Is The Sky Falling?

…Don’t it always seem to go, That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…

—– Joni Mitchell from the song Big Yellow Taxi

From time to time I try to do a self-evaluation as to my perspective on current events under this president’s administration.  In a nod to Chicken Little, I wonder if things are really as bad as they seem or whether I am falling prey to the hype. Am I running around yelling that the sky is falling for no reason?  In my view, there is less hype and more to be genuinely concerned about with this president as time goes by.  I worry that the incremental destruction of our political norms and traditions is passing the notice of many of our fellow citizens and that one day we will wake up and realize that what we all assumed was right in these United States is now gone.

Consider the following:

• The president gutted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  We now have an Acting Secretary of Homeland Security and key department heads are missing or also have “acting” leaders including the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, the Undersecretary for Management, the Director of the Secret Service and the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Any day, the Director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be empty as he becomes the Acting Secretary.  Additionally in the DHS the FAA and FEMA are headed by acting directors.  There are other key offices empty.
• When the president was asked who is in charge at DHS given all the vacancies, he replied, “Frankly there’s only one person that’s running it.  You know who that is?  It’s me.”
• There are 716 positions in the government that require Senate confirmation.  Of those there are 140 with no nominee.  Only six are awaiting confirmation.  Positions without permanent leadership include the Secretary of Defense, the president’s Chief of Staff, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  The other positions are generally department heads or at the Deputy and Assistant Secretary level across the government, in other words, the people that actually get things done.
• The president is trying to interfere with the work of the Federal Reserve, an institution previously thought for decades to be above political interference which is critical to its credibility and role in shaping the U.S. and world economy.
• The Attorney General of the United States is refusing to release the entire Mueller Report to the Congress.  He alone (or will it be with help from the White House?) will determine what will be released.  While it may be reasonable to withhold some of the report’s information from the general public, refusing to release it to Congress, who is authorized to deal with classified information and grand jury proceedings, makes it impossible to know whether the true story of the investigation will be known.  Additionally this week, Attorney General Barr asserted that the government was spying on the Trump campaign.  As he said, “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal.  I think spying did occur.”  When asked to provide proof, he said he could not.  How convenient.  The man who controls what parts of the impartial investigation may be released can assert whatever he cares to and then not have to provide evidence.
• The Attorney General got his job by currying favor with Mr. Trump.  His hiring is paying off for the president as Mr. Barr repeats many of the president’s talking points and provides further fodder for his assertions that he was “exonerated” (he wasn’t), that it was all a “hoax” (the entire intelligence community says it was not), and that it was an “attempted coup” (forgetting that the Special Counsel, Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, FBI Director, etc., etc., etc.) were all this president’s appointees.  The president procured a personal attorney in Mr. Barr, and the United States lost an Attorney General.  (One might ask Mr. Trump and his supporters how a corrupt, phony, political vendetta prone organization could “exonerate” him.  A seemingly direct contradiction.)
• Additionally, the Attorney General refuses to support the law of the land — the Affordable Care Act twice upheld in the Supreme Court — primarily because that’s the president’s position.  It’s kind of scary if a president can seek to overturn laws he doesn’t agree with by directing the Department of Justice to work to overturn it, even though it was twice deemed Constitutional.
• Speaking of not following the law, it appears that Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin will direct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) not to turn over Mr. Trump’s tax returns.  This in spite of the fact that under the law the Secretary is not to interfere in decisions made by the IRS and the fact that a law is on the books that says the IRS “shall” turn them over to Congress upon request (not “may”, “could”, “might” or any other modifier).  The law is a 1924 statute enacted to uncover fraud within the Executive Branch following the Teapot Dome scandal.
• After declaring a National Emergency and sending additional troops to the border, there is no Senate confirmed Secretary of Defense and no Secretary of Homeland Security. Not even nominees.  Where is the oversight?  Mr. Trump professes that “I like acting.  It gives me more flexibility.”  In other words, he likes people to be unsure in their jobs because it gives him more control over them.  Additionally, he does not have to worry about too many tough questions coming during Senate confirmation hearings.
• Frustrated by the asylum laws governing immigrants, the president wants to undo them all and in fact argues that we eliminate judges that adjudicate the laws about asylum.  As he said this week, “And we have to do something about asylum.  And to be honest with you, you have to get rid of the judges.”
• Among other measures being considered (again!) in the White House is an Executive Order ending birthright citizenship (anyone born on U.S. soil is considered a citizen).  So apparently the president and his advisers think that the president can unilaterally overturn the Constitution.  In this case, the 14th Amendment.

I could go on and on.  I find it very troubling that the assaults on the rule of law continue unabated and indeed, seem to be increasingly frequent and harsh.  On the other hand, the president is a known blowhard who continually speaks outrageously and without knowledge of nearly any subject.  Should we worry about his pronouncements or is it just more sound and fury rather than substance?  If during his presidency he has already told over 9,000 provable lies should we just dismiss most of his statements as more lies?  Or is there something there?

I think that there is something there.  The president does not seem constrained by any law  from taking action, even though many of his most controversial policies have been consistently overruled in the courts.  He and his administration willfully ignore attempts at oversight from the Democrats in the House of Representatives.  Republicans in the Senate are too afraid of being “primaried” (when did that become a word?) to stand up to him.  Where are the limits to his power as he continues to push the boundaries and in many cases break them?  Or are these concerns of mine just a gut level reaction to his abominable personality and persistent bullying and belittling?

In my heart I know that Mr. Trump cares nothing about the people of the United States.  He cares only of himself and arguably his family.  Whatever helps him personally and allows for his family to continue to make money off of the presidency is all that keeps him focused.

My concern is that having rid himself of nearly everyone in his Cabinet and close advisers that stood up to him to point out that his actions were unlawful, immoral or unethical (and in some cases all three) is gone.  Now he is surrounded by enablers.  I fear that as time goes by he will become ever more autocratic in outlook and action.  Reportedly, Mr. Trump models himself after President Andrew Jackson.  Remember what President Jackson is said to have remarked about a decision made by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall, “John Marshall has made his decision.  Now let him enforce it!”  (President Jackson ignored the Supreme Court’s decision in Worcester v Georgia.  The case involved the sovereignty of Native American tribal lands.)

Mr. Trump is headed in the same direction as Mr. Jackson.  He sees no limits on his power and believes that he can ignore the law where it suits him.  And why not?  Throughout his entire life he has never been held accountable for his actions in any meaningful way.  With A.G. Barr’s unilateral assertion that the president is exonerated under the Mueller investigation, what is to make him think that anything or anyone will get in his way?

Sometimes I do think that I am Chicken Little.  Maybe I worry about the course of our nation a little too much.  Unfortunately, I am also a student of history and current events.  There are just too many examples throughout time where revolutions and the loss of freedoms did not happen overnight, but rather incrementally and slowly.  Most people’s lives were not immediately or directly impacted and so they didn’t pay close attention or fret over it.  And then one day, it was too late.  They didn’t know what they had until it was gone.

One at a time Mr. Trump’s actions may be more annoying than substantive.  Put them all together and it paints the picture of a man who knows no boundaries. A president who is slowly eliminating his opposition and consolidating power in his own hands.

An old U.S. Navy saying goes “Eternal vigilance is the price of safety.”  We should all remain vigilant to the actions of our president.