Wow! This is all too much for the US. Why aren’t your Republican lawmakers doing anything? We in the UK might have our issues but watching the US crash and burn is horrifying to the whole world. Perhaps there will be a military or a palace coup? Nothing would surprise me now!
What really astounds me here in the US is how some world leaders continue to play footsie with the convicted felon, pedophile. Think King Charles and Keir Starmer. Shame on both of them for entertaining and welcoming this crook and destroyer of democracy.
Not likely, unless it's business. But they are forced to acknowledge Trump from the standpoint of international business and global politics. Hard to ignore the orange elephant in the room, so throw a few peanuts its way to shut it up and think it's important.
I disagree on two levels. The orange elephant craves the attention, the pomp and gilt, the TV coverage and the like. His narcissism is addictive. Withholding that attention is equivalent to slapping a bully in the face. It is the strategy most likely to ensure that the elephant will eventually implode.
Trump is cruising the extortion highway because almost everybody is throwing him a few peanuts. If the Brits had taken a stand and declined the state visit, it might have provided international leadership and stiffened the spines of those presidents, prime ministers, and trade officials who have all too often been willing to grovel in the mud to shield their exports.
The tariffs are illegal. Trump doesn't keep his promises or his word, ever. It just seems stupid, or at least silly, to betray your long term interests for the sake of paltry short term benefits.
Our Republican lawmakers are three types - some are as evil as Trump and celebrate him; some are afraid of him as he may have guilty information about them that he will employ against them if they don’t comply; and a very few hate everything Trump is doing, but like the Democrats, they have no power being in the minority. I doubt there will be any military actions or violence. But the actual numbers of people in protest are growing and it will eventually make a difference. It may take boycotts of the billionaires who support Trump, but their bottom lines are lost revenue. So we will see. Evil almost always implodes on itself. This will too.
Thank you for your justifiably horrified view of what's happening in our country. I NEVER voted for Trump, but somehow I am being dragged down to Hell with him.
You have access to Constitutional Experts like Lawrence Tribe and Neal Katyal and many others.
Moreover, you are a former US Attorney, have clerked at SCOTUS, are a lawyer and law professor.
I’m none of those things, but I know how to analyze systems and have been doing it for decades.
My analysis - as amateurish as it may appear to a legal expert - of the Judicial System in the USA is that., as profoundly insightful as the Founders were, they did not anticipate either nuanced flaws in the Constitution, or the major defects in the structure they assembled.
To wit, the Department of Justice should never have been and must, most certainly, be removed from control by the Executive Branch.
Likewise, it is illogical, for starters, for it to be in a “line reporting” relationship with either the Judicial or Legislative Branch.
Short of a Constitutional Amendment, my novice interpretation is that a Legislative Act can remedy the serious flaw in the current organizational and operational relationship of the DOJ and FBI to the other three Branches of our Government.
Specifically, we need a Presidential Crimes Act that would establish the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an INDEPENDENT entity.
All Senior members of the DOJ would be Nominated by an Independent Bipartisan Commission comprised of Legal Experts (aka "The DOJ Commission").
Terms of Service would, to the fullest extent possible, NOT be coincident with Presidential Terms of Office.
Nominees would be Reviewed and Approved by a SUPER-MAJORITY of the US Senate.
The FBI Director & other Senior Appointees to the FBI would be similarly nominated by the Commission and Reviewed and Approved by the US Senate.
Neither the Leadership of the DOJ or the FBI would attend and otherwise participate in Presidential Cabinet Meetings and all contact with either the Executive, Legislative & Judicial Branches of the US Government would be transcribed and archived, immediately, with NARA.
A Subcommittee of The DOJ Commission would have Oversight and Review Authority to ensure timely, accurate, and properly curated archival processes.
The other essential component of the Presidential Crimes Act is to establish the principle that a President is NOT IMMUNE from being held immediately accountable by the SAME Statutes that apply to EVERY OTHER US CITIZEN or FOREIGN NATIONAL.
The Act would entail a President, once indicted, would take a leave of absence until a verdict is rendered by a trial jury.
Resigning from Office would not protect an indicted President from prosecution.
The VP would assume the duties of the President during that interval.
Impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors would remain the Constitutional Obligation of the Congress.
Please share these recommendations with folk whom you regard as experts and otherwise advocate for the Legislation.
From now until a fundamental restructuring of the DOJ and FBI are accomplished, those organizations will NEVER BE TRUSTED AGAIN by Americans committed to Democracy, first and foremost.
Your suggestions are good. (I question whether approval of nominees by a Senate super-majority would lead to bad-faith road-blocks.) Implementing those suggestions would require more than legislation. The supreme court rested its immunity decision on hitherto unknown (because nonexistent) Constitutional law. Legislation contrary to the Constitution, even a version seen only by the Supreme Court, is invalid.
Clearly, remedy of the current unconstitutional behavior of SCOTUS is going to be required.
Various paths to a remedy likely will require establishing sufficient House and Senate Majorities to Impeach those Justices who wrongly invented a version of the Constitution that does not exist and for which they have no legal authority to do.
What you are describing Sir, is directly in conflict with Project 2025, where the intention is to give unfettered control of all levers of power to the Executive branch, hence trump now, with JD Vance patiently salivating in the background. We are witnessing Trump carry out the manifesto now. We are already IN a Constitutional crisis right now!
What Democrats and any other true patriotic citizen or body should have been doing even way before Trump, is writing and carrying out exactly what you are promoting, which is the exact opposite of P25. WHY hasn’t this been done already? WHY have Democrats been sitting on their hands and allowed Republicans to gerrymander, as if on a mission to be precisely accomplished systematically and without any ability for Democrats or the voters to object until now—mid decade by Governor Gaven Newsom? It’s no wonder so many Democrats are crying out for leadership “to fight back?” It’s true we’ve never seen this kind of blatant power abuse by a president before. But what does Dem leadership say? “Oh, we’re not in the majority!” Boo hoo!
When the Parliamentarian overrules the Democrats they say, “oh, we were overruled.” When the Parliamentarian overrules Republicans, they say and do. “FIRE the Parliamentarian!” and that’s how Republicans get their way. THAT’s the difference! Take the kid gloves off and do your jobs and if that means CHANGING the Constitution, do it! The FF wrote it in the amendment format to allow for modernization appropriate in an ever-evolving future.
I certainly hope that you also pass along your suggestions to the Democratic party leadership and Constitutional lawyers crafting future changes. If anyone needs a step-by-step, how-to fight-back proposal against tyranny, corruption and the dismantling of our Constitution by a dictator and a body of right wing, authoritarian power-hungry corporatists, it’s Dem leadership!
Appreciate your passion for protecting and expanding our Democracy.
As much as I admire both Former Presidents Biden & Obama they failed, totally, to protect America from Trump & Putin.
It's not like it wasn't obvious to anyone with a clue -- BEFORE 2016 -- what Putin's Agenda was (remains) and why his long-standing ASSET, Donald, emerged when he did.
What especially galls me is that on the afternoon of 20 Jan 2021, Donald should have been charged, arrested and held without bail until he stood trial for his FAILED INSURRECTION.
All that said -- it's not the "Democrat party," it's the Democratic Party. Democrats are members, thereof.
Trump has always had his eye on a political career since the 1980’s, and it’s was only a matter of time. What America and our Founding Fathers were not prepared for was a man so corrupt, so hungry for power and of course, the grift and abuse of power. Trump observed, admired and learned from other authoritarians. What is so astounding is how many Americans will forgive Trump’s transgressions. They see themselves in him and as long as that continues, they will forgive him, deny the facts and all his criminality, as he continues to be the “strong man” they so admire. Anyone who has ever engaged in a conversation with a die-hard Trump supporter, understands they cannot be reasoned with no matter what truth, facts or evidence one presents. Only when his policies hurts them directly and they make the connection, like so many farmers now, will they see the truth. It’s sad that innocents and non voters are also hurt too.
Frankly, that’s a lot of talk about how we are in the same situation. Germany was in the 1930s with the rise of Nazism. There’s nothing different about what’s happening here in the United States. Everybody should be so freaked out and marching screaming in the streets.
Indeed we’re in 1935: we had the Nuremberg Rally yesterday and tomorrow we’ll have the Race Laws. They are already in place and destroying DEI, Medicare & Medicaid, making sure that poor people don’t get SNAP, healthcare nor well funded schools, nor rural hospitals, nor basic protections (vaccines) against preventable diseases. This is horrendous ! Not to talk about the all out assault against women’s healthcare and rights.
We have to resist in every way possible. It’s not too late. Trump is extremely unpopular. He can’t hold onto power the midterms unless he cheats. Fight back: vote YES on Prop 50 if you are a California voter- don’t let him get away with rigging the midterms.
If you’re able to donate to the Yes on 50 campaign, please do. We are inundated here with anti- 50 ads from billionaire Munger.
Thank you, Harry, for consistently and full-throatedly telling it how it is. Most in the media shy away from these kind of forceful comments, and I'm very appreciative that you do not. It's critically important for all of us who still have the faculty of reason to see things as clearly as possible, and you are a big part of that. Thank you.
Waking every morning to the weight of the traitorous and ruthless Trump regime is indeed the 9th Circle of Hell. He and his kkklan are destroying the borderlands wildlife refuges of Arizona while they break laws over and over in their Miller directed arrests of asylum seekers. Good good people fleeing gang violence in Central and South America. We the people and the creatures are suffering so much violence under a vengeful stunted greedy bunch who have already caused so much death. Hard to keep going.
I live in AZ, and am furious about the wall being built in the San Rafael Valley. If the border is secure now, what's the point other than than to kick some money over to a trump allied construction company? The next president needs to take it down.
HL "As in other areas of Trump’s control over the private sector—law firms, universities, media—once one entity caves, fear compounds and repression spreads." It's not a coincidence that Trump had a hard time going for a 10 year stretch in the private sector without filing for bankruptcy. (think, casinos, universities, airlines, and lots real estate mis-adventures). This was his training ground for how he runs our country. Un-constrained by decency, honesty, or modesty.
In this country, the corporations run the government, and the government runs us, i.e. is the enforcer. To expect the oligarchs to correct this state of affairs they have organized is stupid. It won't happen. However, we can decide to change things.
Nailed it! This is the piece (of the many exceptional opinion pieces you’ve written), that should move people to finally cancel their addiction to cable and network news and join your Substack!
With corporate dems and all fascist repubs being so weak and feeble , the only hope is that trump and his corrupt, criminal, psychotic admin are more incompetent than capable. I am waiting for the trump camp to release a fund raising challenge to have a tenth circle of hell named after trump. Dear president djt supporters. Help me get to hell and add the tenth circle of hell in my honor. Thank you, and may you all burn in hell with me. President djt. Satan blushes...
Wow! This is all too much for the US. Why aren’t your Republican lawmakers doing anything? We in the UK might have our issues but watching the US crash and burn is horrifying to the whole world. Perhaps there will be a military or a palace coup? Nothing would surprise me now!
What really astounds me here in the US is how some world leaders continue to play footsie with the convicted felon, pedophile. Think King Charles and Keir Starmer. Shame on both of them for entertaining and welcoming this crook and destroyer of democracy.
Spelling police- They're not their. Sorry.
Perhaps their in the Epstein files?
Not likely, unless it's business. But they are forced to acknowledge Trump from the standpoint of international business and global politics. Hard to ignore the orange elephant in the room, so throw a few peanuts its way to shut it up and think it's important.
I disagree on two levels. The orange elephant craves the attention, the pomp and gilt, the TV coverage and the like. His narcissism is addictive. Withholding that attention is equivalent to slapping a bully in the face. It is the strategy most likely to ensure that the elephant will eventually implode.
Trump is cruising the extortion highway because almost everybody is throwing him a few peanuts. If the Brits had taken a stand and declined the state visit, it might have provided international leadership and stiffened the spines of those presidents, prime ministers, and trade officials who have all too often been willing to grovel in the mud to shield their exports.
The tariffs are illegal. Trump doesn't keep his promises or his word, ever. It just seems stupid, or at least silly, to betray your long term interests for the sake of paltry short term benefits.
HAHAHA - oh my! I had not thought of that. Good ol' Charles?!?! Keir I might imagine, but Charles?!?!?!
that's exactly what i was thinking this morning. He is not a president. Going forward, i will always say Dictator Trump.
Our Republican lawmakers are three types - some are as evil as Trump and celebrate him; some are afraid of him as he may have guilty information about them that he will employ against them if they don’t comply; and a very few hate everything Trump is doing, but like the Democrats, they have no power being in the minority. I doubt there will be any military actions or violence. But the actual numbers of people in protest are growing and it will eventually make a difference. It may take boycotts of the billionaires who support Trump, but their bottom lines are lost revenue. So we will see. Evil almost always implodes on itself. This will too.
Thank you for your justifiably horrified view of what's happening in our country. I NEVER voted for Trump, but somehow I am being dragged down to Hell with him.
Carolyn Scots-surname
Please stop referring to Donald Trump as President Trump.
Donald Trump is Dictator Trump
I prefer Tyrant trump IMHO.
Deny him the title he aspires to. Any of them.
How about "Tyrump?"
Amen
Dear Harry Litman,
Am sending the following to Ben, as well.
You have access to Constitutional Experts like Lawrence Tribe and Neal Katyal and many others.
Moreover, you are a former US Attorney, have clerked at SCOTUS, are a lawyer and law professor.
I’m none of those things, but I know how to analyze systems and have been doing it for decades.
My analysis - as amateurish as it may appear to a legal expert - of the Judicial System in the USA is that., as profoundly insightful as the Founders were, they did not anticipate either nuanced flaws in the Constitution, or the major defects in the structure they assembled.
To wit, the Department of Justice should never have been and must, most certainly, be removed from control by the Executive Branch.
Likewise, it is illogical, for starters, for it to be in a “line reporting” relationship with either the Judicial or Legislative Branch.
Short of a Constitutional Amendment, my novice interpretation is that a Legislative Act can remedy the serious flaw in the current organizational and operational relationship of the DOJ and FBI to the other three Branches of our Government.
Specifically, we need a Presidential Crimes Act that would establish the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an INDEPENDENT entity.
All Senior members of the DOJ would be Nominated by an Independent Bipartisan Commission comprised of Legal Experts (aka "The DOJ Commission").
Terms of Service would, to the fullest extent possible, NOT be coincident with Presidential Terms of Office.
Nominees would be Reviewed and Approved by a SUPER-MAJORITY of the US Senate.
The FBI Director & other Senior Appointees to the FBI would be similarly nominated by the Commission and Reviewed and Approved by the US Senate.
Neither the Leadership of the DOJ or the FBI would attend and otherwise participate in Presidential Cabinet Meetings and all contact with either the Executive, Legislative & Judicial Branches of the US Government would be transcribed and archived, immediately, with NARA.
A Subcommittee of The DOJ Commission would have Oversight and Review Authority to ensure timely, accurate, and properly curated archival processes.
The other essential component of the Presidential Crimes Act is to establish the principle that a President is NOT IMMUNE from being held immediately accountable by the SAME Statutes that apply to EVERY OTHER US CITIZEN or FOREIGN NATIONAL.
The Act would entail a President, once indicted, would take a leave of absence until a verdict is rendered by a trial jury.
Resigning from Office would not protect an indicted President from prosecution.
The VP would assume the duties of the President during that interval.
Impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors would remain the Constitutional Obligation of the Congress.
Please share these recommendations with folk whom you regard as experts and otherwise advocate for the Legislation.
From now until a fundamental restructuring of the DOJ and FBI are accomplished, those organizations will NEVER BE TRUSTED AGAIN by Americans committed to Democracy, first and foremost.
Thank you
the head of the DOJ and the FBI should be nominated by Congress, not the President.
Trump disassembled agencies that were supposed to be independent. He never lets the law get in the way of his actions. That's been a life-long trait.
Your suggestions are good. (I question whether approval of nominees by a Senate super-majority would lead to bad-faith road-blocks.) Implementing those suggestions would require more than legislation. The supreme court rested its immunity decision on hitherto unknown (because nonexistent) Constitutional law. Legislation contrary to the Constitution, even a version seen only by the Supreme Court, is invalid.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
Clearly, remedy of the current unconstitutional behavior of SCOTUS is going to be required.
Various paths to a remedy likely will require establishing sufficient House and Senate Majorities to Impeach those Justices who wrongly invented a version of the Constitution that does not exist and for which they have no legal authority to do.
What you are describing Sir, is directly in conflict with Project 2025, where the intention is to give unfettered control of all levers of power to the Executive branch, hence trump now, with JD Vance patiently salivating in the background. We are witnessing Trump carry out the manifesto now. We are already IN a Constitutional crisis right now!
What Democrats and any other true patriotic citizen or body should have been doing even way before Trump, is writing and carrying out exactly what you are promoting, which is the exact opposite of P25. WHY hasn’t this been done already? WHY have Democrats been sitting on their hands and allowed Republicans to gerrymander, as if on a mission to be precisely accomplished systematically and without any ability for Democrats or the voters to object until now—mid decade by Governor Gaven Newsom? It’s no wonder so many Democrats are crying out for leadership “to fight back?” It’s true we’ve never seen this kind of blatant power abuse by a president before. But what does Dem leadership say? “Oh, we’re not in the majority!” Boo hoo!
When the Parliamentarian overrules the Democrats they say, “oh, we were overruled.” When the Parliamentarian overrules Republicans, they say and do. “FIRE the Parliamentarian!” and that’s how Republicans get their way. THAT’s the difference! Take the kid gloves off and do your jobs and if that means CHANGING the Constitution, do it! The FF wrote it in the amendment format to allow for modernization appropriate in an ever-evolving future.
I certainly hope that you also pass along your suggestions to the Democratic party leadership and Constitutional lawyers crafting future changes. If anyone needs a step-by-step, how-to fight-back proposal against tyranny, corruption and the dismantling of our Constitution by a dictator and a body of right wing, authoritarian power-hungry corporatists, it’s Dem leadership!
Appreciate your passion for protecting and expanding our Democracy.
As much as I admire both Former Presidents Biden & Obama they failed, totally, to protect America from Trump & Putin.
It's not like it wasn't obvious to anyone with a clue -- BEFORE 2016 -- what Putin's Agenda was (remains) and why his long-standing ASSET, Donald, emerged when he did.
What especially galls me is that on the afternoon of 20 Jan 2021, Donald should have been charged, arrested and held without bail until he stood trial for his FAILED INSURRECTION.
All that said -- it's not the "Democrat party," it's the Democratic Party. Democrats are members, thereof.
Trump has always had his eye on a political career since the 1980’s, and it’s was only a matter of time. What America and our Founding Fathers were not prepared for was a man so corrupt, so hungry for power and of course, the grift and abuse of power. Trump observed, admired and learned from other authoritarians. What is so astounding is how many Americans will forgive Trump’s transgressions. They see themselves in him and as long as that continues, they will forgive him, deny the facts and all his criminality, as he continues to be the “strong man” they so admire. Anyone who has ever engaged in a conversation with a die-hard Trump supporter, understands they cannot be reasoned with no matter what truth, facts or evidence one presents. Only when his policies hurts them directly and they make the connection, like so many farmers now, will they see the truth. It’s sad that innocents and non voters are also hurt too.
Frankly, that’s a lot of talk about how we are in the same situation. Germany was in the 1930s with the rise of Nazism. There’s nothing different about what’s happening here in the United States. Everybody should be so freaked out and marching screaming in the streets.
Indeed we’re in 1935: we had the Nuremberg Rally yesterday and tomorrow we’ll have the Race Laws. They are already in place and destroying DEI, Medicare & Medicaid, making sure that poor people don’t get SNAP, healthcare nor well funded schools, nor rural hospitals, nor basic protections (vaccines) against preventable diseases. This is horrendous ! Not to talk about the all out assault against women’s healthcare and rights.
We have to resist in every way possible. It’s not too late. Trump is extremely unpopular. He can’t hold onto power the midterms unless he cheats. Fight back: vote YES on Prop 50 if you are a California voter- don’t let him get away with rigging the midterms.
If you’re able to donate to the Yes on 50 campaign, please do. We are inundated here with anti- 50 ads from billionaire Munger.
Thank you, Harry, for consistently and full-throatedly telling it how it is. Most in the media shy away from these kind of forceful comments, and I'm very appreciative that you do not. It's critically important for all of us who still have the faculty of reason to see things as clearly as possible, and you are a big part of that. Thank you.
Forceful, which too many informed and previously sensible commentators are not. Thanks.
Methinks Dante has come back
from the grave to create two new circles... the first for his enablers & the bottom for himself & Vlad.
Waking every morning to the weight of the traitorous and ruthless Trump regime is indeed the 9th Circle of Hell. He and his kkklan are destroying the borderlands wildlife refuges of Arizona while they break laws over and over in their Miller directed arrests of asylum seekers. Good good people fleeing gang violence in Central and South America. We the people and the creatures are suffering so much violence under a vengeful stunted greedy bunch who have already caused so much death. Hard to keep going.
I live in AZ, and am furious about the wall being built in the San Rafael Valley. If the border is secure now, what's the point other than than to kick some money over to a trump allied construction company? The next president needs to take it down.
HL "As in other areas of Trump’s control over the private sector—law firms, universities, media—once one entity caves, fear compounds and repression spreads." It's not a coincidence that Trump had a hard time going for a 10 year stretch in the private sector without filing for bankruptcy. (think, casinos, universities, airlines, and lots real estate mis-adventures). This was his training ground for how he runs our country. Un-constrained by decency, honesty, or modesty.
So well-explained! Thank you.
In this country, the corporations run the government, and the government runs us, i.e. is the enforcer. To expect the oligarchs to correct this state of affairs they have organized is stupid. It won't happen. However, we can decide to change things.
Nailed it! This is the piece (of the many exceptional opinion pieces you’ve written), that should move people to finally cancel their addiction to cable and network news and join your Substack!
With corporate dems and all fascist repubs being so weak and feeble , the only hope is that trump and his corrupt, criminal, psychotic admin are more incompetent than capable. I am waiting for the trump camp to release a fund raising challenge to have a tenth circle of hell named after trump. Dear president djt supporters. Help me get to hell and add the tenth circle of hell in my honor. Thank you, and may you all burn in hell with me. President djt. Satan blushes...
An excellent piece!
I'm struck by the certainly unintentional irony of our President worrying about "killing our reputation and credibility."