Based on the actions of the Republicans in the US congress, President Obama became a lawless president the first time that he signed an executive order.  And each time he signed another one after that, Republicans pushed their assertion that he was lawless and claimed that these signings simply supported their claim.  Now that Mr. Trump is signing executive orders whenever the mood strikes him Republicans remain quiet.  They remain quiet even though many of these executive orders are throwing America into chaos and confounding numerous world leaders who do not know what to expect or do.

The two top Republican leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, seem to be onboard with Mr. Trump and are supporting his agenda.  They are supporting his push to build a 12 – 15 billion dollar wall that will be funded by American taxpayers.  Do not worry though because Mr. Trump still insists that Mexico will pay for this wall although the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, adamantly asserts that Mexico will not pay for it.

According to a CNN report in February 2016 by Tom LoBianco, Vicente Fox who was the President of Mexico from 2000 – 2006 verbalized his objection to Mr. Trump’s statement that Mexico would pay for the wall in no uncertain terms.  He was not diplomatic or delicate in the language that he used.  He said; “I’m not paying for that f***ing wall.  He should pay for it.”  So there you have it.  Mr. Trump says yes and the current and a former president of Mexico say no.  Based on Mr. Trump’s record and reputation, I doubt very seriously that Mexico will be paying for it.  If it starts with the American taxpayers paying for it, it will end with the American taxpayers paying for it.

The ‘Great Wall Of Trump’ and all of his poorly vetted executive orders is not all that is receiving a lot of attention and discussion during these first two plus weeks of the Trump administration.  Another issue that people are talking about is the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.  There are those, including some Democrats, who believe that Democrats should not try to block Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation.  There were three articles that I found interesting about whether or not Democrats should work to block the confirmation.  One, in Vox.com by Seth Masket, which suggested that (perhaps) Democrats should work to block it unless Republicans make President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, the nominee to be confirmed was an article entitled ‘Why Democrats don’t have much to lose through obstructing Trump’s Supreme Court pick’.  Another, which said that Democrats should not work to block the nomination was an article in The Washington Post by Melissa Hart entitled ‘Yes, the GOP broke Supreme Court nominations.  But blocking Gorsuch won’t fix them.’  And the final one, in Vox.com by Ezra Kline, which suggested that Democrats should work to block the confirmation unless the nominee is aligned at the center-right, was an article entitled ‘The country deserves a compromise Supreme Court nominee.  Neil Gorsuch isn’t one.’

So above we have three different views articulated as to what Democrats should do as regards the confirmation of Mr. Trump’s  Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.  I want to weigh in on Seth Masket’s side of this issue who argued from the perspective that the Democrats should filibuster Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation unless the nominee to be confirmed is Merrick Garland.  I hope that I can convince those who read this article to do the same.  This nomination is one that was blatantly stolen from President Obama and the Democrats by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues who willingly stood behind and supported their Leader even though they knew that he was wrong.  But just like the crowd that stands behind any schoolyard bully while they use brawn to pummel their lesser (for whatever reason) opponent, whether they loudly cheer them on or just stand by silently and watch – thereby tacitly cheering them on, they are just as guilty as that bully.

And just like the only thing that a schoolyard bully really understands is to be ‘hit in the mouth’, that is the only thing that these congressional Republican bullies will understand.  To the schoolyard bully, it does not matter if he still pummels his opponent into the dirt; if he is left with scars then he will be reluctant to select that same target again.  He will likely select an easier target.  And even if he does eventually select that same target again, that target must again summon the courage to fight back and make sure that they leave scars.  Who knows; ultimately, they just might defeat that bully.  Even if that doesn’t happen, they will have put that bully on notice that they will never just lay down and submit to being bullied.

Further, just like Mr. Trump has grown stronger and become emboldened because congressional Republicans have either openly supported him or tacitly supported him by standing by silently while he wreaks havoc on America because they are afraid of him and his bully tactics, the same thing will ultimately happen to Democrats if they do not stand up to Republicans and their bully tactics.  This SCOTUS confirmation fight is not about whether Merrick Garland or Neil Gorsuch is qualified to become an Associate Justice or who should nominate that person, it is about punching a bully in the mouth!  It is about punching them in the mouth so that they will not continue to bully you and become even bolder with each time that they are allowed to bully you while you passively accept it!

So to those who say that Democrats cannot win because Republicans have the ‘nuclear option’ and as a result Democrats should save their political capital for another time, I say ‘the hell you say’!  Judging by the mess that we are in at this point, our current leaders have not done such a great job so far.  Perhaps it is time for new tactics.  Punch um in the mouth; make them use the nuclear option.  At least then they will realize that Democrats have grown a spine and they will respect us.  If not right away, then eventually.  And until they do respect Democrats enough to stop bullying us?   Punch um in the mouth!  Republicans have always taken any efforts by Democrats to compromise and find common ground as a sign of weakness so they have exploited it.  It is long past time that Democrats realized that Democrats and Republicans need to play by the same rules and as such, if Republicans choose to continue to play smash mouth politics, the game must be played on a two-way street.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line