Government by Blurt (to Utter Impulsively)

Our president wakes, wanders into the Liberace Office, and those in attendance spend their day cleaning up, where he randomly (and metaphorically) shits on the American constitutional carpet.

That’s a disrespectful comment, but this is the first American president to be disrespected worldwide. He blurts out rules (because we have allowed him to rule) by whatever expression of praise and admiration has been whispered into his ear, whether it be a billionaire sycophant, his venomous advisor Stephen Miller, or the president of Russia.

If he is a danger to the nation and the world, it is not because of his politics, it’s because his policies are delivered by blurt, without either advice, consultation with experts in government bureaus, or reflection.

The internet, and its unique ability to respond equally, without those same shortcomings, is a lightning fast enabler.

It’s not only time that marches on, but technology strides way out in front, flying the banners of radical response. I almost made the error of typing ‘radical thought,’ but it’s not…it’s far more knee-jerk and self serving than that.

We, as a nation, have lived with that circumstance relatively successfully, because we were blessed with leaders who, agree with them or not, were responsive and responsible to the rules of law and processes of governance. They seldom pleased every voter, but we knew what we had.

And, far more importantly, knew it was balanced by the levers of a tripartite republic—legislative, executive, and judicial.

But our Founders, no matter our respect and gratitude for their heavy lifting, left one principal requirement unanswered: Enforcement.

Because the Founders were gentlemen (sorry ladies, but you would not get the vote until 144 years later, and my mother was among the first of those), they presumed that the laws, as laid out by the Congress and the Constitution, would be followed. And they were, for 241 years, until challenged by a criminal president.

Actually, I jumped a bit to that conclusion. There was one miscreant before him, but only on a single issue. President Andrew Jackson famously defied an 1832 Supreme Court decision which ruled that Georgia state laws did not apply to Cherokee lands. He is credited with saying, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it,“ and successfully refused to implement the ruling.

Consider enforcement issues under President Trump.

House investigations (first term):

· 110 formal oversight actions (subpoenas, document requests, testimony demands)

· 85–90 met with refusal, non-production, or litigation delay.

· Minimal civil enforcement success, largely mooted either by elections or executive privilege claims.

Second term: Congressional oversight is significantly weaker due to institutional capture (both Congress & Supreme Court) and litigation delays; numbers are still emerging, but non-compliance posture remains unchanged.

· 85–90 congressional oversight actions ignored or obstructed in first year.

There is little left to say, except that the mid-term elections next November will decide all House of Representative seats, and one third of the Senate.

It’s somewhat of a boulder in the road that 95% of all incumbents of both parties are historically retained. That is simply due to laziness and disinterest on the part of an all-too-comfortable electorate.

Unfortunately, another speed-bump exists in that, historically, midterm turnout is about 40% of eligible voters, significantly below the 60–65% seen in presidential elections. Most likely, the Founders (with the exception of a properly doubting Ben Franklin) failed to reckon with an electorate so casually turning its back on the republic they had so painstakingly created.

Shame on us, but facts are facts, unless they fall into the current vogue of ‘alternative facts.’

Sleep well, your government is working tirelessly on your behalf.

Someday soon, if all goes well, and the river don’t rise, it will once again work on your be-whole.