VIEWPOINT / THE NEW WORLD’S NEW WORLD
By Timothy Weaver, Ph.D.
Here are my thoughts about the last few days.
THE RENDING OF GARMENTS, THE GNASHING OF TEETH…
Trump is doing precisely what he said, and a majority of voters wanted him to do. As once observed, elections matter. When the Democrats who put him in office voting by for him, or not voting at all, finally awaken and see what they’ve done, there will be screams of anguish and fingers fatigued with pointing at everyone but themselves. These Fair-Weather Democrats are filled with hubris because they dare vote or not vote based on personal opinions about the policies and strengths of candidates. They are proud to vote for the person, not the Party. They vote on issues. When neither candidate appeals to them, they stay home. They are defiant about not voting in 2016 and again in 2024. Party-line voting is beneath them. Kamala didn’t appeal to them. Neither did Hilary. The consequence has been tragic.
Republicans, with luck and chutzpah, have transformed the country into a right-of-center, backward-looking, American-first society. Gone is the grand liberal vision following Roosevelt and WWII. Gone is adherence to the international order of long-standing alliances and mutual defense treaties. The Paris Climate Accords mean nothing in the New World. We live in a different country, and the reason is us. Our party does not believe in exercising power through unity. We are issues; they are power. They are winning.
THE FOUNDERS’ POISON PILL
Whether consciously or not, the Founders placed a virtually unlimited power in the Executive Branch, making Presidents the equal of kings. We watch as Trump signs pardons and commutations of those guilty of insurrection, attempting to halt a primary function of the United States Government, and violently assauling police officers. These crimes, convictions, and sentences are erased, removed. They did not happen. Such is the power granted to the President of the United States by the framers of the Constitution. As seen below, this awesome power is almost an afterthought. It appears as a conjunctive, connected to another clause.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution:
“The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
This executive power effectively erases the authority of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and the power of Congress to enact laws which result in crimes against the United States.
The President can pardon or commute a person, or persons found guilty of even capital crimes and all crimes despite being upheld by SCOTUS. The President can overrule SCOTUS on any matter before the Court involving a crime against the United States. No President has fully exploited this power until now.
We will see a new chapter written in American jurisprudence with this President. He realizes the extreme authority this Constitutional provision gives him. He will become the new Ultra Supreme Court, in effect, the true Court of Last Resort. If he does not like the outcome of a case before the Supremes, he will use the Pardon Power of the President to reverse it. This must be what Netanyahu was thinking when he pushed for such authority in the Knesset.
Welcome to the New World’s Next Chapter.
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