ARTICLE AD BOX
"Trump’s administration has quickly moved beyond normal policy disputes into the realm of constitutional crisis. His claim of authority to override courts, ignore Congress, and rule by decree presents Americans with a stark choice: They can defend their constitutional system, with all its frustrating checks and balances, or they can embrace an authoritarian leader who promises to impose their preferred policies by force.
"The former path preserves liberty, even when policies disappoint. The latter leads, inevitably, to tyranny. Those who think Trump’s authoritarianism serves conservative ends should remember that power, once unleashed, outlives its wielder. The precedent Trump seeks to set would be available to every future President — including those with very different ideological aims.
"America’s founders created a system of checks and balances precisely to prevent the concentration of power they had fled in Europe. They knew that liberty depends not on the character of individual leaders, but on binding all leaders within constitutional constraints.
"That system now faces its greatest test since the Civil War."
~ Roger Partridge from his op-ed 'Trump’s War on Constitutional Democracy'
UPDATE: James Allan, a colleague of Roger Partridge's and a former Otago law professor —and normally one of the good guys — pushes back against Partridge's column. "Silly," he calls it. "Sensible," I would have said.
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English (US) ·