As a long time student of history, I am aware of the damage that bad leaders can inflict on nations - e.g., Russia has suffered for nearly a century under failed Communist leaders and now Vladimir Putin - often without the populace comprehending the impending disaster. With the prospect of Donald Trump possibly winning the presidential election, it is timely to look at what a horrific president could do to America and the civil rights of its citizens. Many Republicans foolishly believe that the courts and Congress would be able to rein in Trump's worse excesses, much as too many Germans believed could be done with Hitler. We all know how wrong the latter proved to be and the terrible consequences for Germany and the world. An editorial in the
Washington Post looks at the dangers of a Trump presidency. Here are highlights:
A PRESIDENT
TRUMP could alter the face of this country and its role in the world, in many
cases with Congress and the courts having little power to check him. In a
series of editorials over the past several days, we have described the vast
reach of executive power in areas where Mr. Trump has made his intentions
clear. He could, in fact, unilaterally order mass deportations, resume
torturing detainees, undo the preservation of natural treasures and tear up
long-standing trade agreements.
But we should be clear: The scope of the damage a
President Trump could do cannot be fully predicted or imagined. His candidacy
forces us to confront the extent to which democracy depends on leaders adhering
to a set of norms and traditions — civic virtues, to be old-fashioned about it.
Mr. Trump has made clear his contempt for those virtues, norms and traditions:
He despises the press, threatens his enemies, bullies the judiciary, disparages
entire religions and nations, makes no distinction between his personal
interest and the public good, hides information that should be revealed and
routinely trades in falsehoods. Handed the immense powers of the presidency,
what could such a man do? The honest answer: No one can be sure.
[T]he
Brookings Institution’s Benjamin Wittes explained why checks and balances
cannot be counted on to protect the nation from an elected leader with contempt
for democracy. “Ultimately, the entire executive branch is corruptible by one
person because constitutionally, the executive branch is one person,” Mr.
Wittes wrote
on the Lawfare blog. “Everyone else is just his arms, hands, and fingers. That
means that over time, the executive branch under Donald Trump becomes Donald
Trump.”
Given
Mr. Trump’s quickness to take offense and lack of impulse control, it is
natural to focus on the most extreme possibilities; the president, after all,
has authority to order everything from drone strikes to changes in U.S.
surveillance policy to nuclear attack.
But
more prosaic powers also present grave dangers. U.S. prosecutors have enormous
discretion to investigate, or not investigate, and Mr. Trump would appoint his
attorney general and a raft of new U.S. attorneys. These have to be confirmed
by the Senate; but if you take comfort in that, simply imagine a
Gov. Chris “Bridgegate” Christie at the Justice Department, or a Newt
Gingrich — who, in Mr. Trump’s thrall, has
advocated expelling any American who believes in sharia law — as
homeland security secretary.
When
he learned during primary season that a wealthy Chicago family was contributing
to his opponent, he tweeted, “They better
be careful, they have a lot to hide!” While many people remember
Mr. Trump’s disparaging the Mexican heritage of the federal judge
overseeing a Trump University fraud case, how many recall the implicit threat
against him? “I’ll be seeing you in November,” Mr. Trump said in May.
Yes,
Congress has the power to remove a president who ignores the law. But given the
easy GOP capitulation to such an obviously unfit candidate, how far would Mr. Trump
have to go for a likely Republican House to impeach him? How much damage would
he have to do?
The
nation should not subject itself to such a risk.
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