The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
The federal court system has been deluged with cases alleging that President Trump has defied the Constitution on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, in his second inauguration on January 20 of this year, Mr. Trump swore that he would uphold the Constitution, which is the bedrock of American jurisprudence.
At this point in his second term, Trump has issued the greatest number of executive orders of any other president during a similar time period. Nearly all reputable legal scholars have insisted that some of these dictates are clearly anti-constitutional, and others may be beyond constitutionality. Some of the president’s actions may be within the bounds of the Constitution, but they obviously are intended to move all federal governmental power to the White House, and many have already succeeded in doing that.
As has frequently been observed, the wheels of justice grind slowly. With the plethora of cases before our court system, will enough decisions be made quickly enough to divert the tides of autocracy?
It is conceivable that Congress may reverse some of the executive orders the president has promulgated, For that to occur, though, at least a handful of Republicans in both houses must join with the totally united Democrats to render some of these unprecedented executive orders null and void. Even if that should happen, there is no guarantee the president will acknowledge or accept the rebuke.
Tomorrow millions of Americans will join in hundreds of presumably peaceful demonstrations throughout the country. Will their efforts have any effect on Donald Trump? The predicted numbers of demonstrators may be encouraging to the participants, but will they assist in changing the ominous direction in which we seem to be headed?
I close with the words of Emily Dickinson:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
Never give up hope.
John Miller is the retired pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC.
More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.