very unusual it is for these leaders to speak up. By speaking up these people risked everything, whether we the public appreciates that or not. They are the true defenders of our democracy.
11
Breakdown of core institutions? There was a serious discussion recently about whether Trump would voluntarily leave office if he were defeated in a close 2020 election (an election he'd claim was "rigged"). If that happened, it's possible 40% of Americans would back it. They back anything he says or does.
Yes, the willingness of a significant percentage of our fellow citizens to give up on democracy is a real, live emergency.
19
Roberts voted in favor of Citizen's United. By doing so, it help fuel the highest bidder politics, that eventually brought Trump into office. He, and those who voted for it, weakened the Supreme Court, and enshrined political partisanship into the Supreme Court. So, Mr. Friedman please ask Mr. Roberts, now that he knows the damage Citizen's United has done, would he vote for it again? Or, better yet, will he be willing to hear it again, and then rule against it?
27
Friedman's defense of super creep, John Roberts, on the mere grounds that Roberts didn't like Trump's use of Obama Judge, shows that Friedman has no sense of proportion. John Roberts has basically turned America into a permanent plutocracy with his wacko anti-democratic decision in Citizens United and other decisions that have destroyed a century's worth of Campaign finance Legislation. I guess Friedman doesn't mind that. What Friedman misses is that Roberts merely desires to provide cover as Republicans convert American into a soft authoritarian regime. More garbage from the Tepid Times.
11
While I have been heartened by Chief Justice Roberts' push back, this is truly a case of "Better Late Than Never."
The Roberts' Court will forever be stained by the Citizens United decision. That decision played no small part in a lot of the insanity going on in the country today. Money has a wildly corrupting influence and no administration has been wilder or more corrupt than the Trump administration.
Roberts, to his credit, realizes just how dangerous the situation has gotten. Surely the Kavanaugh hearing with the blatant partisan whining of Kavanaugh was a shocking call to action for the Chief Justice.
Perhaps Roberts will redeem himself and actually call "balls and strikes" as pledged in his confirmation hearing. If we are lucky, he will slide to the center to counter the likes of Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
The silence coming out of the Republican Senate is deafening. The Supreme Court is about the last firewall we have left.
But Friedman is right. With Republican "profiles in courage" so scarce, be grateful that Roberts' has a pulse and a spine.
21
FINALLY, SOMEBODY SAID IT !!!
THANK YOU !!!
4
The federal courts across this country are filled with duck politicians in black robes. The very appearance of this is in itself enough to not to consent to be ruled by them.
1
I never thought I’d see the day when a government shutdown weakens our TSA border security to the point where passengers can fly from ATL to Narita, Japan with a gun and ammo. That is now sixty-three weapons and ammo allowed to penetrate our ports of entry in the last two months. That’s not building border security; that’s tearing it down. Who will stand up for U.S. citizens’ safety if not the judges and generals? That’s the executive and legislative branches down for the count, and only the judicial left standing. I guess we’ll all wait for the incident and prosecute after the carnage. For this president, it’s not civic duty; it’s divot cutie....FOUR!!!!
5
Mr. Friedman: your lack of knowledge re the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the Citizens United decision destroys any warm fuzzy feelings I have about John Roberts.
5
@Maholly
Yes and Trump understands they aren't Supreme at all.
Oy, the boredom.
There is an ancient Sanskrit saying, “Vinaash Kaale Vipareet Buddhi,” which loosely translates to “when one’s doom is near, the affected person’s intellect works against their best interests.”
As his fate awaits a likely damning Mueller report, President Trump is behaving increasingly defiant and against his own best interests, which are inextricably tied to the larger welfare of the nation. The prolonged government shutdown is a clear example where Trump’s narcissism and stubbornness are hurting the country, it’s economy and over 800,000 federal workers.
The Republican-led Congress failed miserably to maintain any checks and balances on a president, who ran roughshod over it. Now that the House is under Democratic control, we can expect that to change. Meanwhile, the destiny of this great nation rests in its judiciary and Chief Justice Roberts must ensure that a possible failure of the Trump presidency does not translate into a long-term impairment of the nation and its democratic institutions.
4
Right on target.
I would say we should stop treating him as a mentally sick patient in the shrink chair, and start seeing him for what he is...the enemy of the people, the sold out asset of Russian Politburo, the cancer that spreads all over the country body and brain.
This self pronounced king of the land must be deposed by rule of the people and the rule of law, if we still have one.
Don't let the monstrous, evil Gorilla and his loyal slaves to break our country apart.
I know the havoc is everywhere...Brexit, Nato withdrawal, challenge of Globalism, shutdown showdown, the idiotic, stupidity of right wing government, the misery of ordinary people...all is boiling and will inevitably explode.
5
Trump's decision to pick a fight with Justice Roberts
was felony stupid.
I doubt Roberts is going to denude the Court of power
and kowtow to Agent Orange
Trump is a product of the media and as such his basic medium is advertising and propaganda. This is the tool of all autocrats who disdain institutions that curb their power. Propaganda has no rules or sense of truth behind it, only the will of the person creating it to get what they want. Impartiality has nothing to do with it. In the end its only creation is a '1984' world of double speak and authoritarian control. To the propagandist it seems completely natural because it is the creation that lives in his own view of the world, but to those who confront it and continue in the attempt to create a country where laws and institutions matter is must be a bitter enemy for if it triumphs you have nothing left but the world of Hitler and Stalin.
3
And the reason this has gone on as long as it has is that 40% of the American people WANT a leader like Trump who will impose his will on the other 60% of the people. They embrace a president who does all the things you describe and hope for even more. They have not done a bit of extrapolating what if.....For example. if the Russians amass arms and troops along the border with Europe, whose side would Trump choose? If Trump ordered an indiscriminate mass bombing to end the war once and for all, in say Yemen or Syria, and many innocent were killed (unlike supporting just that from the sidelines), they would clamor for more as long as Trump said to. If Trump felt using a nuclear warhead was a quick way to stop , say, North Korea, they would cheer it on. The problem here isn't Trump, per se. It is the 40% who don't care what the generals or Roberts say. They have no line in the sand and they can't get enough of it. Hopefully Roberts, the generals, and the 60% will be enough. My worry is what if Trump, unlike Nixon, refuses to board the helicopter and depart after one big wave to the White House. And how far will that 40% go to prevent the chopper from departing?
14
Sorry, Tom, but Roberts only is worried about public perceptions of the judiciary. That is all. It will take a lot more than a tepid remark or two about judicial independence to stop Trump. Anyone who thinks Roberts is going to ever be more than a reliable vote for corporate interests and the expansion of presidential power is engaging in wishful thinking belied by Roberts’ entire career history.
12
If Trump is guilty of “sheer ignorance” about how our government functions, then his supporters are equally guilty. Did they ever take a civics course? Do they not understand what separation of power means? Let’s not put all the blame on Trump. Pervasive ignorance of our country’s history and government principles is a fundamental factor in public support for a man who is tearing apart the fabric of this country. The public must live with the government it elects. Ignorance begets ignorance.
14
Consider that we who work for corporate oligarchs surrender our freedom once we commence our workday. Donald Trump has merely brought workplace dictatorship to our national government.
3
As he did endlessly with Bush's illegal war in Iraq, Friedman is grasping at normalcy and hoping for Republicans to save us from Republicans. Roberts will not save us. He is a partisan hack now bolstered by two extreme partisan hacks to add to the existing two partisan hacks.
Roberts' legacy will be as the worst CJ since Roger Taney (Dred Scott) and the man who presided over the death of democracy at the hands of a madman and a complicit Republican majority leader.
3
Regarding Trump's antics, Mr. Friedman notes, "It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance." Yes, Trump is no doubt the most ignorant man to hold the presidency. But to borrow a word from one of his predecessors, let's not "misunderestimate" his malevolence either.
5
But we also have Mitch McConnell. He is the poison on the tip of the arrow. His obstruction is equally underhanded and damaging as Trump's destruction.
5
Praise the Lord for the free press. Keep fighting for us, NYT, keep fighting. THANK YOU!!
3
@Neville Reid
I don't know about the "Praise the Lord..." sentiment; I'm more inclined to thank James Madison, et.al., but I agree with you: I appreciate our free press now more than ever.
1
Could 45 stop wearing his Campaign Baseball cap while doing his Job as President you are not campaigning already.
2
I was shocked to see border patrol agents lined up behind President Trump like his personal bodyguards at a recent news conference. Four of the six, the ones directly behind him, had shaved heads which gave them a threatening appearance and provoked a connection in my mind to white nationalist, neo-Nazi "skinheads." Together with his preference for generals ("my generals") in the West Wing, his apparent admiration for "strong" foreign leaders, his manufactured "national security crisis" on the border and his conviction that FBI directors and Attorneys General should be loyal to him personally, a reasonable American could be alarmed. I imagine that many Germans in the 1920s were.
5
A lot of psychological babbling. Not worth the effort with Trump. The guy is obsessed with himself and money and willing to break the law to get more than he could ever need, which has put him in Putin's pocket and makes him a traitor to this country.
2
"But Trump appreciates none of this. It would be easy to attribute it all to malevolence. But I think a lot of it is sheer ignorance."
No, Tom, fine article, but let's be clear: Trump is, diagnostically, a malignant sociopathic narcissist. The malevolence comes before the ignorance; the ignorance exists because his grandiosity is such that he would project reality.
People need to understand how sick he is, perhaps, then, to deal with the menace he presents more directly. He is fundamentally malevolent.
4
This is the same Justice Roberts who intentionally overturned key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which subsequently aids and abets gerrymandering, and you're all cattywampus because he "stood up to Trump"?! THAT Justice Roberts !? Surely you jest !
3
It is not a wonder that our President makes the kind of statements he does. He is totally focused on himself and his own needs and stroking his own ego. Concomitant with his narcissism and reinforcing it is his complete mental laziness which permits him to ignore factual reality and to avoid the hard work that being President requires. He has created his own separate world in which he is the center, source and arbiter. Anything in contradiction is "fake news".
3
At no time in my life did I ever think the single largest threat to America would be the president. But that is where we are. Sad disgusting and true. Good article Tom.
4
On trump I vote sheer ignorance of civics, plain sheer ignorance in his avoidance of facts and a narcissistic personality. Singular power and being the boss is in his blood, ok maybe if it’s your company, not so much when it’s our country. If you want a villain I’d go with McConnell, he can’t plead ignorance. His legacy won’t be written about positively in future civics textbooks but he’s done way more damage to the foundations of our country than trump, and that damage will last much longer.
3
Great column, and I’m a Republican.
1
The Federalist Society vets and submits nominees for Federal judgeships to Congress and to the Executive Branch while the the Republican party ignores ratings for candidates from the American Bar Association.
Sounds pretty partisan to me.
As far as ignorance is concerned... Trump prides himself on ignorance as long he stirs the crowd while distorting every event, every sentence into his own narcissistic, demagogic view of reality.
Ignorance is fixable, but when someone deliberately refuses even to try, ignorance becomes malevolence. And malevolence is what's coming out of the White House under this president. Sheer, unadulterated malevolence.
3
A lot of false equivalence here. Just as with Germany in the 1930's, the threat to our security came from the right. Trump is one with the Tea Partiers and their ilk- and a crook to boot.
2
The Democrats are angry that they lost in 2016, they haven't gotten over it. They want to get their hands on the levers of power again, and into the treasury. By whooping and hollering and firing off all the guns they can (making all manner of wild accusations), they hope to stampede the herd. As soon as they get back in they'll wrap themselves in the toga of civic righteousness, assure us that our institutions are in good hands, and go right back to work pushing, pushing the nation to the left, creating a socialist nirvana, which was what they were about when so rudely interrupted in 2016. Why were they interrupted? That's a question they don't think about, and hope you don't, either.
@Ronald B. Duke
Ah... a message from Trump's base.
We continually demonize the Trump behaviour as outrageous, well nigh insane! But what about the duty of Congress and, especially now, the Senate, whose serious duty it now has become, to put the USA back on track, and to avoid the makings of a REAL National Emergency. Not the Faux one, that one imagined by the current POUTS, in order to Place a Wall on the Mexican Border, which has been vetted already as ridiculously expensive, ineffective, and already obsolete!
Senator McConnell had quickly better extract his head from the darkness of Misplaced Loyalty to Mr. Trump, as the indifference by him to do so, should be reason enough override his authority, as the US is on the way to a much more serious crisis!
2
Trump is malevolent, and his ignorance is willful, not sheer. He simply refuses to hear evidence that belies his crackpot notions.
He also clearly gets great pleasure from hurting people he sees as "enemies" like firing Andrew McCabe 26 hours before he retired. It's why he keeps pushing to have Hillary Clinton, defeated by him over 2 years ago, indicted and jailed.
And people hurting who are not "enemies"? If he cannot get political mileage out of pretending to feel their pain, he just doesn't care. The federal workers going to food banks right across the Potomac in Alexandria he portrays as "all Democrats" (the Federal Govt is one of the largest employers of African Americans--and most of them are Democrats--but that's just the DC region).
He just doesn't care about anyone but Trump. This is why Bedminster, NJ, West Palm Beach, FL, and Manhattan all hate him. He disrupts EVERYTHING about their lives for his own pleasures and it doesn't matter one iota to him.
He's burned through more Secret Service funds than any President...and now the men and women sworn to guard him and his family with their lives are forced to do it without even being paid! Typical of Trump--demand services then stiff the provider. It is his life's story.
"I want, I take!" whether it's money, government services, or sex. Winning, no matter the cost or damage is his route to acceptance, acceptance on the lowest morally bankrupt will give him.
3
Justice Taney re-incarnate
I'd like to know how, 30 years from now, Paul Ryan will judge his own performance as Speaker of the House. Will he see himself as the coward that the rest of us witnessed?
3
Spot on, Mr. Friedman. Thank you.
1
Tump is clearly responsible for his dangerous and divisive behavior; but that is unfortunately his nature. He is able to do dispense his poison because of those Republicans who are his apologists, or remain silent in the face of his outrages. They are the real villains.
1
Whatever happened to your dream of being “China for a Day?” Has Trump cures you of your Love of autocracy or is only in gold until a Democrat is in office again? I suspect the latter. It has been the same for the NYT since the days of FDR.
Yes, Thomas Friedman, you are 100% correct when you say this is a real, live emergency for our democracy. A clear and present danger to the United States of America and its institutions exists in the form of Donald Trump and his reprehensible politics defined by his words and actions, supported by McConnell, Graham and a spineless Ted Cruz whose family was so caustically belittled by the White House resident liar. Please tell me who the true GOP patriots are. Outside of his base no one, but no one, has been happier than Putin to see Trump elected. And let's not be hard of hearing - Barr, yesterday, declaring that comparatively China is the bigger threat than Russia gives one major pause, a telling hairpin dropped. It's Putin who hungers like a wolf for a disbanded NATO, our greatest alliance. And it's Russia that Trump is intent on Making Great Again.
Trump has always been a crook. The GOP--in my lifetime--overflows with criminality, The DNC has latched onto the Citizens United corporate money shill game whenever they can.
Reagan ended the Fairness Doctrine allowing FOX 'news' to become GOP-State TV. #45 takes his cues directly--verbatim--from Fox's anchors.
We are in a corporate-kleptocratic maelstrom.
Without a united Blue tsunami in 2020, kiss it all goodbye.
1
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"--as a liberal Dem., I suppose that I could argue about the many differences I have had & that I still hold w/my Constitutional Conservative Repub. "Never Trump" countrymen & friends.
Those differences seem pretty insignificant to me now, when we all face an impending Constitutional crisis, which could very well bring down our good ol' US of A, & the world around with it.
Whether conservative or liberal, or Republican or Democrat, I hope that all Americans can agree that we CANNOT have a crazy person as Pres. Either Obama/McCain/Romney seems like a pretty good choice to me, compared to the Caligula we have in office now, who is wrecking everything for everyone.
1
You jest quite a bit much, Friedman.
This man, his ilk, his ideas, all of it belong in the dustbin of history along with the vast majority of the old and neoliberal wing of the Democratic party.
It’s not unusual for presidents to criticize judges in the media. But, what Barack Obama did was unprecedented. He modified his prepared State of the Union address to criticize the Supreme Court justices to their faces in front of the nation for their Citizens United decision.
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/politics/29scotus.html
But, he didn't stop there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/why-does-president-obama-criticize-the-supreme-court-so-much/2015/06/20/b41667b4-1518-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html
Last week, he told us that greed is what unites us,:"Father Greed" to be exact. ("There is only one force bigger than Mother Nature, and that is Father Greed.”)
This week, the message is again neolib pollyanna, blithe and contentless as the "free market" which he also says unites us:
*Because America’s core governing institutions were not built to be “conservative” or “liberal.” They were built to take our deepest values and our highest ideals and animate them, promote them and protect them — to bring them to life and to scale them. **
Woo woo. Cheerleader for vacuousness empty promises and snoring rhetoric.
Roberts wants to save what makes America great?? Then he must first remove the Court packings: Both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh need to be disappeared. Otherwise he is simply another participant in the long smooth ride to the bottom.
I agree it’s everything Friedman says. However, it’s not just Trump. The way the Senate has conducted some recent confirmation hearings has reinforced that now common belief that judges are political. Many even call one or two of our Supreme Court justices illegitimate, mainly because they disagree with their judicial philosophy. This predates Trump, and is just as harmful.
1
Mr. Friedman wrote: "...our judges are appointed by politicians with the hope that they’ll reflect their own or their party’s ideological bent on issues that come before them — and they often do.
But... every American is able to expect an impartial hearing before those judges..."
Really? Tell that to Al Gore following the 2000 election or to the losers on the other side of ideologically based Supreme Court decisions, such as Heller vs District of Columbia, in which a conservative court abandoned decades of 2nd Amendment jurisprudence. Why do you think the Kavanaugh hearings were so contentions? Because everyone understood that having Kavanaugh on the court would ensure that the court would rule in favor of extreme conservative interests.
3
It sure looks to me like Trump doesnt actually hate these things and want to destroy them per se. But he does have things he cares about and if those democracy things get in his way then he will oppose them, attack them, undermine them - because they get in his way, that's all.
The point is that the things he does care about are pretty much just things that affect his businesses, things that boost his base's loyalty, things that play into his ego's trips.
Right now, the most dangerous thing in the government shutdown is that he has flatly stated he wont give an inch. So that's it. We're absolutely stuck because his ego is not going to allow him to compromise one inch. Even if he started privately thinking that he's painted himself into a corner, he will also think he just cant cave.
The only things that will be able to shake that will be damage to his businesses, anger from his base, or least likely - Republicans abandoning him to form a veto-proof majority to reopen.
This is going to get uglier.
2
When the history for this dark Trump Cold War is written in the books of time Trump and his enablers will be our Benedict Arnold. A very well thought out and written opinion.
I am glad that C.J. Roberts spoke out against President Trump. But let's not be naive: we do indeed have judges and Justices who were nominated and confirmed because of their political views. Roberts was a member of the Federalist Society, an organization avowedly committed to steering the Federal courts to the right. Also, Roberts bears significant responsibility for the USSC ruling in Citizens United, which has done more to undermine American democracy than has the president's ignorant bluster.
3
The problem, Tom, is that the Courts haven’t been impartial with venue selection the litmus of the politics of the judge involved and the FBI’s behavior with respect to Trump, the dossier mess and the highly suspect Clinton investigation as prime examples. Moreover,the free press has not critically held everyone’s feet to the fire.....just Trump’s. Why. It face those truths head on, wherever they may lead?
1
The effort to paint Roberts as a defender of the judiciary's mythical independence is embarrassing. It's endearing to know that the Chief Justice can proclaim such naïveté, but unnerving to see it get through the sieve of so many Pulitzer Prizes and authenticating decades of devoted opinion-writing.
1
Of course, Trump can do no harm to Roberts.
Speaking out is good, but I see almost nothing in the Roberts Court and Roberts himself that deserves much praise. remember Mr. Friedman has been a flip flopped on many issues.
1
Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and now McCarthy as well should to be thouroughly vetted by the media for their part in what has transpired over the past two plus years in the attack on our institutions and Democracy overall.
These Republican leaders have been enablers in everything Trump and this administration has done, and attempts to do, to turn the United states into an autocracy.
McConnell, Ryan and McCarthy should be given the same ink and air time as Donald Trump for their actions.
They are just as culpable.
3
Roberts hardly can be worse than Trump, but it is obsequious to pat a champion of Citizens United on the head.
3
Mr. Friedman nails it.
When "W" donned a flight suit and used an aircraft carrier to announce victory in Iraq (ahem..what?), it was bad, untimely, and really a stage prop of enormous dimensions, but Trump used federal workers, contractors, ball players eating fast food, international insults and praising enemies as his fake and damaging stage.
Shakespeare wrote that the world is a stage, but as the Trump cast get the hook or a jail sentence rather than a memorable line, he lies and cheats his way daily across our headlines.
Justice Roberts and others who protect our front lines of democracy through their protection of institutions vital to the ongoing experiment of democracy are doing today's work of George Washington, other founders, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR, to preserve and protect as sworn to do.
There is no worse leader, nor lower form of life, than the enabling Republican congressional shills who have sold out democracy for short term political leverage. McConnell, Ryan, Cornyn--your historic devaluation of your personal integrity will be studied by school children for 100 years
3
Mitch McConnell is the real problem, with his Republican enablers. He has worked diligently to eliminate all bipartisan law making and to bias the courts. McConnell tells Trump who to appoint to the courts. He and the Republicans are responsible for incompetent and venal administration appointees. They are responsible for Trump's tax disaster. McConnell and the Republican senators are responsible for the government shut down, they could end it today. They are complicit. They need to be removed as fast as possible.
3
As you said, "It is only going to get worse in the next two years." I hope people will stay outraged come 2020. I hope people will not get desensitized to the daily emergencies caused by this president.
1
I’m sure that, like me, everyone is tired of the constant litany of reporters and journalists recounting Trump’s treacherous behavior. It’s painfully repetitious but necessary so that those of us who’ve heard enough can be sure that those reluctant to hear finally get fed up enough to withdraw their support from this incompetent man.
1
Roberts is only trying to protect his reputation — The US supreme court has turned into nothing more than a political puppet. It's too bad — because the founding fathers of this nation developed a try-part system to put checks and balances on the 3 branches of government — unfortunately, that vision is now totally failing because of a bunch of crooked politicians, and a bunch of voters who do no research into the political leadership and are in essence nothing but a bunch of sheep.
The SCP knows what is on Fox and right wing media. They tell their listeners that the Democratic Party (or in their version, the Democrat party) is the enemy. The SCP parrots that line. They tell their listeners that Obama is not a citizen, the SCP parrots that line, they tell their listeners that a wall is needed to stop "those people" from invading "their" country, and the SCP parrots their line.
He understands very well what his supporters want from him, and he is more than willing to give them what they want.
It is an unbearable source of pain for those of us who have come to this country from another, where none of the American, mostly unbiased, institutions of the USA protect ALL its residents/citizens, to watch this incredibly immoral, vulgar and impetuous person who acts as if he is king from feudal times, undermine the basic American decencies.
2
Donald Trump and the Republican Party have damaged our country beyond repair. Justice John Roberts must defend nonpartisanship and non-partisan judgment.from president Trump's grasp of our Executive and Senatorial branches of government. Dr. Tom, sheer ignorance and unfitness for office informs our 45th president and allows him to act out his fancies in front of the world. We must disembarrass ourselves by vote, by hook or crook, of a president who is tearing down democracy to build his demented anti-immigrant wall on our southern border. You speak the truth, that this president is as knowledgable as a banana republic dictator. Trump's constant social media and wolfwhistle tweets to throw red meat to his base are as alien to America as his red maga hats worn by his loyalists. Our senior military officers have resigned and left Trump to the real life emergency of our crumbled democracy he has created all by himself. He exemplifies the biblical handwriting on the wall -- that he has been judged and found wanting. We wait to witness him -- sooner or later -- facing the music and dancing.
1
United States Army
Years of service July 9, 1967 to August 15, 1967 (37 days) (medical separation)
Unit United States Army Reserve
Yes our brave Senator Mitch McConnell.
Kentucky Air traffic controllers and TSA airport personnel will not report for work Thursday morning 17 Jan and we will see how long it takes for the Senate to vote on opening up our government (veto proof majority). Thursday afternoon all Texas TSA personnel will walk off their jobs what say you John Cornyn and Ted Cruz .
2
I still don't understand why the stunningly ignorant Trump (no excuse in the eyes of the law) is not demonstrating the very definition and historical perspective of seditious acts. Treasonous acts on his and his family members' part may be the new findings, we will see, and censure through impeachment would be a slap on the wrist and a colossal waste of time. He his grossly incompetent, seditious and quite possibly treasonous, yet there is no way to remove him and and his cabinet from the WH??
1
Meuler is a lieutenant in a coup. The people voted. So far all we've seen is legal stunts and minor changes. The smoking gun is going to back an assassination when the Meuler ploy fails.
Tom attributes it to ignorance, never taking a civics class, and poor instincts.
I think the man is just plain mean.
2
Hold the optimism. This power game is far from over. Underestimate DJT & his henchmen at your own peril. The more Trump is cornered the more dangerous he becomes.
The ambiguity & loopholes of these POTUS emergency powers have come into the light, and none more so than in the head of DJT. In between being explained the importance of NATO, he has found new toys, the POTUS emergency powers.
He is fully capable of instituting this maze of ambiguous laws that directly run counter to the founding concept of checks & balances for his political survival.
We are now informed that, by regulation, the only person that can see the Mueller report is AG Barr; only if he wants us to see & what he wants us to see, will we be able to see; I assume this applies to Congress chairpersons as well...Who wrote this regulation, a demon or optimist?
As to Roberts, he can be the new swing vote, but only if Ginsberg hangs on, should she come off the Court, his influence will be marginalized.
Again, Bill Maher's analogy is 100% correct: Our parents always told us never to get into a car with a stranger. Well in 2016 we got into that car.
I just don't understand where the optimism comes from?
Listening to you optimists is like being on a crammed boxcar heading for a concentration camp having to listen to nonsense like: we'll soon be there and they'll have lunch waiting for us.
Norman O. Brown, once ask how is it that there is an animal that must repress itself, i.e., lie to itself
2
This column is a day late and a dollar short, untimely and saying the obvious which was predictable from the day Trump was elected. However what is really disputable is the writer's opinion that Trump's attempts to co-opt American institutions are done out of ignorance. If there's one institution he's familiar with it's the law. He's spent his whole life dealing with laws governing bankruptcy, divorce and fraud. There are over a hundred lawsuits he's fighting. At last count he had over thirty lawyers in the White House to fight Mueller. Ignorant? I don't think so!
Shoutouts to “acts of courage” are fine and dandy and I believe Roberts is a patriot but what has been revealed, Mr. Friedman, is that American democracy is structurally flawed and always has been. We suffer:
1. Years of minority rule because of our antiquated, anti-Democratic electoral college.
2. The ability of a single senator—representing a rural constituency in a backward economically insignificant state—to thwart the will of the people by preventing bills, Supreme Court nominations, motions, etc. from reaching the floor of the Senate for a vote.
3. The bizarre reality that the White House can be a hideout, a “safe space” for treason and criminality to avoid prosecution—not because “no man is above the law” but because defending criminal charges would overburden the job. Lol, as it is said. The White House is Donald Trump’s Ruby Ridge.
4. The presidential pardon. This quaint exercise in autocratic mercy—“who shall love and who shall die”—turns out to be indistinguishable from the capricious thumb of the Emperor at the Colosseum. It’s actually much worse since the Emperor couldn’t use it to save his own skin.
Add to this list as necessary.
The rise of Trump has taught us many things not least of which is that our system of government—along with our highways, bridges, tunnels, public education system, criminal and tax codes and many other components of civic life—needs a soup-to-nuts overhaul asap. It’s falling apart before our eyes.
2
We part company, Mr. Friedman, on Chief Justice John Roberts.
He is a right-wing tool, an ideologue. He is a racist. He wishes to cement gerrymandering. He personally made the decision that "racism" is a thing of the past and that (non-white) voters' rights aren't important.
He could have taken the moral side in Citizens United but, urged on by his comfortable, rigid conservatism, he gladly signed on for unlimited and unaccountable campaign donations. We have the government that he wanted...or that the plutocrats told him that they wanted.
This is why I was rather surprised that he pushed back against Donald Trump in November. The president bullied him and the Chief Justice only did what most people in his situation would do, even if he really didn't want to or really didn't mean it.
I have no respect for this awful Chief Justice. His four right-wing Justices are all out of the Attila the Hun school; they don't respect his leadership. To them, if one reads between the lines of the splendid Linda Greenhouse, the uprising on the right side of the Court is impatient with his white-shirted, buttoned-down "balls and strikes" nonsense. They want a Chief Justice to wield the scythe against ordinary Americans: the ones without money; the ones without wealth; the ones without political power; the ones who cannot write a check for five or six figures for a Republican politician or PAC.
This Roberts Court is the rubber buoy in Donald Trump's presidency. He owns them. They know it.
1
If you want to preserve and defend our institutions, get out and march on Saturday the 19th for the third annual Women's March. We need to come out in force in greater numbers than ever before to say this is not something we will accept. We the people insist on a functioning government that is not held hostage by a would-be dictator. We need to take to the streets in unprecedented numbers to say that we uphold the Constitution and that we will defend our country against all enemies foreign and domestic, even if they reside in the White House. Grab your partner/spouse, your children, your parents, siblings, friends and co-workers but make your voice and your presence known if you want this country as we have known it to survive.
"it is only going to get worse in the next two years" - wrote Tom fridman. he obviously suggested the present debilitating state will
remain as is.
we surely hope not... enters Bob Mueller...
I agree with all of this - The entire Opinion by Friedman, and most of the comments. However I’m growing tired of the righteous indignation. When will the New York Times start producing stories about what it takes to get rid of this monster in the White House? As a private citizen I am at a loss for what to do. I do not want to wait two more years to vote. I have tried calling my representatives in Congress… The problem is not them (They are Dems). The
problem is the Republicans who will not take calls or letters if you are not their constituents. How can we let these spineless people know they are ruining our country? .
1
The sypcophancy of Friedman to the status quo is strong as ever. John Roberts, as senior advisor to Jeb Bush, was the guiding force behind Bush v. Gore, the worse SCOTUS decision in history until Shelby came along. Within 48 hours of dismantling Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and federal preclearance for states with a history of illegal vote tampering, both North Carolina and Texas had done away with motor voting (same-day registration, crucial for poor people taking time off from work) and early voting for seniors. If the left cannot even get the people who represent our ideas into office, those ideas are nothing more than dinner-table conversation.
Shelby was a masterpiece of conservative contempt for the procedural integrity of the ballot. John Roberts has twice disenfranchised former felons, women, homosexuals and urban leftists of all stripes. Judge Roberts is an American traitor, and Friedman is deep inside the same corrupt conservative bubble. His career depends upon it.
1
I keep thinking of Chrystia Freeland's lecture at the Aspen Ideas conference. Her lecture titled Plutocrats The Rise of the Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else preceded her entry into politics. Today her singling out of the USA and the UK as two nations most open to takeover seem more than ominous and rather prescient.
I am sore afraid that John Roberts is defined by the old saw too little too late.
https://www.aspenideas.org/session/plutocrats-rise-new-global-super-rich-and-fall-everyone-else
1
I do pray these institutions are able to hold on until 2020. Trump is relentless in his quest to turn this country into a Banana Republic. My worry, is will arrive at some tipping point soon---some action that is an obvious impeachable offense or obvious national diversion--e.g. a war---that does throw this country into a national emergency---and our institutional defenses are not strong enough to stand-up to executive power.
A shot out to you also Mr. Friedman.
I have disagreed with you often, notably Iraq, but working with others who agree with you on a given subject, overlooking their positions on others, is essential to our democracy.
I salute you.
1
Not buying it. Roberts is one of them; he is just a lot smarter and has a lot more finesse.
Roberts spoke up because Trump was ripping away the fig leaf of impartiality that Roberts needs in order to advance his right-wing -- Citizens United, Shelby County, etc. -- agenda.
5
It was Ronald Reagan who made "liberal" a dirty word. Republicans still embrace that, like they still embrace his trickle-down economics.
Roberts, meanwhile, validated Citizens United.
As long as all that is still in play, I see little if any hope for a comparatively more level playing field.
It's easier to get Trump out of office, than to reverse an ideology.
4
Liberal is a dirty word. So is “progressive”. But it’s use should be limited to the political realm. Friedman’s point is that we should avoid viewing apolitical institutions with a political framework.
1
@DRS: Well, for that matter, so is "conservative," especially in this political climate. Thanks to Roberts' belief that "corporations are people, too..." thus, allowing campaign funds from anonymous sources to flow like water; also his killing off key components of the Voting Rights Act, on the naive belief that "there is no more racism..."; along with McConnell's blocking Merrick Garland from SCOTUS justice nomination by Obama, as well as all his other shenanigans (including his latest; blocking Democrats from offering up a solution to the shutdown) merely to score political points; you as well as Friedman, for all his eloquence, and your apparent belief in not politicizing SCOTUS has been stomped on.
And then, there's Trump. So, I say it again, in this climate, "conservative" is not merely dirty; it's filthy.
All these fine public servants from the judiciary and the military who have spoken out against Trump's words and acts are, unfortunately, making not a whit of a difference in the direction Trump is leading America. Not until someone (and that will probably have to be the Congress, House and Senate as a unit) sits Trump down and quite literally puts the fear of God into him.
What Trump needs is a "come to Jesus" meeting.
I don't mean any of the above in religious context, of course. The language needed for successful encounter of this order would not please the Christian god. Trump needs to literally be in fear for his life, otherwise he will never change. Never.
Never.
2
@Glen You cannot scare a bag of rocks.
@Quilly Gal
Have you seen a photo of the Trumpian physique in profile, Quilly? It's a bag of somethiing, yes, but rocks it ain't.
Well said, Mr Friedman. As a retired Federal Employee I concur that our greatest strength as a nation is the institutions that support and defend the Constitution without regard to political positions. My thanks to you, Chief Justice Roberts, and Admiral McRaven for speaking up for all of us.
8
We are the third largest nation in the world by population and fourth largest by size. We have some truly unique underpinnings in the USA left by those who have gone before us. But we also have some large, even life-threatening problems. I believe there are people out there who could bring intelligent solutions to these problems, but we need to take an honest look at them to begin to solve them. I believe our government actually has the capability of functioning in a far more effective, albeit messy way. The past two years I’ve begun to think of myself as more of a progressive than a liberal because I think we need a huge infusion of progressivism in this 21st century USA. It’s very painful to see how dysfunctional our government is and how angry we’ve become this past two years, because I honestly believe it doesn’t need to be this way. I hope the people of this country will leave behind some of their partisan attachments and elect leaders in 2020 who will bring creativity, intelligence, decency, empathy, and a willingness to leave ego and greed behind to debate solutions. I believe we are actually capable of good government. I refuse to believe our government will go down in this mean-spirited dysfunctional state. For heaven sake get government back up and running again and look to the future. We don’t need to hate each other. We need to talk to each other. And we need solutions that benefit all of us, not just carefully carved out constituencies or political careers.
11
To understand Trump, take a look at personality type 3 on the Enneagram. I know, the very mention of personality inventory systems turns a lot of people off, but the Eneagram has a major strength in that it is predictive.Don Richard Riso's book Personality Types is an excellent place to start. trump is an eroding Three--dangerous, delusional, unpredictable and completely without empathy. It's time for pundits to get real about this sociopathic narcissist with his tiny hands so close to the button. Enough of pundits expressing dismay and surprise at Trump "breaking norms" or wondering aloud why he does this or that. We are long past that stage. We are in red alert territory. Thank you Mr. Friedman for your clear view of this abysmal president.
24
Dear Tom Friedman,
Your thoughtful columns and calls for republican spine and for our leaders to stand up to this terrible and dangerous president are important. Please keep them coming. We need your voice and influence. Thank you also to the other opinion writers at the NYT. The quality of your thought leadership has been inspiring and maybe will eventually inspire some of the republicans to do the right thing and stand up to Trump.
14
Steady drip of acid? More like a gush. Trump wanting to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Chief Justice John Roberts can do nothing about that. The Senate is completely undemocratic with two senators for a state with one million citizens and two for a state with 25 million people. And the Republican-dominated Senate, so far, has been feckless. The Electoral College, another horrendous institution, may have catapulted a Russian asset into the Oval office. So forgive me if I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude on the strength of American institutions.
15
@Ellen Freilich. . . and those very institutions need to be revisited and updated in a democratic, non-partisan way to fit the population of our country in the 21st century!
2
In the sphere of most lasting consequence the court is still standing shoulder to shoulder with Trump in tipping the scale between man and earth heavily to the side of industrial man.
On the balance between protecting the private gatherings of earth wealth and protecting the earth's health, the Supreme Court and Trump are dark twins no matter how you slice it.
Trump would not be president were it not for his ability to appoint judges to circle the wagons around protecting the rights of private wealth to extend their toxic costs beyond their private borders with minimum accountability.
2
Roberts and 'civic courage'? I have severe doubts. His statement is more likely a canard and charade, a cover, as several of his decisions have empowered the oligarchs and disenfranchised the
majority of citizens.
3
You just never know how it will go. When the SCOTUS ruled that flag burning was free speech four of those five judges were appointed by GOP presidents. One by Ike, one by Nixon and two by Raegan.
Nice words from Justice Roberts, but what we now have is a group of conservative party hacks appointed to benches across the country. Roberts needs to look no further than the end of his bench where two under-qualified conservative hacks occupy stolen seats. The judiciary on every level has been under a decades-long onslaught by conservatives to appoint their hacks, no matter how lacking in credentials or integrity, while un-Constitutionally blocking appointments made by Democrats. Maybe had Roberts come out and said "Give Merrick Garland the hearing that he and the President deserve" he might be seen as a rational voice today. Sorry - now, he's just another conservative partisan hack, crying crocodile tears after the fact.
7
Citizens United versus We The People.....this is what created
the autocracy that exists in Congress ; this is what we are
fighting against.....campaign financing of Congressional members who do the bidding of those who pay to play...
Why is the GOP not resisting the corruption of Trump; well
it is the same reason that they do not resist those who pay for
their campaign finances....Citizens United has corrupted our
legislators...those who 'support Trump' do not support anyone but themselves...
We The People have no chance for representation until
Citizens United is overturned and We The People have our
votes determine who we want to represent us...
Dark Money /Citizens United has corrupted our democracy.
13
On the topic of destruction it appears that Trump may have destroyed the notes his translator made of his first love fest with Putin. This would amount to a federal crime. The notes did not belong to him but to the American people who paid for them and they must be placed in the federal archives. In addition it would also double as destroying evidence in a federal crime. Just all in a days work at the Trump White House.
It seems likely that he may commit at least one real crime every day if not many more and I'm not counting his lies as crimes though some may fit that category.
10
I am a pretty personally conservative old guy.
Have been around the World and USA - lived in a variety.
Admire many places and People but yup USA is greatest Nation - North, South, East, West, in between.
Yes I am mostly liberal progressive but not because of some ideology. Just because most often I rationally and factually judge those models technically more congruent with modernity, freedom, and serenity.
Plus cannot get apoplectic about people's consenting adult sexuality.
Nor be arrogant enough to think I know god's mind.
Nor think I should dictate what a woman choices to do with her body.
But that does not mean I do not appreciate and sometimes agree with/support conservative input.
However what we face today is more existential - it is not some Conservative vs. Progressive esoteric battle over ways and means toward common objectives. It is about our nature as a democratic Nation and People.
I hope CJ Roberts really sees this. I hope all intellectually honest citizens do and have the courage to act. I know Speaker Pelosi does.
You don't have to agree with her every breath but existentially right now you do have to see she is fighting for all of us, our posterity, and the nature of our democracy.
In today's context she's a heroine struggling to prevent our death by many cuts.
Don't let GOP fool you with gaslighting. The dangers and ugliness are clearly driven by GOP.
For the sake of our grandkids vote D now; save USA! Recast Parties patriotically later.
10
Really, Mr. Friedman? Didn't Chief Justice Roberts vote in favor of Citizen's United? I'm sure there are also many other pro-Wall Street/anti-Main Street decisions he's made.
2
But where does McConnell get his power from ? Have the Koch brothers put him in charge of distributing Political Action Committee money ?
Where does his power come from ? Why don't the other Republicans just give him the boot ?
I cannot believe that it comes from anything that isn't at least as sleazy as money for re-election campaigns.
3
Trump's only serious critics beyond Democrats appear to be those who have retired, are about to retire, or have a lifetime appointment. I'm still waiting for Republicans in Congress and the Senate to push back against Trump and his disparaging attacks on our institutions and norms. Instead, we have silence and, even worse, Lindsay Graham spewing a full out harangue against the legitimacy of the FBI on Fox News.
Trump's ignorance/malevolence also appears to be shared by up to 40% of the country who still feel that Trump is doing a good job as president. I appreciate Mr. Friedman's sliver of optimism. I'n not getting too excited justyet.
7
"...America’s core governing institutions were not built to be “conservative” or “liberal.”"
Yet two political parties try to do just that whenever they are in power in each branch of government.
Reading this article on integrity has made me think of my own Senator Susan Collins, of Maine. Who has long been labeled a moderate republican, by Maine and national media. The senator has not spoken up, and has voted the republican line. So is Collins not a moderate and fooled us all this time or does he have a hold on her, that prevents her from speaking up. The Senator From Maine, has never been named the potato digger from Maine.
Let’s compare Chief Justice Roberts to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. History repeats itself. On one hand, black people were granted a fractional recognition of franchise. (Dred Scott decision). On the other, corporations were granted the rights of an ‘individual’ (Citizens United). Both bely a profound absence of moral consciousness and human rights. Both illustrate an awesome display of power, illustrating that Evil is Militant Ignorance. No free passes for those who are willing to equivocate, and in turn, destroy our unique American legacy.
Press harder Mr. Friedman. There’s more to consider than ‘courage’ in the face of judicial malignance.
2
Every word, every pause, every buildup of fact, makes a perfectly wonderful critique of Trump's narcissistic delusions.
This is not a test. This is a real, live emergency for our democracy.
4
Trump is indeed a clear and present threat to our democracy. While I agree that Chief Justice Roberts' rebuke/comment was commendable, talk is cheap. His actions in the next two years will show his real position. And, on that front, I am not optimistic.
8
This column is about what I cherish about the US, and it is what allows to yet sleep well at night.
Our institutions make us strong. Our institutions make us extraordinary.
We better wise up. The anti-government rhetoric of the Right since Reagan ("Government is not the solution. Government is the problem") has acted like a gradual corrosive to civic good will, fed by charlatans and by political grifters without any sense of duty but to themselves and their appetites.
Our government is the way we are. It is how we settle disputes. It is how we handle conflict. It is how we provide for the common weal. It is composed of an array of noble and long-standing pillars of any just and orderly society.
I am tired of the corrosive and apparently endless repercussions of Reagan's cynical and mean dismissal of the formal cause of our union.
Don't like government? Try living without one. Try imagining what the future would look like, if Trump just continues on like this 2019.
Wise up.
10
"silence of the lambs"? nice movie reference, but "silence of the wolves" is more like it, no?
as others have shown recently in the Steven King affair, McConnell only speaks out conveniently to advance his own agenda (such as when King becomes expendable), and when it serves to keep quiet, he'll do that instead (eg, backing Roy Moore) and never apologize.
as for Paul Ryan, history books will, i trust, say what needs to be said about his egocentric, self-dealing on the backs of the middle class and his non-stewardship of the legislative branch. shame on him.
finally the clock is running out on this reckless unpresidential president. democracy makes repairable mistakes, and this one will be repaired as many others have in the past 250 years.
the librettists are already at work on the tragic opera that will be made from all this self-made mess. for now we have to put up with the mess a bit longer and sweep in front of our own doors.
3
As others have pointed out, Justice Roberts and his Republican justices are crony capitalist enablers. That Citizens United decision is the Dred Scott decision of the 21st century.
That bad decision stoked the fires of the first Civil War. This bad decision will end in the second.
I pray that the military will stage a bloodless coup before that happens.
Regardless, our democracy is over. "Here's your Republic, if you can keep her" Well, Ben Franklin, turns out we couldn't.
2
It will reach a point when large geographies of the nation will be unable to conform to an increasingly backward looking and restrictive SCOTUS. What then? Essentially the Roberts court will have deconstructed the county. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch will hasten this. Citizens United money gags many voters diluting our democracy. Not seating Garland was a blow to the Constitution. The current conservative justices seem unaware of much of the country's population and that we are unwilling to continue to be suppressed by their rulings because we actually cannot live under them, particularly female citizens. The great good is unraveling.
4
Roberts may be protective of the Supreme Court and the federal judicial system in general, but his has been the most pro-corporate/anti employee court in my memory. The sobriquet of thew "Ayn Rand Court" seems appropriate.
Then, there's the corruption of our democratic political process with Citizens United. It was Roberts who vastly expanded a court case from a contested minor use of money against a presidential candidate to a major change in the role of money as corruptive political influence, brushing aside decades of judicial precedents. Thanks to the Roberts Court, those who have the most money now rule our plutocracy.
8
One of your finest pieces. Thank you.
Mr. Friedman, the 9th circuit clearly shows we have biased judges, Obama vs. Bush, or however you want to call it. Roberts is wrong and so are you. It is ridiculous that a Federal Judge in Hawaii can rule against immigration orders duly given by Trump that are completely within his constitutional powers. The judge is not elected official and many have clearly overstepped their authority. By not citing this in your essay you undermine your arguments attempting to blame the partisan divide solely on Trump. Remove the mote from your eye and try to make more balanced arguments.
Thank you for your piece describing the core of what Trump is doing to our institutions and thus our democracy with all of our eyes wide open and with only a handful Of patriots trying to call out and protect us all.
I plead with republicans of all flavors to rise up and denounce this president for all he has done and is doing to - in my belief- knowingly desegregate America. He is the biggest threat to our national security and it is time for him to go - quietly - or otherwise into the night! Enough is Enough before it’s too late for our kids and their kids! It’s time to do the right thing for America!!!
3
Roberts has awoken to the same thing that certain other Republicans have determined: the excesses of the conservative right that brought them to power also brought Trump to power. They never envisioned it, but now realize they are complicit. They are trying to quietly disavow the President before they too are tarred by his presence. It's time for all conservatives to accept responsibility for Trump, spit him out and help the country heal.
4
When we elected Donald Trump president, most Americans knew what we were getting, though he may have exceeded expectations. It's good that some important figures are speaking out against his disregard for law and our institutions. The real story, however, is the irresponsible behavior of Republicans in congress who have supported Trump's excesses. They are the real villains and have been the real threat to America since 1995.
4
mr friedman is feeling modest.
actually said the envy of MANY of the countries around the world.
too often americans pat themselves on the back as the ONLY country including this columnist who once wrote if america completely opened its borders that the rest of the world would be empty because ALL would flock to the usa.
as for the judiciary.....it's a mess at the highest level. many democracies appoint judges in a non partisan way. the national security threat north of your border has a max age of 75 before having to retire.
the same with election boundaries; gerrymandering is at a minimum or non existent in many, if not all, western democracies..
the coarseness and ignorance of the political culture--bad for a long time--is even worst with the monster in chief that a revolting number of americans voted for and continue to back.
5
Please stop saying America is unique. I think most Northern European nations and Canada can claim an independent judiciary. What makes America unique is the fact the government can be shut down, with federal employees going unpaid, because of a political dispute. The present state of affairs, shows just how flawed the American political and administrative system is. The electoral college system seems like a cosmic joke when it has put so much power in the hands of a popular majority loser: a man whose true mandate for a building a wall was flimsy at best and who now holds the nation hostage to fulfill his ludicrous promise to that minority of Americans who believe his lies. It is time for Americans to be a little humbler about the greatness of their institutions and get to improving them.
8
For whatever reason, Friedman and the Times refuse to use the word "lie" when it comes to Trump.
Those who have sought to make change for the better have always faced misinformation and lies. The only difference is that with 500-channel TV and the internet, it is now easier to immerse yourself 24/7 in sources of lies that support whatever it is you already believe.
Almost a half century ago Hannah Arendt wrote, "...lies are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes or expects to hear. He has prepared his story for public consumption with a careful eye to making it credible, whereas reality has the disconcerting habit of confronting us with the unexpected for which we were not prepared." (New York Review; Nov. 18, 1971)
We have managed to elect an entertainer, not a politician, as President. Arendt's words are sadly but perceptively appropriate.
Meanwhile, Friedman's "hope" about Justice Roberts is significant. It is time for the three branches of the American government to reestablish their proper roles in our Constitutionally defined separation of powers. Let us see how Roberts deals with Trump "ordering" unpaid Federal labor. The Constitution's 13th Amendment seems clear on this subject:
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States ...."
3
Saving what is great is voting for Citizens United? Gore v Bush was a proud moment in American Jurisprudence? Senior Bush was rewarded in 2000 in Florida when his son was the benefactor of a bloodless coup. In 2005 Jr. Bush gave us Roberts as The Chief Justice. Most of the decisions made in the Roberts court is along the ideological lines of who brought them, the justices, to the dance. Justice is supposed to be blind and non- partisan. In my opinion, the last great Supreme Court was The Warren Court. Roberts is upset at Trump because he feels Trump is not honoring The pretended Majesty of The Court. Trump is a disgrace as president for sure but when you can predict the outcome of cases heard by The Court before they are heard. Where is The Greatness? When has The Chief Justice told lower courts about the disparity in sentencing based on wealth and race? We have the tools to be great but are we using them?
2
For the record, this newspaper routinely identifies judges by their political appointment when reporting on decisions. It is now common part of discourse to dismiss judicial opinions as biased based on the judge’s presumed political affiliation. Trump is merely continuing a practice normalized by the media. Even though it may be a fact that judge x was appointed by Bush II, the point of reporting that fact is to imply, and not subtly, that a decision was politically biased and therefore not impartial. That practice is editorializing off of the editorial pages, it’s biased journalism, and it’s wrong.
1
"America" is an idea, often at complete odds with reality. So long as the idea inspires, it will persist, but when there is little reward in that notion, there is no upside in defending it, and then we decay. With no education in civics any more, there can be no tension in anyone's mind between idea and reality. You cannot remain on course if you have no guiding star. In the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", there is an oft repeated line that "Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for", which originally came from Clarence Darrow. This presumes a will to fight, and a will to fight is built upon some slim hope of victory. These days, the upside between victory and failure seems marginal for most people in this country; it's the old boss versus the new boss, with little distinction. Chuck and Nancy make want to crawl into an abandoned mine shaft.
There is no entity in his country that is immune to the will of the people, no politician, no corporation - if the people actually demonstrated their will. Betraying an incredible ignorance on the existing level of income equality, polling shows what most Americans want, which is unsurprisingly, a country more like the Scandinavians, but corporations, corporate media, and their lackeys in Washington will play us for rubes until we all keel over from opioid overdoses. Wake up people, you can do it!
1
Generally speaking we have gotten sloppy about what it is to be an American. Thank goodness Chief Justice Roberts and Admiral McRaven have not. They see Trump’s nationalist rant for what it is. Simply nihilistic and selfish. Our civics teachers taught us that while our individual freedoms allow us to be and express who we are, it’s the spirit that we are all in this together that protects those cherished freedoms. After all, it was “we the people...” that rose against tyranny and constituted a new governing model. America is great. Our greatest moments have always been achieved as one people. Perhaps Mr. Friedman’s message will inspire introspection at all levels on our national character and lead a representative delegation to the White House, delivering the message, “Mr. President, it’s time for you to go.”
America is a nation of laws. Our constitution is our bible. Trump's constant attacks against the rule of law is an attack against America itself. When will the Republicans do their duty to protect America from this threat?
1
So if we get rid of Trump, the GOP will suddenly stop its voter suppression, giveaways to corporations and billionaires, rage against African-Americans and Hispanics, destruction of government, theocratic judiciary, etc.? Remember, all these have been strategies of the Republican Party before Trump arrived.
In 2013, during another shutdown, Tom Friedman wrote that in DC Republicans viewed collaboration with Democrats as "an act of treason." Trump is doing what they've always wanted...though they probably hoped for someone not as dumb and incompetent.
2
The biggest eye opener is that so many public officially shamelessly support Trump to ensure their own survival. I think the prescription is to have limits on how many times they can run of office.
The challenge for Roberts in maintaining the mantra of a non- partisan court got infinitely harder after Kavanaugh revealed himself to be an unrepentant partisan hack.
1
When did the President of the United States relinquish his responsibility to secure our borders, (other than in the minds of the liberal media and the Socialist Democrats in Congress) ? On the subject of judges, there have been countless references by the liberal media depicting judges as being appointees during a particular presidency e.g. Regan era appointee. The acid dripping on our society is the belief by the liberal media and their minions in Congress that govt should address all the ills of society through entitlement programs funded by income redistribution aka taxation. When did personal responsibility go out the window? Liberals are all in favor of entitlement programs, until the money runs out and they cannot tax their way out of it! Obama Care is the classic example of the govt's inability to recognize the cost of far reaching social programs. Where were the healthy individuals Obama preached of, paying into the programs to keep the cost down? Now Medicare for all is the next move in their minds to fix the problem? The arguments by Mr Friedman are about as sharp as a spoon, attacking the man not he issues, and as always failing to recognize the responsibility of the Democrats in this shutdown!
If John Roberts really had integrity, he would have voted on the opposite side of the Citizens United decision, as it is he is busy fixing a fig leaf over Justice, thinking she is naked. Sorry, but he is part of the problem, not the solution.
1
Regarding Justice Roberts, a little too late, in my opinion. Where was Roberts when McConnell denied Merrick Garland his hearings?
3
An outstanding column.
There should also be a shout out to John Brennan.
In recent weeks, I've seen former C.I.A. Director Brennan speaking about current events on several MSNBC programs. He did so today when asked by Nicole Wallace to comment on the F.B.I. counterintelligence investigation of Trump. The same Trump who has spent several years compulsively insulting and maligning Mr. Brennan on twitter and who stripped Mr. Brennan of his security clearance in an act of personal ugliness and frustration.
John Brennan today spoke about Trump in measured tones,
registering concerns about Trump yet again but always within the confines of dignity and civility. If you did not know that Trump has waged a bizarre, ugly and personal one-sided feud against Brennan, you would not know it by the way Mr.
Brennan is comporting himself. Or the reasoned professional way he speaks about Trump when asked to do so.
In the past 2 years there've been numerous people, many public servants, who've displayed intelligence, courage, integrity & decency in the face of horrendous abuse from Donald Trump or when Trump has attacked the institutions they have been part of.
We have reason to be proud of these fine people. Preet Bahara, Sally Yates, John Roberts, Stanley McChrystal,
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, LeBron James, James Comey,
Peter Strozk, John Brennan and many more. John McCain, no longer among us but not forgotten.
Fine Americans.
I'm grateful for every one.
Words from Roberts are welcome resistance to the tyrant, but the true test will come when Roberts has to rule on issues such as DACA and other immigration cases, healthcare, voting rights, imminent challenges to Mueller's authority, etc. If Roberts and the Conservative bloc empower Trump on these major issues in essence they will reinforce that they are indeed "Trump" judges. Talk is cheap. Conservative doctrine seems to give a free hand to presidents and racist legislatures often requiring no factual basis in so doing. Hopefully in the face of the biggest liar in the history of the WH, the Conservatives will require at least a minimal factual basis for Trump's actions. Any other Court in the land would have impeached his credibility long ago.
1
Are you kidding me?
Roberts, who sat idly by while the GOP STOLE a Supreme Court seat.
Roberts, who helped legalize corruption.
Roberts, who helped gut the Voting Rights Act.
Roberts, who helped deal a crippling blow to public sector unions.
Roberts, who helps keep gerrymandering in place.
No, I'm sorry, Mr. Friedman, a vote to keep Obamacare in place does not a civic guardian of the judiciary make.
1
Our institutions are vitally important, but Roberts and others in the judicial branch have done very little to protect them. The horrible truth is that Mr. Trump is largely correct, there are Obama judges and Trump judges and Bush judges. I wish it were otherwise, but it's not. No amount of self serving lip service by a cosseted lifetime appointee is going to change anything. Mr. Roberts acts like a partisan judge, then claims partisan judges don't exist. It's convenient and incredibly hypocritical.
1
But of course it was a partisan judiciary that gave us the disastrous Bush presidency in 2000.
And despite Robert's "integrity and courage to call Trump out for this behavior, to draw a red line around the judicial branch and to signal to Trump — politely but firmly — to keep his hands off its independence and nonpartisan charter," that hasn't prevented the appointment of sexual abusers and liars to the highest judicial positions.
1
"As Trump's manufactured border wall shutdown crisis continues, he is looking less and less presidential to most Americans – and within his own party." – Erik Bucy, Visiting Senior Fellow in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
This is wrong, or willfully blind.
Our 'institutions' are in the hands of ideologues who demonstrate little concern for the nation and virtually none for the integrity of government.
Trump...well, no further elaboration required.
The Senate, ditto. Except that Trump is one puny little man.
The Senate is hundreds, sworn to protect and uphold their country, who refuse to do either and now descend into mockery and bullying to get what they want. Not only do they appear unpatriotic and unAmerican, they proudly assert they are.
Despite your admiration for Roberts, he is no better.
Nor is his court. Sliding into Chiefship on a greasy film of 'stare decisis', Roberts eagerly set about conversion of SCOTUS into a political club, dismantling or misconstruing important precedents each step of the way.
His belated concern for the political image of SCOTUS is laughably overdue, and repugnant in the face of his continued effort to frame his court as a weapon of the worst kind of conservatism.
Our tax system, our economic foundation, is laughably corrupt, having bent to the will of corporations and the wealthy, used to punish and control those not already obscenely rich.
That same system is a bludgeon against the nation, forcing us to submit our dollars to an Evangelical church explicitly not an American institution to fund its open campaign to bring the nation to its knees, and a Catholic church unbeholden to any civil law.
Your critique comes very late.
Indeed, Trump is destroying. He crashed all his businesses except those supported with Russian oligarch finances. But, giving credit to Justice Roberts for preserving America? Really? He has licensed more voter issues and given far too much power and influence to corporations. How about holding up someone like RBG?
This article reinforced the commonly held view that the the last Congress suffered from a paucity of leadership by its Republican members. The silence of Mitch McConnell in the face of Trump's many transgressions and the exposure of Paul Ryan as incompetent and a phony stand as stark evidence of the lack of a backbone as well as the lack of a moral and ethical compass that provides true readings. Further, is the press so inured to the stench in the Washington swamp that, in the case of Mitch McConnell, the fact that Trump is his wife's boss, a blatant conflict of interest, goes virtually uncommented on?
1
Unfortunately, the odd retail rebuke by the occasional American citizen is not gong to counter the mass market treason that Trump is peddling. Every thing Trump does is to undermine the foundations of the United States in order to satisfy his handler Vladimir Putin. Trump's attempt to assassinate the American uniqueness, by placing his own personal profit driven stamp on it, is exactly what Putin has been whispering in Trump's ear. The low information voters of Trumps base may not notice or care about this change, indeed they may desire it.
We have had enough of this state of anarchy..let's end the government shutdown with an idea that is not original to me for sure..should the T.S.A. Decide to strike, against working without..pay..the government would reopen and we could get on with our lives. Enough of this nonsense.
Remember Trump is an accident aided and abetted by Putin, the 'responsible' GOP didn't want the grifter, so it is a bit of a surprise that characters like McConnell have rolled over so easily for him. But there it is, the long term agenda of the GOP, which is simply to convert the US democracy into an oligarchy, got a huge push forward with Trump and his enablers like McConnell. In a way it's a good thing because it helps expose the long slow GOP approach, favored by the traditional GOP, and not really noticed or understood by most of the electorate (sort of like the frog supposedly doesn't notice he is in a pot of eventually boiling water). An example, the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision, which Roberts enthusiastically supported, was an unbelievable gift to the oligarchs, and the destructive implications for democracy were almost unnoticed at the time by the majority of the electorate. In contrast, a blustering grifter like Trump makes it very obvious obvious that the upper middle, middle and lower middle classes are to be put in the position of indentured servants to the upper 0.1 % as soon as possible.
1
This piece is fine as usual, but I can't help picking out a quote you used and applying it in a different context:
"where democracy breaks down, you have institutions of the state that do not serve the people — they serve political parties’ interests. And when people stop believing that security protects people equally, you have a return to private justice.” Sounds like what racial minorities see in many police forces.`
Trump's ignorance of civics and his incompetence as a leader of a constitutional republic are just the top of the list of problems we face right now. We have seen so many of our leaders cower weakly when faced with Trump's horrible behavior or poor policy judgment, and so few stand up to him as Roberts and McRaven have. Only those he cannot "fire" or run out of politics with the threats of unleashing his "base" on them are willing to do so. Will there be a profile in courage if Trump, who keeps testing the boundaries of our democratic and political norms and, frankly, common decency, pushes it even more? Will anyone be brave and defend American democracy in public, not just in the shadows of anonymity?
Nice of Mr. Friedman to throw the justice a bone. Good intention, net bad effect. Assuming trump gets wind of it he'll whirling dervish his hand-picked clique of sycophants into some other misguided challenge that punishes Roberts for his so-called pushback. I won't hold my breath to see heroism when it really counts, now that kavanaugh has been rammed into place. No, Citizens United was a genuine opportunity to demonstrate leadership. Or the shameless attack on voting rights.
President Trump is representative of the insidious danger of ignorance. There are 100 questions on the US citizenship test; each applicant for US citizenship must answer at least 6 correctly. Could Donald Trump?
Your kidding right? Or maybe you think all of us are foolish enough to believe the majority of this article. My God, even the NYT and other periodicals, refer to judges as liberal or conservative. NOBODY has any doubt of the bias that exists within the federal judiciary. It is called "judge shopping" and it has been rampant in the USA since the 1960's. The Chief Justice is probably the only "straight shooter" on the court today. Many value your opinion but I for one have many doubts.
Mr Editor if everything is true and I feel it is so,is there no way to get rid of this President except by impeachment which may not be possible and advisable?Forget everything else,his idea of linking a Border Wall to partial shutdown is unheard of not only in the history of the U.S. but any other democratic country.
It is ironic that Trump, a self described empire builder, is doing his level best to destroy the hallowed institutions of this nation.
Dear Mr. Friedman:
Citizens United (one of the 4)
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.
Shelby County v. Holder
District of Columbia v. Heller.
Sincerely,
An attentive American