Broke Down
“If we do not maintain justice, justice will not maintain us.” - Francis Bacon
I have grown weary of all the heady discussions about what the founders intended when they wrote the U.S. Constitution. Their intentions don’t matter a damn bit if they are not acted upon by citizens who are at least semi-sane, and that is not happening. We are coming undone, stricken with our own stupidity and inability to stop the hijacking of our government, which is transpiring in front of our eyes while we sit in front of the TV and computers with Cheetos on our fingertips and beer on our breath. Our “checks” are out of “balance.” The imperial presidency is putting its boot up our American asses and we’re as accepting of it as though we were getting a high colonic.
Pundits and actual humans are worrying about a possible “constitutional crisis.” Hilariously, it has already arrived, and citizens have taken little note. Our system of government and the rule of law have been broken worse and more times than Trump’s marriage vows. The cons are being cut loose by the Department of Injustice and President Musk’s assistant, Trump. Anyone who was conducting investigations for the federal government and trying to do their jobs is suddenly on the verge of being prosecuted for upholding the law. Even worse, court orders by federal judges are being ignored by the Musk administration and there appears to be no mechanism to enforce the law.
Too many Americans don’t know how their government works but they can tell you the names of Kardashian children. Hell, we had a Q-Anon vigil in Dallas where hundreds of people, (and I use that term advisedly), waited for a week with signs welcoming the undead president JFK to return with his undead son and lead the U.S. back to greatness, greatness being a squishy relative concept in the year 2025. Maybe the profound flaw in our democratic republic is that we allow Q-Anon nutters to vote. I remember some babble about chains only being as strong as their weakest links. How much weaker can we get than an upright citizen explaining how Abraham Lincoln was a direct descendent of Jesus Christ along with JFK and his son JFK Jr., and, of course, President Musk’s assistant Donald Trump. Maybe that’s why when so many people see or hear Trump they can only say, “Jesus Christ!” Unfortunately for us Americans, there is apparently a conspiracy, according to Q-Anon, to wipe out Jesus’ bloodline and that’s why the two famed Kennedys had to go into hiding for decades to await their scheduled return to Dallas and the site of the assassination.
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Oh dear gawd, please watch the above TikTok video interview.
These are some of the people to whom we’ve entrusted democracy in these United States. How do we explain to the great “undead” that federal court orders are being denied and ignored by the White House? Is Civics 101 still taught in public schools in this country? Do more than one percent of the students pass the course? Judge John J. McConnell of Rhode Island seems to know the mechanisms of our government and said that the Musk administration is defying his court’s order to release billions of dollars in federal grants, which is what congress, in its attempt at wisdom, appropriated for various programs. McConnell issued his ruling on January 29th and said on Monday of this past week that it has been ignored. Musk’s Vice President, J.D. Vance, claimed publicly that the court has no authority to intervene, which is absurd since that is the very reason for the court’s existence.
“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation,” he said, “That would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
There is nothing at all legitimate about Musk’s power as president, nor can his assistant Trump issue executive orders shutting down cash disbursements to federal programs that were legally funded by congress. The “power of the purse” belongs to congress, not Musk nor Trump. Ten federal courts rejected or temporarily halted the Musk administration from turning off the flow of money for projects like medical research and USAID grants or overturning birthright citizenship. Dozens more lawsuits are pending. Vance is telegraphing the idea that the Musk White House will be justified in ignoring federal court orders even though the Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that it was a “basic proposition that all orders and judgments of courts must be complied with promptly.”
What’s supposed to happen isn’t happening, which has been the theme of American government and politics since the golden stairway descent and the subsequent rumors of golden showers. If the court’s order has not been complied with, Judge McConnell can hold a contempt hearing and issue a contempt order. That ruling could detail steps to be taken by the defendant that, if accomplished, could circumvent the charge of contempt. If not, the court tends to issue a bench warrant to have the violator of the court order arrested. If Judge McConnell made that move against President Musk, his warrant would be dispatched to the Department of What Used to Be Justice. Normally, U.S. Marshals would then be sent out to make the arrest. Unfortunately, the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is a Trump sycophant who would never order marshals to arrest Trump’s boss, President Musk.
President Musk’s son X tells Assistant Trump to “Shush his mouth” and “Go away.”
Guess where that leaves us. Hopefully, you don’t have to guess and you realize that is a signifier of a broken government and the first manifestation of a constitutional crisis. When the courts are ignored the law becomes irrelevant and aspirant dictators can do as they please. Of course, if you are poor or black or brown and have no money and steal a sandwich, you’ll probably get life on Riker’s Island, but if you have nice suits, bright ties, and a spray-painted countenance, the law is just one more book you’ve never read. The collapse of our legal system, in fact, had an historic moment earlier this week when New York Mayor Eric Adams rolled over for Trump and Homeland Security in exchange for dropping indictments against him that included sweeping allegations of corruption alleging bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions.
Adams got his freedom by trading for the freedom of immigrants. According to federal prosecutors, he made a deal with ICE to facilitate the arrest of undocumented workers in New York City and that he would provide the federal government with access to Riker’s Island to use as a staging point and detention facility. Adams’ attorneys reportedly offered his cooperation if the charges were dropped, which is what happened. Although they denied there was a quid pro quo offered, the terms of the illegal agreement were verified in an interview on FOX News? (pick your own descriptive since news doesn’t work) with Border Czar John Homan, who made clear he expected cooperation from a man he had formerly ridiculed for operating a sanctuary city.
"If he doesn’t come through,” Homan said, "I'll be back in New York City and we won't be sitting on the couch. I'll be in his office, up his butt saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?’”
What’s more American and mob-like than a member of the president’s cabinet threatening a duly elected officeholder of the nation’s largest city? The only difference between the mafioso and the Musk administration is that the Mafia is considerably more discreet while Trump and his boss Musk fear no one and are making no attempts to hide their crimes.
(BTW, Trump appears to have so many czars he might need someone to manage them. Maybe a Czar Czar. It would also be helpful if his last name was Binks.)
People who believe in the law, which, used to be most Americans, and, you know, lawyers, weren’t fond of the deal cut with Adams. The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan up and quit like she has all principles and shit. Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon wrote a resignation letter to Pam Bondi, her putative boss, complaining that the dismissal of the case was part of an immoral transaction to drop charges against Mayor Adams if he cooperated with ICE and immigration arrests. The Department of Justice had agreed to not prosecute and dismiss charges “without prejudice.” Those last two words mean that the case can be prosecuted later at any time if evidence or circumstances change, which is a simple way of saying, “You best do as you are told, Mr. Adams, or we will re-open your case and get your sorry ass.”
Sassoon’s resignation turned the Manhattan office of the U.S. Attorney into a departure lounge. Six more lawyers took their leave, including Hagan Scotten, the lead prosecutor against Adams, who wrote, “No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives. Our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way.”
Anyway, no need to fret any more about a constitutional crisis; it has arrived. Now what the hell do we do about it?
Thank you for a heartfelt, gut wrenching piece. Not easy to write it, read it , or live through it these days. There is no putting a good face on any of it. It comes down to the courts, ( and some of them are handing him wins 🥲) , and whether they comply with court orders. As you say, not so far. For my part short term there are daily phone calls to both state offices and DC offices of my Senators and representative to let them know what I want them to do, and what I am unhappy about or ( when they did something laudible) to thank them for that. Overkill? It’s a numbers game in the end, how many people call on an issue, from which zip code. Does not matter if it is the same ones. Also I am heartened by the people showing up at demonstrations. I am sure they don’t care about 200 people, but if the movement swells with more people affected as time goes on maybe they will care about 100,000. ( or perhaps “just shoot them in the leg?” I hope not. ) That has been more difficult for me to attend this past month as I have not been well, but I am hopeful will be able to soon. I have a statewide Indivisible group. A few friends who are equally outraged. But it feels like we are all floundering, to be honest. I am not optimistic at all. I am quite pessimistic. It’s so easy to break things and a lot harder ( and sometimes impossible) to put them back together again. If this goes on too long, we may no longer have a democracy.
And to say nothing of the fact that Trump is meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to carve up Ukraine after Vance turned on Europe in Munich. The shame and betrayal is almost more than I can bear. 💔
It's gotten worse, with Trump posting yesterday "He who saves his Country does not violate any law," his version of Nixon's ""When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal" yet more ominous. Between Vance's tweet, Bondi's career-long willingness to trade rule of law for a position of power and this post by Trump meant to proactively absolve him and his boss Musk, it's clear that, contrary to what many pundits are saying, we're not on the edge of a constitutional crisis but have, as you pointed out, already plunged.