Try and Stop Us

Let me begin by saying the events of the past number of days tell me we ain’t seen nothing yet.
I know that is a terrifying thought, but we need to understand what is coming. Let’s face it: Our country is being run by Don Corleone and Doctor Evil, a character in the movie “Austin Powers.” 

The Don and Doctor Evil are giddy with their power, and are not concerned about people losing their jobs, people dying in poorer countries because essential aid has been cut off, or alienating our allies. Essentially they are saying to the American people and to the entire world: we have all the power, so knock yourself out and try to stop us. 

This attitude has been taken to further heights signified by events that have taken place since I published my last piece. The Don has turned his ire toward a private law firm that has worked on cases that tried to hold him accountable. This attack, which is something never seen before, has put a chill in the legal profession and put the law firm in financial jeopardy because clients fear working with them. 

The administration removed a Columbia University graduate, Mahmoud Khalil, who was a leader in protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza, from his home and placed him in a detention center in Louisiana. Khalil had a green card and is married to an American (who is 8 months pregnant!). With a green card he is entitled to all the protections of any U.S. citizen, and his rights to free speech, which is a cornerstone of our democracy, were ignored and violated. 

The Don has invoked the Alien Act of 1796 to justify deporting Venezuelans from the country without any due process by labeling them part of a “hybrid crime state.” Despite the fact that a judge blocked the use of this Act, The Don and his Homeland Security team  deported over 200 people to San Salvador, whose president was happy to receive them and put them in a prison for an undetermined amount of time. They also defied a court order blocking the deportation of a kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical center. 

A full blown constitutional crisis is in the making if The Don refuses to accept the court’s rulings. It’s the big middle finger to the constitution, and in essence is saying, “Hey, what ya gonna do about? That’s right, nothing. You are gonna do nothing because I am The Don”. As The Don has said: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Tom Homan, the “Border Czar,”  gloated on Fox News: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think, I don’t care what the left thinks, we’re comin.” In addition, Republican lawmakers are threatening to impeach judges who rule against The Don.

His so-called “pep talk” at the Department of Justice was a fusillade of grievance and vindictiveness and a demand for loyalty. He  lamented and raged that he was the victim of the weaponization of D.O.J against him (maybe he shouldn’t have stolen top secret documents or try to overthrow the government?) and, in no uncertain terms, asked “his prosecutors to go after all the people who tried to bring him to justice. Pam Bondi, the new Attorney General, put her rubber stamp on it all saying The Don is “the greatest president in the history of our country” and that she works “at the directive of Donald Trump.” Bye, bye, independent justice department!

The Don’s capacity to flip the narrative is unmatched. He is the master manipulator, perverter of truth. It’s akin to playing a game of tag when you are little and tagging someone and then having them claim that they tagged you. His capacity to obfuscate who was tagged and change “You’re it, to no, you’re i!t!”, question what really happened, though it is clear what happened. Here’s The Don at his best in flipping the narrative in his talk to the D.O.J.

We’re turning the page on four long years of corruption, weaponization and surrender to violent criminals, and we’re restoring fair, equal and impartial justice.”  These are people that are bad people, really bad people.” 

Wait, who are the bad people? Who is weaponizing the justice department? What does the constitution say? Judges are stupid? They don’t understand their words mean nothing? So where do we go from here? I don’t know, but all the discussion of when we have crossed the Rubicon into a constitutional crisis seems like yesterday’s handwringing . I guess it wasn’t inevitable that we would get to this point if you were hoping The Don had a shred of decency and any belief in the constitution and our democracy, but that was wishful thinking. Now that we are here, what can we do? I think that’s the “one trillion dollar” question. If the courts can’t stop him all the guardrails are gone. Here’s the new theme song that’s been blasted all over the White House: