As I have said before, I believe many people who voted for Trump don’t fully realize the magnitude of the problems that may arise during Trump 2.0. Trump famously said during his first term he believed, as President, he had virtually unlimited authority. That view has been bolstered by the unfathomable decision handed down by the Supreme Court granting a president ‘limited immunity’ for ‘official acts.’ It is certain that Trump will push the boundaries of ‘limited immunity’ and what are deemed as ‘official acts.’ But there is a much larger and more dire problem that a lot of people have clearly not thought all the way through.
The President of the United States has almost unlimited ability to pardon people with respect to Federal crimes. If you think about it, that means we will have a President who is above the law and he also has the ability to pardon his minions for any crimes they commit on his behalf or even for their own benefit (as long as Trump gets a cut of whatever grift they have going). There is virtually nothing in place to keep this from happening.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Trump will staff the Department of Justice with someone like Mike Davis as Attorney General who be more than willing to prosecute those Trump wants prosecuted and to not prosecute those who are loyal to Trump, regardless of what the law says. The DOJ will likely become something like Trump’s personal law firm bent on revenge that has little regard for constitutional norms and allegiance.
But wait, there’s more!! Trump refused to divest his businesses or put them in a blind trust during his first term and he will certainly not do so this time around. We all know Trump is a first class grifter and anyone who believes he will not use the office of the President to further enrich himself and his family is extremely naïve. There is absolutely no doubt foreign governments will pour money into Trump businesses to curry favor with Trump. It happened last time, and it will happen again but on a much grander scale.
John Gotti and Al Capone are turning over in their graves wondering why they could never get a gig like this – unchecked power, ability to pardon all your ‘familia’, an army of attorneys you don’t have to pay for that can protect you and prosecute your enemies, and the keys to a money making machine!! Damn – what a deal! It sounds an awful lot like the situation in Russia, or Hungary, or Venezuela, or any one of a number of countries in Africa.
As if that is not bad enough, there is no doubt that Trump will use all the levers of government to exact revenge upon his real and perceived enemies. He already did some of this during his first term and there will be absolutely nothing in place to keep him from doing it even more this time around. Does anyone really think it was a coincidence that James Comey was ‘randomly’ selected for an audit by the IRS? I would be willing to bet that Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and several other of Trump’s ‘enemies’ will be ‘randomly selected’ for IRS audits within the next year or two. And if Jim Jordan (or a Republican MAGA clone) continues as Chairperson of the House Judiciary, there is no doubt many tax dollars will be spent on various ‘investigations’ with no underlying justification other than to harass people and create sound bites for Fox News.
There are efforts currently underway in blue states to try to shore up their laws to be able to withstand an assault on various liberties and policies by the new Trump administration. However, Trump can and will use the power of Federal dollars to try to break that resolve. All states rely upon Federal money for all kinds of things. If blue states try to resist, it is virtually certain the Trump administration will withhold Federal funding. They did it last time. Remember the devastating wildfires in California during the Trump years and how he did not want to provide Federal disaster reliefs funds because he viewed California as being disloyal. I predict withholding Federal funding will become a major cudgel hanging over the heads of blue states trying to resist the Trump administrations policies.
If this all sounds like a nightmare scenario that’s because it is. The Supreme Court helped to create the environment for this dark era in American democracy. Mitch McConnell had a chance to stop this potential horror show during both impeachment trials but instead of showing some spine and allegiance to the Constitution, he became the poster boy for the saying, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He chose power over principle, and we will all pay the price.
So, to kick this new era off in style, you are all invited to the screening of, “Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue,” which will premier on January 20th, 2025. Freddy Krueger has declined his invitation. He said he thought the movie would be too scary and he is in the process of moving abroad.
