WE’RE LIVING A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISISI sustain hearing that if Trump fires Mueller,we’ll face a
“constitutional crisis.” Or if Mueller subpoenas Trump to testify and Trump
defies the subpoena, it’s a “constitutional crisis”. Or if Mueller delivers
substantial evidence that Trump is guilty of colluding with Russia or of
obstructing justice, and the House does nothing to impeach him,we have a
“constitutional crisis. Well, I have news for you. We’re already in a “constitutional
crisis.” You see, and the structure is a tiny document. It requires that
presidents and others in positions of power be bound by norms,unwritten rules,
and long-established understandings of their constitutional responsibilities. Yet recognize at whats happened since January 2017:Trump fires the head of the FBI and conjures up a plot that the
FBI installed a spy in his campaign; blames the entire Mueller investigation on a conspiratorial
“deep state” that’s out to remove him from office; uses pardons to demonstrate to people already under
investigation that they don’t need to cooperate because he can pardon them, or too; and asserts that the appointment of the special counsel was
unconstitutional,and that he has the power under the structure to close the
investigation whenever he wants. He initially denies that Russia intruded in the 2016 election, when all America’s intelligence agencies show it has; and even now asserts that they are not continuing to mount a cyberattack on America, and when his intelligence chiefs say otherwise. Beyond this,he berates judges who disagree with him, and journalists and news organizations that criticize
him; uses the presidency like a personal fiefdom to enrich himself
and his family; unilaterally breaks treaties, and starts trade wars with
long-standing allies,and cozies up to some of the most murderous dictators in
the world; treats Americans who didn’t vote for him and disapprove
of him as his enemies; and tweets and holds rallies with his followers that fuel
division and loathe. There is no exact definition of a constitutional crisis.
Presumably it’s when the United States structure is in crisis. And it is in crisis now, today, or because the president of the
United States is abusing it to entrench his power. As long as he can collect absent with it,as long as Republicans who
control Congress won’t stand up to him, as long as Americans who oppose this
have no capacity to stop him, and even though they may be in the majority,this
rogue president will do increasingly damage to our system of government. And
the constitutional crisis will worsen. A malignant megalomaniac facing no countervailing power will
continue to expand his terrain until he is stopped. The
best response is to vote for a Congress this November that will constrain him.
And then, in November 2020, and vote him and his regime out of office. If he
refuses to accept the results of that election – as he threatened to do if he
lost the 2016 election – he must be removed from office.
Source: robertreich.org