Donald Trump’s Danger Days
In a move right out of Goodfellas or The Sopranos, the leader of the free world, Donald J. Trump, is asking for his enforcement squad to ferret out and address any “rats” or people with “loose lips.” It might make for good entertainment, except it is reality, and we have a “President” who by his thoughts and words, daily defies the United States Constitution and the protections it affords for free speech and free press.
Anyone watching the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings yesterday was given an insight to the Bill of Rights amendment that was first, the First Amendment, which contains several protected rights and liberties of interest to our Founding Fathers. The Republicans in power in Congress and elsewhere have blame laid at their footsteps for allowing this shredding of our nation’s mores and democracy to bits. The latest meltdown (with a prediction of a complete public meltdown) imminent by Trump is over the anonymous op-ed that appeared in the New York Times.
Trump is using personal tax dollars to have his man, Jeff Sessions, hunt down the author of the op-ed and then to act against the New York Times.
Andrea Mitchell tweeted on Friday: “Reports from Air Force One: Donald Trump telling press he wants AG Sessions to investigate who wrote anonymous NYT column about him (on what grounds? violating the 1st amendment guarantee of free speech?)”
Ladies and gentlemen, this behavior is not normal, and confirms what the op-ed piece said about him. He is so intent on ferreting out who did this, requiring loyalty oaths, and now he is the one that is conducting a “witch hunt” to ferret out the individual and punish the newspaper. While the person who wrote the op-ed should have done something different, such as a loud exit, the bottom line is the reaction of the “President” is troubling. GOP, you can address the conduct any time now, or be complicit in the end.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.