Frank's Musings

Somebody has given  Donald Trump the keys that open allegiance by most voters in the U.S. to his retributive policies.  I’m afraid it is all of us who disdain the people who are more concerned with their family's day-to-day personal welfare than abstractly with the good of the entire community.

The  remedy for this careless mistake is to change all the locks; but shrinking Trump’s base by awakening enough people to the political shortsightedness of their priorities is a task that will be costly and will take a lot of time.  While awaiting the task’s completion, how can we avoid  permanent destruction of our liberal democracy?

Congress has shown themselves beholden to Trump’s MAGA crowd and, like indulgent parents of a three-year-old, refuse to discipline the President’s disregard for the Constitution in fear of losing the privileges of their position.  With the failure of one coequal branch of government to exercise its checking power, the courts are left to assert the rule of law. Unfortunately, their usual means of enforcement depends on the executive branch.  This puzzle is what led David Brooks to call for a “civic uprising” to supplement the Constitution’s own enforcement measures (see https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/opinion/trump-harvard-law-firms.html).

Such a movement needs a leader.  Let us support whoever grabs those reins.