Every day, supporters of President Trump try to defend his ever-changing agenda. It must be painful to tie yourself into knots explaining, say, commuting the federal sentence of a convicted murderer and gang leader (Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover). Last week, the President ordered him released “immediately.” Hoover still faces 200 years behind bars in Illinois for state convictions.
Tariffs are on, then off, now it has been ruled (by a panel of one Democratic-appointed and two Republican- appointed judges, one a Trump appointee) that he does not have the authority he claims to have on tariffs, there really isn’t a national emergency that would allow him to have such a broad tariff mandate.
President Trump claimed to be able to end the war in Ukraine, he claimed this over and over during the election. At a rally in Wisconsin last September, he said: “I will have that war finished and done and settled before I get to the White House. As president-elect, I will get that done.” Well, I am still waiting, and in the meantime, innocent civilians, children, are being killed by Russia’s latest bombing campaign.
It also seems that there’s merit to the concern that the DOGE agency that Elon Musk was heading is not constitutional. A lawsuit by 14 states (including Illinois) against DOGE is allowed to go forward. In a ruling, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said, “The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency…and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only.”
President Trump has lost 96% of the cases he argued in Federal court in May. But these are not Democratic “activist” judges: 72% of those judges ruling against the President were Republican- appointed, 80% Democratic- appointed. Seems like a bipartisan concern on the part of the judges, maybe they’re just following the law.
And then of course, President Trump invokes the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 that gives Presidents the right to arrest and deport individuals who are deemed to be subjects of a hostile government during a declared war or in the face of an invasion. The last time this law was used was during World War II and led to the detention of thousands of Japanese Americans. Has war been declared?
If we truly are at war and are really being invaded, as the President says we are; I will be the first to volunteer to do whatever I can to help support the US, just as my family has done for over 250 years. Instead, perhaps we should work on a solution that allows for fair, legal immigration.
But for now, I will continue to ask those who support President Trump, please explain to me how what he is doing is both legal and good for the country. President Trump won the election, can try to implement his agenda, but it must be done legally, thoughtfully, and hopefully not drive us into a recession.
Richard Chamberlain
Colchester
