(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump--logical conclusion to "imperial presidency" [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-13 “If republican Rome was the first of modern self-governing national communities, she was certainly the ‘Neanderthal’ of them.” H.G. Wells, THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY The Roman republic’s slow but painful transformation into an empire is alarmingly similar to current events happening in the American republic. The enlargement of our imperial presidency continues. We believe our system has institutional and social safeguards which should stave off the destruction of our self-governing institutions, but the news informs us that our safeguards are under considerable wear and tear. The country’s founders clearly meant for the chief executive to be held responsible for his actions; but notice how tough it is, getting an indictment of Donald Trump, who obviously used and abused every existing executive privilege, and even invented a few more. His imperial ascent was stopped—barely—but the imperial presidency he inherited remains, constrained only by the honor of those we elect to it. If “the king can do no wrong,” then eventually, someone as dishonorable as Trump, but more subtle, will gain the imperial office, and turn it into something totalitarian. The presidency’s gradual morphing from pubic servant to autocrat goes back to our nation’s founding, when the Constitution ordained the office of chief executive to carry out the laws Congress made—considerable power in its own right. The founders, solidly opposed to establishing a monarchy (having recently revolted against one) meant for Congress to maintain tight control. But from the beginning, they disagreed strongly on how powerful the presidency (and the national government overall) should be. Washington and Hamilton felt the country needed a stronger national government than did Jefferson and Madison. Political parties were the result, with the extent of government power remaining a constant issue to this very day. Over time presidential power has expanded, with presidents of all parties content to extend their power whenever it suited their purposes. Now America is at a a point when a high-tech carnival barker could win the office and abuse it in every possible imperial way. Where does it end? For now, the imperial presidency is apparently real, which means that retaining our democracy depends on electing reasonably honorable public servants to the office. We have seen what happens when we do not. If we want to change the dangerous status quo, we should study how we got there: history. I know. Horrors! In our nation’s early days, Congress let Thomas Jefferson (defying his own limited government principles) double the country’s size by buying Louisiana from France. The Constitution does not allow a president to single-handedly purchase land, and Jefferson probably would have fervently fought the project had it been planned by a Federalist president. Constitutional questions aside, the purchase was an irresistible bargain for the United States. But the presidency assumed greater power. Many less glaring examples of growing executive power happened afterward—until the Civil War, which created an emergency requiring many quick executive actions, leaving no time to wait for Congressional debate. For the most part, the American voters, and therefore Congress, went along with the expansion of executive power. With WWI and the Depression, executive authority increased massively, then exploded during and after WWII. Harry Truman sent troops into Korea without bothering to get a constitutionally required declaration of war from Congress. Truman’s action, and Congress’ acquiescence, were in tune with public opinion of the time. While Americans were adamantly against communism and feared its spread, they were war-weary, and had no relish for war against another nuclear power, over a land far away. Truman made a tough decision. Was it right? Ask the South Koreans—or relatives of the people who died. But Truman did assume executive authority over Congress in a crucial matter: committing the country to war. The imperial presidency confronted another crisis a few years later with Vietnam—a situation similar to Korea’s: an attempted communist takeover of the Southern half of an Asian country. But by the sixties, millions of Americans had grown tired of maintaining an empire, and felt no desire to kill and die for it. Lyndon Johnson committed American troops (ruining his chances for reelection) and Congress let him. But many Americans felt that a president’s overstepping of his authority, and Congress’ abdication of its constitutional duty, did not obligate citizens to surrender their rights. In the struggle to retain those rights, people went to jail; some were killed. National unity was severed, and obviously has not yet healed. The Watergate scandals awakened Americans to the clear and present danger of an imperial presidency, with or without a foreign war. People made Congress pass laws curtailing presidential power. But those laws only went so far, and the imperial presidency’s foundation remained intact. Along came Ronald Reagan, who convinced most Americans that he knew what he was doing, that they could trust the empire to him. Reagan and George Bush 4I sent Americans into battle on several occasions, while most Americans publicly cheered. After September 11, 2001, George Bush 43 started two major wars, occupying two sovereign nations—whose people preferred our not being there—over a timespan of years. Many Americans cheered those actions too, at first. While the wars went on, government surveillance of American citizens increased while public toleration of dissent shrank. Voters, therefore Congress, for the most part heartily approved. While Republican presidents were mostly responsible for the hefty increase in imperial presidential power, recent Democratic presidents readily used and protected their inherited authority, because they thoroughly appreciated its convenience. When Donald Trump became president, he realized autocratic, imperial power was already there for him to abuse. For the most part, he concentrated on strengthening his power over Americans, finding he no longer needed to hide the destruction of democracy behind foreign adventures. He solidified his personal authority to the point where his followers staged a coup after he lost the 2020 election, a coup which nearly succeeded. During his term, with senatorial subservience, he appointed three Supreme Court justices who fully support the corporate state. He and the Republican Congress changed the tax code to overwhelmingly benefit the rich. Despite who holds the presidency, the corporate American empire is now solid reality. Like his Democratic predecessors, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Joe Biden has not expanded the imperial presidency, but neither has he deflated it. When convenient, he has used executive authority to get things done, since Congress has become too polarized to routinely perform its normal legislative function. America is now an empire, and an empire needs a ruler who can make and carry out quick decisions. Since we know now there is no guarantee that only honorable people will become president, we the people must make a choice. Our constitutional institutions remain sound, but we will need to use them fully and consistently, as they were intended, if we wish to restore actual self-government. As no chief executive from any party will readily give up power, we must insist that Congress take on its full responsibilities, which will require informed participation in self-government by all citizens. I believe we need to make gradual but steady changes, lest chaos result. Americans must become “woke,” because our corporate masters (whom presidents only serve) want us to stay asleep, and keep dreaming. The imperial presidency does get things done, but we need to decide now if we want to entrust our nation’s destiny to one person. If we do, then our fabled Revolution turns out to be merely a waste of time. 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