Sen. McConnell's Dereliction of Duty

Senator McConnell’s refusal to consider legislation that the President will not sign is a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of Congress’ role under the Constitution.  

Our democracy is justifiably famous for its then-novel system of checks and balances.  The three branches of government check each other.  Simply put, the executive checks the legislative through its veto power.  The legislative checks the executive through its power to override a presidential veto.  And the courts have the power to overturn executive or legislative action if it is either unconstitutional or if it doesn’t conform to the authority under which it was taken.

But we now have a Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who has stated very bluntly that he will not put any measure before the Senate that the President will not sign.  So much for the legislative check on the President by overriding his veto.  It is the President who now calls the tune.  

This is no small matter.  It goes to one of the most basic aspects of our system of government.  If the Senator insists on maintaining this kowtowing to the President, then he should be removed from his office of majority leader.

Trump Wants Americans to Be Like North Koreans

One of the more amazing, and revealing, statements made by Donald Trump after the Singapore Summit was the following, referring to the relationship between Kim Jong Un and his people, “He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”

So now we have proof of what we’ve feared: at heart, Donald Trump is a dictator.  He wants everyone to agree with him.  He brooks no disagreement.  He wants the American people to take his word as gospel and follow it accordingly.

Donald Trump does not have the understanding that when he was elected President, he was not given sweeping powers to do as he will.  He did not receive a mandate to remake the Presidency and government in his image.  His core supporters may well have given him such a mandate, and that amounts to perhaps 1/3 of voters.  Certainly that’s significant, but that does not give him the power and latitude he seeks..

Normally, our system of government … the famous checks and balances … would stop a President like Trump doing what he will.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, there is no check or balance because all three branches of government … executive, legislative, and judicial (the Supreme Court) … are in the same hands.  Not even the civil service can act as an internal check on the executive because he has placed at the heads of each agency people who are antagonistic to the very mission of those agencies to protect the public.

OMG!  It wasn’t until I wrote these words that I realized that Donald Trump has created the core of a dictatorial government … one where all think the same and do the master’s bidding.  The people gave him a like-minded legislative majority.  He gave the Supreme Court a radical conservative majority through his appointment of Justice Gorsuch to the court.  And as I just stated, he has placed at the head of each federal agency people who are determined to change the mission of the agency from one dedicated to protecting the public, to one dedicated to supporting big business.

We as a country are in graver danger than I ever realized, even in the short-term.  Viewed in this light, the significance of the upcoming mid-term elections are even more critical.  The control of Congress, or at least one of its houses, must pass to the Democrats in order to place a brake on this dictatorial presidency.  

As Democrats talk to the people, this needs to be one of the talking points.