These days there are so many immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional transgressions unfolding that it is impossible to wrap your mind around them. That’s The Don and his henchman’s strategy: attack fast and furiously, so no matter how hard the courts try to intervene they are overwhelmed with the shear volume of cases. And though the courts have pushed back against many of the administration’s actions, issuing injunctions to prevent the administration from proceeding, The Don and his cronies have slow-walked, or outright defied, the court’s decisions.
An egregious example of this is the case of Kilaer Abrego Garcia. The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote, decided that the administration was to facilitate Garcia’s return, and to this point nothing has happened. Lawyers for the administration, when summoned to court have stalled and presented arguments with little legal merit, all in an attempt to appear they are cooperating with the courts while they are in reality defying them. The refusal to act on the demands of judges has elicited strong words and remonstrations, even threats of holding the administration in contempt, but still the recalcitrance rolls on.
In another attempt to neuter the courts, the administration’s legal team went before the Supreme Court to challenge whether Federal district courts have a legal basis to support national bans on executive policies. If the administration were to win, many of the decisions made by local courts, who have ruled to halt the government’s actions, could be overturned; this would free the administration to carry out its policies until the cases are heard by higher courts. That’s a process that could take a while and during that time the administration would have nothing holding it back from enacting these cruel and destructive policies.
What is at stake is Democracy itself. The thwarting of due process and the right of habeas corpus is an assault on the constitution, the ability to bypass these essential rights is authoritarianism 101.
I know it’s a hopeless refrain but: how is it possible that Republicans who were elected to defend due process, the very cornerstone of our democracy, are nowhere to be found? Since when is it okay for people to be taken off the streets and sent to detention centers because of their opinions?
And how about the obscene grift and graft from The Don’s Middle East trip: a $400 million plane from Qatar, a deal on building a hotel, and unknown business deals worth billions. There is also a deal to build a state of the art A.I. facility in Saudi Arabia which gives the Saudi’s access to American technology that may not be in our national interest, not to mention that somehow building this facility there is not exactly an America-First kind of thing, nor for that matter, is using a plane gifted by Qatar to be used for Air Force 1. It goes to show that all the bluster about America-First is easily sidelined by a good deal. Where is the Republican outrage about this? It’s true that some Republicans were concerned about national security issues related to using the Qatari plane for Air Force One, but the gift itself, meh.
The number of times The Don has violated the Emoluments Clause since he took office in January are too numerous to count, and this is just the beginning as he has systematically neutered any oversight. He already has fired all the Inspector Generals who kept tabs on foul play in government. This week he neutered the Foreign Corruption Act which was America’s bedrock anti-bribery statute; he also dissolved all of the task forces dedicated to clamping down on foreign corruption and announced that the country’s new shell company registration requirements will simply not be enforced, so that all the funny money accrued can be put into shell companies without any consequences. In just a few months, The Don has single-handedly dismantled many of the key weapons the country maintained in the fight against illicit finance. The US has become a role model for corruption and with The Don in charge, anyone with a lucrative offer is welcomed with open arms. We are now officially a kleptocracy. Makes you wonder how many Republican lawmakers are benefiting financially from all this.
In essence, we have a Republican-led congress that has abdicated its power and responsibilities to a man intent on destroying our democracy while enriching himself, his family, and his friends doing it.
It is becoming very apparent that The Republicans are all in for America having a King!
But wait, what’s this I hear? The voice of dissent, even outrage? Finally the Republicans have decided that Congress is a co-equal branch of government? Finally, they are going to assert themselves and make sure that money allocated to federal agencies and organizations will begin to flow, as they have the power of the purse as laid out in The Constitution? Finally, they are going to stand up to the grift? Finally, they are going to stand up to the neutering of due process? Finally, they are going to assume their place as a co equal branch of government and place some checks on The Don?
Nah, but they are really bent out of shape by The Don’s decision to bring the Congressional Library under his control. Senate Majority leader John Thune was annoyed: “We’ve made it clear that there needs to be a consultation around this,” suggesting that the White House had overstepped its authority, and that both Congress and the president play roles in deciding who leads the library. Are the Republicans concerned that The Don will send his people in to look at what they are using the library for? Are they afraid of being exposed? I have no idea, but they certainly aren’t concerned about White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comment that Carla Hayden, the recently fired Librarian of Congress has “put inappropriate books in the library for children.” Rumor has it that a Republican lawmaker was overheard saying: “Hey, I have no problem with the administration removing any and all books about Black history and Native Americans as well as texts related to LGBQT issues. I just don’t want them meddling into the stuff I use it for, especially, all that stuff when the south was ascendent and there were slaves.”
The Grand Offal Party 