As I write this, the White House is refusing to cooperate with an impeachment investigation. Allegedly, the President used the force and weight of the United States…to help find dirt on a prospective 2020 election opponent, Joe Biden.
The calculus is thus:
- The House has the votes to impeach him.
- In the senate, 20 non-Democrats need to vote to remove him from office.
- There’s ZERO evidence that even if ‘removed’ from office, Trump would actually leave. He does, after all, command the military.
- The courts are impotent to actually DO anything, since they rely upon the Executive to…execute.
It seems we’re heading for a constitutional crisis here in America, since the founders never imagined:
- A truly BAD ACTOR would get elected, having gone through a campaign and the electoral college.
- The Legislature would have NOT THE WILL to vote to remove him upon reasonable evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors
- The general population would be SO APATHETIC to not care about this and watch Football.
The historian in me sees Rome in this, of course, and I’d like to posit 3 Facts.
Fact 1: We’re already in an Imperial State.
Think about it. The “Legislative” branch does precious little legislation these days. What does get passed is little more than presence. Governance rests wholly with the Executive, via his internal loci of powers, the Executive Order and the various federal agencies like Homeland Security. Externally, he commands the most powerful military not he globe, bar none. He has unlimited nuclear authority (see Issue 1. We thought of Eisenhower when we gave the ’nuclear football’ to a guy, not Trump).
Fact 2: We’ve been there since Franklin D. Roosevelt
In a real sense, functioning US government didn’t survive the 1930’s. With the Great Depression, society started to unravel and people lost hope. With FDR’s election in 1932, hope returned…and the executive power increased. The New Deal got the rubber stamp of the legislature, true, but short of Court Packing, FDR got whatever he wanted.
And did he cede the Imperium…er…the Presidency after the customary two terms established by Washington?
No, he did not. The country needed him.
Who said that? Augustus Caesar. The Senate insisted that he retain the imperium. He reluctantly agreed, but only wanted to be called “The First Citizen”
This was balderdash, of course. Caesar Augustus wanted unlimited power, and he got it. He defeated Marc Antony and killed Julius Caesar’s offspring via Cleopatra to make sure he retained it. He had the mouth of a statesman and the ruthless efficiency of a King.
FDR was president until he died. Think about that for a moment.
The Cold War provided a veneer that the President wasn’t an Imperial Emperor. He had to operate within the confines of the branches, and we were better than those Godless Commies, surely. Ike was nice. Kennedy was handsome. LBJ bowed out gracefully.
Heck, we kicked Nixon out, didn’t we?
No, we didn’t. He resigned. There’s ZERO evidence an impeachment and trial in the Senate would’ve led to removal.
The constitutional mechanism….HAS NEVER WORKED.
Fact 3: We’re fine with that
We dislike Congress.
We find the process and rules associated slow, indirect, and rarely aligned with “what we all really think.” We relish the directness of a demagogue who talks directly to us and rules with Alpha-male swagger and (yes) relishes in his power. Just like Augustus did.
So, we elect a King every 4 years, just like Russia does. We want to give him unchecked power. This makes our lives easier, because we need not care about the minute of running a nation. WE don’t need to do it. Other people do it for us.
The 21st century will be the century of the Hegemon, of the Strongman. We’re just now realizing (too late) that that apotheosis began 88 years ago.
For what it’s worth, I hope I’m wrong. But when this all fizzles out and the President retains unchecked power, make no mistake: This is no longer a nation as envisioned by the Founders. It is an Imperium.