"Let's See Them Enforce It"

When the Founders of our country set up a system of checks and balances, the idea was that the President would “execute” what Congress decided. And that worked swimmingly with the first six presidents. Then Andrew Jackson was elected.

Just a short background on Jackson. In 1814, in order to win the battle of New Orleans, Maj. Gen. Jackson declared New Orleans under martial law. “In doing so, he achieved both a great victory and the notoriety of being the first American general to ever suspend civil liberties in America.” (CCSU) This introduced the age-old controversy over if, when, and who should be able to subvert the Constitution during times of national emergency. (CCSU)

After his victory, though, Jackson refused to lift martial law for months afterward. When a Louisiana State Senator expressed his concern in a newspaper article, Jackson had him arrested. A U.S. District Court Judge demanded that the senator be charged or released. Not only did Jackson refuse, but he had the judge jailed then banished from the city. (NPS.gov)

You get the idea. I’ve gotta say that something about this sounds familiar.

When Jackson became President, he had the idea that he, not Congress, should be in control of the government. “To get it, he did something unprecedented: firing dozens of high-ranking government employees appointed by his predecessors — including 13 district attorneys — and replacing them with hard-core Jackson supporters.” (Byker)

Again. Familiar.

In office, he decided to seize Cherokee lands in Georgia, where gold had been found, and sought to remove the Native Americans. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the rights of the Native Americans. In response to the ruling, Jackson allegedly said, “[Justice] John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” (NCPH) Jackson went ahead and forced the relocation of Native Americans that resulted in The Trail of Tears and approximately 15,000 Cherokee deaths. It’s an unbelievable irony that the Native Americans lost their rights to an imperial president when they were literally here first.

Zip ahead about 194 years, and we’re witnessing another president who thinks he can do what he wants. On his first day in office, #47 signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. Opponents quickly sued, arguing that “the executive order went against the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, which makes anyone born in the country a citizen, with very limited exceptions.” (AP)

In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order. I could imagine Trump up in the late hours of the night on (Un)TruthSocial typing something like “[Justice] John Roberts has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Like Jackson, Trump believes he is the sole source of government power. Checks are just what he has for breakfast.* So he has signed a new executive order to restrict the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. “In this version, he seeks to expand the definitions ​of children who would not be able to receive birthright ​citizenship.” (Guardian) It’s the same executive order with new packaging.

When in doubt, let’s throw more outlier possibilities into the mix. For instance, “Children of parents tied to groups that are deemed terrorist organizations, like Antifa or Tren de Aragua, are also excluded.” (AP) I suppose that sounds reasonable, but I still don’t even know who Antifa is other than some vague group out there to blame for Jan. 6. I guess I’d just ask a couple of obvious questions. If you know who these terrorist parents are, why hasn’t ICE picked them up and deported them by now? Or how do you know they are even terrorists? It’s not as if there’s a membership list that terrorists are sharing.

And it’s not just the birthright citizenship issue. The point is that we have another imperial president who wants his way and refuses to abide by the system we agreed to in 1788. We survived Andrew Jackson, and constitutional checks and balances were once again effective.

Then came Richard Nixon, who also believed that he was the sole source of government power. And he had an “enemies list.” According to a memo from John Dean, its purpose was to use the powers of the federal government to “screw them” through IRS audits, Department of Justice prosecution, and withholding federal grants and contracts. (Dean Memo) (Again, familiar?) And after that botched Watergate burglary, this behavior was enough to bring down a president. At that time, there were enough Republicans who stood up for the rule of law to cause Nixon’s resignation.

But we don’t live in those times.

Donald Trump is also withholding federal grants and contracts, using IRS audits, and using Department of Justice prosecution against his political enemies. “In the first 15 months since Trump returned to the White House, district court judges ruled the administration was violating an order in at least 31 lawsuits over a wide range of issues, including mass layoffs, deportations, spending cuts and immigration practices, the AP’s review found. That’s about one out of every eight lawsuits in which courts have at least temporarily blocked the administration’s actions.” (Guardian)

Vice President Vance said, “If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.” (AP News) Sad but true. During Nixon’s administration, Republicans in Congress believed in the system of checks and balances in our Constitution. The REPUBLICAN leadership told Nixon he could either resign due to his abuse of power or be certain to be impeached. Can you imagine leadership like that? One that might choose what’s right over keeping power?

Where is that Republican leadership now? Where is the system of checks and balances? We cannot rely on Congress. Or the Department of Justice. Or a Supreme Court that has stated its latest check against a president to whom they also gave broad immunity.

The last time I checked, the citizens of this country believed in the Constitution. What we have is another imperial president who seems to be daring his citizens, “Let’s see you enforce it.” Well … November is coming.

*Yeah, the cereal is spelled Chex, but I liked the double meaning.

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