"When somebody is the President to the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's got to be. It's total."
Trump, April 13, 2020
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| I am the pilot |
What in the world was he thinking? He was signaling.
It was ridiculous. It was smart.
Americans watched the American President say that he had total authority to direct Americans to open up--or close up--their businesses. In effect, it is federal martial law.
He didn't really mean it. He was trolling the mainstream serious observers of government, and baiting the Democrats. He was making a statement.
The serious voices of American politics and media erupted. He can't do that! It is unconstitutional! The backlash is a feature, not a bug. It was predictable. If people hadn't protested then it might not have been noticed. As it is, the story is out there and a matter of controversy. Trump and the Governors are at war over who is really in charge. Trump demands his rightful place. He is the pilot. He demands it.
This is all for show.
Blame. The big subject on the presidential mind is blame for the current state of affairs. The economy is shut down, streets are empty, people are worried, people in stores are wearing masks, some hospitals are overloaded, and people are dying, including some people who were young and healthy before getting the virus. Not many of the latter, but enough to keep people feeling nervous.
Trump dithered in January and February. The story that Democrats are circulating has enough factual documentation to have political currency. Yes, he made a show of stopping flights from China, but it was was far from complete, and otherwise his obvious goal was to minimize the virus with happy-talk, it's no big deal, it's just the flu. He had Fox News amplifying that message. He is stuck with this.
That is the wrong story now. He wants the story to be that things are OK now, but before, early, he was in the pilot's seat, doing what needed to be done.
The idea that others--governors--acted instead of him hurts him because it tends to affirm the Democratic criticism that he dithered when he should have acted, that others were doing the job. The story he is selling now is that the strong prescient President, notwithstanding criticism, took charge. How does one re-write history? In part by making the present story be so important that it bleeds back into the past, proving that Trump is a step-up take-charge kind of guy. It muddles the Democratic attack.
He didn't need the story to last long. A day later, April 14, he clarified and walked back his assertion of total control, which he says is no longer necessary because he is working cooperatively with the state governors.
Observers of political theater sometimes underestimate the value of being criticized and generating outrage. Trump saying he is working nicely leaves ambiguous--and therefore unmemorable--who leads whom. What people remember is that Trump signaled something that drew sharp criticism that he is destroying democracy and the Constitution.
His supporters don't mind. The guy being highhanded is their guy. Whatever he does will be OK. His opponents are apoplectic. That is good for Trump as well. His supporters like making the libs cry, and their objections are proof that Trump has the courage to take charge amid criticism.
Who can remember the past when there is such a powerful story in the present.
7 comments:
I get that creating distraction, casting blame and shirking responsibility is his M.O. But even his faithful are looking for decisive leadership and hope, while all he offers is stagecraft. There are cracks in that armor (actually the Emperor is getting more naked) and his faithful are getting weary of his fluff.
Here's an interesting conundrum for the GOP. Many of my Evangelical Christian friends held their nose and voted for Trump for one reason: stack the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Sanctity of life trumps (sorry) everything else. Now GOP leaders are saying about restarting the economy - hey, some people gotta die so we can preserve "our way of life". And the only calculus they think of is about the political fallout if they are wrong. They've lost their (presumed) moral compass and that is not sitting well with my GOP friends. Thoughts?
Where was Chicken Little when we really needed him?
Assigning blame is one thing, consequences are another. If Trump/Administration is responsible we are giving them authority and credibility that they don't possess. "They should have known and acted", we say, knowing fully that after the last three years that would be a foolish supposition. Trump supporters don't think he's worthy of trust, that's not what they voted for, why should anyone else? The whole effort to point fingers at the administration seems of no value, other than insuring some recognizance of facts for history. Trump acted totally as expected, anything else would have been out of character. It's hard to imagine him doing an Oval Office address on Xmas eve locking down the country.
I think it's hard to make him solely responsible when the media, other officials and world leaders, the WHO, China, not to mention members of Congress, weren't in front of this either.
It's nothing more than a lose/lose political sideshow, and does nothing to get us past this nightmare.
Our country is too damn big. Smaller countries have had success by a)locking down and b) testing EVERYONE. Regardless of size, if we could knock out a plane and hour during WWII why can't 328 million Americans get tested?
Trump no doubt grew up in a very passive-aggressive home; it seems to work for him and his base. So, yeah, no news there (what ever happened to "flip-flopping" being a bad thing?)
Anyone want to secede? I like the idea of Cascadia....
Andy Seles
The Democrats and the mainstream media are playing chess. Trump is playing rugby.
The President's Total Authority is Basic Machiavellian Civics
Once upon a time the founders created three branches of government, one that was extremely powerful, the other two not so much. The sum total of Congress' power is to pass bills and adopt budgets which then cannot become "law" unless, ah, the president signs them. He alone can veto them which except in the rarest of cases means they are dead. The founders also created the Supreme Court but to get on you must have been put forward by, ah, the president, and on almost everything that is really important, the 5-4 votes support the president. And the founders created the executive in whom, as a single human being, the entire executive authority is placed. He also gets the title "Commander in Chief" because he has-- yes this one guy all alone-- 100% controls of the most powerful military on earth. The president controls the National Guard upon declaring it "in federal duty status." He controls the FBI, CIA, DIA, ATF, DEA, TSA, DHS, the borders, the airports, interstate rail, and seaports. He even controls space, yes that's right, beyond the surly bonds of gravity Trump alone controls everything is orbit.
Yes, the founders put the president in control of the entire federal bureaucracy, he can shut it down anytime he wants by directing the head of each agency to lock the buildings, the whole thing, furlough them all. The powers that the founders gave to Congress and the Supreme Court are puny, cumbersome, and slow in comparison to those given to the president. So long as the president controls just 34 Senators he cannot be removed from office by impeachment.
That brings us to today. Today he president said he may well invoke his constitutional power under Article II Section 3 to "adjourn Congress". Over this and over his claim that his power is total during times of national emergency, the media who otherwise spends its life saying Trump is destroying democracy, that democracy cannot survive a second term, now tell you Trump's claims to this power are hogwash. They even put law professors on TV to say "no way" with laughter and ridicule. Yesterday he is a threat to democracy, but today it's funny when he claims "total authority" and the right to "adjourn Congress"?
If Trump's authority is not total right now, then it is as close to total as is humanly possible. That's basic Machiavellian civics.
Andy,
Ramping up testing is not simple. It’s not going to happen anytime soon.
https://overcast.fm/+ZHYhsj9kI
And oh, by the way, secession worked out quite badly the last time it was tried...
From the very onset of his ascension to the presidency Trump has exhibited
a deja vu of Adolph Hitler. He lies, he insults anyone who holds differing opinions and I doubt very much that this lying scumbag will exit the White
House willingly. He thinks he is totally and exclusively in power and to their everlasting disgrace the Republican party has backed him. I suspect that when we finally rid ourselves of this scourge to humanity there will be a spasmodic
awakening in the general public that this is not the land of the truly democratic process but the land of who has the most money to spend on the next election. IN computer talk GIGO stands for "garbage in, garbage out" and that is exactly what we are getting from this boob attempting to fill the role of
president. You elect a boob and that's exactly what you get: A Boob.
Bob Warren
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