There is an old Japanese proverb that suggests, If
you get on the wrong train, get off at the first stop. The longer you stay, the
more costly the return trip becomes. At the current rate, it will be a long and expensive journey back to the America of the Founders’ dreams.
There is no denying that the current President has the adoration of many millions of his fellow citizens, policies bolstered by the sycophants who surround him. The loyal opposition has not found a message that can stop him. The best they can do, so far, is to fight him in the courts. At the lower court level, he is losing daily. On the appellate level, not so much.
I’m a stickler for the Constitution. I want those who take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend it, so help me God, ought to preserve it, protect it, and defend it. It is a simple document, which makes it the most powerful definition of democracy in the history of the world. Some say we live in a post-constitutional era, that it no longer makes sense for the modern era. What they want is a strong leader who will remake us into what we were when we weren’t so great. They want someone who can speak to their angst and get rid of those who are depriving them of their chance at greatness. They no longer revere the institutions that made us a great democratic nation. They are wrong.
The tariff chaos is a good example. The current administration has convinced too many people that other nations have been messing with the U.S for too long, taking advantage of us in the trading world. Their solution is to levy high tariffs on everything coming from abroad, raising and lowering them on a whim, as a negotiating tactic. But, to what end?
They tell us that it is punishing our trading partners. They have convinced millions that the selling country pays the tariff. That is a big lie. It is such a big lie that they are bargaining that people won’t believe it’s a lie. Goebbels taught that lesson.
The other night, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that a president doesn’t have the right to lay tariffs willy-nilly. It noted that the right to set tariffs was the province of the legislative branch. The ruling was stayed by an appellate court, awaiting further briefs. The administration’s press secretary stated that the lower court’s ruling was “judicial overreach.” She continued with “There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process.” She avowed that the “courts should have no role here.” She is wrong.
The judiciary, an equal branch of government, has exactly that role. It is the safeguard that prevents overreach by the executive or legislative branches. Their actions are not, to my mind, troubling or dangerous. That is their role.
Article I of the Constitution states plainly that, “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” Congress has the power, not the president. Full stop!
The longer we stay on this train hell-bent on destroying the very fabric of the nation, the longer it will take to return to sane governance, and it will be expensive. It will take time; the restoration of talent and science will take years; and regaining a nation's pride and reputation in the eyes of the rest of the world will take decades. It’s a long way back.
Think of a bookshelf loaded with books. Non-readers and interior designers may tell you that a wall of books is boring and gives a room a confining feel and look; take the books off the shelves and replace them with plants, bowls, pictures, and such. Once you remove the books and replace them with tchotchke, all you have is shelves. Some don’t get it.
The administration is emptying our national bookshelves and replacing them with political tchotchke. They denigrate the institutions that make America great, they remove institutional knowledge from the science labs, they fear free speech and condemn opposing views and demonstrations, and they starve the world’s poor. They think support for an invaded democracy is a transactional item. They devalue good relationships with historical allies. They are betting on institutional amnesia.
So, yes, it is good that the lower courts are trying to hold the executive branch to the Constitution. That is their job. They may be the last great hope for our democracy.
