We currently have elected officials who are willing to ignore the rule of law in order to maintain the power their party enjoys; or even more frightening, they are afraid to incur the wrath of the president.
President Trump "reportedly told Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan that he would grant him a presidential pardon for breaking immigration law. Trump specifically reassured McAleenan that he can count on a pardon if he is arrested and convicted of denying lawful asylum seekers entry into the country." (Robert Reich)
Such behavior has to be an impeachable offense, but our elected officials are remaining silent. And what is worse, the media and the citizenry have become desensitized to this sort of attack on the rule of law. We have been bombarded for two years with presidential behavior no one could have predicted.
The sad fact is we have a president who has no respect for the rule of law or the constitution. Within the past few days, the President of the United States tweeted: " We have the worst laws of any country in the world." Let that sink in for a minute. Perhaps they are the "worst laws" because Mr. Trump so frequently finds himself in conflict with them. Since Congres has requested Mr. Trump's tax returns from the Treasury Department, the Secretary, after consulting with the White House, is refusing to turn them over as required by law -- that must be one of the "worst" laws.
And lest we forget, in the early hours of his presidency Trump shared in the Oval Office secret information with Russian officials. I think there is a law against that sort of behavior.
Our elected officials cannot continue to ignore this president's attack on our country's laws.
Over and above the rule of law, our country subscribes to the rule of decency. Consider for a moment how often Mr. Trump has violated our sense of decency. At the present time, it appears that the White House, influenced by Stephen Miller, is about to reintroduce the policy of separating children from parents seeking asylum.
History has recorded the Japenese internment during World War II as a low point in our history, but at least in those days, we did not separate the children from their parents.And finally, there is the rule of common sense. Just recently, our president has told us the wind power causes cancer, and that the US if full -- I guess in that case, the government should start dispensing birth control pills.
When will elected officials demonstrate the courage to reinstate the rule of law, the rule of decency and the rule of common sense? Hopefully, sooner rather than later.
