A lot has happened since the rise, and hopefully, the utter fall of Mr. Donald J. Trump as regards his tenure as the head of our young and still promising republic. Yes, it is possible that he will make another run at becoming The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America; and that is his right. He absolutely reserves the right to run for this highly respected office – discounting the four years from 2016-2020 when he held it – which is the ultimate goal of many ambitious politicians, unless he is prohibited from doing so by law.
Even if he is viewed by many Americans as someone whose way of thinking is strongly skewed toward that of authoritarians and he espouses authoritarian rule above that of a democracy, it is still his right to run for the highest office in the land with the aforementioned exception. He possesses this precious right because it is guaranteed to him as an American and is backed by the Constitution. Yet, right now – because of Mr. Trump, and with the strong aid and support of Senator Mitch McConnell – rights guaranteed by the Constitution are being stripped away from women and various minority groups.
The stripping away of these rights was made possible by the collaboration of the then Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Senator Mitch McConnell when they put three extreme right-wing Supreme Court Justices on the court during Mr. Trump’s one term in office. They were able to do this even though his one term was riddled with scandal and he was impeached twice. Following each impeachment, he avoided conviction by the senate due in great part to the leadership and support of him by Senator McConnell. During the second trial in the senate, although Senator McConnell and many other high-level congressmen said publicly that Mr. Trump was “practically and morally” responsible for the January 6, 2022 insurrection and should be held to account, they still acquitted him. After the acquittal, Senator Mitch McConnell in an effort to deflect blame from the Republican Party for dereliction of duty, offered the mealymouthed excuse that Mr. Trump could still be held to account and punished by the Department of Justice.
Following are some of the things that happened before Mr. Trump left office – especially immediately after his loss in the 2020 election through the inauguration of President Joe Biden, and that are continuing to happen as of the writing of this article. First and foremost, Mr. Trump did not leave office as all of the presidents before him in recent history did. He did not allow for the peaceful transfer of power. Instead, he continued to push the Big Lie that he had promulgated before the election stating that the only way that he could lose the election would be if it were rigged: After he lost it, he said that it was stolen from him. Then, he allegedly incited an armed riot in order to hold on to power; and he did this with the assistance of many sitting congresspersons, other government officials in his inner circle and others in his orbit. I say that he “allegedly” incited an armed riot and that others assisted him in his attempt to hold on to power because the January 6 Committee is still investigating the incident. However, the facts gathered by the Committee so far support the notion that he did indeed incite this riot and was assisted by others.
Mr. Trump has raised hundreds of millions of dollars while implying that this money will be used to pay for legal representation to fight against those who he says stole the 2020 election from him and to fight to restore him to office. And in the event that the fight to restore him to office does not work in a timely fashion – prior to the 2024 election, he has implied and continues to imply that he will run for POTUS in 2024. Mr. Trump is continuing to raise money based on these premises. He continues to insist that the election was stolen from him. And although evidence that implicates him in witness tampering continues to pile up, he does not appear to be at all phased by it. Some of the evidence includes things like organizations that Mr. Trump is closely associated with and holds power over are paying legal fees for witnesses in the January 6 Committee hearings. Members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle are communicating with witnesses and saying things like “we know that you will do the right thing” during your hearing. “Mr. Trump reads transcripts.” “You will remain in good standing in Trump world…” and et cetera.
While all of this is going on, Washington Republicans are virtually in hiding; they are saying little if anything about Mr. Trump’s shenanigans and the great majority of them are continuing to support him. Many Republican congressional senators and representatives say that they will support him if he runs for president again and will vote for him if he is the nominee in 2024. Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is among those who made this statement. Many of these senators and representatives are the same people who said that Mr. Trump was responsible for the riot that occurred on January 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, Republicans throughout the country are working hard to assure that Republican legislatures and not the electorate – whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, will determine who will win elections. They are putting laws into place that say that legislatures in states will be the ultimate determiners of the outcome of elections. They are also gerrymandering districts in such a way that will ensure that Republicans remain in power. Further, they have already teed up a case, Moore v. Harper, to present to the Supreme Court which puts forth the argument, based on the Constitution, that by law, states have the right to implement laws like the one mentioned immediately above. In light of the right-wing super majority in the SCOTUS, who knows how the court will decide? It is reasonable to surmise that four of the Justices are already amenable to ruling in favor of Moore v. Harper. Only one more Justice is needed to grant states this sweeping power. If the SCOTUS grants it, it will be the death toll for free and fair elections in America. It could even be the death toll for our democracy.
Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have been completely ostracized by Republicans for refusing to be a part of Mr. Trump’s Big Lie and then accepting appointments by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the January 6 Committee after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy – calling the Committee a sham, refused to place any Republicans on it. Representative Cheney, who was third in the line of power in the House Republican Caucus was stripped of her leadership position and it was awarded to Elise Stefanik. In the midst of the Republican Party’s apparent decision that it is no longer interested in America remaining a democracy, Russia decided to attack Ukraine in an effort to, as Russian president Putin put it, rid Ukraine of the Nazis and save the Ukrainian people. They asked him for his help, he said.
Great timing, right? America, as the leader of the free world, is compelled to get involved in supporting a fledgling democracy while our own weak-kneed, politically ambitious politicians can’t decide whether they want to stand up and speak up for our own democracy or continue to hide, remain silent and avoid the press in order to further their political careers! Whoa! The eyes of the whole world were already watching us and now they are focused on us like a laser beam! Can you picture the puzzled expression on their faces as they ask, what is wrong with America?! As democratic countries puzzle over the situation, our enemies are smiling.
Regardless of what the Republican Party says to America to assure us that they respect the rule of law and what the super-majority rightwing SCOTUS says to assure us that they respect and will adhere to Stare Decisis, the Republican Party and the SCOTUS are in sync and both are moving forward with the same agenda. You can’t bring yourself to believe this? Then consider this, Republicans have long said that they are the “rule of law” party: Look at how they are handling the Trump situation! Next, consider that the three recently seated SCOTUS Justices said during their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was established law which had been reaffirmed many times and that they believed in and would honor Stare Decisis: What did they do as soon as the opportunity presented itself? They overturned Roe v. Wade and catapulted America into chaos!
And just like Senator McConnell spouted a mealymouthed excuse to deflect blame from the Republican Party for dereliction of duty when it failed twice to convict Mr. Trump in the senate after he had been impeached by the House, Chief Justice John Roberts is trying to deflect blame from himself and the Supreme Court for dereliction of duty. The only difference is that Senator McConnell is a hardnosed Republican politician, emphases on Republican because shame and decency no longer seems to be a part of the Republican Party’s vocabulary, who cannot be shammed and Chief Justice Roberts prefers to fly under the radar. He wants to continue to be seen as the good guy who does not have a political agenda, adheres to Stare Decisis and believes in fairness and honoring the oath that he swore to when he was seated on the court. Hence, Chief Justice Roberts voted with the minority in the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
But never forget, Chief Justice Roberts sided with the majority in the Mississippi case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that was decided immediately before the vote that brought about the demise of Roe v. Wade and that it was Chief Justice Roberts who initiated this slow judicial coup d’état when he gutted the Voting Rights Act by declaring Section 4 (b) unconstitutional. When he did this in 2013, his mealymouthed excuse was that Section 4 (b) of this Act was no longer needed: So, you see, he and Senator McConnell are cut from the same bolt of cloth. Wake up, America, and address this threat to the American democracy before it is too late!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line