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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMr. President: Just who the hell do you think you are?
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article132721909.htmlFebruary 14, 2017 5:35 PM
Mr. President: Just who the hell do you think you are?
President Trump is chafing under the limits to his executive power. Alex Brandon Associated Press
BY LEONARD PITTS, JR.
So let me explain to you how this works.
You were elected as chief executive of the United States. I wont belabor the fact that you won with a minority of the popular vote and a little help from your friends, FBI Director James Comey and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bottom line is, you were elected.
And this does entitle you to certain things. You get your own airplane. You get free public housing. You get greeted with snappy salutes. And a band plays when you walk into the room.
But there is one thing to which your election does not entitle you. It does not entitle you to do whatever pops into your furry orange head without being called on it or, should it run afoul of the Constitution, without being blocked.
You and other members of the Fourth Reich seem to be having difficulty understanding this. Reports from Politico and elsewhere describe you as shocked that judges and lawmakers can delay or even stop you from doing things. Three weeks ago, your chief strategist, Steve Bannon, infamously declared that news media should keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.
Just last Sunday, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller declared on CBS Face The Nation that our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.
What you do will not be questioned? Lord, have mercy. Thats the kind of statement that, in another time and place, would have been greeted with an out-thrust palm and a hearty Sieg heil! Here in this time and place, however, it demands a different response:
Just who the hell do you think you are?
Meaning you and all the other trolls you have brought clambering up from under their bridges. Maybe you didnt notice, but this is the United States of America. Perhaps youve heard of it? Nation of laws, not of individuals? First Amendment? Freedom of the press? Any of that ringing a bell?
Lets be brutally clear here. If you were a smart guy with unimpeachable integrity and a good heart who was enacting wise policies for the betterment of all humankind, youd still be subject to sharp scrutiny from news media, oversight from Congress, restraint by the judiciary and public opinion.
And you, of course, are none of those things. I know you fetishize strength. I know your pal Vladimir would never stand still for reporters and judges yapping at him.
I know, too, that youre accustomed to being emperor of your own fiefdom. Must be nice. Your name on the wall, the paychecks, the side of the building. You tell people to make something happen, and it does. You yell at a problem, and it goes away. Nobody talks back. I can see how it would be hard to give that up.
But you did. You see, youre no longer an emperor, Mr. So-Called President. Youre now what is called a public servant in effect, an employee with 324 million bosses. And let me tell you something about those bosses. Theyre unruly and loud, long accustomed to speaking their minds without fear or fetter. And they believe power must always answer to the people. Thats at the core of their identity.
Yet you and your coterie of cartoon autocrats think youre going to cow them into silence and compliance by ordering them to shut up and obey? Well, as a freeborn American, I can answer that in two syllables flat.
Hell no.
Raster
(20,998 posts)A collective sigh...what we all want to say to this menace who has taken over the people's house...thank you for posting!
Many of us would channel our inner New Yorker with an emphatic "Fuck You!" to the 45.
Cha
(297,154 posts)PJMcK
(22,032 posts)TeamPooka
(24,221 posts)Cha
(297,154 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)This is information this WH should learn, since it's obvious they don't already know it.
gademocrat7
(10,656 posts)Resist.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)TNNurse
(6,926 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,999 posts)Copyright means the right to control copies. There are exceptions for fair use, including educational use, but they are limited. Posting an article or opinion piece without permission on a site that accepts paid advertising is definitely not an exception.
The generally accepted practice is that quoting an excerpt consisting of at most four paragraphs with a link to the complete web page is okay.
I don't know the details of the OP's arrangement with the copyright holder, if there is an arrangement. There is always a copyright holder because copyright exists as soon as a piece of writing or a work of art or a photograph is created. It is possible for a copyright holder to place a work "in the public domain", but that must be a verifiable act of will, not subject to the whim of copiers.
watoos
(7,142 posts)Last night Rachel said we are governed by Rule of Law, but for Rule of Law to exist the judiciary must not be coerced or constrained otherwise we are left with Authoritarianism.
tblue37
(65,336 posts)Native
(5,942 posts)N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,721 posts)wishstar
(5,268 posts)Trump is not even attempting to appear more benign and reasonable. But instead doubling down as a dishonest narcissistic sociopath with no motivations besides self-aggrandizement, power, greed, hate and lashing out in revenge when thwarted.
Michelle Obama warned us repeatedly that he showed who he was during election, and that once in office his character deficiencies would be only be magnified and not improved. (She was more prescient than Pres Obama who voiced willingness to give him benefit of doubt, anticipating that Trump would pivot out of his irresponsible campaign mode once realities of Presidency sunk in)
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)Trump thinks he should be king.
If he's not booted out of office, I'd love to see a Democratic wave in 2018 - then, we can really see a challenge to his authority.
Fritz Walter
(4,291 posts)I just saw it linked from a friend's FB page and made the mistake of scrolling down to the comments. The trolls are out in force on that site, venting their diseased spleens without putting forth one valid, rational argument. Just echoing what they heard during the campaign.
Oh, and by the way...
#RESIST
mgardener
(1,816 posts)He who will not be questioned.
Our republican president.
Never forget, the republicans gave us Nixon, GW and Trump.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)The gop chooses the least qualified, and backs them 100% It is laughable, if not so terrifying. After all those hearings trying to "get" Hillary, here they have red meat (in more ways than one) and refuse to investigate. Very telling.
TNNurse
(6,926 posts)This pretty much says it. I wonder if anyone showed it to him. He does not read.
She could read it to him, since she is out of a job now!!
scarletlib
(3,411 posts)Donald thinks he is a king.
panader0
(25,816 posts)You know that would Whooosh right over Trump's head.
Initech
(100,063 posts)Which is fucking scary. And that's another thing - with 324 million, having only 127 million vote is incredibly sad. We need to get rid of voter suppression laws (which are all *GROSSLY* unconstitutional) and make voting a national holiday. I guarantee Hillary would have had more votes. And we'd have more democrats in power.
JudyM
(29,233 posts)meow2u3
(24,761 posts)gordianot
(15,237 posts)Instead he has been allowed to stay afloat with his money schemes lying and cheating. This time he has latched on to real professionals and really has no plans to lead anyone beyond his usual con.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)3catwoman3
(23,973 posts)...right on the head.
From the moment he threw his hair into the ring, I said to myself, as did countless others, that he had absolutely no idea what the job really entailed.
Maynar
(769 posts)Priceless!
3catwoman3
(23,973 posts)Feel free to use it should the opportunity arise.
WePurrsevere
(24,259 posts)DownriverDem
(6,228 posts)We were warned by Bernie, Warren, Obama and HRC. Enough ignored the warnings and now we are going to suffer bigly.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)Tell us how you really feel! That one had to have left a mark. (Mark of Zorro!!)
Absolutely spot on. Needs to be on the front page of every newspaper in America.
dlk
(11,558 posts)How many times have we heard that someone who is (or not in Trump's case) good in business would be great in government? In fact, they are very different entities and the qualities that create success in one arena do not always translate well into the other. Trump is finding that out -- the hard way.
Wounded Bear
(58,647 posts)Trump owned his businesses. He was not a corporate CEO. Even those guys have limits on their power through the Board of Directors and such. He was basically a sole proprieter of his empire, subject to no limits excepting perhaps the law.
Yes, he does think he is a king-like figure that owns the country now. Time to disavow him of his beliefs.
JudyM
(29,233 posts)strikes him, on and on, we don't know anything but the tip of the iceberg on the guy.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)Oh, wait. They don't teach Civics any more. <sigh>
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I give that the BlancheSplanchnik award for straight-out, steel-shanked SMACKDOWNS!!!!!
niyad
(113,265 posts)malaise
(268,947 posts)He will learn
NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)I'm unfamiliar with Leonard Pitts, but based on this article I'll be looking out for him on the Herald and I'm following him on Twitter.
Initech
(100,063 posts)They don't represent the party. They are elected to represent the people. They have been brainwashed by AM hate radio and even more insane conspiracy theory shows like Infowars that the left is the enemy. We're not! We're trying to help! It's fucking insane what this country is becoming. We're becoming a partisan shithole because fucking morons like Hannity, Limbaugh, Jones, and so on have convinced the populace that the right is right and the left is wrong. It's the reverse - the right is wrong on everything! That's how we got Trump. We need to get back to work fixing this mess.
emmadoggy
(2,142 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)Tell it like it is Leonard
Poiuyt
(18,122 posts)One of the best essays I've read