Tomorrow, September 17, is the 230th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by 39 delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
The so called “Founding Fathers” brought about a document that was not perfect, but has survived through the crises of the Civil War; the Great Depression; the two World Wars; the Watergate Crisis; and now faces the challenge of the most dangerous Chief Executive in American history bar none!
By comparison to Donald Trump, Richard Nixon was a choirboy, dangerous in many ways, but also accomplished in many ways.
Nixon contributed some real positive developments in his five and a half years as President from January 20, 1969 to August 9, 1974, while Donald Trump has accomplished essentially nothing, other than the adding of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
Trump has threatened constitutional norms, with his attacks on civil rights, civil liberties, the news media, the judiciary, the intelligence community, and the basic institutions of government, including the government agencies themselves, which he is trying to decimate in their effectiveness and even in their numbers, when more is needed in a growing nation with 325 million people.
Trump has threatened the security and safety of millions of Americans of minority religious and racial groups, and he has had the support of white supremacists, Neo Nazis, Neo Confederates, and the Ku Klux Klan, which he tries to equate with those opposed to these groups.
Trump has undermined our relations with our allies in Europe and Asia, and the tensions with North Korea have been increased by his reckless tweets and rhetoric, and the same goes for Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, adding to the potential for military intervention everywhere.
Our relations with our direct neighbors, Mexico and Canada, are at the worst in many decades, and our closest ally, the United Kingdom (Great Britain), is becoming more exasperated by Trump’s utterances. The same situation exists with Germany, France, South Korea, and Japan, and our major rivals, China and Russia are perplexed with Trump as well.France
There is great concern that Trump might use nuclear weapons, which no official other than the Secretary of State can even discuss with him directly under present policy, and Trump has the final say on that.
There is also concern that Trump could attempt to declare martial law if there was another September 11 type of attack by terrorists, suspending the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
And to top it off, Trump seems to many to have a form of dementia, maybe Alzheimers, or just mental instability that is often a problem with aging seniors, but having him in a position which could provoke world wide war and disaster is an alarming circumstance of massive proportions.
Trump is a danger, but we must have confidence that the Constitution will survive his threat, but we must all be vigilant, and be ready to react if any threat seems evident as imminent.
The worst thing we could all do is trust Donald Trump, and sit back and just accept whatever he does, so thank goodness for the free, independent news media!
I am in agreement with much of what you say. However, the leadership of the Republican Party are still in full court press defense and denial about “their’ POTUS because they are desperate to pass the majority of their legislative agenda over the next several months to almost insure permanent control of the Federal Government for the remainder of this century.
The will control the federal government and the majority of the state governments located in the center of the country, leaving only the Coastal States like New York and California in the more liberal camp.
The GOP will have accomplished what the Confederate States could not in a Civil War. We will almost literally have two distinct countries within our borders.
Also, with complete control of SCOTUS for decades to come, settled case law may be enshrined for decades beyond even this century.
I know that this view is somewhat apocalyptic, however it is more than just a remote possibility.
The more liberal and centrist leadership were “asleep at the switch” for the entire last fifteen years or so by allowing the Radical Republican Faction to slowly take political control entire State Governments not only in the normally ultra conservative South, but in the Heartland as well.
What is even more frightening is the fact that in many states and in the Federal Government the most ultra right GOP factions, the Tea Party and Beyond, rested control from the more reasonable right of center.
To further abet the Ultra Right move for governmental control now came Putin and his Russian apparatus to aid and abet the Right for more control, because they see this as the one opportunity, short of war, to severely weaken its Main Adversary’s Internal Government and its significant influence in World Affairs.
The Big Question now facing the more rational citizens of this beloved nation is “What is the Strategy to Reverse This Decades Old Movement”.
Thank you, Thomas, for your thoughtful and provoking comment, which certainly makes clear the long range right wing threat that faces us.
I welcome you to continue to comment and contribute to the blog, and thank you again!
Mueller is zeroing in on Manafort.
http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/09/19/mueller-is-obviously-zeroing-in-on-paul-manafort/#.WcEtLKO2wDU.facebook