Getting scared, but holding on to hope

 R.J. Matson   

Despair resurgence: This week more than ever it seems we are slipping into a dictatorship. And yet, in the end I return to hope. Take the journey with me.

Two esteemed lawmakers have used the words "constitutional crisis" this week. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) uttered those words last week after becoming frustrated about yet another act of obstruction from Li'l Donny Moscow, and House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joined him in the sentiment. Some say that those words used now and in this context are "bull" or "not yet." If it's not quite, it's very close to being a full-bore constiutional crisis.

I know the term "constitutional crisis" has been used a lot. We have seemed to have multiple constitutional crises since the Mango Mussolini came to power. I have used the term in these pages here and here but those weren't really constitutional crises. They were crises, for sure, but this set of circumstances threatens our very form of government.

If you haven't recently read the U.S. Constitution, I encourage you to. Read it here, or a modern translation here. And go to Washington D.C. and see it with your own eyes (here's a substitute if you can't get there soon). It's your document. It's moving to see.

If you read it, you will know more about the Constitution than the President*. But you probably already do know more. You know that our forefathers created three branches of government which are co-equal. Each branch is equal in power to each of other branches. And guess what is the super best part? WE THE PEOPLE get to say who inhabits each of those branches.

The United States Congress possesses constitutional duties of oversight and investigation. Refer to your document, Article 1, Section 1: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” ALL legislative powers. ALL. Article 1 of your document goes on to enumerate the various powers Congress possesses, and it's a lot.

But 45 is flouting Congress's duties outright, refusing to comply with any request or subpoena in Congress's follow-up investigations to Robert Mueller's report. IMPOTUS has asserted executive privilege, although he waived that privilege long ago by cooperating, and allowing his minions to cooperate, with Robert Mueller, who was mandated to investigate the Executive Branch.

As Andy Borowitz reports, in another satire-is-just-too-close-to-reality piece, the framers of the Constitution have been very unfair to Donny Boy. And he's acting out to repair the unfairness of it all.

Obstructive behaviors have been rampant:

• SCROTUS has said outright, "We’re fighting all the subpoenas.” 
• Attorney General Bill Barr was a no-show to a House judicial hearing and refused to turn over the full unreacted Mueller report, and the House was forced to hold him in contempt.
• Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin is refusing to turn over 45's tax returns to Congress, despite a subpoena and despite a very clear and simple 1924 law that states that the Secretary of the Treasury "shall furnish" any tax return that Congress requests.
• Former White House Counsel Don McGahn said he will also refuse a subpoena to provide documents to Congress and is facing a contempt charge.
• Donny Junior was subpoenaed by the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee, causing a rift within the party. Donny has not yet decided whether to comply. 
• In all, Benedict Donald and his allies are blocking 20 investigations.

The Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch are in a stalemate. Congress doesn't have many more tools, but we may yet have hope. Their requests and subpoenas are being ignored, but they still have powerful options to try before turning to the courts. The pressure to impeach is growing. Speaker Pelosi has been circumspect about the option, but with the growing acts of obstruction, it is being talked about more. It must be done. We must pressure our Republican members of Congress to join the movement, to restore our government to stasis.

Congress should also consider using their power of inherent contempt. Congress has the power to assess fines and to make arrests. That power has not been used in nearly a century. A simple contempt charge like the one given to A.G. William Barr don't have much teeth, especially given that the Executive Branch is in charge of enforcing such charges. But thanks to old laws, Congress can send its Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest those who scorn their contempt charges. Here's a great analysis of Congress's next steps, including inherent contempt, from Politico.

If Congress chooses not to impeach or arrest, all of these refusals will go to the third branch of government, the Judicial Branch, and may be hung up there for months and years.

Which brings me to the constitutional crisis part of this whole thing. The Judicial Branch may be the last hope to bring resolution to this stalemate. But I fear that the courts are becoming a place that is becoming less a co-equal branch of government than an extension of the Executive Branch. This was the basis for much of my anxiety this week.

IQ45 has worked feverishly -- and under the radar while the nation stomps out other fires from his willy-nilly match-throwing -- to stack the federal courts with "his" judges. I want want want to have faith in the court system, but my faith is slipping.

Last week the Federal court system saw his 100th confirmation of a conservative judge. While overall, this pace matches his recent predecessors, the difference is that most of SCROTUS's appointments have been in appellate courts. The appellate courts are powerful, just behind the Supreme Court, to which of course Red Don has appointed two Justices already (please, please, please, Ruth, hang in there!).

Just yesterday, TЯUMP pushed to limit judges' powers on declaring nationwide injunctions in their decisions. This is quite sobering. He is looking to LIMIT JUDGES' POWERS. Let that sink in.

Agent Orange has thought about the Judicial Branch in myriad ways, true to the maelstrom of his fucked-up "understanding" of our government and its various powers. It depends on his needs at the time, or the decision he recieved, whether he displays disdain or respect for the courts.

The Fanta Menace has long been disdainful of the Judicial Branch, even before he ran for president. He has disparaged individual judges, such as U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a judge with Mexican heritage, who presided over a Trump University case. Baby Fingers asserted Judge Curiel would not be fair because of his Mexican heritage.

TЯUMP has ranted about the Ninth District Court over and over when they ruled against some of his executive orders. You can read more of his attacks on the Judicial Branch from the Brennan Center or from the Washington Post.

On the other hand, he has blatantly invoked the Supereme Court, counting on the court to bail him out in case of impeachment:

The Mueller Report, despite being written by Angry Democrats and Trump Haters, and with unlimited money behind it ($35,000,000), didn’t lay a glove on me. I DID NOTHING WRONG. If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019

He seems to think that the Supreme Court is "his" court, just as he believes the Attorney General is "his" personal attorney. Will the conservative-leaning court be able to stay impartial as a third body of checks and balances? What if he has the opportunity to place another Justice?  With his appointments of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, it's looking like a good ol' boys club. It's scary stuff.

The Demander-in-Chief has often implied that "Republican" judges are more friendly than "Democrat" judges, and one whine about an "Obama judge" who ruled against his asylum policy prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to issue an unprecedented rebuke, stating "We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for."

And this is where my hope is renewed. Wise words from wise judges. Our last great hope for the preservation of our government is in the courts. Our sage forefathers gave us a powerful system of checks and balances, and this is the greatest test that it has ever seen. We must place our faith in the truth that our judges and Justices are indeed impartial arbiters of the law and can deftly separate their own political biases from their lawful decisions. Our country cannot be so divided that our most impartial citizens, elevated to benches across our great nation, fall into the divide.

Indeed, many other judges and attorneys have rebuked Prima Donald's fantastical assertions.

Judge Carlton Reeves of the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, had strong words. He said:

"When politicians attack courts as 'dangerous,' 'political,' and guilty of 'egregious overreach,' you can hear the Klan’s lawyers, assailing officers of the court across the South. When leaders chastise people for merely 'us[ing] the courts,' you can hear the Citizens Council, hammering up the names of black petitioners in Yazoo City, [Mississippi].... When the powerful accuse courts of 'open[ing] up our country to potential terrorists,' you can hear the Southern Manifesto’s authors, smearing the judiciary for simply upholding the rights of black folk. When lawmakers say 'we should get rid of judges,' you can hear segregationist senators, writing bills to strip courts of their power."

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, age 99, also issued a rebuke in recent days. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (read on CNN if you don't subscribe to the WSJ) worried that, "The President is exercising powers that do not really belong to him....I mean, he has to comply with subpoenas and things like that."

More than 800 (!!) Federal prosecutors across the country, who served under both Republican and Democrat presidents, signed a letter stating that if 45 were a private citizen, there would be no doubt that he would be charged with obstruction of justice. The letter states plainly,  "Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice."

Just this morning, the Los Angeles Times reported that many conservative attorneys are also adding their voice to the alarm, calling for impeachment. The group includes odious and very conservative John Yoo, who wrote a memo advocating for torture during the Bush II years. The group also includes conservative attorney George Conway, a frequent and loud voice in the resistance, and husband to Twitler mouthpiece Kelly Anne Conway.

SCROTUS debases all that he touches, but we can't let him debase the courts any longer. He may believe that the Supreme Court is "his" watchdog, but our Constitution says differently. We must have faith that our judges and attorneys take their oaths seriously and work for the interests of the nation. Chief Justice John Roberts has a huge responsibility in keeping the Supreme Court impartial, and working to restore Americans' faith in the Court. If we don't have the Judicial Branch at this point, we don't have .....anything.



Let's not let our fear and anxiety paralyze us. Keep working out there! Contact your Members of Congress, contact leaders of Congressional committees, write letters to the editor (Resistbot can help with all that). March in the streets, make art, support our free press. You know, #RESIST!





Aside: if you are at all like me, you have been learning a lot about our government during the last two-and-a-half years. Here are some links if you thirst for more knowledge.

Reuters explains about Congressional subpoenas and contempt citations.

The National Constitution Center, a non-profit Constitutional museum in Philadephia, explains more about inherent contempt.