January 10, 2018: Trump Acts Presidential (Briefly), then Attacks "Broken and Unfair" U.S. Judicial System

 

1/10/18: In an effort to put to rest reports he gibbers during cabinet meetings, Trump allows cameras to roll during a lengthy sit-down with members of Congress. For 55 minutes the world watches as he acts presidential. The president promises he wants to save DACA, noting what is needed is a “bill of love.” 

 

Needed: A “bill of love.” 

At one point, Trump stares into the cameras and admits he is open to comprehensive immigration reform. He as much as says, “I’ll sign just about anything Congress will put on my desk. I’m getting bored talking about policy. Can someone please fetch me a cheeseburger!” 

Even more surprising than what he says is what he doesn’t. The president doesn’t insult anyone. He doesn’t threaten to lock Hillary up. He doesn’t insist there’s no collusion or conclusion or conflagration.  

He seems almost…normal. 

This blogger begins to wonder if maybe Mitch McConnell has slipped a mickey into the president’s Diet Coke.

John Adams - Who are you calling fat?

 

Of course, just as water runs downhill and the earth revolves around the sun, Trump can’t act normal for long. Once the meeting ends, his bile begins to rise when he hears Sen. Diane Feinstein has released transcripts of testimony given months ago by GPS Fusion founders to a Senate investigating committee. (Fusion is involved with the Steele dossier in case you don’t recall. And the Steele dossier, which has neither been verified nor disproven, makes the president sound bad.)  

Naturally, Vladimir’s Secret Santa feels he must lash out. You know what’s coming! 

Trump Tweets! 

It turns out the leader of the executive branch has several grievances he feels compelled to air. He isn’t just mad at Feinstein. He’s fuming over the actions of a federal judge who temporarily blocked any move to roll back DACA protections for the 800,000 “Dreamers.” 

At this point, the whole “acting presidential” shtick goes out the window. At 9:11 a.m. Tweet #1 is birthed: “It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts.”  

 

A system carefully crafted to limit power. 

In fairness to the Tweeter-in-Chief, those of us who understand the way the U.S. Constitution works realize he may eventually prevail in the face of this legal challenge. We also understand the system is carefully crafted to work as it does, to limit any one man or woman’s power, and clearly the way it works infuriates Trump. Had he paid the least attention in American history class in seventh or eighth grade, or had he listened when an aide tried to explain the Constitution following his election, he might know what we’re about to say.  

First, every person has a right to go to court, either to seek legal remedy or in their own defense. 

A federal case almost always begins in a U.S. District Court. The party that loses may challenge the court’s finding and carry the case to the U.S. Circuit Court. From there the case may wend its way to Washington D.C. and end up on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

This is how the system has worked for 229 years. 

Trump has repeatedly balked at court decisions that stymie his moves or don’t suit his tastes (see: 12/3/17). He has gone so far as to label the U.S. justice system a “disgrace.” In reality, this triple level of protection and carefully crafted set of judicial procedures are among the glories of our governmental system. This system is undergirded by respect for the rule of law. 

Trump doesn’t like the system.

 

Think how dangerous this is. The President of the United States hates the way people who oppose his policies manage to retain lawyers and head for court. He considers legal protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights impediments. He has said he wants to torture  suspects to make them talk. If NFL players protest he says they should lose their jobs. If courts worked the way he wants he would already have Hillary, who he has repeatedly  labeled a “criminal,” locked up tight – and maybe Barack Obama. 

He’d jail reporters for fun.

 

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IN RELATED NEWS, President Thin Skin makes it clear the free press is an obstruction he’d love to squash. He can’t say it quite so bluntly; but you know what’s in his heart. He does offer this. He wants a federal libel law enacted, just in time to protect him. (Has someone been talking to him about the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, one must wonder?) 

Trump explains: 

Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace, and do not represent American values or American fairness. You can’t say things that are false—knowingly false—and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account. We’re going to take a very, very strong look at that. And I think what the American people want to see is fairness.

 

That’s right. The American people do want fairness. That’s why most of us don’t like a man who lies flagrantly and then wants to shut down the press for reporting on all his lies. (See: 3/15/18.) 

 

POSTSCRIPT: Under the Alien and Sedition Acts it was illegal to criticize the president or members of Congress. One unlucky gentleman went to jail for calling President John Adams fat. 

Trump would love that.