When people ask me, “How are you?” I answer, “Dazed, confused, and prone to wandering.” This flippant response is a way to avoid the common but meaningless “Fine” with a similarly unserious but likely humorous rejoinder. Unfortunately, as I read supposedly serious discussions by left-leaning legal scholars, my confusion turns to bewilderment. Today’s case in point is “,” by Neil H. Buchanan.
At its beginning, the title makes the essay seem like a serious thought experiment worthy of consideration. But for a thought experiment to have meaning, it must begin with facts. Anything else is an exercise in magical thinking, perhaps fit for a science fiction or fantasy novel. Buchanan begins with, “There is no escaping the fact that the United States is now being wrenched into a new reality that replaces the rule of law and democratic accountability with a naked version of autocratic rule.” With “facts” like that, who needs logic? Simply declare it to be so, and it will be!
The rule of law requires that there be a law that must be followed. Trump 45 established a pattern. He attempted to do something that made sense to him and his attorneys. Lefty plaintiffs rushed into the nearest Democrat judge (Yes, John Roberts, there are Democrat judges) and got a restraining order. So, Trump appealed or modified his action to answer the complaint. Ultimately, he won virtually every case that went to court. Even his “insurrection,” J6, and Mar-a-Lago indictments ran aground and fell apart when examined closely. We may be confident that the Georgia and three New York cases are similar houses of cards.
Trump 47 has been sued several times already, all based in one way or another on the actions of DOGE. And he has already stated that he will do whatever the courts tell him to do, just as he did in his first term. Trump will almost certainly win all the cases. The key is Article II, § 1, Sentence 1. “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”
Put bluntly, while the President is to “take care that the Laws be faithfully executed” (§ 3), he’s the ultimate authority over the Executive Branch. The Treasury is in the Executive Branch, so he’s the boss. If he sends someone to sort out where the money went, that’s his business, and no judge has jurisdiction to tell him “No.”
Congress wrote laws that said that confidential personal information cannot be revealed, but there’s no evidence that any was exposed. Of course, some IRS employee leaked Trump’s tax returns to the New York Slimes, but that had to be “within the rule of law” to use Buchanan’s language.
“…the new lawlessness is turning out in its particulars to be scarier than even my worst fears, especially in the speed with which the federal government is being dismantled,” wrote Buchanan.
One must wonder if Buchanan had looked at the list of things that USAID did. Had he seen the millions of dollars of food relief for Syrian refugees that was actually sent to designated terrorist organizations? I didn’t think so. His bubble can’t be penetrated by the $59 million diverted by FEMA from Hurricane Helene relief to pay for housing illegal aliens in New York.But the core of the argument revolves around the central law that governs the US. That’s the US Constitution.
In our constitutional structure, the President is ultimately limited by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Of particular interest is the fact that Congress has to authorize federal spending. But Joe Biden (does anyone remember him?) happily forgave student loans with money no one had authorized. The Court slapped him down. Did he stop? No! He kept on in utter defiance.
Biden went full Jacksonian on America. Translating Jackson’s early American English for today, he roughly said, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” Or in the more familiar vernacular, “Make me!” Do we have to ask who was more law-abiding? Didn’t think so.
Before we finish, we must consider a headline in the middle of Buchanan’s screed. “Prospects for Stopping or Slowing the Slide Toward Totalitarianism.”
That last word is important. Roughly translated it means, “Do as I say or you’ll very seriously regret it.” That’s what’s going on under Putin in Russia. Just ask Alexei Navalny or his wife. Oops. They’re dead. They are just two of a long list of opponents who suffered from Arkancide (Russian style).
What has Trump done to deserve such a slander? He has unleashed a group of sleuths who have revealed that up to a third of our federal expenditures (it’s not a budget) have been diverted to support leftist purposes. That massive fraud on the taxpayer is almost certain to lead to a change of address and loss of WiFi for some participants.
On the other hand, leftist prosecutors, FBI higher-ups, and judges kept people who had done nothing more criminal than walk between the velvet ropes in the Capital in prison for four years without trial. Those are acts of totalitarians.
A psychosis is defined by the presence of a major defect in reality testing. Let’s listen to Buchanan to identify whether he is psychotic.
“All of this means that there will be loads and loads of very bad news over the coming weeks, months, and most likely years. Much of the gratuitous harm that Trump will inflict is going to be irreversible, as people die unnecessarily from diseases and disasters that the government will no longer contain (and might even make worse), all while many people’s livelihoods will be ruined…
“Trump’s time on this planet is quite limited (given … his already evident mental decline, and his poor health)…”
We have medication to help with those voices…
