Democracy in peril: With the Supreme Court backing down, who will stop Donald Trump?
Congress has become a craven enabler, and the high court just gave Trump free rein. It’s all up to Mueller now
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
JUNE 27, 2018 12:30PM (UTC)
The biggest question of the Trump era so far has been whether the institutions would hold under this president's ongoing assault on the rule of law. He does not understand how government is supposed to work on the most basic level, has no respect for or knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and is an instinctive authoritarian demagogue with no sense of his own limits. His own people cannot restrain him.
By this time it's clear that the Republican Congress is failing to perform its duty. It is a willing accomplice in the president's continuous violation of every established rule and norm. In fact, congressional leaders are now helping President Trump evade the legal consequences of his campaign's complicity in an attack on the electoral system.
They have likewise shown no appetite to challenge Trump on policy, allowing him free rein to enact a draconian anti-immigrant program, start a global trade war, tear up treaties and international agreements, denigrate our long-term alliances and use executive agencies to take a wrecking ball to the regulatory apparatus that keeps the citizens safe from disasters both natural and man-made. Republicans in Congress have also turned a blind eye to the rampant corruption permeating every corner of the executive branch, including the Oval Office. The Congress, as currently configured, is beyond useless as a check on a rogue president. It is functioning as his co-conspirator.
That leaves the third branch of government, the courts. Up until now, they have been the only functioning bulwark against the worst of Trump's impulses. As of yesterday, however, it became clear that the Supreme Court, the only co-equal branch of government that could have checked the president's power, is also abdicating its duty. In its ruling on Trump's "travel ban," it pretty much gave the president a blank check when it comes to dealing with foreigners. He has a free hand now and will no doubt waste little time in implementing his most oppressive anti-immigrant policies. He may well be inspired by the high court's deference to his power to push the envelope in any other way he chooses.
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https://www.salon.com/2018/06/27/democracy-in-peril-with-the-supreme-court-backing-down-who-will-stop-donald-trump/
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