The Framers of the Constitution anticipated America’s uninformed electorate, its presidential tyranny, its government corruption, and the extreme partisanship that would tear the nation apart. George Washington warned that partisan passions could lead to “the spirit of revenge … and the weakening of democratic government.”
Sadly, the core constitutional provisions that were meant to prevent the trashing of our democracy—separation of powers, checks and balances, impeachment, and three independent branches of government—failed dismally.
Alexander Hamilton worried that “a mob of uninformed voters would elect a tyrant who would steer the country astray and command dangerous amounts of power with dangerous results.” In response, the Founders gave the power to elect the President to state legislators whom they thought would be more responsible and put country first. They, however, took partisanship to a higher extreme. They disempowered minority voters, who tend to vote for Democrats, through racial gerrymandering with the blessing of the Trump-favoring Supreme Court majority. They then gave that authority to the uninformed public and exploited their lack of knowledge with a blizzard of misinformation, validating Hamilton’s concern.
The Founders mistakenly expected:
• that the Supreme Court justices would protect the constitutional boundaries rather than their political interests and those of the patrons who put them on the bench. That became a fiction at the Supreme Court, where moneyed Republicans installed majority justices who butchered the Constitution to turn their patrons’ priorities into law.
• that members of Congress would fulfill their constitutional responsibilities rather than surrender them to President Trump. That expectation became a joke as the Republican majorities abdicated much of Congress’s legislative responsibility to Trump due to threats of violence against them and their families and the fear of losing their congressional seats to a Trump-backed primary candidate.
• that presidential corruption and tyranny would not be tolerated by the Department of Justice, Congress, or the Supreme Court. Wrong on every count. All three have become instruments of President Trump, and they enabled his corruption and tyranny to infect the blueprint of American government. Indeed, Trump has so much confidence in the cowardice of his obedient Republicans that he commits his treacheries and corruption in broad daylight.
• that the Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, and the President would, at least, abide by their oaths of office. Instead, many of them brazenly shattered their oaths.
o Supreme Court justices swore to administer justice without respect to persons—it didn’t say “except for President Trump”—and to faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon them under the Constitution and laws of the United States.
o Members of Congress swore to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and faithfully discharge the duties of their office. Notably, the oath did not say “except that Congress can abdicate its legislative responsibility to President Trump.”
o President Trump solemnly swore to preserve, protect, and defend his constitutional duties, including:
▪ enforcing federal law. The Constitution, however, did not give him the authority to use his Justice Department for revenge against those who oppose him or his policies.
▪ granting pardons. It didn’t say “including to convicted insurrectionists and other criminals whom he wants to hire as his personal militia.”
▪ to act as a check on Congress and the judiciary within the system of separation of powers. It didn’t say, “except that Trump can seize authority given exclusively to Congress.”
Impeachment may be a drastic step, but it is more necessary now than ever. Allowing the Republicans to continue to enable Trump is knowing homicide. Impeachment is the only meaningful way to repair the damage Trump has wreaked on the country and to restore the honor, trust, and respect that Republicans helped Trump strip away, reducing a once-respected global leader to a nation widely mocked, distrusted, and increasingly shunned.
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