The enemy of the American people
In 1803 with the stroke of a pen (and 15 million dollars), Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from Napoleon Bonaparte and thereby doubled the size of the United States. For Jefferson it created a new frontier as an extension to his agrarian ambitions and encouraged worldwide immigration to a new land with suddenly and seemingly unlimited territory. It was a coup for the people of the United States and created in the new nation an emerging world power. There was only one problem. The Louisiana Purchase was unconstitutional.
In 1861 with the stroke of a pen, Abraham Lincoln ordered the suspension of habeas corpus and jailed dissidents and northern newspaper editors. Under Lincoln’s order commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were deemed a threat to local military operations and thereby safeguard the security of the Union. Again, there was a problem. The order was unconstitutional.
In 1933 with the stroke of a pen, Franklin Delano Roosevelt began the New Deal by instituting the Agricultural Adjustment Act, a radical measure used to encourage farmers to limit production and even destroy crops. Once more there was a problem. The measure was unconstitutional.
Throughout history, American Presidents have occasionally defied the Constitution for the larger good. Sometimes the best way to “preserve, protect and defend the Constituents of the United States” is to bend it to the point of breaking. When the preservation of the Union is at stake, or its vast enrichment can be had, or its economic boon to the people in a time of desperation can be secured, such extreme measures are sometimes warranted. Historically Presidents who have done so have emerged not as villains but as heroes.
I think that is the x factor we look for when we elect a new president. We want him or her not to be so rigid or doctrinaire in his or her interpretation of the Constitution as to imperil or impede the country. It is a delicate balance that must be negotiated by a political master. At no point, however, do we want the president of the United States to destroy the Constitution.
Donald Trump wants to destroy the Constitution. The twice-impeached loser of the last election isn’t even president any more. He stands on no hallowed ground. He isn’t imitating former greatness by defying the Constitution: he wants to eliminate it. And he wants to eliminate it not for the good or wealth of the American people, but for his own selfish and greedy and corrupt purposes. Donald Trump is the enemy of the people, and he has explicitly come out and shown us as much.
On Saturday, Trump came out on “Truth” Social, to say of the 2020 election: “A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the constitution.” Trump also wrote an “unprecedented fraud requires an unprecedented cure.”
Trump is wrong, as usual. In fact, we will not “terminate” the Constitution in order to satisfy Donald Trump’s corrupt ambition. Instead we will terminate his freedom. By calling for the “termination” of the United States Constitution, Trump is calling for the termination of America itself. He has explicitly stated what we have been saying all along, that Trump would destroy the country to protect himself.
Donald Trump is the enemy of the people. Donald Trump would destroy America if it meant saving himself. He and his kind can no longer be tolerated. I will say it again. Donald Trump is the enemy of the people. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.