Trump is the law = there is no law.
10
The Editorial Board of the Times should go back to history class and find themselves a consultant who has read the Constitution. The first paragraph of this editorial is simply wrong. Although Donald Trump has arrogated to himself the role of chief law enforcer, this was not in Founders’ plan and it is not their fault. In fact, the Constitution mentions neither the Attorney General nor the Justice Department. Both are the creation of Congress and could presumably be reorganized by Congress in a manner that firmly removes the administration of justice from the President’s portfolio. This is not a harmless error. Your error misleads the public into believing that there is nothing to be done about the perilous propspect of a venal and/or disturbed President using the criminal justice system as a sword against his political rivals. In fact, Congress can prevent this and voters should know that. It would be gratifying to see the paper of record clarify these facts for its readers, but I am not holding my breath.
8
The words “Donald Trump” and “law” should never appear in the same sentence, or phrase. “Donald Trump” and “lawless “ however, would be a permissible and natural coupling.
5
Perhaps trump & his GOP crowd need a reminder that in the Constitution - we read the black stuff - not the white one.
1
The latest "outlaw" move is the appointment of Grenell as acting DNI.
This puts another unqualified, idealogue crony at the head of a critical aspect of protecting our democracy.
My cold sweat response has to do with protecting our elections. DNI has some, not sure how much, authority over how allegations of misconduct, intrusion into state voter systems are addressed.
For that reason I consider his appointment a substantial undermining of our ability to have confidence in our elections.
PLEASE NYT follow up.
11
I saw six intelligent people with integrity getting close to finding what is destroying America and looking to return control of America to the people .
The Creel Committee 1917-1919 is just another important part of American history that has been forgotten. One hundred years of the Woodrow Wilson patriot committee has brought about the Trump presidency. A democracy needs an informed electorate and I am afraid the Smithsonian Magazine was correct.
American journalism 100 years after the Committee on Public information has given America a population of cynics. Understanding that truth is more important than patriotism did not survive Woodrow Wilson's committee.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/
"A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true." Socrates
6
I am afraid. Desperately afraid. Unless the Democrats get their act together, we are doomed. And when I say we, I mean all Americans, our country, our liberty, our democracy and our Constitution. If Trump is re-elected, we will have no one to blame but ourselves for our country turning from one that embraces life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to one that embraces a dictator.
8
It is time for all true patriots to stop being intimidated by Trump and his blind followers.
Get out the vote!
One doubts that Trump has significantly increased the number of people who might vote for him, over his minority of 2016 totals. Only +/- 70,000 votes would have stopped him last time.
Stop acting as if the analysis is: "Who can beat Trump?" Notwithstanding the power of an incumbent president, Bush Sr. got knocked out, and Bush Sr. was a far superior incumbent than Trump could ever be.
The campaign is: "Trump has delivered little or nothing; inherited an economy that, arguably, he has slowed down; lied to you about nearly everything; diminished our prestige around the world, and is corrupt." The Democrats can deliver on growing the economy, investing in infrastructure, improving health care, and helping all those who truly need help.
Democrats and Independents (and even some Republicans), remember what the mid-terms showed and build on that to get Trump out of office and, at least, pick up seats in the Senate.
I suspect that if the Democrats unite behind Klobuchar and a vice-presidential candidate who is a minority with some charisma, Trump will be trounced. Alas, the other older folks in the field (Biden, Bloomberg, Warren, and Sanders) are running out of gas, and Pete is just too young and inexperienced.
Time for the Democrats to channel even some of Harry Truman.
4
When Trump is showing such simpleton disrespect for pardons, handing them out like party favors, but only to select white affluent males, it couldn't be a more clear sign of how out of touch the Republican Party is from Joe and Jane America. Trump represents the fall of the United States of America and everything he's doing to sow the seeds to our destruction is being done out in the open for all to see. As for his Republican enablers, they don't even have the decency to look the other way in justification of their defense of his actions. The Republican Party is the most dire threat currently facing this country.
9
"... To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
Make that one: a quadrennial election. Impeachment has never removed a President, and with the current parties, it never will.
And make that zero for a second term President.
2
This is, respectfully, nonsense. He's not the chief law enforcement officer. He's also not the head diplomat, the director of central intelligence, the uber-surgeon general or top park ranger. All those people, and many others, report to him directly or indirectly - and with exceptions.
The exception in the case of DOJ is the impermissibility of using "law enforcement" for political purposes.
5
Once again, this is who many of my fellow citizens voted for, and to this day, stand unequivocally behind.
Until the democratic party understands and decides to do something about the full blown, data driven, phycological war to control the voters minds, our country will continue to deteriorate.
1
Backstops against dictatorial presidents:
1. Impeachment: Designed to be the highest of hurdles with a 2/3rds vote in the Senate to convict, this remedy kicks in only in the most extreme cases where there is also a large public movement against the president. We have seen that the partisan two party system precludes a large majority of the public believing in anything. We live in a time of ideological war where the public is trained to divide itself 50/50 between any two opposing viewpoints. Impeachment has never worked once in American history.
2. Quadrennial elections: Proposed when it was impossible for a one term president to implement nationwide vote rigging and voter brainwashing on a scale large enough to fix an election. But we now live in the computer age where the manufacture of consent is a well known function of global social media and disinformation purveyors.
The real check on dictatorial presidents was the value system that the founders wrote so much about: a vibrant free press and universal education for all citizens. But our modern capitalistic society has destroyed the free press as an economically feasible business model, and haters of democracy have weakened public education and made college nearly impossible for all but the well off. These failures of honor and imagination by our leaders have crippled the people to the point where they can no longer understand their society or their government. The Republic has failed.
7
Our VIce-President once said that for him Bible is above the Constitution; fair enough. Our President has set the bar even higher and his supporters, particularly Republican Senators and Congressmen, loving it.
1
This is the kind of editorial I might have expected a newspaper in, say, Venezuela, to publish at some point. That it has to be said in a US paper shows how far we have fallen.
I lived through Watergate. This is worse.
Oh, and about that quadrennial election? That backstop also can fail when foreign interference, voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering are normalized.
Yes, we need to codify some of the norms being broken into laws.
21
The take over of America is what we are witnessing. Response by Democrats and public servants in various agencies continues to be ineffective ,because ironically it sticks to the law and the constitution. The other side does not concern itself with such niceties.
The fundamental question is: what is the threshold beyond which, the vital forces of Democracy will address the crisis before them: a country drifting towards lawlessness and arbitrary rulings for the friends of the king.
Unfortunately the Democratic candidates are so immersed in their little electability contest,that the critical issues at hand fail to get their attention.
With 49% of approval ,president Trump rightly feels empowered and will turn his popularity into a second mandate,unchallenged.
7
It is attributing far too much patriotism to Republicans in Congress by denouncing them as merely "supine." They are in every sense complicit, and have violated their oaths and abused their own powers of office to cement and underscore Trump's treachery and criminality.
178
@Trusgift
True. During the revolutionary war 1/3 of the population was for the revolution, 1/3 was for the crown, and 1/3 did not care either way. The people who were for the crown and against the revolution were not "supine". They were active agents of England and traitors to the revolution. We are in such a situation again but this time it is not England we are fighting against, it is the counter revolutionary forces that wish to end this experiment and go back to an authoritarian form of government in which they will be part of the priviledged few. The Republicans are getting everything they want from Trump: a weakened set of laws, a cowed population, and a royal road to rob the peoples Treasury. The American people voted away their democracy in 2016 and few of them even realize it four years later. They get their opinions from state propaganda media and their ideas from bumper stickers. The horse is out of the barn and it will be hard to put it back inside. Even if the people miraculously come to their senses and put a legitimate president in office in 2020 it will take a generation to undo the destruction and lawlessness of these last four years. An if they don't come to their senses we can call off future elections because they will be meaningless charades and we can take our place on the list of failed states. It is hard to imagine how bad things are going to be if Trump gets a second term.
27
@Trusgift
True. During the revolutionary war 1/3 of the population was for the revolution, 1/3 was for the crown, and 1/3 did not care either way. The people who were for the crown and against the revolution were not "supine". They were active agents of England and traitors to the revolution. We are in such a situation again but this time it is not England we are fighting against, it is the counter revolutionary forces that wish to end this experiment and go back to an authoritarian form of government in which they will be part of the priviledged few. The Republicans are getting everything they want from Trump: a weakened set of laws, a cowed population, and a royal road to rob the peoples Treasury. The American people voted away their democracy in 2016 and few of them even realize it four years later. They get their opinions from state propaganda media and their ideas from bumper stickers. The horse is out of the barn and it will be hard to put it back inside. Even if the people miraculously come to their senses and put a legitimate president in office in 2020 it will take a generation to undo the destruction and lawlessness of these last four years. An if they don't come to their senses we can call off future elections because they will be meaningless charades and we can take our place on the list of failed states. It is hard to imagine how bad things are going to be if Trump gets a second term.
2
I would argue another change should be to slash the number of political appointees below the Secretary position in government Departments.
2
Looking forward to hearing the Republicans squeal when the next Democratic President takes advantage of all of these newfound powers.
And based on demographics, there will be many more Democratic Presidents than Republican ones moving forward.
3
The Republicans that are enabling Trump's criminal behavior must surely see the future pain created by an all-powerful president who runs rough-shod over the law when a democrat occupies the White House. I guess they are counting on the democrats having more constitutional integrity. The cynical strategy is to count on future fair play from the ones they are cheating now. I'm a bit sad to say it will probably work.
2
This is serious. Only the people or God can stop this man, since law and order no longer works.
Don't understand how America, land of freedom, bastion of democracy, with its Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the idea that All Men Are Created Equal, with a government Of, For and By the People could come to this, so soon, and by this lowly character.
The enemy within is definitely greater than the enemy without. How can the nation let this con man destroy this country with his fake patriotism? Are there no real patriots?
Trump is just a jerk. Just toss him out, people.
14
With Trump the chief of law enforcement we will soon end up with a Russian judicial system, where Putin decides when opponents get prosecuted and what kind of sentence they get. Those in criminal activities that benefit Putin get a pass or even a medal.
That was the case for those that assassinated Litvitenko and the keeping out of sight the FSB agents that bombed apartment buildings so Putin could blame Chechens and reignite the Chechen war.
7
I don't think the framers of the Constitution could have conceived of anyone behaving this badly. More importantly, they would not have thought if someone did- they'd be able to get away with it.
This just underscores how broken our institutions and our society has become that we have the dystopian banana dictatorship Trumplandia now with no end in sight.
My outrage reached exhaustion level months ago- my faith in congress and the American public has long since evaporated. At this point- I imagine the worst most ironic satirical event and am not disappointed when I read about it the next day on the news.
It's no longer how low can we go- but when will we eventually implode?
12
Stone was smiling as he left the court room. This is a sure sign that justice was not done.
.
11
The two safeguards are too weak. Impeachment is impossible with a morally weak republican congress and elections can be stolen by foreign powers like russia.
13
@John Check out Thom Hartmann's book, History of Voting in America. Good stuff.
1
@Janice Stevens is it readable? You know oftentimes books like these are all over the place, written by scholars stuck on themselves writing for others like them.
Trump is the old timey land owner in the wild west who owns the town and the sheriff so he does what he pleases and tells people what they have to think. That is until someone rides into town, believes in his personal freedom and stands up to the bullies. There's always a gunfight and the bad guy goes down.
6
It seems that the Founders never thought that someone like Trump would ever get elected in the first place. It turns out that half the country thought otherwise. It also turns out that the country got a lot bigger than they ever imagined, but still....
1
Although the framers of the Constitution had considered the potential of a Donald Trump despot, they did not predict a weak and gutless Senate and an attorney general who would forego their responsibility to serve as independent institutions and a check on a rogue president's abuse of power.
12
Mr Trump was also greatly assisted by media who acted as stenographers for him; obsessed with finding false equivalences for his illegal or undemocratic actions; and spent countless hours and pages on absolute trivia and rubbish (tan suits, lapel pins, birther claims, etc, etc). News should be what it is meant to be: information
7
Stop eluding, start stating: "he brazenly tried to interfere in the criminal sentencing"; he didn't "try", he did interfere.
And to refer to a different editorial in today's edition. which talked about norms of behaviour, Trump has already broken all of them, not nearly but actually.
Alleged is a word that is useful in a legal sense, but when societial norms are being trashed daily in front of you, you can just state this without bending over backwards to sound fair. Trump has never behaved in a fair and balanced manner, which is why he still holds the advantage over those who do. Unlike what my mother told, me cheaters clearly do prosper.
10
Here's the Question for Rex Tillerson, H.R. McMaster, Jim Mattis, Kirstjen Nielsen and John Kelly.
Why haven't you spoken out, pick one or more?
1. You think that Trump is great for America
2. You fear Trump attacking you
3. You make more money keeping quiet
4. You don't care what Trump does
5. You fear for your life
6. You don't want to damage your stock portfolio
7. You signed Trump's non-disclosure agreement
8. You agree that Putin should control America
9. You have a book deal and can't jeopardize its sales
21
@Stephan agreed. One would think it's their patriotic duty to do so. Trump believes he's above the law and aforementioned should come forward and defend democracy.
5
Trump bemoaned the loss of his fixer: “Where is my Roger Cohn?” But now that the GOP Senate has effectively ceded their own power, essentially erasing every semblance of Article I oversight, Trump is free—just as he mused on Twitter—to remake the Justice Department in Cohn’s image, as his own personal fixer to wield the full force of federal law enforcement against his enemies and in favor of his friends.
Forget government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” We now have government of the people, by the Trump, for the Trump.
5
@Steel Magnolia
How many Senators does it take to change a light bulb?
None.
45 fixed it, so now they all sit around in the dark and applaud.
5
President Trump’s view of the law is not nuanced: his objective is to do whatever he wants and can get away with, to use the courts to further this end, and to use the law as a weapon against those he sees as standing in his way. Roy Cohn stuff.
A sterling example for all America’s children.
Trump is another Harry Lime of The Third Man. Perhaps he will also wind up cornered in the sewer.
4
Well, the judge in the Roger Stone case has just agreed with Trump and handed down a 3 year 4 month sentence instead of the 7 to 9 years originally recommended by the prosecutors. The judge, by the way, is an Obama appointee. That judge is a hero, refusing to bend to calls for draconian action against Trump supporters and standing up for common decency and the rule of law against the braying progressive mob led by the NY Times. That judge obviously believes that we should have a fair system that applies to all, not a two-tier system favoring progressives as demanded by the NY Times.
1
Alex,
You might benefit from reading the judges comments.
Given you have commented below an online piece regarding the sentencing, there really is no excuse for not keeping up.
Memo
From: William Barr, AG
To: All DOJ personnel
Re: Liberty and Justice for Some
Be on high alert for individuals who are of prime concern to DOJ. When encountering individuals, always scrutinize carefully as per the following instructions.
If, in response to the query, “Are you a friend of Donald Trump?,” any target, suspect, witness, informant, colleague, vendor, relative or other person replies, “Yes,” contact me immediately. I must be alerted so that I can brief the President and coordinate all future protective actions.
If, in response to the query, “Are you a friend of Donald Trump?,” any target, suspect, witness, informant, colleague, vendor, relative or other person replies, “No,” contact me immediately. I must be alerted so that I can brief the President and coordinate all future prosecutorial actions.
Do not attempt to analyze or make sense of the issue.
Remember, if you identify someone who is a friend of the President or not a friend of the President, call me immediately, day or night.
If you cannot reach me, contact the President directly via Twitter.
Enforcing law and order, fighting corruption, and meting out crime and punishment are the imperative, all-consuming aims of POTUS. He was elected specifically, by every last person in the United States, to guard and advance his own interests.
Aiding and abetting POTUS is my imperative, all-consuming aim.
1
A president can not be indicted for crimes he commits while in office. Many criminals like Al Capone would have been inspired to run for president in America. To make this more ridiculous, the Justice Department gives full credence to this assertion. Why would the DOJ protect a criminal president by asserting that a memorandum is the law? It seems that the DOJ is an enabler and Trump takes full advantage of it, such as in the Mueller investigation.
Who is going to throw out this memorandum before our country is totally criminalized in its aftermath? I hope the DOJ will eradicate this rule to save our democracy.
5
"No code can cover all contingencies. We cannot put justice aboard our ships in books. Justice and decency are carried in the heart of the captain or they be not aboard. It is for this reason that the admiralty has always sought to appoint its officers from the ranks of gentlemen. The court regrets to note that the appointment of Captain William Bligh was, in that respect, a failure."
-Mutiny on the Bounty (MGM, 1962)
4
I completely agree with Scorsese on the current scourge of comic book movies; I don't watch them on principle. But I have to admit I was fascinated by Joaquin Phoenix's great performance in the Batman origin story, "The Joker" -- without quite understanding why. Suddenly, with the spectacle of a gangster president going out of his way to pardon and argue against the conviction of a range of thugs -- including Roger Stone -- it hit me why: because the Joker is president.
I already know what it's like to live in country ruled by criminals. I lived in Ukraine for two years during the kleptocratic regime of Victor Yanukovych, the president driven out of power by the 2014 uprising now known as "The Maidan." Yanukovych was not "like" a gangster -- he WAS a gangster, the leader of a mafia clan from eastern Ukraine that stole with both hands during his five years in power and emptied the treasury.
What Yanukovych's Ukraine was like then all seems familiar these days here with Trump and Fox News, aided and abetted by a supine GOP, daily on the attack against the federal judiciary. The Joker is no joke. Scary.
6
Remember when Comey, McCabe, Brennan & Clapper were charged for lying to Congress and Trump's friend Stone got a pass?
Maybe, hopefully, the Durham investigation addresses the disparity in enforcement of Justice, but laughable to premise that Trump is getting his way via those indicted.
2
Trump has not done anything in the way of pardons or weighing in on pending cases that recent presidents have no also done.
The notion that Trump is a dictator or threatening the very foundations of rule of law is not just a propaganda fiction; it is an inversion based on projection.
3
Welcome to Trump Justice, Inc.
A division of the Trump Org.
Ensuring that those in need are protected from injustice and
overreach by an out of touch government.
Billing determined on a case by case basis.
2
Couple of adjustments would quickly fix America:
1. Get rid of the electoral college.
2. Fine people who do not vote.
Instant true democracy. What a concept.
4
I will never understand why people are not marching in the streets against the electoral college. You do know that Trump would never have been elected in a true democracy, right? Same goes for GW Bush.
Trump is a result of a broken system. That system is called the electoral college.
4
The Electoral College works exactly the way the Founders planned for it to work. Alas.
Reading some of the other comments reinforces my feeling that the most important concept in this entire piece is the final one: "To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election." We still have some kind of control, in spite of the apparent best efforts of so many to quash that control. November cannot get here soon enough. We have the ability to force those doing so much damage out of office. We must rise up and fulfill our obligations as Americans--at least as long as we retain the privilege to do so.
1
A little tangential, but what do we do to children or teens who threaten others on social media?
By the way, totally infantile behavior. But their consequences are censure and scorn if not criminal and legal. What do we think about the mentally ill who have access to guns and love those targets placed on people trying to do their jobs? We’d send them to jail, have them tested psychiatrically, and we’d see to their being locked away at least briefly until they’d become adjusted to their meds again. How do I know this? I have a schizophrenic son who has done far far less damage or crime than these thugs and he has to bear the stigma. He’s no more insane than these psycho/sociopaths.
4
Never contemplated that someone would run this country as a banana republic instead of a democracy of 329 million+.
Our founders must be turning over in their graves!
4
The Republican cowards in congress may end up destroying our country. Trump is a clear and present danger to the rule of law and the constitution.
8
@Truth2013: "Trump is a clear and present danger to the rule of law and the constitution."
Most of our politicians in Washington are a clear and present danger to the rule of law and the constitution. Same goes for the Supreme Court.
2
wawo! what do you call it - worst than any banana republic in the world? there is no way out as long as republicans are willing to bear with it. The current generation of republicans may ever live happily but the precedence will haunt their next generations and they will turn in the grave to repent when their children will start cursing them. yes, republicans can at least correct themselves in the upcoming election if they nominate a better candidate - a far cry, of course. no sign in the horizon because they see Mr. Trump is god chosen for them to be above the law so that they can stick to the power for their self interests not for country's interests.
2
This is the main reason the Oval grifter is there.
That and the racism,don't forget that.
2016 United States presidential election totals
Electoral vote 304 227
States carried 30 + ME-02 20 + DC
Popular vote 62,984,828 65,853,514
235,248,000 total voters*
26.7% total for Trump
27.9% total for Clinton
2.1% voted 3rd party*
56.7% total participation
43.3% of the voting public couldn't be bothered to vote.
*very close approx..
3
Again, the only good thing Trump has done is show us how inadequate our so called constitutions.Its a weak document, created by a small group of men to mainly protect their interests.A series of compromises, poor words that allow a big area of interpretation, like the bible.
WE need a complete overhaul how our government works especially the corrupt rules in the Senate.
5
There are two fatal flaws in America’s system of governance that are quite simply not present in any other first world democracy. The first is the extent of power granted the President and its ever increasing scope to the point of practical fascist dictatorship under the current Republican dominant regime. The second is more pernicious. It is the complete lack of effort to change the system to make it more fair and less concentrated in a single person. In fact, there is concerted effort to make the system much less fair through gerrymandering, voter suppression, primacy of the executive branch and practically the promotion of the divine right of the presidency. I’m waiting for the day when Trump declares “The state. It’s me. “. What makes this second flaw so revolting is that these egregious efforts are couched in faux patriotism, in lies about what the Constitution means and what the founders intended, and worst of all in the big lie of American exceptionalism, granted by god and protected for the good of the people. In fact the opposite is true. American governance is possibly the most dysfunctional of first world democracies, being worsened daily by hypocritical politicians to the detriment of all its people with the exception of a very few ultra rich individuals.
8
@David tanner: "There are two fatal flaws in America’s system of governance that are quite simply not present in any other first world democracy. The first is the extent of power granted the President..."
The responsibilities of the President are contained in about 230 words. It's in Article II of the Constitution.
2
I guess we will know on November 4th. If Trump refuses to stay and he is backed by the government then we do indeed live under a dictatorship. Hopefully everyone reading this will be prepared for a Lexington moment: we must go to war to remove this "king". I'll be there: will you?
We'll be beyond protest at that moment.
2
@Rocketscientist
Emperor.
1
“I’m actually, I guess, the" new Emperor in town --- and since I've got this MEGA red hat, and this badge, I know that we're going to be fabulously successful --- I mean far more than any previous puny president in:
"Making Empire Great Again".
2
If we still pride ourselves of living in a "democracy", we need electoral reform and the abolishing of the electoral college.
It's outrageous that we as a nation have to endure Trump's pseudo-dictatorship, while witnessing his relentless attack on the values and institutions that are the fundamental pillars of democracy.
And if Trump happens to be re-elected in November, he will likely become our de facto dictator in chief - not to mention the servilism, hypocrisy and complicity of the GOP.
2
There's a third backstop - 25th Amendment. If ever there was a time for it, it certainly is now.
12
@Vivian
Vivian, he certainly qualifies for the 25th, since over 1000 psychiatrists have diagnosed him as having every condition in DSM-5.
5
Impeachment "worked" as far as exposing the high crimes and etc., but failed to remove. So that's done. The House Democrats did the best they could to rein in this lawless president, but they were just not strong enough. I'm glad they tried, though, I would have regretted it if the destruction of our republic was merely because of a loss of nerve by the opposition party.
Your "quadrennial election" delivered Trump to us in the first place and is almost certain to do so again. His "base", self-described as the "real America", demands that a brutal criminal rule unfettered over a reduced country, and the surviving Republican party are unable to push back against their blind rage without immediately forfeiting their political careers.
This whole exercise has been a stress test for our republican form of government (it remains to be seen if it has failed that test). The Founders did the best they could to design a resilient system that could defend itself from internal tyranny, but were unable to ensure such when the "people" themselves demands that tyranny.
5
Well said. Thank you New York Times for keeping a sliver of hope alive for truth and democracy. Our government is badly in need of repairs that may take decades, even generations- and it will only happen through heavy and sustained engagement by the governed and sustained efforts. The impeachment power is severely hobbled, the people's voice is being silenced. Free and fair elections seem to be the next target. Once we lose that we are done.
4
"One potential new safeguard would be for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent, like the Federal Reserve, thus insulating it from the self-interested meddling of unethical presidents."
How about a general concept of government, in which Congress writes the laws, the Executive carries out the laws, and the Judicial Branch decides what the law means, and whether the law has been followed or broken, with power to investigate.
I have suggested moving DoJ into the Judicial Branch. The appointed officials, such as AG and head of the FBI, could be appointed by a board having a composition that includes the same number of members of Congress from each party (say three each), and one or two judges (say the Chief Justice and if necessary, the Chief Judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, if at some future date there were more than two political parties in Congress, so that the total number of board members is odd).
The AG might be constrained not to be able to fire the head of the FBI. Their terms could be staggered.
One final requirement: that the result of any investigation by the FBI (or any Judicial Branch investigator) is required to be made available to Congress, so they can write new laws, or amend laws, to cover situations that may develop in the future. Members of Congress have security clearances, so there is nothing that the FBI might investigate of which Congress should not be apprised. PERIOD. Congress should not even have to ask.
2
@Joe From Boston: "I have suggested moving DoJ into the Judicial Branch."
That would violate separation of powers.
1
Do we still have that? Quaint.
1
Every loophole Donald Trump has exploited while in the White House needs to be sealed - including the disclosure of all federal, state, local and foundation tax returns for those running for office as President and Vice President in this country. If Donald Trump had released his taxes on the campaign trail - and in retrospect was lying about his willingness to do so - this matter would not have morphed - at Trump's instigation -for the Supreme Court to take up this March/April and we would not be in the position of having to endure his sitting in the Oval Office.
6
All they have to do is pass a law. All the other loopholes that he has used, for tariffs and national security issues are cases where Congress gave up their authority and responsibility to the President. Congress says they did it in case speed is necessary, but I remember when we needed a law to allow a foreign Olympian to become an American to represent the US and it was passed in two days over the Xmas Holidays. Congress needs to do their constitutional job.
3
@kkm: "Every loophole Donald Trump has exploited while in the White House needs to be sealed - including the disclosure of all federal, state, local and foundation tax returns for those running for office as President and Vice President in this country. "
If you're going to propose that, make it applicable to all those running for Congress.
6
Consider the extreme peril if Trump is reelected and gets to choose another couple of justices of the Supreme Court. It is up to each and every one of us, as individuals, to prevent that from happening.
I see from the comments that people believe that we need Congress to limit presidential powers. I agree.
For that to occur we need a president who is willing to reduce his or her own powers. After all they will have to sign such a measure into law. Have any candidates made that pledge?
Before we even get there, we need a Congress willing to pass such legislation. In sum, this means that we all have to register and then vote next November. We need's a peaceful People's Revolt.
Republicans have cynically made that harder to achieve. They have made it more difficult to register and harder to vote - unless you really think that voter ID has a benign intent.
But we did this before, as recently as 2008, We The People delivered a decent and honest president and Congress. And in 2018 we delivered a Democratic House. We need to do it again.
8
@David Cary Hart: "We need's a peaceful People's Revolt."
It's scheduled every two years when we go to the polls to elect every member of the House and one-third of the Senate. We should worry more about the legislative branch than the executive branch.
2
He really is road testing the US constitution. All its crack and flaws are clear to see. Everyone will know what needs fixing by the time this President finishes up in office.
4
@Anthony: "He really is road testing the US constitution. All its crack and flaws are clear to see."
The biggest flaw is all the power Congress transfers to the executive branch. The second biggest flaw is the American public not objecting to it.
8
We will do well to remember that Trump is a conservative Republican President enabled by a conservative Republican Senate and a conservative Republican Supreme Court.
7
Millions of Americans can complain and decry this administration in comments and conversations across the country with the delusional hope that it is only at the ballot box that we can save our democracy. And yet we never come out in massive public protests. Is it not time that at least the 3 million of us who won the past election come out to show our faces and let our voices be heard in Washington and every state Capitol building across the nation, even on one weekend? Are there any organizers out there to break our complacency? We can learn from Trump that rallies are indeed effective and his are ramping up at lightspeed with the same impactful success as the last campaign. What is there to lose by holding our own? Actions speak louder than words.
3
@HMP : Start organizing like its "1969!" and the protests can begin in the spring. There are plenty of people who will help you!
5
@HMP: "Is it not time that at least the 3 million of us who won the past election come out to show our faces and let our voices be heard in Washington and every state Capitol building across the nation, even on one weekend?"
How about complaining to your state legislatures (except Maine and Nebraska) and asking them why they think "winner-take-all" awarding of electors is OK?
1
Of the People, By the People, For the People defines governance of our democracy quite well, thank you Abraham Lincoln. That brings a needed perspective to this --- one man in one job.
A job to serve us, but his main output is social media tweeting that serves him.
While the Executive is headed by a President, Trump is not "right", he is not "the chief law enforcement officer of the country" anymore than he is its chief tax collector.
He has RESPONSIBILITY for the operation and the outcome from the professionals that he has assigned and tasked.
I was surprised that the Editorial Board bought into Trump's self-padded resume. He leads; and while he might direct and instruct, he does not assemble and certify. He may command, but the following is the critical detail.
I ask you, Editorial Board, was Donald Trump confirmed by the Senate as the Attorney General of the United States?
5
Face it, folks, we are now the new version of Apartheid, where a minority is going to be running this country, a minority that is growing stronger as it gets smaller (yes, folks, white America, specifically white, rural/southern/midwestern america). We have a presidency determined by a minority thanks to the electoral college and gerrymandering and voter suppression.
Worse, we no longer have the checks and balances we are supposed to. We have a president with no respect for the office or its boundaries, he , unlike Washington, loved the notion of being an Emperor. We have a Senate, in large part thanks to the non democratic nature of that body, that gives the same power to a state with 500,000 people as one with many millions, and people in those states are so homogeneous they love the idea of apartheid, that 'makes them matter'.
The courts? There are good judges out there, from both parties, who understand the law. But does anyone doubt that when these cases hit the Supreme Court, that the majority will do what the senate has done and give in to the party line and annoint Trump as dictator?
What we have is a classic banana republic, where a small, uber wealthy and powerful cabal working through a gamed political system, establishes permanent power, strictly for their own devices. People should be ready to explode at this point, but for all the twitter rage, talk show host gasbaggery, Trump actually has a higher approval rating the more he does, and everyone else sleeps
9
As has been noted before by numerous historians, the Constitution is silent about political parties. It follows, then, that there are no safeguards against abuse of the system by these political parties. In part, it is understandable, since the only comparable political model at the time was Parliament, and that body hadn't yet evolved in their embrace of political parties, even though the dynamics which led to the creation of parties had already begun. It follows, then, that the major failure of the impeachment trial in the Senate, was the failure of the party system. As was said in the House during the impeachment inquiry, if what Trump did isn't impeachable- and after all, what he was impeached for was only a relatively small part of the deplorable, impeachable actions actually committed- nothing is impeachable. Yet, corrupt, cowardly GOP Senators refused to choose country over party, and, as a result, we are now headed by an unstable, unhinged, and newly empowered, sociopath. Nevertheless, as your editorial points out, the people have one more safeguard, quadrennial elections. The case has been cogently made by much better minds than I. If you love your country more than your party, you must right the wrongs and vote out all those responsible for creating the current, perilous state we are facing.
8
The authors of our constitution did not foresee that a group of senators, led by people such as Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn, would be complete sellouts to their country and allow a tin pot dictator to remain in power. Evil can only flourish when enablers permit it to happen and Donald Trump revels in that he has scared enough of them to do his bidding.
9
When you're King and your court is a Senate made up of your peers, there is nothing anyone can do about how the King determines the law. Unfortunately, the fractionalized Democrats have little chance of changing that….at any level. Four more years and then a Democrat will have to figure out how to fix the problems left behind... Like Obama had to do to fix the decrepit economy the Bush administration left behind. Of course, the King will tell you he's the one that fixed the economy not Obama--- and the Base will believe him.
5
But Donald Trump is the law! There is no, "when."
We are becoming the U. S. of Trump, and Trumpsters love it.
I hope Democrats soon wake up and push for a new democracy.
If we can push Trump out, we may have a new democracy wave.
"Democracy is coming to the USA" (Leonard Cohen song)
I hope the Times considers a new democracy wave and the song.
"Democracy is coming to the USA"
1
"The law is something that applies to his adversaries, not to himself or his friends. "
This is a very clear statement for the purpose of law in general.
All laws are written to provide support and defend one individual against the group and the group from other groups that would impose their will on them. If Trump is using this idea of law, he is perfectly justified in doing so. All laws, from the Fugitive Slave Act to Selective Service Registration are to offer something to the friends of the law writers and deprive something of the groups or individuals they are oppressing.
The US has a tradition of anarchists who weren't against laws, but against laws that defend certain special interest groups at the expense of the more general democratic interests. For example, health insurance companies that control the law to the extent that they disallow the Federal government it's power to design a more democratic model. What Trump is doing is a form of anarchism that comes to the rescue of plutocracy. It's the backlash to a more democratic imagination that we had under Obama. In some ways, Trump is more about the power of the law and less about the democratic powers to imagine more just laws. His use of the law is just about as legally tyrannical as law enforcement can do. He's a hero of the Law. Those who challenge him are lawless anarchists, in his way of being president. 43 million agree with him.
3
Remember when the evangelicals said: "Trump was sent by God to be president.
1
Can't you just picture it now....a corrupt Democrat doing the same thing as President as Trump is. People like McConnell and Cotton and Cornyn and all the rest screaming bloody murder. I hope they get exactly what is coming to them.
6
The sky is falling . Trump is evil incarnate. He controls everything. How can you cry these cries when supposedly less than half the people like him, the Congress is divided, the Supreme Court is still more liberal than conservative and federal judges some how are able to usurp any measures the executive branch tries to implement. How many crusades to over turn the election has the NYT thrown at this President 5-6 . Each time a nothing burger. 6 times if only one more witness one more minute one more question would have been asked that would have uncovered the candle stick in the drawing room cupboard. The editorial hand wringing the mis leading headlines the complete turn from news and solid reporting to quoting people’s feelings as facts has turned the gray lady on her head. Well at least you still have a great crossword puzzle.
People are pinning their hopes on November, but the lawless republicans will see to it that the fix is in.
We're gonna need a revolution...
5
How and why is this malignant buffoon our president? I spend every waking hour asking myself how we got here. I'll entertain any answer whatsoever.
6
@Gigi
Putin scored a victory over American democracy. He's accomplished a coup d' etat without firing a single shot.
Putin's ability to sway this election by computer fraud ,and /or disinformation/misinformation got us to this point.
3
I have grown so tired of the media playing here I will say "fake News" that Barr thought abut quitting. Please give me a break just nonsense to make it like he is not in the back pocket. Here is a clue if he was a real neutral Attorney General who worked for you know the people he would have resigned and that would have called Trump's bluff. But, he has no plans even after Trump declares he is the chief law enforcement officer and can do what he feels. If he was serious he would have resigned but not a peep nor out of Susan Collins and the Lamar Alexander - hey he did not want to throw gasoline on the fire and the other fake Muskowsky. Here is news the country keeps going down this road there will be a massive explosion before election day even. Remember Six Days in May, where is the military to remove a unfit and deranged King. I would take my chances with them in charge than what is passing for now.This whine whine and do nothing and he knows it. I live in Canada and when he gave a pardon to that British crook Conrad Black who stole $70 million, but wrote a book about Trump that was up his you know where I knew the fix was in. I say British crook since our former Prime Minister Stephen Harper let him into the country after he served his sentence for fraud in the US instead of making him return to Merry Old England. He gave up his Canadian citizenship and as rumor as it is angling to get it back, at least with the Liberal in power he is blowing into the wind. Jim Trautman
2
Once again the NYT proves how valuable journalism is.
Keep digging for facts and the truth.
Support your local newspaper.
Please end this regime.
8
Trump is a sneering, grifting explanation for why abortion should never, ever be outlawed.
5
I'm waiting for him to pardon Bernie Madoff.
4
@Linda We won't have to wait long since little Jared Kushner is now in charge of pardons.
1
"This is the second time in half a century that a lawless chief executive has tested the nation’s fundamental constitutional design." Both of these lawless chief executives are Republicans. The Republican party itself has become the greatest danger our democracy faces, and this party must be rooted out and destroyed. Vote Blue no matter who.
8
And the protest march will be… when and where, guys? You all have a mighty big bullhorn. You should consider using it.
2
Independent “like the Federal Reserve”?! You’ve lost me.
The Times often underscores its editorials with fine illustrations, but this should be redone. The MAGA cap with sheriff's badge should've been rendered to include Trump's monarchist pretensions, with crown-like features. Among them, in place of the cross featured on many diadems, the top part of it lopped off to get a T symbol.
wwwTwww
. .
__
2
Whatever the safeguards are, so a wildly incompetent and criminal-minded president may not trample on the rule of law and/or the constitution, Trump has demonstarted, amply, that deep reforms are necessary...so an unhinged 'brutus ignoramus (by choice) can be held accountable in real time. Especially when he is counting on a feckless republican party to support what ought to be unsupportable. For now, this democracy is in tatters...if not in ruins. So, what are we going to do about it? Just know that 'looking the other way' is tantamount to cheating...ourselves!
3
If you were not aware that you were living in a dictatorship before, you should be now. Congress and the courts, as arms of our government are irrelevant to Trump. The word “No” as expressed to him by anyone or any institution has no standing. He only knows the terms, me, myself, and I, and can now do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. You can thank the hairless Republican Party for this. Also, Mr. Barr should take a bow.
Next step...arresting and jailing people who express differing opinions from Trump and his minions. Wave goodbye to Democracy.
6
"When Donald Trump Is the Law"………….
A whole column just to say, to confirm that Donald Trump sees the Constitution as an inconvenient obstacle to be both ignored and overcome ………...
4
He will shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it. A proud moment.
1
An excellent editorial.
1
With Democratic candidates working so hard to trash one another, it is lttle wonder that a GOP demagogue rules the land.
2
Misleading headline. Should read: "Now That Donald Trump Is the Law".
1
Never has the US faced an internal and external danger of this magnitude.
The most powerful man in the United States is owned and controlled by an authoritarian kleptocratic Russian, and he is himself a fascist racist authoritarian.
This is treachery on an unparalleled scale.
The destruction of the internal/external enemy at the top is essential.
1
Trump, and people like him --- Assad and Putin --- like to rub the noses of the "Just" in the mud.
Dictators and amoral autocrats must be confronted and defeated. If not with violence , they must be confronted by the moral principle of leaders who have a moral backbone.
Trump has none of these. No Decency, No Justice.
Trump knows his Day of Reckoning is coming. He's trying to grease the skids for his own escape.
5
But it was OK for Eric Holder to make up law via questionable interpretations of statutes? Back in 2012, Holder once recommended that President Obama assert executive privilege to prevent Congress’ subpoena from getting confidential Department of Justice (DOJ) documents about Operation Fast and Furious. I guess it depends on who's ox is being gored.......
Oh ho, and this is just the beginning. The tyrant has been emboldened, and I fully expect him to embark on far worse in the near future. The GOP has opened the Pandora's Box, and it is anyone's guess what will crawl out.
3
What an interesting time. Trump and his gangsters are in charge of the White House, and no one can stop their havoc.
3
Trump is turning us into a 'banana republic': corruptocracy + autocracy + climate warming (we can soon start growing bananas in Nebraska).
3
The GOP Senate betrayed the American people when it failed to hold tRump accountable. Shame!
Vote blue.
2
Trump is above the law aided by a cabal in congress and a gaslighting Attorney General.
4
This “rails are off” Presidency glides into another TV moment. The exonerated, expunged and ex officio recipients soon to sound off in a chorus of “his masters voice” singing exultations and eulogies to the benevolent powers of the Sun King.
This moment but another verse in the Psalm of Trump, anything goes.
4
Trump evaded impeachment.
He is still working on that quadrennial election bit, hoping Rudy will find that server in Ukraine.
2
The absurd belief that Trump "learned his lesson" is the senate's version of Chamberlin's Munich Agreement. The Republican Senate has unleashed a monster, and what is even more horrifying, is they did it willingly and with glee. Shame on them.
4
@Michael Kennedy
Good point. Well said.
2
Nicely written. Yes, the election and the spineless GOP.
The United States of America is sooo sad these days.
A shell of what you once were.
Pathetic.
That the citizenry just goes about their daily lives without so much a peep is the most frightening.
Congratulations President Putin by far by any measurement the greatest international intelligence operation ever run. The damage is deep and long lasting.
2
He's just preparing the country for the coming pardons (likely after the election) for Stone, Flynn, Manafort, and likely himself.
1
If last night's debate is any indication we're going to have 4 more years of a gangster posing as a leader in this country. What does the Editorial Board propose that we, the people, do to survive the disintegration of the Democratic Party?
1
When Donald Trump Is the Law, America as a Democratic Republic is dead. America is now an Autocracy, a Kleptocracy, a Dictatorship, and officially a Banana Republic.
America is dead. The Grand Experiment is over.
1
“I am the chief law officer of the country”
He enforces or breaks the law at his whim
AG Barr opines that his rights are elementary
Now we know why Trump rushed to appoint him
For Trump The US Code is too perplexing
He’d rather judge them as he sees them
His bench is not in court but in the West Wing
He’d much rather rule in the Roman Coliseum
He could adorn his mane with a Gilded crown
As his mob chants “lock her up, or let him go “
His justice is either thumb up or thumb down
Honest Abe crushed by our new Emperor Nero
4
I feel like I am like I am living in a foreign country. I do not believe it will ever quite feel like home again. Trump has ruined the United States. He is an ignorant, lawless bully sustained by a corrupt political party, religious fanatics who have brandished their bigotry and hypocrisy and a minority of citizens who do not or will not grasp the full extent of how their democracy is being dismantled. We are a pariah to the rest of the world’s democracies.
3
It's ironic that the guy who declares himself the chief law enforcement officer is the same guy who belongs behind bars.
4
Trump has put us, the American citizens, in a cage far larger than the impoverished, frightened immigrants seeking to enter the now "unpromised" land. Emigrate, oh ye who seek democracy! Bring your talent, your skills, your families to Europe! Increase your brain power by learning other languages! Enrich (and extend) your lives through other culture immersion while you enjoy and embrace universal health care in "civilized" nations! If not, GOTV for ANY candidate who is not Trump.
1
"When Donald Trump Is the Law": Scary dictator, maliciously undoing our previously accepted norms!
1
I think he has been pretty reasonable.
He hasn’t put Hillary in jail like he promised. Despite her breaking the law by destroying 30,000 emails.
1
Want to live under a totalitarian dictatorship? Reelect a president who is a dictator wannabe and has the full backing of the Republican controlled Senate and the conservative-packed Supreme Court. Say au revoir to separation of powers and checks and balances.
1
Trump's specialty is conning people and exploiting the law, along with bankruptcy and blaming victims.
Simple as that.
Bankrupter in chief? Just wait, and you'll all see how bad it can get when lies and stealing from the future are used to support one of the biggest cons in history.
2
First Trump made the ethnic slurs. Then he mocked a journalist with disabilities. He moved on to threatening public figures who disagreed with him. All the while, his millions of adoring fans cheered him on.
He needed to keep feeding the beast. He followed up with his assertion that the KKK and neo-Nazis are some very fine people. His supporters howled. He double downed on that one. His poll numbers rose.
Not content with his unfettered power at that point, he took to threatening respected career public servants who dared to testify against him. He derailed their careers. His base continued to cheer. And now? Trump threatened a juror in the Stone case - a private citizen who didn't "sign up" for the task given.
Trump is now ruling by fear, because nearly his supporters want him to. It is really that simple.
This means that any one of us could be his targets, as he continues to "clean house", as he calls it. Speak out against him, and your Republican neighbor hears you? Expect a knock at your door by his armed goons. Think we're so far away from this? We are already at the point that Democratic voters in Red states dare not put Democratic political signs in their yards, for fear of vandalism at best, and assaults, at worst.
No, this "house cleaning" will get a lot uglier before it is stopped. The only question remaining is how many more of us will be Trump's targets until then?
6
It’s interesting how, in DJT’s mind the Central Park couldn’t be punished enough (though they didn’t commit the crime) for assaulting a woman. Yet, others who look like him and commit crimes he can I am sure identify with, are thought to have handed egregious sentences.
I try to argue with people still. Maybe that is a mistake.
Just when I think there is no possible way a rational mind could escape my conclusions about the President's behaviour, I am continually disappointed to see my well-crafted arguments scattered about by a Trump-mania that will not be easily confounded by those bratty siblings we call reason and common sense.
The President has tried every possible contorted posture to defend himself. He has said the call was perfect, that there was no quid pro quo. He has said there were no 1st-hand witnesses, then he said if there were, they obviously are never-Trumpers and therefore don't count (self-serving?). Then there was Mulvaney who with the skill of a teenager caught smoking in the bathroom offered up his infamously surly "OK, So what?" defence.
Finally, everyone's favourite is the "Because I said so" defence which reduces to this basic idea: If the President did it, then by definition, it must have been in the country's best interest and so is not wrong, What? Wow. Did Alan Dershowitz really explain that the greatest crime ever committed is the one whose execution is self-exculpating, provided your lawyer explains it right to the rest of us idiots.
Whatever else that is true or false that can be said about the President will be said. But I can say that this much is true about Alan Dershowitz: If he can wish away crimes, then this man must certainly be worth his weight in gold.
1
The GOP has destroyed our system of checks and balances, and our laws. Good luck recovering.
Good question. Why hasn't Barr resigned? I think it's because he has an agenda that he has been lasar-focused on from the get-go of him pitching the job to Trump. I don't know what that agenda is, but Barr appears willing to give up our democratic norms to get it. And nobody seems able to stop him.
2
Thanks for this editorial. We so need to hear the truth. I can't believe we are living through the worst president ever. Every time he does something horrible I think we've hit rock bottom,but no now he is pardoning Blagoyovitch and now bashing the justice dept. And after 2000 prosecutors say Barr should resign Trump comes out swinging and says Barr should clean house in the justice dept. Is there anyone in his sphere
ethical. No one believes anything Trump or Barr says or has said.
3
One of the unfortunate flaws in the U.S. Constitution is that the Framers assumed a basic level of good faith and honest dealing on the part of those to whom it granted significant authority and discretion. The checks and balances concept assumed that even if one bad actor or gang of rogues tried to assume dictatorial powers in one branch, there would be enough honorable people in the other two branches to thwart the abuse.
Unfortunately, the Framers never contemplated that corrupt and cowardly politicians in one political party would combine to mutate into a constitutional virus, spreading abuse, criminality, and contempt for the law through the whole system.
This is why all the 2020 Federal elections, not just the Presidential one, are important. The virus that has taken over the Republican Party has to be eradicated, and the only way to do that is to expel its infected hosts in the White House and Congress. It is the last chance to save the Constitution from becoming a faded, irrelevant piece of parchment.
4
“I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country."
And we're actually, I guess, dead country walking - unless we can swim upstream against a Niagara of lies and political system-rigging and actually win not just the presidency but the senate and the house as well. I'm not sure the country is up to that....
I wonder how cold Canada really is in the winter.
1
The white nationalists and religious right are very unhappy about what liberalism has done to this country and Trump has used the anger of these two groups in particular to gain power. Both groups and Trump realize they cannot strictly follow the law and Constitution to bring about the changes that they want because their values are very different from the values of the Founders. The question for Trump's base is how to take the US and turn it into a white supremacist country and break down the wall between church and state. It seems clear that putting the president above the law is one of the main strategies for the overthrow of liberal democracy. It is scary to think what might follow.
2
So where are the actual justices on this problem? Is John Roberts OK with Trump taking over his job?
1
The founders set up an intricate plumbing system, and it's been tested by running a light stream and seeing where there may be small leaks to patch up.
This administration under Trump is a a broken dam, forcing a tsunami of pressure through a system that was not designed for a thing that could not be reasonably imagined.
Now is the time we revamp that decimated system and plan better for things we never believed could test and break it.
1
Mr. Trump has claimed that the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want.” — even in an impeachment inquiry — as “constitutionally invalid.”
Contrary to the Constitution as I read and understand it :
"Article I, Section 1 provides: : “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.” The Constitution first vests all federal legislative powers in a representative bicameral Congress. Central to the social compact, this lawmaking institution forms the foundation of the federal government and allows the people’s representatives to act together for the common good".
Things are pretty clear to me :The Constitution sets the laws. Nobody is above the law in a democracy, even the President.
Therefore Trump should abide to the law or step off…
2
More than 1,000 prosecutors, including many Republicans, have called for Barr's resignation, according to press reports.
Has that ever happened before in American history?
I believe plenty of AG's have been awful; Nixon's AG, John Mitchell, went to jail for his Watergate crimes.
But I don't recall reading that more than 1,000 professional prosecutors demanded Mitchell's resignation.
I hope everyone takes a moment to think about how incompetent, how dangerously inept you would have to be at your job (your life-long profession) to cause more than 1000 of your peers and former colleagues to publicly demand your removal.
Just give this thought one of today's moments.
2
The tweets, the demagoguery, and now these pardons are all a smoke screen, a cover the criminality of Donald J. Trump. And we wonder why Trump hasn't made his tax returns public. What if the privileged alleged billionaire Trump is near the abyss of bankruptcy even now? We now know Trump owes millions of dollars to Deutsche Bank. Could it also be those risky loans have been guaranteed by certain Russian oligarchs maybe even Vladimir Putin himself?
2
Truly, one of the most horrifying things that Trump has spewed in the last 3+ years....
1
The MAGA-heads hide behind the central point of this essay--that Trump as head of the executive branch on paper controls the Department of Justice, and so it is perfectly all right for him to exploit this for corrupt purposes. Just because an official has authority, doesn't excuse the misuse of that authority for corrupt purposes. In effect the MAGA-heads are condoning Trump's corruption. Getting them to even see this appears impossible. And that is How a nation goes rotten.
3
Trump’s clever misconceptions have to to fruition only because the press and lobbyist have allowed it. “Mini Michael Bloomberg” did the same thing in NY when he was Mayor, including stealing an illegal third term. And let not get started in stop and frisk. Good to see that he was destroyed in the debate tonight. He looked morally smaller than usual.
Autocrats normally only lead banana republics. Many of Trump's actions are both corrupt and embarrassing.
Given Putin and others who are conspiring with Trump, one of the biggest challenges for the 2020 election will be whether it's valid. The world stopped laughing at Trump awhile ago, we cringe and wish America the best at ending his reign.
1
Kind of reminds me of one of those old west movies. You know the one - the rich as dirt saloon owner, who also owns most of the ranch land, gets himself "elected" mayor. He then buys himself a sheriff to "police" the residents. Friends and family get a pass on any and all wrongdoing while anyone who opposed him is arrested and possibly gets hanged or otherwise dies in custody - OOPS. Everyone knows to give the Boss whatever he wants, and to give a pass to his inner circle. In the movies, there's always a hero who comes in to save the day right at the end. My question? Where's our hero? I'm not seeing one right now.
1
Is there any apparatus in place to combat what Trump is certain to "cook up" about the next national election when it becomes clear he will be losing?
The American Revolution was fought in order to free this country from the tyranny of rule by king. During his time in office, Donald "Red Coat" Trump and his abettors have done everything in their power to undo that victory. Perhaps they fail to perceive that in the heart of most Americans, the notion of, "Give me liberty, or give me death!", still lives and breathes.
2
Donald Trump promised us four years ago to drain the swamp and fight for us in Washington D.C.
Today he pardoned the criminals from the Oval Office.
He personally released from the prison the worst kind of corruption and bribery.
1
As long as "the law" is determined to keep the Left from wrecking the American economy with "free" everything, I'm all for it.
And as long as "the law" the Left would establish would attack my 2nd Amendment right, would tax me to death to pay for all the "free" stuff for others, and would wreck American culture with all the "PC" nonsense, I will oppose it.
1
@Henry Miller, Libertarian
Libertarians often hide behind these arguments - "I don't want the gov't to tell me what to do or infringe upon my rights". OK, I can understand that. However, they then must explain how their philosophy is different from anarchy, or doesn't lead to anarchy when taken to the limits (some might say "extreme"). Gov't out of need and intent is in place to ensure some degree of structure and consistency for a community wherein individual rights and community needs are balanced. Where that balance rests is the critical point. Only when there is respect for the structure and guardrails of the gov't does the gov't succeed. Now, my question is: where do your libertarian views lead you when Trump is clearly acting in disregard to the Constitution and has no respect for the established norms, the guardrails, of our gov't? Do you decided only on your self-interest, or do you consider the larger value/harm to our community?
2
There has to be a simple civics test for the next president.
Trump wants to be president of some place like Russia. Sorry, but we are Americans, Donald. Bring your taxes too.
And WE will decide, not you, if you get to stick around. Good God.
1
The "mechanisms put in place after Watergate" have proved insufficient not because they were flawed, or weak, but because the Republican party has proved totally willing to hollow out and destroy them, while masking their corruption with the shallowest and most hypocritical lip service. No political institutions can stand against people as willing to lie about and cheat with and abuse them, such as today's Republican party are.
The problem isn't institutional, it's political. Republicanism now means lawless, corrupt authoritarianism. Republicans need to be driven out of political leadership, and exposed for what they are. The 2020 election is our chance. As the Republican Senate majority just gave Trump a permission slip to corrupt the election, it will be an uphill climb.
2
Not that I am defending Richard Nixon but if you read the transcript of his interview with David Frost he said that during that period, "rather than acting primarily in my role as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, or at least with the responsibility of law enforcement, because the attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer, but as the one with the chief responsibility for seeing that the laws of the United States are enforced, that I did not meet that responsibility."
He at least realized and admitted that "the attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer" and if you read that part in context at least it is arguable that he also admitted that he "did not meet that responsibility".
So comparing Putin's Hump to Nixon is an insult to Nixon, an insult that Nixon did not deserve. Hey, at the minimum, Nixon did have a law degree and from a reputable law school.
As to what does Barr consider his job is you don't and shouldn't ask him because if you do all you will get is a pack of lies. I would guess his latest confession that the tweets make it "impossible to do" his job I think he is sincere. The way I see it he sees his "job" is to do Hump's, or perhaps Putin's, bidding in secrecy. When Hump openly praised him for doing it it exposes the secret so how is he going to do his "job"?
2
Trump can always be relied on to go yet lower when you thought he could not go any lower. But in my book, Trump’s coddling (granting clemency and pardons) of war criminals (then praising them, thumbing his nose at the Pentagon) has to be the absolute nadir. (The humiliation of the honorable Col Vindman coming close, however.)
This new group is reprehensible, no doubt about it. However, people like Rob Blagovejich and Rudi’s crony Bernie Kerick crony seem to me to be not much more than clownish caricatures of bad guys. Please have the dignity to crawl quietly away.
2
In this article, the NYT Editorial Board tackles an age-old conundrum of reconciling the power of government with justice. While the philosopher Plato placed his faith in a particular type of education, the Editorial Board wants "Congress to make the Justice Department more independent."
This shows a misunderstanding of government where the law is a tool used by the rulers to rule the rest of us. If you create agencies totally independent from government so that they can follow the principles of justice, how do you enforce their rulings or policies on the rulers, say applying the correct penalties to George Washington for slavery, or George W. Bush for the Iraq Holocaust?
But, if the agencies are part of government, hence not so independent from it, how to prevent them from being used by the rulers to impose their policies and protect themselves from justice?
This ago old dilemma didn't start with Trump or Nixon, nor with Washington or Bush. Nonetheless, the NYT Editorial Board deserves credit for addressing this centuries-old problem.
2
“This is in the style of autocrats across the globe, who weaponize the law to help themselves and their friends and hurt their enemies. The nation’s legal system is now run by a man who has spent his life mocking it.” What is most disturbing is the persistent normalization of Trump by the press and the normalization of the propaganda wing of his corrupt regime, FOX, Breitbart, Sinclair. Americans have relied on a press that is unafraid and determined to pursue the truth. That implies a responsibility to address lies, misdirection, and false equivalence. The news media has instead normalized propaganda and with it, a depraved criminal who is undermining all norms, all law, and the Constitution. It is not enough to report the facts. The truth requires a defense that reflects urgency and denounces propaganda. Why is the propaganda machine able to represent itself as legitimate? Because the legitimate press permit it? Because the legitimate press is content to present their case and has no commitment to defending the truth and denouncing lies and deception. The New York Times and the Washington Post are remarkable sources of facts and evidence. As such, they have the responsibility to make sure that “opinions” never displace facts and evidence and that those who strive to impugn facts and evidence are identified and disempowered. The NYT has made incremental steps and in this essay.
1
What you wanna bet? Judge Jackson applies the recommended sentence ( nine years) to Roger Stone and Trump pardons him.
One more step towards a banana dictatorship...
1
His name is a joke, and he is a joke.
A grifter who knows nothing of the constitution, nor does he care.
He can, and should be, gone.
We need to get off our collective butt's and VOTE, and stand up for democracy.
For the moment, this is a participatory Democracy.
It may, and likely will be, gone! If he remains in office.
We have become way to "civilized" and complacent, and he has turned the White House into his throne.
(My grandfather, born in 1902, god bless his Irish soul, would refer to the toilet as his throne. It's an apt description of Trump's attitude to our democracy.)
We whine, we wring our hands, we comment in astonishment.
But we need to realize, WE need to vote.
Against him. No matter who.
And if need be. Literally throw him out of office.
Despite Republican protest.
They sold themselves out a long time ago, and are complicit in this travesty.
2
I wish I could take a pill that would let me sleep until November 4th and then I could either finally relax or take another pill which would put me to sleep and never wake up again.
Two choices: well, the first one didn’t work, and people elected and paid to use it couldn’t even get more than two people of their own party to make an effort.
So, now it’s down to us rank amateurs. Show the world that we love America and pick an individual who won’t make us the laughingstock of the free world and the sucker to the rest.
1
Hey Senator Collins. Has Trump learned a lesson from his acquittal? Seems not.
1
For so long the United States government and many Americans laughed, brutalize, took advantage at underdeveloped countries and called them banana republics. Now is Karma time, and some Americans can't believe that their constitution is flaw and that the U.S is in fact another Banana Republic. Deal with it. Trump is not abusing, he is using the powers allowed by the constitution and congress, the president is practically a King. Welcome King Trump. I don't like you but I don't blame you.
WOW! No matter who wins the next Presidency, the last twelve years show that America has no Leaders and the American People have no Representation. The people have been lead around by their noses. and blinded by their own indoctrination. It's pathetic how people so blessed with a bountiful land, a government that lets them determine their own freedoms, and a competitive spirit that has propelled the living standards and prosperity to never imagined heights could let career manipulators, called Politicians, bring the future of this country to such a miserable impasse. It's not the democrats or the republicans who are to blame, but people giving reins of power to such despicable individuals as those now posing as our representatives in both parties not of the people, but certainly by the people. Save your anger for Trump, for none of those in our Congress or the Executive Branch are without guilt.
If Trump does indeed consider himself the ‘chief law enforcement officer,’ we are doomed as a nation. He’s more Barney Fyfe than Joe Friday. He’s a total mess.
Supine and spineless. Jellyfish.
Corrupt and weak of will.
A description, if you wish,
of a person who is ill.
Ill of mind and faint of heart.
Republicans sold out.
In a country torn apart,
they love Trump beyond a doubt.
America, I cry for you.
Half your children lost their way.
They’re now Trumpians, through and through,
letting chips fall where they may.
America, they chose a king.
We are heading for a fall.
We are dying. Feel the sting.
Once so great and now quite small…
1
Simply put, when Donald Trump becomes the law, the rule of law will cease to exist.
1
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD: OUR SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!! IF the system can be manipulated to this extent, allowing a gangster to carry on this way and show himself to be basically unstoppable, then our system does NOT work. So aside from the immediate issue of dealing with Trump, what I want to hear is what does the Board propose to do which would fix this problem in the future? CLEARLY some sort of Constitutional changes are required. HOW will they ever be passed? WHAT recourse do the states that still care about justice do in the face of other states that send senators to Congress that disregard their oaths of office in exchange for short-term political greed? Anyone with a conscience knows that Trump is....he's an unprintable word. We know that. IF this forthcoming election doesn't right the wrong (and it might very well not if the Dems continue eating each other up) then what can we do about it? Anything? Anything at all?
2
Trump’s mercy toward liars and fraudsters reveals not his interest in fairness but rather his deep affiliation with them.
Thus far Trump has merely occupied the office of the President while his aides run the show, but it appears the dynamic is changing. As he’s learned what powers he has, and powers he doesn’t have but wields anyway, he’s getting bolder and more aggressive. Trump has tended to use power defensively (fighting and filing lawsuits to protect himself, etc) but now he has offensive power. With that power he can empty the executive branch and fill it with toadies, urge them to investigate and prosecute his enemies, and spring his thugs from jail. Who will stop him?
It is trite but maybe true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Trump has seemed up to now to me to be rather dumb; but as he’s witnessed Republican impotence in the face of his corruption, and learned about weapons at his disposal, he’s becoming absolutely unafraid to use them.
1
Trump behaves exactly like a king, a rotten one.
If you choose to be loyal to your country instead of to him personally, you are accused of treason.
If you refuse to lie under oath to support him, you will be removed from your job.
He feels is not subject to any oversight no matter what the constitution says.
He says he has the right to overrule a jury and choose whether to punish a criminal, and to tell the judge what that punishment will be.
The power of the Government is his personal weapon to be used against anyone who displeases him.
What he says becomes the truth simply because he says it.
And the irony is, he is supported by the "Republican" Party.
1
So, Trump pardons utterly corrupt individuals, but was "worried" about corruption in Ukraine? I don't know, but, trying to sell a Senate seat seems to me far worse than anything Hunter Biden could be accused of. Are we, as Americans, going to stand for this blatant hypocrisy? My fear is...yes. We've reached an unprecedented level of moral and mental exhaustion.
2
Get rid of Mitch McConnell. Just like deciding that Barak Obama was not entitled to his Supreme Court pick, Mitch McConnell has ALLOWED trump to get away with every single bit of nastiness. Why? Imagine what it is going to be like when trump is charged with a federal crime and all the prosecutors and judges are ultra conservatives appointed by him off the list that was given to him by none other than Mitch McConnell.
1
You didn't answer your own question. Who benefits? Why can no one say -- has everyone been brainwashed, intimidated, or just bored with the answer? Obviously, if anyone is reading, observing, and has any common sense, the answer is Mr. Putin. Of course he is delighted. His greatest coup ever. And it didn't take a war or even much money. We are such dups. How about calling it the way it so obviously is, New York Times Editorial Board? I have a list of things on my wall from 2016 of what Putin wants. He's gotten or is getting most of them -- the biggest is still a no -- sanctions. But it's coming. In the meantime, the West is or is heading toward it -- chaos.
1
What really gets me is the Republicans feigning surprise by Trump's actions after they gave him a free pass on impeachment - c'mon, really?! What did you think he was going to do...please...
1
Wa ain't seen nothin' yet, folks. This is just the beginning of American authoritarianism. When will the GOP break out its new uniforms?
1
When our Perfect Dear Leader becomes Citizen Trump, he must be indicted, convicted and imprisoned for his crimes. If the federal justice system lacks the spine to do so, then it is up to the State of New York and its justice system to LOCK HIM UP!!! This would not be mere revenge, but a clear message to the world and future presidents that no one is above the law.
1
"Not my president" is an accurate phrase. Trump isn't anyone's president but his own. Every action he takes is done to further his own self interest; no one else's. His supporters' belief that he is working on their behalf is yet another way they are woefully misguided.
2
Omitted was the interference in the sentencing of Michael Flynn. We all wondered what happened when all of sudden the DOJ changed course and didn't want to throw him in jail. Now we know.
If re-elected, could his actions be even more brazen? Yes.
1
"To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
The first has already been rendered a nullity by the malfeasance of the Republican Senate leadership. I fear that there will b some effort on Trump's part to render the second backstop a nullity as well.
One benefit of impeachment is that the president is immediately removed and has no time to react in any meaningful way. But if Trump loses the election, he will have 2-1/2 months to consider his next move.
One wonders whether or not he will give us another taste of the way he exercises his power as "chief law enforcement officer" and apply it to his more constitutionally affirmed role as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.
Think about that. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.
1
Devoid of substance and purpose if law becomes a tool for retribution and reward in the hands of an autocrat, it ceases to command the authority derived from the legitimate exercise of power. The resulting contempt and mass anger will certainly lead to a lawless anarchic conditions in an otherwise law abiding civilised society. As Trump is trying to follow the French monarch Louis the fourteenth he should be prepared to face the consequences also as every reckless misadventure carries IRS cost.
1
Over the past week, I had a conversation (electronically - would likely have become very heated in person) with one of my older relatives who is a vociferous, rally-attending Trump supporter. The adoration that she feels towards him is that of reverence for a cult leader. I have had politicians and cultural figures whom I admire, but they are still humans with flaws, and far from all of their ideas are sacrosanct. In her eyes, Trump is a superhuman, working 18-hour days in the face of an "insane" media and hatred that in her view is baseless. There is a total disconnect from the reality of his statements and actions. What Trump does to trample the independence of the justice department, we have to accept and give him the benefit of the doubt, because it's clearly for our own good and "in the interests of the American people". She calls the people that Trump has fired from his cabinet "crazy" and "egomaniacs", but doesn't seem to square this with Trump having appointed these same people.
To me, it's clear that Trump has fully captured the subset of Americans who would accept an authoritarian leader. As long as he is "theirs", or "on their side", which has no firm definition, they would rather have him as their ruler than live in a democratic society where he wasn't King. Any sane American should be worried not only about Trump, but how we as a society have failed to instill critical and independent thinking in our citizens, or allowed propaganda to strip it from them.
6
@NS
Critical and independent thinking are functions hopefully developed during our years at school. The fact that given the year, among developed nations we only rank between 22nd and 27th for our educational systems may have something to do with our poor performance in those areas.
5
These vulnerabilities in the Constitution’s design should be corrected immediately. The first correction should be a requirement that all treaties be ratified by at least two-thirds of all Senators. The president should not be allowed to use foreign aid to advance his re-election.
This air of monarchical impunity could lead the president to enter into a treaty with Iran that includes paying Iranians off with millions of dollars in cash in exchange for curtailing their uranium enrichment program until after the president left office. Worse yet, he could unilaterally enter into a climate treaty with the rest of the world that requires huge transfers of money to to developing countries, provide no accountability and boost the presidents image as someone who is "concerned about climate change" prior to the election. These would be a head-spinning assertions of executive authority that would mock the will of the voters. We cannot a president to set such dangerous precedents. The Senate should keep an eye out for these kinds of abuses.
2
If a crooked President literally is the law than a quadrennial election is not an adequate remedy because the crooked President can either rig that election or ignore an adverse result and make sure no does anything about it. If Trump continues to act as if he literally is the law then invoking Amendment 25 to the Constitution is the only option, short of a military coup.
3
I think many Republican legislators and those who work for Mr. Trump would like to be spanked.
Never having had power, I wonder if it is worth the humiliation that comes with serving a vicious president.
We used to yearn for statesmanship. Our present hope is for some semblance of backbone.
1
It’s so crazy what he’s doing! It’s blatant. It’s in plain sight! I hope that various House committees are continuing their oversight of this.
And I’m wondering if it’s true — that all these pardons are a message to people like Roger Stone. “Don’t talk or tell them anything! I’ve got your back. Just hold tight and I’ll pardon you.”
It’s like the impeachment “trial” - if Bolton or anyone else had testified, Trump and much of his administration would be implicated in he Ukraine scandal and so much more.
Not that it matters. He’ll just keep doing it. While we watch, helpless.....
1
Few, at least, can claim they didn't know what they voting for in Nov.
When Trump is the law America should be declared officially dead. Sorry folks 250 years was a good run. Trump stopped it in its tracks. Time to pick up the pieces. Putin won and did it on the cheap.
3
As a long time student of American History I feel that although NOT MY PRESIDENT'S actions reveal he is the most vile, contemptuous, incompetent, vengeful dolt to occupy the office; these activities are very enlightening and instruct-full for the American Democracy. Congress has steadily acceded to the Chief Executive powers in areas such as trade, war powers, immigration, tariffs, transparency and the administration of justice. If nothing else, Congress must take back its' authority and jurisdiction in these areas to prevent another President's over reach. We are witnessing the worst Presidency since the Founding of our Nation. NOT MY PRESIDENT is providing the exact blue print for policies and procedures future legislator's must correct and enact for our Nation to thrive.
Some thought he would grow in the office and provide Statesmanship as is necessary for our Democracy. Nothing of the sort has happened, and the daily abasement of our American Dream by this soulless wretch borders on theater of the absurd.
3
"To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
There is another one. The Executive branch must bring all cases to the judicial branch for prosecution, and the judicial branch is not under executive control. The courts can even take up issues on their own, sua sponte. So a rogue executive cannot go too far.
Why so surprised? This is precisely the consequence of the Republican's shameless vote for acquital. Rather than wringing your hands, take care to carefully record all these things (a la Madame Defarge) and create detailed plans for rectifying all this in the first two years of the next administration. Oh yeah, and work nonstop for the blue wave.
1
Helpful rule: pardons, commutations and such overturning of the legal process really should be limited to extraordinary cases of punishments not befitting the crimes, as in when laws are overturned or rewritten, and for obvious reasons, not allowed until the last month or week of a President’s term.
Otherwise we see the events unfolding today: a candidate hires or otherwise provides a quid pro quo to ethically challenged people to break the law in order to guarantee his election (stealing data from the opposition, hacking voting machines, voter intimidation or bribery, or inducing a “heart attack” or staging a defenestration) and once the goal is achieved and the election won, if that person is ever found out, he is allowed to be held, tried, and convicted - so there is no appearance of said quid pro quo- and then pardoned as soon as possible. No way to stop this, apparently.
This would be typical mob behavior were it not for the pardoning part, but with enough wealth and the right network, a made man, like Stone, can avoid the worst of any sentencing, for any crime. How much easier if the man ordering the hits, er, “dirty tricks”, also runs the justice system. You got the bought judges, the dirty cops (AG), the lawyers paid to fail, and a subservient slushpool of politicians (half of the Senate), all eager to get on and stay on the right side of the Don, now the most powerful wise guy in the world but for one, the guy who made him. And that guy is not a citizen.
1
How is a quadrennial election a remedy for presidential lawlessness, when that lawlessness includes compromising the election?
1
“The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
-- James Madison, "The Federalist No. 47" (1788)
Regime change NOW. Overthrow the Impostor King.
2
Correction: Republicans in Congress are not supine. They're prone.
1
Not only are the inmates running the asylum, the criminal boss is now running law enforcement.
Drain the swamp? Trump is restocking it. Kafka and Orwell could not have come up such a story.
1
Well said! And a suggestion for the person leading our country! If he really wants to right some serious injustices, he should read the book by Attorney Brian Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, called JUST MERCY. Or he could see the movie of the same name, if he doesn’t have the time to read it!
What needs to be said, again and again, is that around 40% of the adult citizens in this nation seem to have no problem at all that an incompetent, narcissistic, blowhard reality 'star', and for all intents and purposes-failed real estate operator, chooses to do want he wants to do with the country. They frankly are OK with that!
With active voter suppression in place in at least 30 states, we should expect the same for the next 4 years of this beginning in January, 2021.
1
"Supine." That's the understatement of the year...to date, anyway.
"Derelict" would be closer to the mark, though there are other appropriate terms that suggest uhhm, a certain lack of honor as far as duty is concerned. An oath is not kept by a nod and a wink.
I have said repeatedly that Republicans will rue the day they did not take advantage of the opportunity to convict and remove this lawless ignorant cruel ruthless President who does not even understand the importance of equality before the law, understanding only the law of the jungle and the utility of raw power to the exclusion of all else. Our only hope now is that those in the justice department will not obey him and his orders and that the Army will remain faithful to the Constitution and that Americans will vote him out of office in a few months.
1
The most recent worrying bending of the law for his own ends is the apparently offered Pardon to Julian Assange if he is prepared to say that Russia was not involved in the leaks!!!
It seems like a careless self exposure of complicity and of being beholden to Russia of a desperate man.
1
“Enforcing” is the key word here. He’s supposed to ENFORCE it, not BREAK it when it’s convenient to HIM and his friends! Not when it will benefit HIM! The law is the law! Just because he’s the “president,” doesn’t mean he can suddenly disregard the laws or the Constitution!
1
Hoping Judge Berman Jackson can sentence Stone to the gravity of his offenses,standing up to Barr and Trump.We need leadership and integrity to prevale.Judge set the pace,set the standards.
1
It comes down to white men applying a different set of rules than those set by the constitution and the general laws. It is all about power and the will to maximize it. It all starts with gerrymandering. The mother of all no-nos of one man one vote.
1
When the founders founded it, the quadrennial election required all votes be counted. True, it was only rich white men who voted, but their votes were counted. With today's disenfranchisement and purges rife among less affluent progressive communities and Kushner/Black Rock-owned 'self-correcting' voting machines imposed on the rest of us, how on earth are we going to extricate him from the White House? We are unable to impeach him. We will be unable to vote him out. We can stop him with a Democratic Senate. Concentrate on the Senate.
1
Gosh! Are you suggesting Senator Collins wrong then?
I know she was being earnest in suggesting Mr. Trump was chastised and learned his lesson from being impeached.
1
We desperately need a more democratic system in US.
When does His Heinous get to declare himself Ruler for Life? And, more important, what do we, as a nation, do with the many craven Republicans who will do absolutely nothing to stop this?
1
The article highlighted many of Trump’s failings as Commander in Chief, but the fact that the president supports domestic terrorists should also be mentioned. Followers of white supremacy have killed more people in the United in the last decade than any other terrorist group. They are also responsible for killing 60% of law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty over the same period of time.
Trump has repeatedly shown that he supports these terrorists and the terrorist’s in turn support this president. This alone should be a wake up call to the supine Republicans. But unfortunately rolling over and playing dead is the best we can expect from Trump's lap dogs.
1
This is the time for a Constitutional Amendment to override the Justice Department Memo that says a sitting President cannot be indicted for criminal behavior. Since when does a MEMO have the force of law?
It's simply time. When there is a criminal in the Whitehouse, it's time.
1
The Constitution and elections only work if people in positions of power see the connection between legitimacy and fair process and act with integrity in insisting that fair processes take place regardless of outcome. We all know what happened with impeachment in the Senate. And Trump tried to cheat in the upcoming presidential election and may still be trying - witness Bill Barr apparently trying to slow down or quash SDNY investigations into Trump and his circle. We are at a time in our history where hoping that somehow Marquess of Queensberry rules will be observed is naive and foolish.
1
"Individual 1" aka Donald J Trump a co-conspirator in the US government case against Michael Cohen thinks he should be the Law.
Trump is turning America into a "banana republic" with the support of republicans in congress.
The other countries where the president is the Law and his children occupy high level government position with no experiences are: Turkey, Gabon, North Korea, just to name a few. Think about that for a minute.
1
The quadrennial election may not come soon enough.
What makes this more egregious is that the kowtowing Republican Congress has also given him the Courts, local, state, federal and the supreme. This cruel, corrupt individual controls all three branches of Government and nothing good for the survival of the Republic will come from those facts.
Sadly, even if we could possibly elect a Democratic Executive, maintain the House and control the Senate, the damage will remain for decades if not forever.
2
I blame the good people of the Republican Party and the conservative Right.
I say "good people" because they are good people, except when it comes to politics, they minds turn irrational, ignorant, arrogant to the point of non-functional. Why are they not already up in arms, rioting against Trump's many questionable and possibly illegal actions, public and private?
Rod Dreher of American Conservative says he abhors Trump but would still vote for him because of Trump's pro-life judges. Really? For that, Dreher is willing to let the whole country burn? How would all the children Dreher save from abortion fare in Trump's country?
Therefore, the good people of the the GOP and conservative Right are the iceberg, Trump is just the tip. They created, and continue to support, nurture and strengthen Trump.
So I blame them for all the problems Trump creates in our country. They are responsible, ultimately.
I expect Trump to declare the Democratic Party to be unconstitutional, illegal, and disband it, and rename the Republican Party the "Loyalist Party".
He'll demand that the Constitution as it is be scrapped & re-written and declare himself "President For Life".
Anyone who doesn't like him or sign a "loyalty pledge" to him will be arrested, detained, and either deported (no matter if they're American citizens) or thrown in prison.
1
If Donald Trump is the final arbiter of legal judgements, then there is no law. It's all about your connections to people connected with people connected to Trump. Right now it's about money, power, and connections not coming from a single source. Trump is combining them all to himself, as a sort of joker card, you never know when he will play it, or for whom.
1
Republicans still claim to be protectors of the Constitution, yet they have nothing to say as Trump declares his authority absolute.
Trump is something like the leader of the Legion of Doom in a comic book . In a great many comic books the out laws are something like Trump and the gaggle of super villains that he just pardoned.
The problem is that he is on the inside of our reality and on the inside of the White House. He cannot really be taken seriously as a legal anything. Our politics is utterly broken and that is why he is there doing all the things he does.
He is transforming our legal system into a parody, something like his comic book hair and orange painted skin.
Trump supporters have lost all common sense. All real legal order is based on common sense not the raving lunatic themes of the bad guys in comic books.
Impeachment didn't work. Trump will now call off the elections, and claim it's legal. Just watch.
“To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election.”
The former failed because Senate Republicans relish their job and power rather than the constitution. The latter will fail because of the overwhelming number in the electorate who will smother voting places on November 3rd not having the intellectual gifts to read let alone comprehend this column.
Some famous dictator once said, "For my friends everything. For my enemies the law."
1
The editorial board proposes false alternatives, an impeachment or an election. There is a limit on elections, but not on impeachments. The President has been impeached once, but there's no saying he may not be impeached again. Now, for example, for so foully abusing his pardon power as to flaunt it with staggering incoherency, and for so obstructing justice as to intimidate the nation's Justice Department to favor his co-conspiring friends in sentencing. Let the Republican Senate fail the nation again. Let the electorate see them do it, all year long.
When Donald Trump is not the law, the law will fall upon the Trump family with full force.
The 330 million Americans can't wait.
This Russian asset must pay the price, and those complicit wherever they are.
What amazes me is how much abuse Trump's toadies are willing to bear before they finally walk. I imagine it's a matter of future employment prospects in the GOP-Industrial-Complex. Quitting on a matter of principle exposes you as a potential liability and disqualifies you for a job as a lobbyist, college president, think tank fellow, or Fox talking head, positions all financed by an handful of right wing plutocrats. Leaving with your tail between your legs, whimpering, demonstrates a willingness to tolerate your master's whims unquestioningly, the one essential prerequisite for today's GOP.
The Republicans in Congress are not supine. They are prone.
"This is the second time in half a century that a lawless chief executive has tested the nation’s fundamental constitutional design."
Yes, Obama really was quite lawless - just look at DACA.
Although some may not agree with Trump's pardons, none of them come close to Clinton's pardon of fugitive Marc Rich. Yes, that's right, a fugitive from justice was pardoned by Clinton because Rich's wife contributed money to Clinton's campaign.
@Robert
Goodness. You people and President Obama. Who was an exemplary president and a wonderfully decent human being. Guess that doesn't matter if you cannot get past the color of his skin. Which is as obvious as the day is long. When you are done obsessing, maybe you could comment on the stuff discussed here, i.e., the unprecedented lawlessness, corruption, dishonesty, of the president we have right now.
1
"This air of monarchical impunity has colored many of Mr. Trump’s actions as president, but especially in the last several days."
We can be more precise than that. The era of the air of monarchical impunity officially began the exact moment Senate Republicans voted to exonerate a blatantly culpable Trump of impeachment charges. He understood this, correctly, as providing him with a carte blanche to break any laws he pleased, affirming explicitly his earlier colorful claim that he could murder someone on 5th Avenue and his supporters wouldn't care.
Trump is just being Trump. No one need be shocked or surprised. What is shocking and surprising is how completely Republicans have caved in to Trump's corrupt authoritarian impulses. The 2020 election needs to be as much about ousting spineless Republican toadies from Senate control as defeating Trump.
1
Keep covering the primaries like a Hollywood game show. Jared, Netanyahu, and Trump have got to be collecting he data. Four more years.
Complain all we want. It’s a simple case of mind over matter. Trump doesn’t mind because we don’t matter. He just doesn’t care. Nobody is as smart, educated, sophisticated, or as handsome as he is. He has made tons of enemies on his way to DC and now he’s in a position to exact payback. Democrats are no threat to him and republicans are scared to political death of him. This is not going to end well...
Article II of our constitution states that the president shall "take care that the laws are faithfully executed." "Take care" doesn't mean the president will do this him/herself. The task should be delegated to someone having the requisite competence.
Now imagine the CEO of a hotel chain who has the responsibility to "take care that all beds are properly made and toilets cleaned before the next guest takes up residence." Does anyone expect the CEO to personally carry out these duties?
In the same way, does it make any sense to expect the President of the United States to personally see that justice is served in each or any court case? Rational citizens would expect this duty to be delegated to competent actors.
No stockholder would ever want a hotel chain's CEO to scrub toilets, just as no American citizen would ever want the President of the United States to waste time becoming involved in the prosecution of criminal cases.
Aside from the conflicts of interests arising from the collision of justice and politics, it would just be a stupid, inefficient way to organize things.
Mr. Trump is a wonderful test of many powerful people's integrity. He is testing the limits of their cravenness. Because we have to hope that there is, in fact, a limit to how much soul and heart people such as Barr are willing to kill in themselves. From that perspective, the president is doing these people a service.
Everyday, Donald Trump brings more degradation to our democracy. He is presently on a tear to reward the most dishonest, self-serving, white collar felons and right wing, Fox propagandists. Most major executives in an administration require a Senate conformation, what does Trump do? He makes every appointment "acting" so that he cannot be thwarted. It's stunning that the GOP Senate cannot see the monster that their spinelessness has wrought. Someone must slay the monster. If our democracy is to prevail, Donald Trump must be stopped; impeachment failed, so we must use our votes.
Wake up folks. We are sliding into a dictatorship. Trump has brought the Republican party representatives under his complete control through fear and intimidation. He is purging government departments one by one and rooting out non-loyalists. He is gradually reshaping the government to serve him alone. He is bending the law to serve his purposes. He is exploiting every aspect of our government based on "norms" and not formal law and throwing it in the trash heap. He has a cult following that believes he can do no wrong. At what point does he start turning that fear and intimidation and those unwavering loyal government agencies against the rest of us? At what point does he purge the populace of dissenters? That seems to be where we are headed. I wish more people could see it.
A chief law enforcement officer is responsible for upholding existing laws and protecting our justice system from illegal interference and corruption, he is not “The Law.” The President is instead acting as if he IS THE LAW and is interfering in our justice system and destroying our faith in our government by undermining the rule of law, judicial rulings and court trials by protecting potential and convicted felons for personal corrupt purposes. These are not actions legally assigned to a chief law enforcement officer but instead are grounds for removal.
The President and his supporters are openly engaging in seditious conspiracy against our government. Our faith in our government is being destroyed. Trump is not acting as a chief law enforcement officer, even if it is his title. The Constitution was not written to create one-man rule no matter how much of United State’s history, Webster’s dictionary, and the English language that the Republican Party is determined to rewrite with their “head games.”
I don't think there are benefits to limiting executive power if the majority party in the House or Senate are willing to use their oversight powers.
Yes, the president is lawless. Everything in his history and personality indicated he would be. Bad people are going to do bad things unless they are stopped. Republicans have the power to restrain him and they refuse.
Who would you blame is if the police in your town decided it was not in their interest to arrest criminals?
The law is what I say it is.
Signed, The Donald.
"One is impeachment. The other is the quadrennial election."
You're saying there is nothing we can do, we're doomed and defenseless.
Impeachment is rendered moot by a cabal of traitors in the Senate.
Election is rendered meaningless by a president's unfettered ability to buy votes, to threaten candidates, to solicit money and other aid from foreign governments, to control DoJ, intelligence and law enforcement, to own the courts and control or ignore all their decisions.
We live in a storm of squeaky protests from responsible legislators and citizens content to sound an alarm and go back to sleep.
Trump brooks this weak excuse for protest, knowing it keeps us busy and there's nothing to do except maintain course.
Those wary of Trump and his traitors knew all along, and milquetoast commentators begin to suspect, our election could be a meaningless exercise in stalling and distraction.
Trump is free to, and does, solicit foreign investment in his campaign; the reality is that, regardless of outcome, he will simply refuse to abide.
A cadre of "well respected" lawyers makes the case everything we believe about our nation is a lie.
The president is an invincible tyrant. Once in office there is nothing he is forbidden to do, no law that applies, no check, no balance.
See where the finest legal minds, the best legislators have brought us.
We have no hope in anything but the violent removal of these people from office, and no one serious enough to act.
48
@John -- Bingo. I've moved from (tepid) hope to blind fury to nihilistic despair.
I take some solace in his advanced age and horrendous habits. Father Time will have its way with him eventually, and I have zero qualms in stating that I hope it happens, uh, today. But, of course, he also has access to the best healthcare imaginable. Still, I daydream about a dramatic and karmically appropriate end for him.
Oh, and I don't feel remotely bad for saying as much.
30
@John
Except for the last sentence, I agree with you. Violent removal is, at best, unwise. As unwise as violence would be to keep them, the GOP, in office should they loose out in the general elections this November. Either would lead to civil war. If violence does occur it will most likely be of the latter form. And will lead to tyranny of one kind or another.
3
@John
The people do have recourse that is non-violent should they be "serious enough to act": We can go on strike, we can occupy the capital, we can boycott the system. For instance, if millions of us were to refuse to spend any money whatsoever for even a week our demands would be heard and attended to quickly.
14
The Founders assumed (wrongly we see) that the holders of high office would consistently be people of integrity. That the Constitution provided boundaries, but little in the way of direct constraints, hence the Bill of Rights. We have never elected a man like Trump before - one who, like his father and grandfather, spent their lives pushing legal boundaries. Lived by the code of "what can we get away with" as opposed to what's right. We cannot create laws that effectively define all the conditions needed to constrain a rogue executive, we'll just try to define boundaries and one day find ourselves wishing the laws weren't there. No, Trump is the product of us. Like it or not we elected him. Remember that since Nixon, government has been denigrated, used as a dramatic foil as a hotbed of corruption and venality in entertainment that blurs the lines of facts. That eventually the "entertainment" became many people's idea of what government really is shouldn't be a surprise. Too many bought into the concept that government should be shrunk until you could "drown it in a bathtub". Now we have Trump. The man who epitomizes all the mythologies of a fundamentally corrupt system. As the saying goes "in a democracy the people get the government they deserve".
Of all the things that are going sideways in the remains of America, the worst thing is that we can see how fragile this experiment in democracy really is. While American unity has long been something of an illusion, we have witnessed first hand how one man has turned half the country into a personality cult that honors mendacity, xenophobia, misogyny, and abuse of power. Even worse, this may not be fixable.
Even if Trump is evicted from the White House next January it will take at least a decade to undo the damage, and that’s only if some semblance of honor and integrity returns to the House and Senate. Whichever Dem gets in better arrive with a Cabinet, AG and all other department heads all lined up to be able to start down the road to recovery right away.
2
This is my question. Given that the Democrats may be about to do McGovern II, which will make it possible for Pres. Trump to be re-elected, (and maybe even win back the house) what will prevent Pres. Trump from firing most of the 10,000 or so federal prosecutors who will be deemed to be "disloyal" and replace them with lawyers (competent or not - doesn't matter to Trump) who are loyal to Trump? I would bet that all we have is "norms" to prevent that from happening.
1
Is the Editorial Board's advocacy of justice sincere, or merely posturing?
Ranking the worst injustices in American history, slavery or the extermination of innocent people in Southeast Asia by the millions would be high of the list. Since the Founding Fathers wanted to "establish justice", where did they go wrong?
This requires a more thoughtful analysis than their editorial provides. If the Editorial Board members sincerely believe that making the Justice Department "more independent" would have prevented injustice, they did not provide us sufficient evidence. Try again.
2
When Donald Trump is the law, at least there will be law and order. I support the President. I support Trump. Thank you.
Well, every autocrat has his fans. There will always be a minority of people who are loyal to their leader rather than the Constitution.
Wise men have been saying for years that if our democracy falls, the cause will be from within, not foreign enemies. A rogue president like Donald Trump has given credence to that theory.
1
"To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
Yes indeed. But it's going to be hard when the GOP Senate, the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court conservative majority are actually accomplices. As for the election, the fix may already be in. Vote anyway.
1
The facts that Trump has no respect have been accumulating over the lifetime of Trump. The media had a circus over his outrageous comments and actions during the presidential campaign in 2016. His record has been no less outrageous since taking office; but it has taken more than three years of the media giving Trump the benefit of a doubt about his loyalty to our form of government to recognize that he does not belong in office. The laymen of our nation, who care about our democracy, knew long before media and all of its pundits that Trump is unfit for office. Now, since the failure of the impeachment trial to remove him from office, the perilous position of our nations dependence on an honest electoral vote to remove Trump from office come into play with the media. It is rather too late to rely on a normal election campaign to remove him from office. The media, out of attempts to be fair with a dishonest player and republican senators, most of all, will have failed the nation and its democracy if Trump wins the 2020 election.
Where are the protests? This is the time for action. He is blatantly taking control over our government. Democracy will die if we do not act.
1
Former prosecutor Joyce Vance told MSNBCs Lawrence O’Donnell that Trump uses pardons and commutations like the ones he just granted as a means of signaling to his criminal friends that he will take care of them if they don’t testify against him. She also made the chilling point that this is how predators operate - by normalizing aberrant behavior before moving on their prey. We have to assume Trump the predator is laying the groundwork for more blatantly corrupt acts.
2
With the support of a "supine" Republican-controlled Senate, impeachment is meaningless, merely a word, nothing more than a toothless admonishment. Mr. Trump has taken nothing from it other than he was wrongly persecuted and the Senate concurred.
He is now blind drunk with power.
He has always acted in a stupor of gut recklessness, but now this nation that says his behavior is OK is in for a volatile period of presidential overreach and brazen corruption the likes of which will be unprecedented. Mr. Schiff, you were spot on in your closing remarks during the impeachment trial.
All that is left to stem the tide is the upcoming November election. I'm not seeing any reason to be hopeful.
Reagan was partially correct: government is the problem, but only when we elect people with bad intentions.
He purposely bankrupted the country by gifting his rich pals a tax cut, then cut social services for the disabled.
Every GOP politician, despite their tongue in cheek rhetoric, has followed the pattern.
1
As a (mostly) white collar criminal, Trump doesn't think white collar crime is 'real' crime. That's why this latest batch of pardons is a set-up for his next batch of pardons. Honest people aren't paranoid. Criminals are paranoid, and they have good reason to be - they're always looking over their shoulder to see if they're about to get busted. Eventually, all criminals get caught. Most go to jail. Trump has dodged jail his entire life despite his commitment to breaking the law. His time is up.
1
Why must our nation descend further down a seemingly bottomless pit of unbridled presidential lawlessness?
The Republican controlled Senate made a mockery of the impeachment stopgap that our Founders knew was necessary. By thumbing their nose at American justice so blatantly, they carved in stone, their long suspected priority of party over country. By siding with “their guy” instead of carrying out their Constitutional oath, each and every one of them – except Mitt Romney - trampled and desecrated all values, traditions and norms which have driven American eminence across the world for generations.
If we allow Trump to take us to the bottom, future generations of Americans will never know what might have been and historians will shake their heads and wonder why.
1
None of this matters. Between the botched impeachment effort and the sad presidential candidates, the Democrats are done. I’m crestfallen.
Congress and the SCOTUS are as much to blame now as Trump since neither the GOP nor Justice Roberts saw fit to hold Trump's feet to the first. He couldn't possible get away with what he does if the people who have the power to stop him did so.
He will get worse as time passes, as he thinks he is chosen by God and is also smarter than everyone else on earth (except perhaps Putin). He is very dangerous but there is no guarantee that even if he loses in 2020 he will willingly leave office. He could easily claim the election was "rigged" and that he isn't going to go anywhere and, guess what, his "crew" would support him staying put. Impossible? Well, we said that when he won, didn't we? Never say never.
The impeachment was full of shocking moments, not least Allan Dershowitz's pathetic showboating postures of being some kind of elder statesman-sage type, offering his pretend wisdom like some kind of latter-day Daniel Webster trying to save the union (doubtless the kind of narcissistic fantasy through which he imagined himself as he preened & strutted on the Senate floor, grandiosely calling on Senators favoring conviction to vote against their conscience for the greater-good-according-to-Dershowitz). But for me there was a singularly revealing moment, when Dershowitz chided the House Managers for invoking Hamilton to support their case.
Dershowitz claimed puzzlement at their apparent failure to realize that Hamilton was by far the most pro-monarchy of the framers, by far,and that among them, Hamilton would have been the most sympathetic to Trump. What obviously went right over Dershowitz's head was that the managers were showing that even the most monarchistic of the framers recognized the need for checks on presidential power, that is, against its abuse. Dershowitz on the other hand only saw the monarchist in Hamilton, and loved every bit of it.
Dershowitz at that juncture and elsewhere (including on CNN) sneeringly stated "The founders didn't want a 'parliamentary democracy'," intoning that phrase with heightened, effusive scorn.
Dershowitz, Trump, Richard Posner are part of a real movement to up-end "rule of law," substituting (pseudo-charismatic) "strongman" rule.
1
Turning the unelected lawyers at the Justice Department into an independent agency, accountable to no one, would be a terrible idea. Let's recall that US Attorneys are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for four year terms. So US Attorneys are necessarily politically connected. Make them independent and all the political direction of DOJ will just move out of public view or accountability. Yes, in the hands of an lawless, unethical, narcissist like Trump the Justice Department, like every other agency of the federal government, is being deployed to enrich, extol and support Trump and to harass and attack anyone who oppose Trump in any way. The solution is to elect better presidents in the future, not to create an agency armed with the full force and police and investigative powers of the U.S. government but accountable to no one.
Trump’s view of the law means that I should stop at the stop signs. But I should allow him NOT to stop at the stop signs.
That is a recipe for chaos! Even at a crossroads.
And guess what? Trump is the Archpriest of Chaos.
If one person gets to break the law, while others are prosecuted for lawbreaking, this also sets a terrible example for young people. Which is another recipe for chaos down the road.
A person at the top of an organization sets the tone. And we see criminality trickling down - flowing from Trump - in each and every department underneath him.
We’re becoming a nation with corrupt government. Exactly what we never wanted for ourselves and were appalled when it occurred in other nations. And this is flowing from our White House. Appalling!
We must regain the White House. We must have a president who abides by the law, believes in it, uplifts it. A president parents can point to and have as a role model for young people. A president who, when he meets with leaders of other nations, can be trusted to work toward our nation’s best interest - not his or her personal interest. A president with a conscience. A president who cares about ethics. Not just what’s legal. But what’s right. What’s decent. What’s virtuous.
"To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
Unfortunately for the Republic, BOTH backstops against a lawless chief executive have proved inadequate because the Framers had not anticipated one thing. Namely, that supine members of Congress of the president's party would abet him, thereby making both impeachment and our quadrennial election utterly useless in the case of presidents who would behave as badly as Trump has: he was impeached for trying the rig the next "quadrennial election" but not convicted, emboldening him to be even more lawless, including resuming what he was impeached for, i.e., trying to rig the next quadrennial election!!!
The powerful and prescient closing statement of lead impeachment manager, Rep. Adam Schiff, is worth remembering. Referring to Trump, Schiff said pointedly:
"He has not changed. He will not change. He has made that clear himself without self-awareness or hesitation. A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way. Even as the most recent and most egregious conduct was uncovered, he was unapologetic, unrepentant and, more dangerous, undeterred. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is.”
Yes, and in being who he is Trump "he is exposing a critical vulnerability in the Constitution’s design, which anticipated presidents behaving badly, but not this badly."
Vote Blue All the Way!
It’s not who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes.
Our republic is in grave danger.
To understand and respect the rule of law one must have a basic sense of morality, a conscience, respect for others and an awareness of the communal dimensions of our laws in promoting and protecting the common good. Trump has none of these traits. His narcissism relegates everything to serving his ego and desires. While he flaunts the law, he seeks to use it as a tool for revenge. The submission of Republicans in congress--except Mitt Romney--is implicit collaboration with his lawlessness. The only solution at this point is to defeat him in the election.
One thing that should be changed immediately is the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel's policy that a sitting President cannot be charged with a crime.
The Supreme Court has never ruled on that, it's just a legal opinion that puts the President above the law.
Taken to its logical conclusion, the President could cold-bloodily shoot and kill someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not be charged with murder until after he is no longer President.
The Founders never intended that just as they never intended for there to be political parties let alone political parties that no longer believe in the rule of law and that everyone is equal before it...
It's more and more disturbing to watch two things. Donald Trump acting like a petty dictator. The GOP supporting him to the max to the point of wasting taxpayer dollars on a trial where the outcome was predetermined because they knew that they would not convict or have a fair hearing. They subverted justice and betrayed their oaths of office.
If this continues we will not be republic or a democracy. We will be a kleptocractic dictatorship with Trump and the GOP robbing most of us of our civil rights while catering to the richest corporations and people in America. Just remember, when Trump said he'd make America great again he never said that we were part of his plan.
2
guaranteed, trump will cancel the election and declare the constitution invalid.
1
“I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country,” President Trump said on Tuesday.
The alarming thing is that he’s right.
End of story.
1
Trump remembers how the FBI burned Nixon at Watergate, how Hoover’s files damaged King and how Hoover’s secret files controlled the presidency.
The FBI keeping files on Americans didn’t end with the end of Hoover. But the secret files are protection for FBI directors and Barr won’t give Trump the Bureau’s files on him; so, Barr has to go. But Trump’s secret files can’t be the issue so Trump has to nic-pic Barr into quitting, for a more compliant Justice Department chief.
It doesn’t matter if the new Intelligence Director has no experience in intelligence. All Trump needs is someone who knows how to rifle the files and get the dossier that the intelligence community has on him and his business dealings.
Trump may act foolishly but he’s no fool.
Dilemma of dilemmas. The President is impeached for interfering in the quadrennial election. The Republican Congress saw fit to acquit him anyway. This despite their own admission that the President is guilty. Trump did interfere in the election. The GOP deems that action appropriate when the President is Republican.
To quote Mann and Ornstein from Edsall's column the other day:
"The GOP has radicalized into an anti-system party that does not accept the legitimacy of its opposition and enables a slide toward autocracy."
Impeachment failed as a check even though election is the subject of the attack. The legitimacy of any election is therefore challenged. Even if Democrats win in November, they cannot enforce their victory while McConnell holds the Senate. That's before we mention court packing. The Republic is almost surely lost.
I believe we need to begin considering a secessionist movement.
1
I read a fair bit about cognitive science or the study of how we humans think. Our brains evolved on the savanna to help us escape the larger predators once we left the trees. Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go before we can make rational decisions based on factual data.
My point being that all the responses so far have assumed that only the other side is evil or misguided. Actually I would say that we are all of us acting as apes to some degree.
Wake me up when the Age of Enlightenment starts up again!
PS Anyone notice that the climate models are beginning to return a 5 degree C result lately. Last time that happened most of the mid west farmland was desert and reptiles inhabited the Arctic. Good luck, humans...
1
We don't need new laws. It's like saying that we need more than 10 Commandments.
What we need is the President and the GOP to 'faithfully execute the laws of the country'. and to protect and defend the Constitution- as their oaths before God and man require.
What we need is a Judicial system where telling the whole truth aren't just words of an oath before God and man.
Arrogance is a sin, and all sin is arrogance (we know better than what the moral code demands of us). All sinners have personal interest excuses for their
actions. The Dershowitz impeachment defense of the President says the personal interest excuse is perfectly acceptable.
1
Article [X] (Amendment 10 - Reserved Powers)
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The 10th Amendment seems very clear and concise. Why we as a nation choose to ignore it is beyond me.
"he is exposing a critical vulnerability in the Constitution’s design, which anticipated presidents behaving badly"
You forgot to mention the devastation McConnell, Graham, Ryan, and every other Republican in Congress has caused by abandoning their oaths to the constitution. Be very, very clear - none of this would be happening if Republicans were not also thoroughly corrupt and letting Trump get away with it all.
7
While Trump is distorting the justice system for his own benefit, it seems that most political coverage is focused on the Democratic debates. What I would like to hear, however, is the rationale that Republican lawmakers expound as justification for allowing Trump to make a mockery of the law. What does Mitch McConnell have to say about the man who tried to sell a Senate seat? How does he justify his shameless inaction on Trump's corruption and abuse of power? Please, cover the Republican response so we can all see how low they are willing to go.
1
Editorial Board,
Regarding your final two sentences, yes the founders did include two backstops, but there is this. They never imagined the wholesale abdication of duty and honor that we see in the Republican Party. Nor did they anticipate the election of president turned over to a populace as infantile as what we have now. Never in their wildest imagination would they have thought we would elect a cognitive 9 year old with zero respect for anyone or anything.
So here we are with our backstops. The umpire (SCOTUS) is standing on the sidelines. The catcher (Senate) has left the stadium, and the wire backstop (Electorate and electoral process) has turned into tissue paper.
Barr must go and the DOJ needs to be made an independent body.
2
I agree completely, and am alarmed by our move toward autocracy -- ironically, with an autocrat so blatantly narcissistic, openly egotistic, and publicly proud of it all.
However, I'm also alarmed by the actions and inactions of people in my Democratic party. Yes, we are verbally attacking Trump and the Republicans, chagrined and outraged by their lawlessness, and repeatedly verbally analyzing their lies and faults while dissecting our candidates' flaws and imperfections.
But I can only hope that somewhere, smart and creative consultants, pundits, and strategists are planning marketing campaigns and digital offensives, organizing marches and protests, analyzing more than data, worrying about more than a November vote, and planning for 2024 because I'm worried 2020 is a foregone conclusion.
Otherwise, we seem locked in on words, but paralyzed when it comes to any other demonstrable actions.
I can't be the only one frustrated and close to the edge because while America is supposed to come out of this alive, there are too many cases in history in which freedom just doesn't make it.
I liken the rise of Trump and the right wing to climate change: it's been slow in coming, but now the wild fire is on the edge of town, yet we're still watching it on TV. Waiting until November for the results seems too little too late.
1
In the beginning of the United States of America, Congress was given the purse of the country. Congress, therefore, should be the top of the government. The President is elected to protect and defend the US Constitution and provide the administration of the laws the US Congress enacts. It is time that the US Congress stop allowing the administration to set the policies the politicians decide to follow. The policies should be set by the US Congress not the President.
Furthermore, the US Constitution does not state that the President can not be indicted. That is only a republican talking point to prevent the Justice Department from charging the President with a crime. Impeachment was only meant to remove a President if no law was broken but the President abused his power.
2
An additional check is an educated and informed public. Sadly that check has (by design) also been eroded.
1
"If there is anything useful to draw from Mr. Trump’s degradation of the rule of law and the powers of his office, it’s that he is exposing a critical vulnerability in the Constitution’s design, which anticipated presidents behaving badly, but not this badly. To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
Dear Editorial Board,
While you continue to rail against the President, has it ever occurred to you that the other two branches of government are behaving badly as well or is that below your radar? It doesn't appear that your "...views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values". If you want to focus on the problems of the federal government, I suggest you start with Article I. How would you go about fixing Congress?
HE fought the Law, and the Law surrendered.
NOVEMBER.
2
If we ever get back our country we will have to drastically change our constitution so this NEVER happens again. If we get it back.
3
You would have to worry about the electoral power when you have a president who has decided that he can cheat, steal, bribe, do whatever he wants to do in order to alter the natural trajectory of an election.
1
I'm sorry, but coming from an evolved parliamentary democracy, the idea of a head of state arbitrarily granting clemencies and pardons seems bizarre and somewhat absurd. What happened to the separation of powers? It seems hardly "first world" democratic procedure. That it exists in a constitutionally supported form seems like a discordant echo of royal omnipotence long departed elsewhere.
2
We have a ruler who does not act --or even think--rationally. The Constitution and the rule of law are products of Enlightenment political philosophy concerning the relationship between oppressed people and their government institutions in the 18th century. We have relied on rational thinking and fair-minded social behaviors for over two centuries, which are completely beyond the ken of a morally bankrupt, power-crazed narcissist. Whether one believes in the Biblical teaching "judge not that you be not judged," or in the simple wisdom of farm life, "the chickens will come home to roost," we have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage -short term gain for long term pain. It's a pity that candidates in the debate succumbed to harsh words and insults against each other. We have only a few months to reconcile our priorities and restore civility and the rule of law.
1
I am increasingly convinced that the only way to stop Donald Trump is to vote out the Republican Senators. Never have the down ballot elections been so important, and they don't suffer from the fatal flaw of the electoral college system. Considering Trump's unshakeable support from his base and the near certainty that Russia will interfere with the 2020 election, there is a high probability Trump will be reelected. But if the Democrats become a majority in the Senate we at least have a means of removing him with aother impeachment. Democrats did well in the midterms due to very high voter turnout. We can do it again.
5
Unfortunately there are so many areas of exposure of the weakness in some of our laws regarding presidential power that it may take many years to correct them. The current occupant has no regard for what is legal, moral, or just plain right. His dismissal of ambassadors and intelligent service interference are more of his destruction. If the corruptness goes for another term our country could be unable to get back to what the citizens deserve. I hope that people take this seriously because that is only one of the dangers of a crazy out of control person.
4
When Donald Trump is the law the lawless prosper. In an article headlined "Department of Selective Justice," the Economist notes that DOJ "is not meant to be like other departments of the federal government, which jump when the president claps. But that distinction seems to have vanished." And it wryly reports that on the very day four federal prosecutors resigned from the Roger Stone trial to protest Barr's meddling in their sentencing recommendation, the AG was giving a speech to a group of sheriffs blasting "rogue DAs who undermine law enforcement with lenient sentencing."
2
It's difficult to continue reading this piece after coming upon the your predicate question what does President Trump think the law is? Don't we live in an age of facts, science, empiricism? Their first principle is that we don't pretend to have evidence of someones thought processes; of course the results of what someone may be thinking are subject to analysis because they have consequences that sometime matter. To my mind this is not a small difference.
The nation's founders conceived of only two models of governance: the Monarchic and the Republican. Unfortunately, they didn't realise that the only difference is how the the Governor is selected. In both the "chief exceutive" has overarching powers. The Constitution grants the President the kind of powers that constutional Monarchs (like the Queen of England) can no longer exercise.
Ironically, the British were moving away from both models to the Parliamentary one, in which the head of government and the head of state were separated. That model has its own flaws (what model of governance is proof to human lusts for wealth and power?), but is does have the advantage of limiting the Governor's power by increasing the role of protocol and process. It's much more difficult for a Pirme Minister or constituionl Monarch to act on personal whim.
5
There is another "backstop" not mentioned in your op-ed. The semestral Senate election. There are 22 "supine GOP Senators" seeking reelection in November. Another six or seven Senate seats currently held by Democrats may be closely contested. Volunteer, canvas, actively engage, but most importantly vote and send a clear message to Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham that their behavior is very bit as treacherous and tyrannical as trump's.
8
Yes, please, Americans, we outside your borders urge you to actively participate however you can and work to remove your president and his implicit, enabling senate from power. Please. Get busy. Comments aren’t enough. Work is required.
"To be fair, the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election."
Sorry to raise some bummers, but impeachment only works if our major political parties function honestly and fairly in judging the seriousness of the facts and circumstances underlying Articles of Impeachment. That entails compelling witnesses to testify and the White House and Executive Branch to produce witnesses and documentary evidence without a false shield of "blanket executive immunity" to immunize the president's misconduct and abuse of power. If a president owns the Senate majority, and the Senate majority is corrupt, it's a no go.
Same with the quadrennial election process. If a president is free to unlawfully solicit funds and foreign assistance in elections, and owns and can manipulate the oversight and enforcement process for unlawful election interference (including controlling the Department of Justice and hamstringing the FBI and US intelligence services), that's a no go too.
So what's left? A free press and reliance on honest, courageous whistle-blowers to alert the public to what is going on? An alert, diligent voting public willing to listen to and act on the truth and fight for an open, free democratic society based on respect for law as envisioned by our Founders?
7
Trump has inadvertently managed to highlight a flaw in the Constitution. The Justice Department should be independent of any political influence from the president or the executive department. Traditionally, the Justice Department has been an independent agency in practice but not by law. Trump or any other rogue president can still use the department to punish his enemies or reward his friends. Trump freely uses this power to the degradation of the republic. The Justice Department should be insulated from any control by a president. Also, a president should not be allowed to exert any control over a department that might be called upon to prosecute that president.
5
Years ago, before he ran for President, Trump was just a “business man,” the kind of business man that gives business men a bad name. He’d surface now and then on late night talk shows and what not, shamelessly selling himself and whatever cockamamie idea he was shilling at the time. I understand he was even given a “reality” show of his own. He epitomized the stereotypical sleazy business dealer who focuses only on the bottom line, suing at every opportunity to force the result he was looking for, most often having to do with financial success thanks to the other guy’s financial ruin. The law to him was a tool to serve him whenever it might help his bottom line, and a force to do battle against if it happened to threaten the same. Of course he hasn’t changed, why on earth would he? I suppose P. T. Barnum would be proud of this guy.
But we (as in We the People) can not let this continue. He’ll have his followers no matter what, can’t do much about them, not even worth trying to. We CAN do something about removing the House and especially Senate Republicans who have enabled his engorgement of power. Sure, we need to replace Trump, but let’s not lose sight of why and how this has happened through certain members of Congress. This year, We the People MUST vote Democratic to right the ship and save ourselves. Independents and Republicans can go back to their balancing ways after the dust has settled and the trash has been taken out. Thank you.
11
Yes, please. Work is required now, get on the phone, volunteer wherever you can and get that vote out for this critical election.
The Constitution was written with the assumption that anyone in the office of President would have at least some integrity and honor. The current occupant has neither and the Republican party is too venal and corrupt to do anything about it.
I fear that democracy in the US was lost in in just one sad day in November of 2016. I suppose the 2020 election could right the wrong of 2016 but I just read that Trump's approval ratings are at their highest point yet.
What a sad time to be an American.
18
"One potential new safeguard would be for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent, like the Federal Reserve, thus insulating it from the self-interested meddling of unethical presidents. "
The problem with this is that the President would have to sign the bill for it which Congress sends to him, and it's 100 percent certain that he'd veto it. And there aren't enough spines in the Senate to override that. Good thought, though.
7
The beginning of this editorial was promising. Indeed the law and law enforcement are, as they say, “two big differences.” After that, the editorial quickly deteriorated into the predictable, ad hominem attack on Trump. I hope that we will have a full investigation and know how many violations of the law were committed by law enforcement officers in the Mueller probe, in the impeachment proceedings, and in other episodes that took place over the last few year. Do you see efforts to oust a president who was elected according to the existing rules by 63 million people as a form of law enforcement? People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
2
@Gennady you should recall that 66 million voted for his opponent.
It seems unlikely Sheriff Don will be confused with Will Kane, protagonist of High Noon.
2
I'm not sure who the law is, but I did not notice a knock-out punch by Mr. Bloomberg - that's disappointing.
Donald Trump, as the writers of today’s editorial point out, has spent his entire adult life disobeying the law. In 2016, Trump sought the help of an American enemy, Russia, to help him win the presidency, and it worked. Since becoming president, Donald Trump’s lawless conduct has become increasingly extreme.
Looking back, Democrats are still amazed that voters cast their ballots for Donald Trump in spite of his misconduct. Trump thinks the Democrats have it backward. He argues that voters chose him because of his history of bad behavior, not in spite of it.
The editorial board takes comfort in the fact that the Constitution limits a president to two 4-year terms. Some of us think that Donald Trump would consider the term limits of the Constitution just another law to disobey.
9
I am all for seeing a quick end to the Trump presidency. But I am tired of hearing what sounds like whining. If you feel that the rule of law has been completely undermined and that the Republic is doomed because elections have been rigged, then go out and start a revolution and overthrow the government. Otherwise, accept it for what it is— Trump and company have brilliantly figured out how to work our system to the limit and has survived impeachment, so gear up and go out and win the next election! Respect him and his crew for the smooth operators that they are. Sure, he’s terrible at policy and statesmanship, but somehow the man won the mother of all elections and it wasn’t a total fluke!
And why are we shocked that the he called himself the chief law enforcement officer? Last I checked, he’s been the actual commander in chief of our armed forces, which sounds much scarier. But he’s absolutely right as far as being the boss of the Attorney General, and you would expect that he’d keep tab on his subordinate. The Constitution might even have said that POTUS was the chief law enforcement officer if the DOJ bureaucracy actually existed at time (didn’t until 1870). And why should we pretend that DOJ is some impartial defender of the law? It has a long history of not defending laws of Congress before the Supreme Court based on the Executive branch’s interpretation of the Constitution. And remember the FBI spying on MLK, etc?
Beat Trump this time. Please!
4
Donald Trump doesn’t want Barr to “clean house” at the Justice Department, what he wants is a full blown Stalinian purge of ANYONE who criticizes his flouting of our Constitutional norms.
Knowing Trump’s vindictiveness and insatiable desire for retaliation, the 1,100 former DoJ employees who signed a letter calling for William Barr to resign and urging current employees to report unethical conduct, must be well aware of the risk they took in putting their names to such a document.
If Trump is given four more years to harness the power of the presidency for his own ends, it won’t be the sleazy criminals he’s pardoned that we’ll be talking about, but all the brave people he’s trying to “lock up.”
11
Growing up, my mother would sometimes recall the saying “to my friends: everything. To my enemies: the law”.
And here we are, this is how Trump runs this country.
3
I see much hand-wringing about DJT's philosophy and behavior, but I have yet to hear/read anything about how to stop him. Impeachment didn't work, and it's a long time until November. Many more disasters could happen between now and then. I despair.
12
Rules and norms intended to constrain Trump will not work. His method is to defy everything, until met with force. Sometimes he backs off temporarily, to postpone a forceful confrontation. But never to respect any rule or norm.
Voting Trump out will probably work. But only because his newly-sworn successor would have power to order him shackled and dragged out of the White House. For that reason, expect Trump not even to be there. By that time, he might be in exile, in Russia. More likely in Florida.
If Trump loses the election, his administration will end that day. He will shortly vacate the White House, and never return. He will not attend a successor's inauguration. Vice President Pence must be prepared to take over in the interim.
There will be an end to Trumpism. The nation must attend to its other business carefully, and prepare for the aftermath. By now, only the clock and the calendar are left to defend the nation against Trump. That, and the possibility of going into the streets if it gets too bad.
4
Reading this piece, I was wondering why the Founding Fathers did not protect against a would be King as President more vehemently. I became a Master Mason many years ago, but have not been active in the organization. I still pay my dues, but that is about it. The Masonic influence may be at play here as to why greater protections against a King do not exist. I googled "Masonic signers of the Constitution" and found 13 of the signees were Masons. It may be that these men believing in the tenets of Masonry: Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth, could not contemplate someone like Trump. The influence of Masonry is reflected in the US Constitution by word and symbol. Trump is the antithesis of the Masonic creed. Impeachment was deemed enough of a check on King like tendencies. That men who would strive to become President in the future, would be imbued with more lofty positive characteristics expected from a leader, such as the tenets of Masonry.
3
I know a Mason. All of his stories involve gaining undeserved advantage through the use of recognition of his fellow brothers. In particular, he was speeding way above the limit, stopped by a state trooper, whom he proceeded to verbally abuse until the officer was about to handcuff him and place him in his cruiser. My friend then used "certain signs and phrases" as he described it, to which the trooper correctly responded, and he was grumpily released to go on his way. The driver of the other car the same trooper stopped was not so lucky.
I think about the story occasionally, because it is emblematic of how American society actually works, when you remove the gift wrapping of the fancy words and promises in the Constitution about equal protection under the law.
2
@Clearheaded just wondering about the Constitution and those that wrote it, nothing more
Could be that Trump is trying to set a precedent that
will benefit him if he is convicted after he loses in
November.
He has a picture burned into that wacky brain of his
where he is , maybe/possibly, arrested as he steps down
from the inaugural stage built for his replacement.
The man still does nor get that we are on to him; all his
moves are so easy to assess, and in his self interest alone.
1
Trump took all branches of government in a very indecent way. Even the presidential pardons are directly related to his re-election. That is why Obama was the winner of yesterday's presidential debate. We miss statesmanship but most of all we miss decency. The Democrats probably have polls about it.
157
@Aurace Rengifo Miami beach Fl. Many of the candidates want to run on Obama's coat tails so much so that his coat is going to tear and if the ugly truth about the Obama presidency will be exposed. I disclose that I campaigned for Obama knocking on the inner city Cincinnati, OH and Louisville, KY. I think Obama was an okay president and in the words of Bill Clinton Obamacare was the craziest system in the world because it did not achieve anything close to universal health care even after the draconian law that everyone whether they could afford or not should have health insurance even if they did not have enough to support their families. Obama's foreign policy was not that great. Sure he got OBL but by the time he got him, OBL was hiding in retirement in Pakistan and was probably had nothing to do with future terrorist attacks although justice was done but the Doctor who confirmed the identity of the whereabouts of OBL is rotting in a prison in Pakistan. totally unfair and unacceptable for humanitarians.
That said former first lady Mitchell Obama has considerable fan club in the country and if Bloomberg takes Mitchell on his ticket she will attract the African American vote and the women vote which is in jeopardy after yesterday's debate.
1
@Aurace Rengifo
But Donald Trump is the law! There is no, "when."
We're becoming the U. S. of Trump, and Trumpsters love it.
I hope Democrats soon wake up and push for a new democracy. If we can push Trump out, we may have a new democracy wave.
"Democracy is coming to the USA" (Leonard Cohen song)
Let the Times consider a democracy wave and the song.
"Democracy is coming to the USA"
12
@H Pearle This would be easier if the Rep. finally wake up.
1
I keep thinking that even Trump's support is not fire walled to the extent that no slime will stick to him. I don't have a lot of money, but I sent support to four Senate candidates. If he is re-elected, it is even more important that the Senate be able to keep him in check.
3
I'm tired of hearing that the election is the answer to everything. First, between gerrymandering and the Electoral College, Trump does not need a majority to win; red states have a huge advantage here. Second, given his disregard for any and all laws that he doesn't particularly like, does anyone think Trump is going to accept defeat if he loses? Will he vacate the White House if he loses? It would be extraordinary if after losing the election, Trump, for the first time in his life, were to agree to follow the law.
8
Laws can be modified, even repealed, but they cannot be malleable to the point of being amorphous and weapons for the oligarchs to use on the rest of us.
When that happens, the "rule of law" becomes a chapter heading in a dusty civics textbook and the real rule becomes the playground rule of the bully, the rule of thuggery.
3
Along with the constitution’s design, a huge problem is the conservative media machine. It promotes conspiracy theories and systematical seeks to destroy conservative who dare to stand against Trump. We have seen numerous people vilified (including posthumously Senator McCain). Conservative pundits fanatically support or ignore Trumps most debase words and actions- words and actions that they would lose their minds over if the President were a democrat. I remember when Fox News and other pundits attacked Obama for the crime of wearing tan pants. Tan pants! Before Fox news and conservative talk radio, congress took their oath seriously, negotiated and checked presidential abuses. Now, GOP representatives and Senators must kiss Trumps ring and look the other way, or they will pay a price. Those who take the slightest stand are punished. At some point, we need to take seriously the nature and impact conservative media is having on our society, political welfare and rule of law.
7
Beware America, we are actually becoming the New Evil Empire: our governmental processes no longer work to the benefit of We, the People. Everything has gone wrong, terribly wrong, the past three years. And the immediate future does not look any better. Even if voting in the Presidential Election is reasonably fair, the Electoral College has become weaponized, and regardless of the ultimate outcome on November 3rd, the current resident in the White House will still be The President for seventy-eight more days.
Sure, register and vote, but what else will you actually get up and do, yourself, to save these United States of America?
2
There is a person in the executive branch who, I seem to recall, may submit a letter to Congress that states that the person serving as president is not fit to serve and that requests removal.
It may be time for that individual to think deeply about whose footsteps to follow, and in what direction.
2
This is exactly who Americans meant to elect. This is exactly what Americans, at least white, old Americans in PA, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan truly and honestly wanted. It's, I assume, exactly how they see themselves comport in office were they to be in charge. In any kind of office. Once again, OK Boomers doing an outstanding job with this country and its systems....or lack thereof. Bravo.
2
This old white man in Pennsylvania detests trump, could never vote for him, did not vote for him. Look at this coming election. North Carolina is certainly going to vote for trump, but I am hopeful that Pennsylvanians have come to their senses.
2
"On Wednesday, Mr. Trump retweeted calls for Mr. Barr to “clean house” at the Justice Department, apparently referring to anyone with the temerity to maintain allegiance to the Constitution rather than to the president."
The president is a battering ram, methodically purging every agency, bureau, and institution he can, installing "yes" men, and pretty much securing his own immunity.
For now. The Board accurately depicts what happened under Nixon, and what's happening now. It also sums up the flaws in the constitution that Trump has instinctively exploited.
He may not "understand" constitutional law, but this authoritarian knows all he needs is his party, the Senate, and a corrupt AG to allow him to pillage the pillars of our democracy.
This nation failed the imeachment check. The looming election inspires fear, not hope--more than a final lifeline, it's survival.
12
"To guard against a lawless executive": yes, but without a lawless Republican Senate, the safeguards would have functioned. Labeling Republican senators as "supine" does not recognize their active and conscious betrayal of their Constitutional oath. Neither was the Roberts court merely supine when it claimed legal impotence in the face of malignant gerrymandering.
11
trump* is a great test of our Constitution design. Using the word as a weapon instead of actual interpretation. When he mentions it, his supporters go "yeah!"
trump* had a rally here in Arizona last night. When a supporter was asked on camera if he was OK with trump* not having Mexico paying for his wall, the supporter said "sure." I'm not sure how to react.
What about the rest of us?
Again, the minority party doing damage to our country. All Republicans are in on it. Please don't forget OK?
This is where we are at.
Again.
8
A thread running through many of the readers' comments herein and over the recent past as well is the impotence and acquiescence of the Republican Party office holders to their "standard bearer" and their failure to uphold their oath of office and the rule of law. In our Nation's history, political parties have come and gone. For the past few years, I have been saying that the Republican Party has hurt our Nation, and it is time to remove (with exceptions) their office holders especially in both houses of the Congress and also as Governors of states. The current Republican Party should be relegated to third party--or "no" party--status. As an aside, I think of the late controversial Barry Goldwater. Whatever his politically conservative views, he was appalled at the machinations of the Nixon gang. A "Goldwater moment."
6
The invitation to comment says "The Times Needs your Voice." Well, here's mine.
The editorial is well crafted, based on a core understanding of civics and the philosophical underpinnings of the USA. But, while these writings are solid and sensible, we need to have organs such as The Times take is a step further: call for lawyers, prosecutors, legal professionals nationwide to take specific action. Is that mass resignations? That's tough because people's livelihoods are at stake. Is that a million-person online petition? My "voice" doesn't have the answer, but one thing I do know is that it is long, long past time for the head-shaking bewilderment and tears; it's time for action. The vote will undoubtedly be corrupt, but every effort--every effort and every dollar--must go toward tossing out any Republican we can.
16
None of this should come as a surprise after Trump bragged during his campaign about how he knew how to circumvent "the system" -- i.e. the rule of law.
6
@Mary
in 2015 in the 1st republican debate 45* told us he would show us how to profit from being president.
He told the whole world......why are we surprised ?
Any Democratic nominee who would publicly declare support of a bill to limit Presidential powers would win 65% of the vote.
4
We can make all the laws we want, but they won't help if the Supreme Court does not expedite questions of presidential authority. Trump has always relied on the glacial pace of our justice system to exhaust or bankrupt his victims. Four years is a blink of an eye for white collar crimes to wind their way to the top. Even then, Trump has made a practice of refusing to abide by court decisions to further thwart and prolong the legal process. Decisions must be final and enforced with vigor. But don't look to the Roberts court for any such changes. He's happy for Trump to remain for another term with the expectation that Trump will appoint more justices to his liking, thus making himself the most powerful person in the world for generations.
5
Yes,
Trump tariffs, where, American companies must pay him off to make them exempt, is one of the most sly methods of using the Presidency to make money ever observed.
And you guys thought Trump tariffs were about making China conform to some kind of rules where American manufacturing was relevant.
American management has been EXCITED to use cheap, slave labor in China in exchange for giving away its technology.
No American manager cares about the long term future of his company, only the short term pay he gets by leveraging cheap labor in China.
Trump knows all of the above. But, he also knows that no American company wants their products in China to undergo tariffs.
Trump is just using tariffs to collect money directly from the likes of Apple, the Wine and Scotch Importers, etc.
If we could only see how much money he has collected in secret. But, I am guessing Deutsche Bank has that covered pretty closely.
7
Let's be real. It's true that "the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election." But by blocking witnesses and refusing to provide documents, the President and the Republicans in Congress effectively annulled the impeachment process. Can we find a way to prepare for their inevitable attempt to annul the election process?
12
The one thing I’m afraid that may happen with this president and the republicans, is that they’re going to find a way to remove presidential term limits! Whether it be legal or illegal, the United States would become a 3rd world country in a matter of years! Where does this leave our children and grandchildren, and the future of what used to be the greatest country in the world?
This is why politics is for the rich and always underscore the poor. Maybe with Bloomberg who needs no one’s money will finally get big money out of politics.
1
The president sees his relationship to the executive branch in exactly the same way he saw his relationship to every business he has ever run. There is absolutely nothing, no tool however blunt, unsavory or immoral that is inappropriate to be used against his perceived enemies or in support of his current crop of friends. Trump's primary goal is to personally exploit the presidency to the absolute greatest degree possible, to leave no stone unturned in punishing as many people as possible that he deems worthy of punishment, and rewarding and enriching as many people as possible that he and he alone deems worthy of reward. With his family, of course, being at the very, very top of the latter list.
15
Regardless of who said it first or how many others have repeated it since then, 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.' Alas, how much longer must we wait? Hopefully, until November. Vote as if this election matters more than any other for the future of what's left of our democracy.
8
@Guido Malsh
My opinion? Prepare to wait forever. There is no moral arch to the universe whatsoever. It's an anthropomorphic construction. Morality is a human, not a universal, concept.
The current and enduring Constitution's most glaring weakness is the assumption that the majority of men and women would always be good faith actors, capable of taking on a ruthless individual or cabal that managed to capture the Executive. The Republican Party, in its glaring corruption, was beyond the wildest imaginings of founders not lacking in probing imaginations. It is difficult to discover a remedy for this shortcoming. Clearly no set of strictures on parchment or oaths mumbled before the citizenry is a match for the ruthless criminality, amoral greed, and Omerta-inspired fear of the capo di capi. God bless Mitt Romney!
9
For a long time political parties have been ceding more and more powers to the Executive to the point that a rogue president can do whatever he wants. Each time a majority party allows its president to get away with tearing another bit from the constitutional mantle, it contributes to the diminution of its powers and to that of democracy. Republicans in Congress are now faced with what might be a turning point in our country. Unless they show some resistance to the downward slope that Trump is taking the country, they will facilitate actions that will create severe social conflicts. With each of Trump's dubious actions, with each disregard of norms, with each assumption of authority, that mantle that protects us all is being shredded.
Individual Republicans will disappear into the obscurity from which they came, but collectively they will be remembered for their political cowardice and disavowal of their oath.
5
Why doesn't anyone come right out and say the plain truth? Trump is mightily confused. He was elected President but thinks he was crowned a king. Since the 2016 election Trump has consistently acted and continues to act like a king, especially since his acquittal by the Senate.
We got rid of our first king back in the late 1700s. We can vote out our current misguided "king" in November.
18
As long as there are no outside forces changing the outcome of the next election, this would work. The electoral college, hackers, and voter suppression will continue to create the same issues we had in 2016. Then we’ll be stuck once again with a dictator-like president. Congress needs to be revisited for the problem senators. They need to either be removed physically, or voted out by their constituents. A congress that realizes they’ve helped trump shred the Constitution cannot work independently for the people. They’re just as guilty as he is.
4
Thank you, NYT Board, the list of Trump’s “accomplishments” focuses the mind. The major problem with vast inequality is that people who have lost hope of good lives turn for answers to strongmen. But, the means is important. One example is the diminishment of unions: union members used to see themselves as having strength through unions, and unions helped to frame working people’s understanding of power as equal and interdependent. That power of the everyman (and woman) resonated with our sense of ourselves as Americans, as equal in standing—at least ideally. The takeover of thousands of companies by the vast power of corporations, most of which are not unionized anymore, overshadow individuals who seek a feeling of power elsewhere. A recent broadcast on the private Academy of Art “University” showed both students and faculty utterly at the mercy of the management and victimized by it. The problem is deep and structural. And, the mocking demeanor of Trump belongs for eternity on the Howard Stern show, where his misanthropic lack of regard is loud and clear. But, it isn’t enough. to see the evidence of corruption, the NYT has to look at what has led us here, each tax exemption and deregulation, etc.
8
As bad as it has to have Benedict Donald as president for at least one and maybe another five years, it’s even more appalling when you consider that his solid base of maybe 25-30% of the electorate isn’t going away. I cannot fathom how a population segment that professes to worship the Constitution and Ten Commandments is so tolerant of a man who has shredded both.
35
@Steven Clarke It's easy to understand. That segment of the population is largely uneducated, ignorant, and all-too-willing to believe someone - anyone, actually - who will tell them what they desperately need and want to hear. They are like sheep, empty-headed and leading themselves, and the rest of us, to political slaughter.
Why? Fear. They're afraid of what they don't understand, and they don't understand much.The Clown, whose yuuge ego couldn't possibly imagine him ever not being the best at anything, tells them exactly what they want to hear. He tells them that he alone can save them and stop all those bad things that are happening to him, if he can only do whatever he wants.
And they let him. They love him. Even as he fails them, and demolishes the republic his base professes to love, and stomps on the Constitution not one of them has read or understands.
Life is tough, and it's tougher when you're stupid. They're all going to find that out when the backlash happens. Then the Trump base can all go back under their rocks while the adults in the room clean up after the Clown's mess.
2
Donald Trump's notion that "I am, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country" is very much like his idea that "I'm a very stable genius" and that "I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me,":
The fact that these thoughts occurred to President Trump is alarming.
But the fact that millions of people believe him makes one wonder if our species will make it to the year 2100..
35
I suspect we won’t make it to 2100. Too many nuclear weapons, too many despots, too little interest in the populace about the bad behaviours.
2
It's clear now that American exceptionalism, that feeling that our "American" character made us the best among countries, was all hubris, not to mention untrue. We're right down there in the mix, rolling around with all the banana republics and the Russian oligarchies. Many thanks to "President" Trump for making that clear to all.
28
The remedy to presidential abuse of power is to put in place a provision that presidential powers are paused when the office holder is charged with a crime. The powers would temporarily pass to the Vice President until the President is absolved or convicted of his crimes. Upon conviction he is removed and the VP ascends to the office.
Our country is in crisis mode and it is past time that Americans come to grips with that fact. We are fast losing that which we hold most dear: our rule of law. We must not allow Barr and McConnell to continue obstructing Trump's removal from office. They each must be held accountable for their obstruction, just as Trump must be held accountable for his crimes.
12
@George S.
That's exactly the plan. Wear everyone down who might have one iota of resistance.
I remember talking with a friend shortly after the 2016 election and she was ready to just accept things as they were with a "What can we do?" attitude. I told her that we needed to protest every thing that he does that endangers the people and the country and make a lot of noise.
But Trump is a master of confusion, throwing everything he can into the media-sphere. Before long we didn't know what was coming next and ultimately turning away when the next outrageous act emerged.
After three years of this my stomach churns whenever I see or hear him on the news. I've taken to hitting the mute button whenever possible and turning the channel. Then of course I come here and am confronted with his latest absurdity so I don't really get away from it.
At 72, I only hope I live long enough to see him out of office and if the country has any semblance of justice left at that point, in jail.
29
@Kris
Just want to add that while I am depressed about the situation, I haven't totally given up.
I am presently creating t-shirt designs that I am printing and will make available to anti-Trump citizens. I am also ready and willing to march at least locally in a demonstration of resistance. I happen to live only a few miles from his Bedminster, NJ Golf club where he stays frequently and there is a local group that protests near there when he is in residence. They purchased several of those Baby Trump balloons which are so representative of his character, though I suppose adding a police cap and badge would update it appropriately.
It's not a lot, but it is better than just complaining.
9
Personally, I doubt that a quadrennial election will do it, as it will be rigged by the self-same perpetrator, and endorsed by the enabling senate. Scenario: current occupant garners even less of the popular vote than 2016, and wins the electoral college. I’m more intrigued by the idea of a coup.
13
Mr Trump has taken the law and the constitution upon himself, as the self proclaimed chief cop, prosecutor, judge, and jury.
That jury, being we, the people
When our chief cop puts someone like Mr Milken back on the prowl, we, the people need to vote our chief cop out of office, and arrest that behavior.
8
The officially sanctioned and undisputed Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the Country seems to have moved the basis of US Law from stare decisis to quid pro quo.
Funny that.
2
So, after 3 years of this, I have turned sanguine over the endless daily reports of Mr. Trump's activities. I am no longer amazed or ruffled by the numerous resignations, tweets, because I am secretly anticipating the end of his era in November. However I am annoyed that the smart European finance bureaucrats met in Bonn and decided that the smart money is to be placed on his reelection. I suppose they see the basic political avenue to still be alive and charged by the hope of his reelection. I don't recall him running on a platform for those believers in his promices that Wall Street would break new records. So what has been the net personal finances effect for the rural white population?
2
The programmers (aka The Framers) of The Operating System of the US (aka The Constitution) knew that their system, like all systems, had bugs. So they built in a variety of error correction and upgrading features (aka Admendment, Impeachment, elections, etc). They knew that their program would be attacked ("A Republic, if you can keep it" -- Benjamin Franklin), but couldn't conceive of a hacker as brazen and creative as Mitch McConnell. Familiar with its every flaw, McConnell helped to inject a virus into the system (Donald Trump) who has now systematically disabled all of the protective features of the US OS.
We're due for a system crash.
30
One potential new safeguard would be for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent, like the Federal Reserve, thus insulating it from the self-interested meddling of unethical presidents, like Donald Trump.
The Editorial Board wrote the first 29 words. I added the last three. Those last three words are important.
6
The essential difference between an autocracy and a democracy is the ability of the dissenters to voice their concerns. Thankfully such voices as that of the free press isn't gagged yet. As pointed out, of the two (last) available checks against misuse of power, impeachment has failed. But the mature American voter has the quadrennial election, now just round the corner, to show the nation and the world the power of democracy over such executive overreach by the unscrupulous.
8
@An island And what do we do when the autocrat who considers himself to be the chief law officer of the land declares that the election was stolen and that he will not vacate the office? He did declare that the report of a majority popular vote against him was due to illegality, and that he actually won the popular vote except for illegality.
His supporters will agree with him that the election was stolen, and he will have to be arrested to remove him from office. Then what?
I am truly frightened.
10
@An island
Your touching faith in the free press is misplaced, as our press not free.
Oh sure maybe legally it is, so far. But has become a creature of moneyed interests, consigned, since the end of legal limits on media ownership under Republicans, to the tender mercies of the very wealthy investor class that made Trump, and our present existential crisis, a reality.
The same goes for "the quadrennial election".
Now fully corrupt, under control of an administration, a bureaucracy, a court system thoroughly debauched and, in any case, helpless in the face of police, a military, a personal army (ICE) that have shown not one ounce of willingness to stand for principle, to enforce or obey the law of the nation they formerly swore to protect.
This is a serious attempt at a takeover of government, dishearteningly successful to date, at the hands of the Ivy League lawyers, the rich and the corporate, and a rogue political party that has formerly sworn its allegiance to a totalitarian government run counter to every law and impulse of this once great nation.
Talk is cheap. In fact Trump loves all this energy gone to talk, because he knows it means nothing in the face of his boots on the ground.
We are moving rapidly into a time when only drastic action can save us.
1
Can the CONGRESS reopen the impeachment immediately?
Considering the ongoing threats to rule of law this action is needed ASAP. The two remaining branches of government need to figure out what's possible before it's too late.
8
Democracy is a fragile flower and too often we forget how easy it would be to crush the flower. All the talk about America being "special" is meaningless when there is no one in government who is willing to stand up against a potential dictator like Trump. The very people sworn to protect us have abdicated all of their responsibilities.
I have never been so frightened in my whole life - and I grew up when fear of the atomic bomb caused people to build underground bomb shelters.
No bomb shelter would provide us safety from what's to come.
18
@Minarose I too grew up in the shadow of the cold war and threats of atomic destruction. We drilled at school by going to the lowest floors of the building and ducking onto the floor with our hands over the back of our necks. As a child, I imagined that we were protecting our spinal cords! A classmate screamed once when the drill siren went off, and then she cried throughout the drill, because she thought the Russians would descend on us any minute via parachute.
Today is more frightening.
1
I think we need a law—or maybe it needs to be an amendment—to reform and update the impeachment clause so that a future senate majority leader can’t rig the trial the way that McConnell did. I’m not sure how it should be worded or what would accomplish that objective since I’m not a lawyer. Perhaps the Chief Justice should be given more than just a ceremonial role, and/or the amendment should require that relevant witnesses appear and documents be produced.
13
Does it really matter if Trump does or does not understand the law? Trump does what he wants, whether it’s legal or not because no one is going to stop him. And he knows it.
23
Donald Trump is showing America what happens when one charismatic, unstable and vindictive person becomes "The State" and uses the laws, serve himself, his family and his cronies. Many Americans think that the next election is about deciding between Republicans or Democrats to lead the country, but it is not. The next election is about America regaining its standing as a Democracy or becoming a totalitarian state. Just ponder that for a moment.
47
I'm going to try to say this as tactfully as possible. The Constitution did not anticipate a nation of more than 300 million people, many who believe whatever a powerful person tells them. The president is the most powerful person. My prediction is that the Constitution will get a major update within the next 20 years or so to vastly limit the power of the executive, if not abolish the executive branch altogether. Far too much power is vested in the president. It has become another kingship. And when direct democracy gains wider traction, the presidency will become obsolete.
14
The main problem is that the Department of Justice has no independence from the office of the presidency. It is a constitutional weakness that allows the type of behavior exhibited by Trump and Nixon. The check and balance of Congress has been lost due to the Republican control of the Senate under McConnell. The electoral college has been turned on its head so that it is doubtful that any semblance of normality will return to the country within the next 5 years. What we have is the Constitution as a nullity and a president as a dictator. I don't understand why the media is talking about a monarch when what we have is a dictator. Try using the correct word for a change.
19
Presidential pardons are, by definition and by precedent, accorded to rogues. If they were to rogues they would not have been convicted of crimes. Having said this, pardons are a presidential prerogative and they are always given as payback for political favors or in response to pressures the president feels he is unable to withstand. While the Times has every right to hold its nose at the pardons given by Trump it would behoove it do do so within the context of past presidential pardon fests which would reveal that Trump's pardons are not part of Trump's business as usual, but part of a tradition of presidential business as usual.
2
The framers also didn't anticipate this level of support of corruption.
When 45% of the population likes this type of behavior we have a deeper structural issue then one rogue president.
When some of the pillars of society like right wing media, the senate and to a degree: the Supreme court, cannot course correct, we have an existential conflict that may not be resolvable.
33
"One potential new safeguard would be for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent, like the Federal Reserve, thus insulating it from the self-interested meddling of unethical presidents."
Amen Editorial Board, that is the gist of the solution to our latest Trump problem. Every crevice and crack in the system of our democracy that can be, is going to be misused by our so called POTUS for personal gain. Before Trump is through with us, we will need many new laws that we never would have believed were needed.
8
The impeachment "trial" taught Trump that he could get away with anything. I hope that we will have an election and that Trump is defeated (and that he doesn't try to claim fraud and annul it).
7
Trump is certainly not the chief law enforcement officer in this land. The Law is far more distributed than that and rests on precedent accreted over time. Trump cannot interpret law or rewrite the law books. Law is a structure that exists beyond his reach and is applied according to the letter of the law.
Let Trump decree as he will, and ignore him. Just don't do as he says regardless of consequences. He is not a monarch.
Authority is given not taken, it is power that's taken and that can go both ways, as in 1776.
9
The greatest threat America faces is the Republican party. Unless and until we first acknowledge this fact and then find a way to address it, America is over.
Unfortunately, this is not hyperbole. Does anyone out there believe America has the courage to face this? I'm not so sure...
30
"We must say enough — enough! He has betrayed our national security, and he will do so again. He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less, and decency matters not at all." Adam Schiff, final impeachment speech.
Mr. Schiff’s summary was on the mark. The law is what Mr. Trump wants it to be, and Senate and House Republicans have enabled him every step of the way. End of story.
55
There was at one point a film on Netflix about the 1980s cocaine wars in Trump's new home state. The intro to the film featured a brief interview with an official who described the period as "an attempt by organized crime to take over the state of Florida". He concluded by cautioning that the same could happen in other states.
His warning may have been understated. If this is not what has happened to the presidency, it seems like a lot of effort has been put towards an imitation.
6
There are a number of vulnerabilities in the Constitution's design, including the fact that an individual can become president without winning the popular vote; can indiscriminately violate the oath of office without consequence; can actively undercut and cripple laws which that individual is sworn to uphold. If we learn anything from the feral behavior of Trump it has to be this: No More Trumps.
31
It is not possible to legislate against all possible misconduct. The framers built a, well, framework for our government to function within. The remainder of possible behaviors must fall within the scope of character and integrity. Trump has neither.
In fact, this lack of character is one of the reasons he is so popular with his supporters. Trump is the burn it all down president which is exactly what he is doing and all of it much to the delight of his fans.
Many in the media have written that Trump has changed the presidency forever. That he has cheapened it beyond repair. Not so fast I say.
On Jan. 21, 2021, Trump will be a private citizen. Any and all of his transgressions will then be subject to criminal prosecution. He need only be convicted of one to be fitted with an orange jumpsuit.
But that will tear the nation apart? Guess what? It already is torn apart and Trump did most of the tearing.
But if we are to continue to have a functioning democratic republic, then Trump must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Republicans used to talk about the dangers of tolerating moral hazard by not punishing wring doers. I wholeheartedly agree!
If Trump is allowed to get away with all he has done wrong, then our nation will be severely damaged.
Unfortunately, most of his supporters do not believe that he has done anything wrong, not even ever. OK, lets, give him a chance to prove that in front of a judge in a real court of law.
49
Republicans in Congress are playing a game of Chicken with our democracy and Rule of Law. They all very well know the authoritarian actions and intentions of Mr Trump yet they stare at that oncoming car about to hit them (or all of us) and believe they can enjoy the power and electoral victories that Trump gives them and jump out of the way before a true breakdown of order occurs
7
President Trump is using his power to pardon as a tool to reelect himself. He pardons a black person in jail for murder and puts that person in an ad extolling his virtues He pardons Blagojevich who immediately becomes an ardent supporter and criminals whose crimes mirror his own. As Trump does this he sends a message that if you support him you will be given lighter sentences and those who oppose him will be punished. Michael Cohen will never receive a pardon. Pardons have been issued after Justice Department review and not for political ends, traditionally at the end of a president's term. But the President his power to pardon to gain political traction with groups he would bribe into supporting him. A Justice Department that allows this has no right to call its self for Justice at all.
13
Just another reason to add to the long list of Trump's misdeeds, misunderstandings, mistakes and misogyny.
And it underscores the nation's need for Democrats to win big enough to flip the Senate this fall and unseat Mitch McConnell as majority leader.
Besides passing all manner of bills and programs the House has sent to McConnell's graveyard of legislative actions to help Americans get cheaper prescription drugs better health care, background checks on guns, election reforms and about 200 others, Democrats have a lot of work to do on our democracy now.
Much of the checks and balances we relied upon in the past 50 years to maintain the rule of law were understandings, traditions, and assumptions. They did mange however to have the respect and the cooperation of every president before Trump.
Now, we see we have to build walls and fences to keep a president like Trump from abusing his power to help his friends or just famous crooks like Milken, Blagojevich, and others he may help just to flaunt his power as our king.
The Democrats need to put it all in legislation that puts our democracy up on a pedestal where a president like Trump can't get his grubby hands on it ever again.
If the Senate is still controlled by McConnell, nothing at all will happen for the following two years except Republicans working hard to make the Democratic president fail, just like they did to OBama.
That's why Democrats need to give Biden a longer look. He is the candidate the fear most.
5
In my opinion, our only hope is for Bloomberg to bury the other candidates tonight.
2
Editors, you have finally described the dark reality of where we stand now: Trump "is exposing a critical vulnerability in the Constitution’s design".
That is a multi-layered understatement. First, Trump's entire presidency has exposed the vulnerabilities in the Constitution, the Electoral College notably the biggest. No, it's an outright design flaw, that was wrong in the first place and is horribly wrong now.
But to your point, Trump is not just exposing, but aggressively exploiting Constitutional vulnerabilities. We are watching the demolition of American democracy and the brazen construction of Putin-esque autocracy even as you read my comment.
The pace of Trump's power grab is head-spinning, and the breadth of it is frightening to imagine. For example, those "backstops"? Already we've seen impeachment rendered totally meaningless. The November election is squarely in Trump's path. And one day, so will be the free press.
Question is: What are we all going to do about it??
24
We desperately need a Presidential Powers Act, which severely limits the President's ability to overreach the powers granted by the Constitution. We need to eliminate the unwritten rule that a sitting President cannot be investigated or indicted. We need to make mandatory the release of tax returns of all candidates for the office of President. We need to obligate the placement of all assets into a blind trust as was done with President Bush so that the President may not benefit financially from policy. We need to make it explicitly illegal for the President to engage a foreign power to influence our elections. These things need to be statutory and enforceable.
1266
@rlschles
And while we're at it, we need a statutory law that obligates the Senate to take up a Supreme Court nominee for a floor vote within 90 days of the nomination by the President. It should be called The Merrick Garland Act.
900
@rlschles
We don't need most of what you suggested. The President can removed in two ways: through Impeachment or by losing in the election. Tax returns are a red herring, the Constitution has clearly outlined the the necessary requirements needed to be a president.
Foreign citizens don't vote , at least not yet. World leaders in looking after the interest , have and will always have a preference of who the US president is just as we have concerns about who leds in other countries.
What is needed is viable candidates. Right now we are electing who we hate the least. That has to change
6
@rlschles What a need idea. It would be great if Congressional Democrats would run with your suggestions for it would remind us all the great injustice that was done to the Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland by Mitch McConnell and his ilk.
84
Fifty-some years ago,during the summer before I started college, I was a camp counselor. We had several two week sessions, and I worked with the older kids – early teens. In the last session, one of the campers was a budding sociopath, and successfully so. He conned the kids out of money, treats, and personal items. The other kids idolized him because of the way he was able to make each one feel that he was their best friend. On the last night of camp, his perfect world came to an end. The kids turned on him, realizing the skunk that he was. On the last morning as I walked to the buses with a group of my campers, one asked if I had known what he was really like. I said that I did. I was asked why I didn’t warn them off, I replied that I was confident that they would figure it out, and by so doing would learn a lot more about sizing up people. The group stopped, looked at me and smiled, nodding their heads in agreement.
I truly hope to see a similar awakening between now and November.
899
@John B You had a lot of confidence in those kids. Regrettably, I don't feel that confident about too many of the American people to see this con man for what he is. It may already be too late, and I say this with great saddens and little hope for the future.
59
@John B i have yet to see it in any of my acquaintances and family that they have become skeptical or disavowing of trump's sociopathic ways. They glorify him on facebook, reposting anything that doesn't disturb their world view, however cloistered it may be.
42
@John B Meanwhile, Trump polls in the 40+% in the polls... the republic is not as healthy as your campers it seems.
54
Donald Trump has violated national laws.
Donald Trump has violated the UN charter and international laws.
Donald Trump has violated international human rights conventions.
Donald Trump has violated international trade agreements.
A person that operates outside the law is called an "outlaw".
Outlaws are brought to justice. They do not administer the law.
1048
@Greg Who is going to corral him? His Party? The leader of the Senate? This is how and why, in other countries, the military takes over.
99
@Greg
It’s ast time to hold Trump accountable.
And now, Republicans in the House and Senate need to be held accountable if we are to save the country.
123
Tell that to Mitch.
18
We all know that whether as a so-called businessman or president Trump has skirted, thwarted, bent and bought the "law" whenever it suited him then and now suits him to do so. He pushes the boundaries as a matter of instinct, refusing to be bound by anyone's rules (which he delights in imposing on everyone else). Thanks to McConnell and his ideologue fundamentalist predecessors and contemporaries, we're playing with a stacked deck dealt and controlled by a shameless power-thirsty alliance that, with Trump, mocks and ignores the very rules they insist others observe. This renders one side (assuming we can bilateralize this situation) ineffective and essentially meaningless. How are we, then, to enforce the "norms"? There may not be an opportunity to do so. Others have asked what will happen if the Trump cartel declares the 2020 general election results rigged. We may not be able to rely on a supposedly independent federal judiciary that counts more Federalist Society jurists among its ranks every month that passes. This isn't an academic exercise. How, without power, will we reinstitute sufficient checks and balances? More simply, what avenues are available to reclaim power? Playing by the rules doesn't seem to work very well. Democracy is messy, sure. A dictatorship or permanent minority-controlled government is even worse.
366
@MikeBoma
We've had a minority-controlled government for some time, during which it has worked very hard to degrade norms, laws, and the judiciary so that it can remain in power, even if it occasionally loses the Presidency. Our current structure and incumbents make structural reform impossible to get to a majority in the Senate, let alone 2/3+. Democracy in the US has been declining for 30 years. Trump has just accelerated it and turned it towards dictatorship.
45
@MikeBoma
Well said.
10
Can we get serious about what this really means?
At first, Trump is expressing his contention that he is the chief law officer in the US by exercising his pardon powers.
But there is a flip side to this contention. By logical extension, if he is the chief law enforcement power in the Nation then besides granting pardons he can order the arrest and confinement of anyone solely upon his say so.
That is a real risk. Particularly for an egotist who once orchestrated an adoring crowd to chant "Lock her up" in reference to a political opponent.
It isn't "happening here", folks. It has already "happened".
743
@George S. What will it take for us to get serious about what this really means? Some have begun to ask why people don't take to the streets to protest? Most people I know who are seething with outrage at the daily trashing of the rule of law and the Constitution are counting on the November election to bring back normalcy to governance. They trust that the system will work. I look at what's happening now and fear for the future. There is no guarantee that November will bring free and fair elections. There is no guarantee that the result will be respected and that there will be an orderly transition of power. Voices of the opposition continue to be silenced in every country with an autocratic regime. It is on its way to happening here.
102
@George S. He still orchestrates those chants at his rallies. There is no guarantee that he will even allow elections in 2020. He and his "party" see everyone else as their mortal enemy and a threat to the United States of their imaginations. It's not politics as we known it for the last century or so. It something very different. It's an ideological shift that make one party the mortal enemy of the other and enable them to rationalize taking any means to reach the end they want.
59
@George S.
Logical extension? The President is to faithfully execute the laws of the land and is given the right to issue pardons. The President is not given the right to arrest or confine anyone based solely on his order. Doing so would be an illegal act subject to impeachment for which he would surely be found guilty and removed from office.
7
All this and his contempt for the environment and our public lands, and yet half the country supports him. Trump is America and this is the direction we're heading as the climate crisis unfolds in front of our eyes.
21
trump's mission is to delegitimize Law Enforcement that he doesn't deem necessary.
Putin and the Oligarchs and White Collar Criminals are all salivating at the collapse of the rule of constitutional law in America as sure as trump is going to be granted building permits in Moscow and Yalta.
The major powers in the world are no longer being governed by political ideologies.
We are in a world war with criminals at the highest levels of the two most powerful countries in the world. Our own president is one of those criminals.
The former grand old party had better wake up to the fact that by exalting and appeasing trump they are opening the world to criminal take over because once trump is finished, legitimate federal law enforcement agencies will become moot.
If we are not somehow able to stop trump, the rule of law WORLDWIDE is threatened.
This is the last stop for international legitimacy .
Whoever wins the Democratic Candidacy, vote against trump and tyranny and be prepared to defend your vote.
Legitimate law enforcement across the free world is depending on U.S.
20
Indeed, there are two "backstops" to Trump's outrageous behavior. Impeachment has been shown to be toothless, given the cravenness of our GOP Senators. The outcome of the upcoming election may well be a loss for Trump, but how stable is that backstop? What would stop this man from declaring the results of the election to be invalid?
Many of those who know Trump best have already stated that he will not accept a loss should he be handed one. What then do we do? This would be a good time to work on getting answers to that question in place.
56
@patroklos That is exactly what I have been saying for a year or two now. We should go ahead and plan for the very real possibility that he will not accept defeat, no matter how obvious, precisely because he has already said once that is how he would respond. The difference between then and now is that he currently occupies the office now. Before he was in office, refusing to accept defeat would just be a stubborn act of stupidity, but while occupying the office it is a Constitutional crisis of the highest order.
Also, as you mention, those who know him on a more personal level, including his former 'fixer' Michael Cohen said that he will not accept defeat.
2
@patroklos Who cares if he declares it invalid, millions of us will run him out of town on a rail if the law wont.
1
This is a good editorial. It separate the President's legal authority and power under the Constitution from Trump's many abuses of that power (politically speaking).
However, we have to keep in mind that no one goes to federal prison without a trial and due process. That is the most important limitation and check on any abuse of power. The President can't unilaterally deprive someone of life, liberty or property. So we are miles away from an absolute monarchy.
As for the President pardoning his friends or arguably obstructing investigations or telling the DOJ to drop cases--what you might call the President's "blocking rights" over criminal justice matters--well, that power can obviously be abused but the worst outcome is that some individual criminal acts go unpunished. And as we've seen there is a great deal of political capital spent in doing so (that's why you mostly pardon people on Jan 19).
Not ideal, but to me it's not sufficient to upend the Constitutional order.
7
@Mmm
I believe you paint too rosy a picture as to the import of Trump's claim. As I've written in a separate Comment:
"At first, Trump is expressing his contention that he is the chief law officer in the US by exercising his pardon powers.
But there is a flip side to this contention. By logical extension, if he is the chief law enforcement power in the Nation then besides granting pardons he can order the arrest and confinement of anyone solely upon his say so."
Yes, presumably any such person would then be given a trial. But the judiciary is already now comprised of a substantial plurality of Trump appointed judges. A plurality that will grow to a likely majority if he obtains a second term. Ditto the SCOTUS with its aging justices.
There is a deep thrust here to radically shift the US in a radical rightward direction and it is achieving more and more success.
6
@George S. Rest assured George that the founding fathers thought pretty hard about this stuff.
Read the Bill of Rights (focus on the 5th and 6th amendments for this purpose) and you might feel a little better in the morning.
Trump’s assaults on law enforcement, the Judicial Branch and national intelligence are determined steps toward I-am-the-State dictatorship. This is simply an attempted coup.
90
@angus Is it an attempted coup? From where I'm standing, it looks like a successful one. I suspect that Trump long ago decided that he will eventually declare himself President for Life.
37
@angus
The republicans have been "governing" in recent years as though they have no intention of relinquishing power anytime soon.
They intend to rule America and not bother with any charade of a democracy anymore.
Expect trump to need to be deposed.
Vote and be prepared to defend your vote.
Things are going to get way worse before they get any better.
Do not underestimate trump's audacity or his arrogance.
3
@patroklos When he does, the GOP won't even blink.
We must retain the House. Should Trump win, the House must continue to bring impeachment cases if they are warranted, as they will be. Trump abuses his power daily, and It will only get far worse.
The House is no sure bet for Democrats. If Sanders is the nominee, the many closely “flipped” red to blue House seats will be in jeopardy, because they were won on moderate progressive arguments such as saving Obamacare. Sanders is Trump’s and the GOP’s choice for good reason.
18
@JB
Sanders would have beat Trump in 2016 if the DNC hadn't interfered in the Primaries... he ran stride for stride with Hillary, all while receiving small donations from individuals, compared to her corporate dollar backing.
The country is in a mood for change away from Government for the Corporations. Bernie was willing to do it, Trump pretended he would do it by saying "drain the swamp". Bernie is still going to do it, but Trump is working on a Autocracy.
Don't be fooled into fearing Bernie (or any of the Dem candidates). The most radical politician is the one currently trying to change our Democratic Presidency into an Autocracy.
21
@MEW And Hillary would have beat Trump if all those Sanders supporters hadn't decided to stay home on election day because they couldn't possibly bring themselves to vote for her. So we got Trump. I hope they're happier with what has happened to the country.
1
It is becoming increasingly clear from Trump's own words and actions that this November's election will be a referendum on Democracy and the Rule of Law. If you vote for Trump you are approving the ending of our Democracy and the beginning of One Man Rule. Call it President for Life, King Trump I, Imperial Rule, whatever, the effect will be the same: Trump will take the law unto himself, he will rule by decree. His pronouncements will not be subject to review or appeal by any agency.
To the Democrats, we can no longer afford your usual games, there is too much on the line. You must settle on a candidate who is capable of uniting the country behind the Rule of Law and defending our Democracy. The future of our nation is dependent upon your actions now, you must put aside your petty bickering and unite behind one candidate who can appeal the the broadest possible coalition in order to save our nation.
69
@Bruce1253
"Not ... subject to review or appeal by any agency." That sounds like his declaration of national emergencies to justify: tariffs on metals from Canada; tariffs on autos from Europe; diverting billions of Congressionally appropriated funds from the Pentagon to the unrelated "wall"; and caging or beating back migrants seeking asylum (the last not justified by declaring a national emergency, and contrary to U.S. law, but he does it anyway).
9
Trump must have looked at his impeachment acquittal as a sign to spend some political capital by brazenly commuting sentences of obvious wrongdoers. It would be hard to imagine any other President doing this.
It’s like if Nixon hadn’t resigned (and wasn’t impeached) and he commuted the sentences of other Watergate convicts. The fact that Gerald Ford lost an election for pardoning Nixon seems unfathomable in today’s political climate.
53
Where is the supreme court in all of this?
Please tell me that the members of the highest court in the land are observing these events with a calm and composed attitude.
The future of jurisprudence in the US hangs in the balance.
Let the members of the highest court speak.
31
@Meta1
Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas,?
You might not want to hear what they have to say.
The political way in which the courts are being stacked now with Ideologues has delegitimized the court in my opinion.
25
@Meta1
Chief Justice Roberts was absent while present in his recent job as presiding officer in a sham trial. He urged the House managers and President's defense team to behave themselves and remember they were in the chamber of the world's greatest deliberative body.
He neglected to notice the unsupported claim of absolute Executive privilege, the absence of witnesses working within a crime scene, and the bogus claims of a supposed Constitutional law expert on the Harvard Law School faculty.
His only judgement was his refusal to read the name of the whistle-blower.
3
@Meta1 We saw where John Roberts was during the Impeachment trial. He was an ornament on the wall.
2
Impeachment? We know how effective that was. Quadrennial election? Trump’s not worried. Republicans have that covered, too.
42
“the founders did include two backstops to guard against a lawless chief executive: One is impeachment. The other is a quadrennial election.”
Yet even these safeguard/backstops have been corrupted to where they have failed to protect us. As he has done in so many other schemes, Trump was mocking and contemptuous of the impeachment proceedings, refusing to respect Congress’s impeachment authority and asserting his utter exemption from accountability to anyone. To borrow a phrase, the result was a miscarriage of justice.
As for quadrennial elections, the very essence of Trump’s impeachable conduct was his attempt to corrupt the very next of these quadrennials. And let us not forget how the last election was also corrupted, with Trump’s campaign benignly acceding to Russian interference on its behalf.
This is to say nothing of the weakening of this electoral backstop by the immense and poisonous amounts of money coursing through all our elections.
Having to resort to impeachment or to endure futilely the remainder of a lawless president’s term is an indictment of the condition of our government and ultimately our society. Either of these humiliations represent a failure of governance, of law, and a breakdown of societal norms. Guarding against a lawless president should not have to come to choosing between impeachment and awaiting an election. In a healthy society intervention by effective yet less drastic means, that are nonetheless immediate, should be the norm.
37
"The other is a quadrennial election."
Do you really believe that this president will actually accept to let voters decide anything? He is already collaborating with Russia and has attempted to do so with other nations to help, and this does not include actually meddling with votes, something which he is not beyond doing. To be honest, although I hope the upcoming election is able fix this mess, my presumption is that the election itself is fixed.
92
@Snowpharoah Indeed, the Founders assumed future presidents would play fair and square and not merely cheat to stay in power. Autocrats are often freely elected, they simply choose not to leave office.
29
@Snowpharoah
Another thing... the DNC can subvert the will of the people through the use of the superdelegates. This election, the superdelegates need to stand down. If they award their delegates to someone other than the Democratic leader, and then Trump wins the election, this makes the DNC complicit in thwarting democracy. Some Dems might even think that the superdelegates sold their votes.
This is overall a well-thought-out, hard-hitting editorial that I agree with, but I was surprised by the 2nd paragraph, which reasons that he is the chief law enforcement officer of the country because he is in charge of the executive branch. Doesn't that kind of concede that he can do anything he wants? That he is above the law because he is in charge of it? To the contrary, Trump's claim has been chilling to many people, representing as it does an emerging King Kong that has been created by the Republican Congress and unleashed by an Attorney General who enabled him to smash through the fire wall that is supposed to exist between the political arm of government and the Justice Department. There can be no "equal justice under the law" with Trump's interference, no such thing as blind justice. But worse than that: the litany of Trump's violations of the law that you describe is a situation of a crook in control of the law with many cohorts to help him carry away the spoils of a severely violated democracy.
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@Anne Sherrod
In fact our chief federal law enforcement officer is the Attorney General. The President is merely his supervisor.
The concept of executive privilege is a loophole big enough to drive a tank through.
A much better idea is to give the president a few very specific powers that can be used at will, but no blank checks like executive privilege.
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Executive privilege is actually very specific-it only applies to national security information. The Republicans have allowed it to be expanded under this individual. The Democrats did not do us any favors either. Upon Trump’s first refusal to produce records based on executive privilege they should have taken it to the courts to have them reiterate the boundaries. (Just like Obama should have done upon McConnell’s refusal to do his job of giving advice and consent on Garland’s nomination.) This Republican Party will not respect mores and established policy.
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@TDD
Every recent president has expanded "executive privilege". When there is not forceful push-back it will expand almost of its own force, because it is in the interest of administrators to keep their dealings secret. It prevents objections, which makes it easier, and it prevents exposing corruption and malfeasance, which has obvious advantages -- to the administrator, if not to the country.
The similar "state secrets" doctrine, also not in the Constitution, was created specifically to hide malfeasance by the Air Force in airplane testing. We didn't know that until decades later -- because of "state secrets". This illustrates why "executive privilege" is a dangerous concept. The Founders omitted if for a reason, I think -- though the reason is most likely that they never thought it would be asserted.
6
Trump is president, because he won a quadrennial election. And he can act the way he does, because at least 40% of Americans applaud his autocratic style.
America's constitutional crisis is - just like Trump - a symptom of a political crisis: American conservatives no longer recognize the legitimacy of elected officials unless they are Republicans, and have rejected the idea of a loyal opposition. They want Republican presidents to bend and break the law to thwart liberal laws and ideas, and to persecute and humiliate progressives.
America is currently going through a bloodless civil war. The question is not whether but when the US will become Hungary and Turkey, and whether Trump or the next Republican president can manage a bloodless transition like Orban and Erdogan.
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Our Constitution is not foolproof ... that’s what Trump has effectively shown us, albeit without intention. At the end of day, goodwill is essential to provisions of the Constitution. And it is goodwill which is glaringly lacking with Trump. So election of a president conveys considerable public trust; and therefore voting ought to be regarded as highly serious. Treating the process as a “horse race” in progress, with leader changes declared by subjective assessments of “debate” performances, is hardly complimentary to seriousness. We got Trump for a reason, and it’s no joking matter ... as is so very evident presently, more so every day, like todsy.
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"for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent"
That is an absolutely essential idea that must be put into practice and law as soon as possible.
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@polymath
The Justice Department is as dangerous as the presidency if it is controlled by religious fanatics.
The sad irony in these attacks on the Justice Department are how they pervert the heart of the social justice movement. Who do you think despises US justice the most? The people who have been most mistreated by it - minorities and the poor. These attacks could well resonate enough with those populations to keep them from the polls, which I think is Trump's real objective.
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"One potential new safeguard would be for Congress to make the Justice Department more independent, like the Federal Reserve, thus insulating it from the self-interested meddling of unethical presidents."
Don't be so sure about the continued independence of the Federal Reserve. This president has bullied Fed Chair Powell with relentless demands for interest rate cuts. He has attempted to stack the board with unqualified loyalists who will do his bidding. Mr. Trump intends to bring every part of the federal government under his control. Given one or two more Supreme Court appointments, he may well accomplish his goal.
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@Julie W.
The slow way to autocracy is to bully and pack, just as you said. Hungary has gone far along that route in the past few years.
Trump does subscribe to the Nixon notion of “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” He has been impeached already and despite Susan Collins protests that he has learned his lesson, if anything he is doubling down. At this point the only thing that would get his attention enough to act like a traditional President is if a Hollywood Producer backs a film about him and casts Sacha Baron Cohen as Donald Trump.
29
Through state TV (Fox) and radio (Sinclair), the right wing is pretty much in lock step. An inherently undemocratic Senate and an Electoral College almost guarantees minority rule. The president is lawless and the GOP is silent. Authoritarian and minority government is approved by the plutocrats and their political party. The only thing left to find out is whether enough Americans can be fooled - or just don't care.
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This is getting rather out of hand (and poorly informed).
Trump is of course not the law. He doesn't even claim to be it.
His view is that he can do whatever he can get away with.
I doubt that most Americans really share that view, but 40+% are willing to accept it, at least often. Maybe it is now (finally) time for the mainstream news media to objectively and thoroughly examine, for the first time: Why is that?
It might also be helpful to re-read the US Constitution. Impeachment and a quadrennial election are far from the only "two backstops" on a US president. Other Constitutional checks on presidential power include:
- Guarantees of freedom of speech and the press (1st Amendment)
(These are protections against Congress, but that includes Congress acting to support a president in suppressing those freedoms)
- A limit of two full terms per president (22nd Amendment)
- A majority of the cabinet if supported by 2/3 of each House of Congress can declare the president "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" (25th Amendment)
- Congress's power to confirm or reject supreme court justice and cabinet officer appointments of the president (Article 2, section 2)
- Congress's power to make laws, and (by a two thirds vote) override presidential vetos of them. (Article 1, section 7).
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@Sage In today's Washington, your post is only an academic treatise. The only true protection you cite is the 22nd Amendment.
Freedom of speech and the press do not have the power of law.
The Cabinet is chosen by the President and approved by the Senate. The Republicans have shown they will give Trump whatever he wants. So if there is a dissenting Cabinet member, Trump will fire him or her, and replace with a blind loyalist. Do you think for a minute that Betsy DeVoss or Ben Carson have the guts to remove Trump?
Congress will also give him the Justices he wants. And a 2/3 votes to override a veto will never happen with this Senate. Again, giving Trump what he wants, in this example, a veto.
It's disheartening to only wish you were right.
4
@Sage Living under a barrel like those in Germany and in Russia in the 1930s? The signs of despotism are all around you and yet you think you can be free.
3
Should he lose, Trump is laying the groundwork for when he declares the presidential election results void because he is the top law enforcement official.
Republicans will be concerned and disappointed but will do nothing.
Our democracy is failing.
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@Tracy
This is why flipping the Senate to Democratic is even more important than winning the Oval Office.
Trump is lawless because the Senate refuses to do their elected job and provide oversight of the president.
Mitch McConnell is as big a threat to America as Trump is, maybe even bigger.
5
@Tracy Stop. This is just fear mongering.
He will easily win this election given the fractured and disjointed Democratic party. Their circular firing squad is just birthing endless sound byte GOP campaign ads.
Don't blame Trump for winning, blame the Dems for losing.
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@Tracy
It failed.
1
If Trump truly believes that he is "the chief law enforcement officer of the country" (and that this means that Barr and the entire Justice Dept. is subordinate to him) - then he has just declared himself to be unequivocally "above the law".
If the Constitution doesn't explicitly state that the Presidency is A) subject to the power of the Justice Dept. and B) has no power to overrule an adverse ruling of the Justice Dept. (other than pardons) - then this is a gaping oversight on the part of the Founding Fathers that must be remedied ASAP. First by stopgap legislation - and then by a subsequent Constitutional amendment.
And if the Constitution is already clear on this matter (the whole "three co-equal branches" thing - with a "tie-breaker" somewhere that's NOT weighted towards the Executive branch) - then Mr. Trump has just committed another blatantly impeachable offense in declaring himself to unilaterally have that "tie-breaker" power.
We know Barr will not touch this potential Constitutional conundrum with a ten foot pole.
Looking at you, Congress. Once more, into the breach.
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Trump’s behaviour and contempt for American institutions is well documented. And is manifest every day. Many regular and faithful readers of the NYT agree completely with the sentiments expressed in this column. But what about the millions of Americans who live between the coasts? Why are they so forgiving of Trump? I just do not understand.Surely a strong economy should not cleanse the litany of Trump’s sins and misbehaviour?
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@Milton Lewis
"... strong economy should not cleanse …"
The economy is on life-support.
The govt annually borrows the equivalent of 3 to 5% of GDP to prop up the economy. The Fed rate is 1.5%. These are both signatures of a weak economy.
The economy would crash in a heartbeat if the borrowing stopped. This eventuality is already baked in,
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@Milton Lewis They don’t read the NYT, or anything else for that matter. They have no interest in doing so.
2
The problem is the two backstops, impeachment and elections, are also compromised.
In any society, there exist those who would rather win by cheating than lose by playing by the rules. Eventually, if they win enough by cheating they change the rules themselves to make winning even easier. If a person thinks that the rules don't apply to him or her, than that person is likely to be a narcissist.
Since most people in a society aren't narcissists, it should be clear to the majority that the rules apply to all individuals, including those, such as narcissists, who think the rules don't apply to them-- and then this would form the basis for the judicial system. Trump's maintained approval are signs that many people in our society either don't understand the ground rules or don't respect them.
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If the president cannot be impeached meaningfully because he has 52.5 Senate defenders, then our only remedy is the quadrennial election, and there we find the president trying to cheat, and we find Republicans everywhere confounding the process by throttling voting rights.
This is peril.
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@JimG Actually, the President cannot be removed without 67 Senators voting for it. Even if all the moderate Republicans had voted to remove, the 67 vote threshold would not have been reached.
21
As the clock continues to march forward towards the end of our Democracy the Democrats must coalesce behind Bernie Sanders should he win a plurality of delegates with the stipulation that Mike Bloomberg is the nominee for Vice President. Or do the Democrats want to fight it out in a suicide pact for the Republic. There is only one issue and he is getting stronger.
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@Lawrence Garvin The 1960 candidacy of JFK/LBJ was a perfect example of balancing the ticket for maximum appeal. A Bernie/Bloomberg ticket with a pair of 78 year olds loses the Actuary vote for the Democrats; the idea here is to defeat trump.
6
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
What say you NYT....journalists? Are they coming for you next? Now is it time for that Psych assessment of DJT?
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@Jean Courtney Someone should come for the Socialists. Meanwhile, Bernie will never be President. No socialist will ever be President of this country.
@Olivia
"Someone should come for the Socialists."
That is a frightening statement. It seems you completely missed the point of Jean Courtney's quote from Martin Niemoeller.
As an matter of curiosity, can you define the word "Socialist?"
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@Jean Courtney
You left out the communists. They were the first. Most Germans, including Martin Niemuller who wrote this original, self-critical statement afterwards, probably thought that was okay.
3
Oh my goodness this Trumpschmertz has gone so far beyond tiresome. No one is paying attention to you anymore. Please rehabilitate yourselves while you still can.
4
Actually, a lot of people including from Australia are listening and are appalled by Trump - WAKE UP AMERICA!
1
I forget who said “People get the government they deserve”, but all of this proof. Trump found the perfect cocktail of political depravity: a large segment of the population—white, undereducated, and resentful of Obama’s achievements for obvious reasons, and a monied class willing to sacrifice the very marrow of the constitution for more wealth. Trump is going to win, and our republic, already made sick by its own anger and greed, will slowly die of both.
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@Michael Judge IIRC, a number of polls have found that the typical Trump voter is white, male, middle aged or older, has at least some college education, and is in the top 20% of income earners.
"Typical" is a slippery word. Here, I understand it to mean the mode, i.e. the largest group, not a majority.
3
I follow you until the phrase "obvious reasons." I can't think of any obvious reason for *anyone* to resent Obama's achievements.
(But I am aware that Obama twitted trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner.)
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@Michael Judge That's it in a nutshell and thank you for saying it so succinctly. Let's do everything we can to defeat trump and his republican sycophants so this does not happen.
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The ultimate freedom for a people living in a democracy is to give their democracy away. Or, to paraphrase Joseph de Maistre, all nations get the government they deserve. A lot of Americans chose Trump and many more chose to sit out the 2016 election, despite Trump being utterly brazen about who and what he was.
Maybe Americans are tired of democracy. Maybe enough Americans want an authoritarian dictatorship. What's a little graft and abuse of power in exchange for alleviating the burdens of citizenship for the narcotic of a strongman promising to fix all your problems for you?
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@citybumpkin What Trumpers do not yet understand is that he will NOT fix their problems. Being mainly undereducated and white, they rail against socialism but expect the government to be their cure-all / end-all to the problems they see with minorities and their lack of money. They will forever be beholden to "the man" and are incapable of recognizing any other viewpoints.
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@citybumpkin One thing that the Trumpist oligarchs and the racists seem to be in complete agreement on is that too much democracy is a bad thing. I think that they would be perfectly happy with a dictator as long as it served their interests.
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@citybumpkin
In fact, some people MAY be tired of democracy-having to think for themselves and make decisions-or imagine they are. So much easier to live where they are told, shop at the government store, pay tribute to the Dear Leader and his family, cheer on cue, be herded here and there. The Leader would have his pick of servants.
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The USA, as we have know it, is over! Why, simply because of the conjunction of a desperate Republican political party, and a narcissistic cruel and selfish President. There ain't no public servants left.
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@Mike Vote Democrat!
Trump said, "The president is the chief law enforcement officer of the country.”
And you agree that he's right.
End of discussion. The rest of your editorial is fluffy fakery.
It is refreshing to finally see a president take his job as chief law enforcement officer seriously.
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@Bhaskar So you are saying he is above the Law? You may, for just a moment, imagine a President Sanders, or HR Clinton doing what Mr Trump has been doing, and if you were honest with yourself, I believe your comment would be quite different
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@Bhaskar
:) Subtle!
1
Anyone who voted for Donald Trump and still supports him betrayed America.
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@Cousin Greg Anyone in the Senate who voted to acquit betrayed our fathers and grandfathers who fought Hitler and Mussolini in WWII. They betrayed our Founders as well, and if you go back far enough they are the Roman laws that betrayed Jesus. Get that history correct all you Evangelicals. It was the Romans in charge of Palestine in AD1. And in Roman law the sentences varied according to how exalted your social position was. No “impartial law” for those guys! Mostly it was the poor and the downtrodden who were crucified. Trump is true to the way Roman law and despotic law is carried out: the well connected get excused.
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@Cousin Greg Let's put this into context: anyone who voted Republican in this generation betrayed America.
Trump is a result, not a cause.
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It concerns me gravely that the last resort - that quadrennial election may already be in the process of undermining. I don't mean in the ways that have been publicly discussed - but, well, we don't know what we don't know. I hope everyone who sees or hears anything - reports it, loud & clear - recent Presidential elections have turned on a feather.
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This is how democracy dies: to the hoots and cheers of deplorable and a treasonous GOP in the Senate.
The problem is, tyrants have a way of turning on their own.
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@Phil
Democracy is not dying. This overly dramatic rhetoric has got to stop.
Right now the party out of power is having their debates as part of the process to select their candidate, just as they normally do.
This is advancing as it normally does.
Must be a full moon, the unhinged Left is out in droves here tonight.
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It’s not Trump, it’s the Senate Republicans. They are the law.
They made a decision in the impeachment trial to deputize him to continue doing as he pleases and have total responsibility for all of the havoc he will wreak until the end of his term.
They must be held accountable for their misdeeds and all of the devastation.
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@Bronx Jon
This is true.
Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, have betrayed their oath of office.
That is the rule of law that protects the country.
Trump could not have accomplished this without their betrayal, in the open for all to see.
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@Grove No, it is Trump -- and the Senate Republicans, and they were enabled by Chief Justice Roberts. There were several times during the proceedings when he could have reminded them of their oath.
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@Bronx Jon No, it's trump AND the repubs.
11
If these recent actions of Trump prove anything at all, it is that the US no longer operates under the rule of law. Trump has demonstrated this reality and he's also laid the blueprint for successor Presidents to follow and build upon.
It's almost become too wearisome to even try and care anymore. What can a simple US citizen do now? His political party hacks in the US Senate having once been given the opportunity to intervene instead further empowered and enabled him to dismantle the very system of government that we have. The rest of us are powerless.
His maddened multitudes at rallies increasingly resemble the kind of crowd behavior we use to only see in grainy black and white newsreels from 1930's Germany. Yet where are the supposed opponents? Do we see masses of protestors marching in opposition to government misrule as we once saw in this Nation?
No one of any "authority" seems to really even care any longer about what's happening. When those with the power to really do something either refuse to do so or perhaps do not desire to act -- why should any of us care any longer?
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@George S.
That's exactly the plan. Wear everyone down who might have one iota of resistance.
I remember talking with a friend shortly after the 2016 election and she was ready to just accept things as they were with a "What can we do?" attitude. I told her that we needed to protest every thing that he does that endangers the people and the country and make a lot of noise.
But Trump is a master of confusion, throwing everything he can into the media-sphere. Before long we didn't know what was coming next and ultimately turning away when the next outrageous act emerged.
After three years of this my stomach churns whenever I see or hear him on the news. I've taken to hitting the mute button whenever possible and turning the channel. Then of course I come here and am confronted with his latest absurdity so I don't really get away from it.
At 72, I only hope I live long enough to see him out of office and if the country has any semblance of justice left at that point, in jail.
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@Kris I believe George S makes the most important point in this debate : where is the opposition ?
We know that a majority of the American people oppose trump's egregious behavior . Yet, a leader or group has yet to appear that will mobilize or even attempt to mobilize large crowds to loudly express their abhorrence for the state of this democracy .
Would that be because what passes for the leaders of the Democratic Part are at the moment busy tearing themselves apart by vilifying one another ?
Democratic candidates, please stop, just for one moment, your self destructive tactics . Stop arguing the true meaning and the finer points of "Medicare for all".
Unite in calling for mass demonstrations in every major city, demonstrations which each and everyone of you will attend . Give your people the same forums which trump is so adept at providing for his crowds .
Do you even remember the Women's March ?
18
@pgd
I agree. I noted my personal angst in trying to rally my friend to oppose this monstrosity of a man and my own eventual feelings of defeat.
However, I did not mention that I am presently creating t-shirt designs that I will print and make available to anti-Trump citizens. I am also ready and willing to march at least locally in a demonstration of resistance. I happen to live only a few miles from his Bedminster, NJ Golf club where he stays frequently and there is a local group that protests near there when he is in residence.
And you are right about the present candidates who are now engaging in the "circular firing squad" which will only serve to provide ammunition to Trump once a nominee is chosen. My sister and I have a nightly conversation about how ridiculous it is but don't know what we can do since ego seems to rule the land.
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Two comments. First, if Congress hadn't delegated so much power to the executive branch, there wouldn't be as much power to abuse. How can the executive branch divert money that Congress has authorized for a different purpose? (e.g. the "Wall") Because Congress gave past presidents that power. Constitutionally, the president is required to faithfully execute the laws that Congress has passed. But past Congresses have passed vague laws that give the executive branch too much leeway to make decisions only Congress should make.
Second, maybe Trump's pardons, along with Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, will lead to an effort to restrict the pardon power of the president. When Trump is pardoning and commuting sentences of Democrats, you know things are out of hand.
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@J. Waddell In order to "restrict" the President's pardon power, you'd need a Constitutional Amendment. Good luck with that. Anything short of an amendment, including a law passed by Congress, would be unconstitutional.
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@LegalEagle
Yes, but more important is J. Waddell's first point, that Congress has given away far too much of its own Constitutional power, and we are now finding out how that works in practice.