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Stop Waiting for a Formal Declaration of "Crisis" -- Jennifer Rubin
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/stop-waiting-for-a-formal-declarationAre we in a “constitutional crisis”?
You have likely heard that question innumerable times over the past three months, followed by a discussion as to whether our president has actually, explicitly, openly violated a court order (make that a Supreme Court order). When a question is so pervasive, it is safe to assume that yes, we are already there.
When does the combo of authoritarian bullying, revenge seeking, stooge-nominating, retaliatory prosecuting, contemptuous litigating, and lawless usurpation of congressional power become a “crisis”? The word is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending…especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.” Frankly, we have been in that “crisis” since the first day of the Trump presidency.
When a Republican Congress allows the president to seize the power of the purse and does nothing, when the secretary of defense commits the worst breach of national security protocols in memory (and evidently doesn’t learn his lesson), or when Republicans refuse to reclaim the power to lay tariffs—despite a recession-inducing presidential trade war—the question is not if we are in a constitutional crisis, but just how bad it is.
. . .
To borrow from Stephen Sondheim, there “won’t be trumpets or bolts of fire,” heralding that we have arrived at this moment. But let’s not muddy the waters with artificial paradigms. Let’s try this: Trump has undertaken an autocratic coup, dropping the pretense he is bound by law or obligated to act in the country’s best interest. He thinks he is a dictator (not just for a day, but for all the days since taking office), and he is trying his best to act like one.
. . .
You have likely heard that question innumerable times over the past three months, followed by a discussion as to whether our president has actually, explicitly, openly violated a court order (make that a Supreme Court order). When a question is so pervasive, it is safe to assume that yes, we are already there.
When does the combo of authoritarian bullying, revenge seeking, stooge-nominating, retaliatory prosecuting, contemptuous litigating, and lawless usurpation of congressional power become a “crisis”? The word is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending…especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.” Frankly, we have been in that “crisis” since the first day of the Trump presidency.
When a Republican Congress allows the president to seize the power of the purse and does nothing, when the secretary of defense commits the worst breach of national security protocols in memory (and evidently doesn’t learn his lesson), or when Republicans refuse to reclaim the power to lay tariffs—despite a recession-inducing presidential trade war—the question is not if we are in a constitutional crisis, but just how bad it is.
. . .
To borrow from Stephen Sondheim, there “won’t be trumpets or bolts of fire,” heralding that we have arrived at this moment. But let’s not muddy the waters with artificial paradigms. Let’s try this: Trump has undertaken an autocratic coup, dropping the pretense he is bound by law or obligated to act in the country’s best interest. He thinks he is a dictator (not just for a day, but for all the days since taking office), and he is trying his best to act like one.
. . .
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