For the better part of a decade, the American public has listened to relentless accusations that Donald Trump is an "enemy of democracy." Amplified by sympathetic media suffering from staggeringly systemic left-wing bias across both print and broadcast platforms, this persistent line of attack has become as defining a characteristic of the Left as red hats have become on the Right.
None of this is past tense, by the way. We need not cringe at the foolishness of The Washington Post cosplaying as the people's champions in 2017, famously changing their masthead slogan to, "Democracy Dies in Darkness." The melodrama is as pervasive today as it was then. Headlines from this month alone:
"Donald Trump is a threat to the soul of American democracy."
"Trump's attack on immigrants is the tip of the spear for his attack on American democracy."
"Trump's threat to American democracy."
"Report: Trump immigration agenda threatens U.S. democracy."
It is well past time to call the bluff of all these pro-democracy activists. While I have been sympathetic to a fault (at least according to many who agree with my conservative politics) when it comes to the patience I have tried to show those who warn against Trump's authoritarian impulses, this is a line in the sand.
Either condemn this anti-democratic, oligarchical tyranny below, or kindly find the nearest chair and take a seat while the adults talk.
Obviously mark and avoid the Associated Press when it comes to legitimate political conversation. This judge didn't block "the Trump Administration's efforts" to do anything. The judge blocked the law.
A bill that was passed by 220 democratically elected members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A bill that was passed by 50 democratically elected members of the U.S. Senate.
A bill that was signed into law by the democratically elected President of the United States.
Simply put, no person can sanely, rationally expect anyone else to take seriously their hand-wringing over President Trump's use of Article II powers as a threat to democratic self-rule if they simultaneously wink at an unelected, black-robed lawyer unilaterally subverting the will of the people as expressed through the two democratically elected branches of American government.
You don't have to be much of a scholar to know that an unelected ruler striking down the will of the people and supplanting it with their own is a lot closer to the textbook definition of authoritarianism than it is democracy.
And while we're at it, let's make this the litmus test for all those defenders of constitutionalism as well. The law of Congress that this judge has pretended to "strike down" ended an appropriation (government expenditure). Put another way, this judge has ordered the spending of U.S. tax dollars, a clear and unquestioned violation of powers specifically and explicitly given to Congress by Article I. No judge can compel an appropriation.
It's incontrovertible: any person who can applaud what this judge has done is no fan of democracy or the Constitution and has henceforth waived any right to claim otherwise.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
