Yes my friends it is that time again….time for a short history lesson from our founding days.
Let’s go back to Trump’s speech on 04 March….
If there are any limits to a president’s power, it wasn’t evident from Donald Trump’s speech before a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025.
In that speech, the first before lawmakers of Trump’s second term, the president declared vast accomplishments during the brief six weeks of his presidency. He claimed to have “brought back free speech” to the country. He declared that there were only two sexes, “male and female.” He reminded the audience that he had unilaterally renamed an international body of water as well as the country’s tallest mountain.
“Our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again,” Trump asserted.
The extravagant claims appear to match Trump’s view of the presidency – one virtually kinglike in its unilateral power.
It’s true that the U.S. Constitution’s crucial section about the executive branch, Article 2, does not grant the president unlimited power. But it does make this figure the sole “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States.”
This monopoly on the use of force is one way Trump could support his 2019 claim that he can do “whatever I want as President.”
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When the Constitution was written, many people – from those who drafted the document to those who read it – believed that endowing the president with such powers was dangerous.
Ratified after a lot of huffing and puffing, on May 29, 1790, by rather nervous citizens, the text of the Constitution had stirred many controversies.
It wasn’t just the oftentimes vague language, which includes head-scratchers such as the very preamble, “We the People of the United States.” Nor was the discomfort due solely to the document’s jarring brevity – at 4,543 words, the U.S. Constitution is the shortest written Constitution of any major nation in the world.
No, what made that document especially problematic, to borrow from John Adams, was that it provided for “a monarchical Republick, or if you will a limited Monarchy.”
In essence the Constitution was put together to avoid the US from having to answer to yet another king….the actions of our dearly clueless leader is trying to circumvent the Constitutional powers that the office has and make it all about what he wants.
Sorry I do not see any constitutional priority that allows Donny these unlimited powers.
If he wants this to be the law of the land then maybe it is time for constitutional upgrade.
There are, of course, opportunities to amend the constitution without completely scrapping it. Article V states that Congress itself can propose an amendment “whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary,” and once the amendment is “ratified by three-fourths of the several states” it becomes “Part of this Constitution.” This process (simpler than the other option, a convention of states) has been successfully used 27 previous times. The convention of states method, on the other hand, may not be restricted to a specific subject and could be used as a vehicle to overturn the entire Constitution.
This will not happen.
Today’s political climate makes it impossible to find an intellectual giant like the founders…there is no one to ‘lead’ the way to saving this country and its laws.
Any thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Sobering thought you have presented here… but like I have said a million times, “Why worry about stuff we can’t change or even influence…because the die is cast, the machine is rolling, and it is going to roll over all of us and there is no one waiting in the wings to come to our rescue so…we are….as has often been said, “Screwed.”
All we can do is try to stay ahead to the on-rush chuq
Any chance I could get an invitation to the Coronation?
As a Brit I do have some experience with Royalty. I can’t guarantee not to carry a suitable weapon before his majesty though.
He is acting more and more like some crazed despot. chuq
We will see how he fares against the courts…not sure that Congress and the Senate could really back him over the rule of law but we will see…
We can only hope that his hold will lessen….chuq
Yes, he is just pushing to see what he can get away with – legal or otherwise….hopefully the constitution and system of government will hold…always appreciate all of the information you share!
Thanx John…..I try to be helpful chuq
“If he wants this to be the law of the land then maybe it is time for constitutional upgrade.”
Why would he need a constitution upgrade? Based on his thinking, it’s “I command it, thus it is done.” IOW, we have a dictator on our hands and no words in an old document (no matter how idealistic) is going to rein him in.
An upgrade will be a long and very messy process chuq
Well, the “crisis” in itself will indeed be a crisis when it comes to enforcement. If the president does anything “illegal” or illegal, who is the entity to enforce any laws against said president? The Prez controls the DOJ, hence the U.S. Marshalls and the FBI… and the military. We are just inches away from Trump doing just that… disregarding a judicial order. In the meantime if he plays by the rules he can use our judicial process to delay anything getting done. There is no one to enforce the law against a sitting president who retains the power over those who serve under him. I am quite sure there is no “secret” process or protocol for anyone going to the White House and getting past the front gate with an arrest warrant on the guy. THAT is the true crisis that is brewing. Now.. the question remains then is who in that entire chain of authority below the president would challenge the Secret Service for reaching the president on an arrest? Assuming said person would also have to pass the military called up to guard the place.
The way I see it… the ONLY remedy is Congress getting together to move through the impeachment process… the House impeaches, the Senate assigns a judgement to act on impeaching and removing from office. At that point the the VP immediately assumes power, the mission of the Secret Service changes to the VP, Trump is evicted… and there is no “pardon” on impeachment that the VP might consider applying. But in reality would any of that ever happen.. even IF everyone in Congress wanted the Prez removed? Only IF we have reached a sound bottom to all the consequences of everything that has, and will occur in society… and we’ve not reached that yet by any stretch. The shit show has to run its course before we can grab ourselves out of it.
All that’s assuming, of course, the whole shit show doesn’t end up being a civil war with one side claiming their messiah is being attacked by the evil dead or something. We are no where near the end of this battle… much less the war in general…. metaphorically speaking or otherwise.
There are so many facets to the situation…..can it all come together? I think not. chuq