The Rule of Law which has been one of the cornerstones of democracy in the United States since its founding is under attack on multiple fronts. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has stated that he is OK with moving forward bringing impeachment charges against judges who rule against the Trump administration. Some Republican sycophants in the House have already filed impeachment articles against eight Federal judges who had the audacity to rule against the administration. While it would certainly be an uphill battle to actually impeach a Federal judge given the number of votes required in both the House and the Senate, the fact that so many Republicans, including the Speaker of the House are even discussing this should be yet another red flag for every American. If this country is going to survive as a democracy, the Rule of Law, cannot become the “Rule of I Disagree With You” or the “Rule of I Don’t Like You”!
If Trump and the Republicans had their way, there would be no need for judges of any kind because they would just determine their preferred outcome ahead of time regardless of the facts or the law and be done with it. We might as well sit Trump on a throne with his minions and toadies surrounding him and he can decide the cases himself. Petitioners would enter the court, genuflect, and plead their case and then Trump, in consultation with his circus of sycophants, would offer his judgement. If he was in a good mood and the petitioner had demonstrated sufficient supplication perhaps they would be allowed some small compensation or perhaps Trump would just say, “Off with their head!” This is clearly the system Trump and the Republicans desire.
Pam Bondi, Trump’s sycophantic Attorney General, has turned the Department of Justice into Trump’s personal law firm. Since Pete Hegseth and Trump renamed the Department of Defense to the Department of War, perhaps Bondi should push to have the Department of Justice renamed the Department of Retribution. Or perhaps they should change the letterhead to read, “Trump, Bondi, and Associates, Attorneys at Law, LLC.” Both of those changes would more accurately reflect what the DOJ is now engaged in. If you have disagreed with Trump, criticized Trump or attempted in any way to hold him accountable for anything, you can be sure you are on Pam Bondi’s ‘naughty list’ and you will likely be investigated and indicted for something you did in third grade.
Bondi probably has an entire staff of people now whose job it is to make up crimes that can be used to investigate and indict people on her list. Interestingly, there are never any Republicans on her list except for the few who have had enough courage to stand up to Trump. It begs the question, “why don’t Republicans ever commit indictable offenses”? Why are only Democrats and Independents being investigated and indicted? The question is rhetorical since we all know the answer.
The United States has plunged on democracy indices put out by various organizations and legal scholars around the world during Trump’s first year in office. Terminology varies but we are now a ‘flawed democracy’ and well on our way to becoming a full-fledged authoritarian state if Trump, the oligarchs, and the MAG Republicans get their way. The authoritarian playbook used by many dictators over the years includes an early effort to pack the courts and taint the legal system to remove barriers to what they want to do. That is exactly what is happening now. The Rule of Law has been replaced by the Rule of Trump. If judges can be impeached for doing their jobs and the legal system becomes a slave to one man, democracy is doomed in America.
I could end this post here on that sad note of doom and gloom. However, I am hopeful the American people will finally reach their limit of Trump’s authoritarianism, his Cabinet of incompetent clowns and the sycophantic circus that worships at his feet. When, and not if, that happens, I believe the Rule of Law will rise like a phoenix from the ashes and be used to hold all those responsible for the ongoing abuses of power and corruption accountable. As the saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” Just ask former President Jair Bolsanaro of Brazil and former Korean Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, who were both recently sentenced to long jail terms for trying to subvert the elections and The Rule of Law in their countries. It is likely to get worse before it gets better, but ‘We The People” and “The Rule of Law” will ultimately prevail.
