We Need Stronger Limits on Presidential and DOJ Powers
We have a President who has a non-Constitutional, volunteer, personal (?) lawyer who guarantees him that he has powers beyond the Constitution, that he has Absolute Rights (?), and that he is not only free of prosecution, but of investigation. The President’s back (?) is 100% shielded by his hand chosen Attorney General. The Attorney General also allows the President 100% cooperation of investigating any conspiracy theories that the President hears about on the web or Fox News. The President bullies (er, just Tweets or lawn insults) all opponents, the Free Press, and elected members of Congress, as if he is a pre-kindergartener. The President colludes with foreign powers to have them undermine our Presidential elections. He does this in serial elections, despite a three year Mueller investigation that established 10 attempts to interfere with the investigation. All of these must be investigated by Congress and someday a real Attorney General, and the Congress has to establish and pass limits on these behaviors, or they will reoccur, even with this President who wants three terms, and his own dynasty of future family dictatorship.
In the most serious acts, the President has made off-the-hand comments about using nuclear weapons, and threats to several countries of swift and total annihilation. Threats are even prohibited by the United Nations. He has also pulled out of the Iran non-proliferation treaty, and the cruise nuclear missile treaty. The Congress has to not only pass the bill again that requires the President not to go to war without Congressional approval, but get massive public backing in this election year to force the President to sign it. To lead to nuclear disarmament, it would be good for all nuclear powers to internally require a no-first-use policy, or be subject to United Nations and trade sanctions.
The Congress has the right under the 25th Amendment, to confirm that the Vice President take over, if the President seems mentally unstable. They can stipulate that daily bullying and childishly insulting political opponents and elected members of Congress or of State governments requires investigation for mental instability. They could also set a limit of 10,000 lies while in office which would then also require such an investigation.
This has to be tempting to Republicans in the Senate, considering how Trump is at least 10% behind any Democratic opponent. So any rules they pass will protect them and the country from any excessive Democratic President, as several candidates appear to them and to Wall Street, as well as the Republican oilgarchs. Remember the old-fashioned identity of Republicans as advocates for limited government? (Probably not.). If Trump retires to get his Pence Pardon, the VP will have to convince voters that he won’t go off the farm as Trump did. (Not to mention destroying farm exports.) Whereas Trump had the upper hand until now, the tables can be turned, since the Republican Party now has the upper hand. It’s Trump who desperately needs their support.
The Congress also has to limit the powers of the Attorney General, as well as the other Presidential appointees in running the Department of Justice. The congressmen have an abundant amount of law degrees, and include several prosecutors. Many have attended the top law schools in the country. They must shudder at every violation of judicial independence under AG Barr and Trump. They have to meet with industry lobbyists when Trump removes regulations that even the industry leaders approve of. They also know what a con the “investigation” of Justice Kavanaugh, and how they will be continuously embarrassed by his past and his actions. They also know what it is like for their blue carding of Trump’s judicial appointments in their states to be ignored, even if its just observing what has been happening to their Democratic colleagues. They also have to know that they only have a three vote majority, and three seats could be lost with a Trump trouncing, and a Democratic VP to break the resulting ties.
They must remember President George H. W. Bush, who taught them to look for the light at the end of the tunnel.
