Silly me. I thought we had separation of powers.

Silly me. I thought we had separation of powers.

Silly me. I was taught in school that there is this thing called “separation of powers” among the three branches of the federal government: The Executive (President), the Legislative (Congress) and the Judiciary (Courts). Congress legislates (i.e.: creates departments and funds the government), the President executes the laws.

But geez, it seems we were wrong! Did you know that any President can rescind a program already funded as long as the majority of Congress says “never mind, we really didn’t mean it when we created that program or funded that initiative”? Think about that. Ultimately the President that has a near unanimous group of lackeys in Congress that agree with him on every whim can overturn any otherwise legally binding contractual appropriation of funds that were entered into before he came into office.

But hey, it’s been done before. Plenty of times. Clinton did it. So it must be okay, right? Well, no. This is just another incident – of many, many – of this President identifying weak spots and fault lines in the American democratic system and exploiting them all at the same time to exert a new-found Executive branch style, the new Imperial Presidency.

As long as this President has a complicit Congress and Supreme Court, the power of this Imperial President will only grow. And, it will culminate in him identifying weak spots and fault lines in the election process to ensure his party stays in power by winning elections in 2026 and 2028. Key examples of what’s to come:

[1] Erasing voters from voting rolls;

[2] Limiting voting locations and times of operation of polls;

[3] Extreme gerrymandering (drawing congressional districts to ensure perpetuity of his majority);

[4] Propaganda messaging with endless money; and,

[5] Instilling confusion, fear and hopelessness in communities that may vote against them.

Be on the lookout for these intentional dubious efforts. This is what we are up against. Of course we can (non-violently) fight these in the streets, the legal system, and the court of public opinion. And so we shall. 

Silence nor passivity – and much less complicity – are options. Onwards.