Introduction to the legacy of President Donald J. Trump. We see a surprising conclusion that emerges from this fine article from The Atlantic (with my minor formatting to fit the blog) – the full and complete Atlantic article is here. It is rather long, but boy is it a great read.
Here are the key introductory
notes:
1.
He substantially altered the Constitution.
2.
His changes aren’t formal.
3.
His informal amendments are important.
4.
If left to stand, “his unofficial changes” threaten
to make Congress an advisory body and give carte blanche to any future rogue
presidents.
The surprising aspect of this conclusion is not that the
Constitution can be informally amended – the usual way of making revisions. For
example:
§
In 1803, the Supreme Court granted itself the
power to review laws and overturn them.
§
In 1824, the states tied the electoral vote to
the popular vote.
§
Neither of those changes was inscribed on
parchment or envisioned by the Founders, but today we can’t imagine our
constitutional system without them.
§
Presidents have been the authors of many
informal amendments:
§
George Washington set enduring precedents such
as the two-term limit on presidential service.
§
That two-year norm became embedded after FDR broke
it and now it is formally written in the Constitution.
§
Andrew Jackson reimagined the president as the
direct representative of the people.
§
Abraham Lincoln ruled out secession to break up the
Union.
But Trump has been broadly reckoned to be a more ephemeral
figure and thus his bark, many say, is worse than his bite. Sure, he broke a
lot of norms and probably some laws along the way.
His oafishness and short attention span have made his
constitutional incursions easy to repel.
Although his political footprint was deep, his
constitutional footprint was faint. Such, at least, has been the conventional
wisdom because even though he is not a Washington or Lincoln, Trump amended the
informal Constitution in at least five significant ways.
None of them is epochal or entirely unprecedented, but
together they add up to something new, large, and yes, very dangerous to our entire
democratic structure.
The full story with those five “informal” Trump changes at
the main Atlantic article linked above.
My 2 cents: Outstanding article that requires very close attention even more so now since Trump is apparently gearing up for a return to the Oval Office and get the second term he says he was cheated out of in the November 2020.
Ever since he lost that election, in his way of
thinking, even several months before the first vote was cast, he said it it was “rigged” against him.
He planted that deception and he has kept at ever since, and even though he lost more than 60 court case including two U.S. Supreme rulings, he just keeps on going.
Trump does not care about legal processes or our democratic structure — in his words, yes, it appears so, but NOT in reality – only results in making tons of money count to him.
The B/L: He must never be allowed back anywhere near the Oval Office, never again.
Sure, he can choose to run again, and sure he can raise tons of money along the way. Hopefully, however, the voters and GOP after what we all saw on January 6, 2021, and during his second impeachment following the storming of the Capitol designed to stop the EC final vote certification and all that has followed, will matter and he will be blocked and resoundingly defeated.
Thanks for stopping by.
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