Crisis has extended beyond Constitution

With Trump’s threats to send the National Guard into Chicago, we have moved past the stage of doubt about a “possible constitutional crisis”; what we are facing is a coup. He has replaced our constitutional form of government with a totalitarian dictatorship. And he has done it not by force or threat of force, but by the shameful complaisance of Congress.

It is Congress that has the constitutional authority to make laws; the President’s job is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” and his oath of office is to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and … to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” No one can pretend that he is trying to do either, when he claims it is within his authority to send federalized state troops into another state to enforce local law in accordance with his preference as to how that should be done.

His is a clear violation of the “Posse comitatus Act,” and crosses the line dividing the powers granted to the government from those “reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” — in other words, the most fundamental basis for the formation of the “United States.”

It is now unequivocally clear that compliance with law and the Constitution is no longer a criterion for Government service: only personal loyalty to Trump. This is the unmistakable mark of despotism.

In advance of taking office, Mr. Trump promised to be a dictator on Day One; it is now clear that he has no intention of stopping. His administration has thrown away any claim to legitimacy as a democratically elected government; it must be removed by impeachment.

Steven Gruenwald

Schaumburg