Here is something to consider from a Monmouth University poll:
Trump suggested during the presidential campaign that he could suspend some laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies in his second term. The public is divided on whether this is something he will seriously do (48%) or if it is more of an exaggeration (47%). Most Democrats take these statements seriously (77%) while most Republicans tend to see them as an exaggeration (71%). Republicans are somewhat less likely to takes these statements seriously now (21%) then they were six months ago (33% in June).
If Trump did suspend some laws and constitutional provisions, 52% of the public would be bothered a lot by this. This number is down from 65% who felt this way in June. Those who say they would be bothered a lot by this ranges from 77% of Democrats (down from 86% in June) to 55% of independents (down from 68%) and just 23% of Republicans (down from 41%).
You would think that barring some extreme threat to the country’s national security, 100 percent of Americans would be “bothered a lot” by a president suspending “some laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies.”
Yet, barely over three in four Democrats say they would have a problem with it. That’s identical to the percentage of Democrats who say they take the threat seriously. On the other hand, only about 1 in 5 Republicans are similarly alarmed, and fewer than 1 in 4 would care if he follows through and violates the laws and constitution to settle scores.
The American people just don’t seem to be in a mood to uphold much of anything, whether its norms against murder in the streets, the independence of the Justice Department, disqualifying politicians who commit business fraud, rape, and coup attempts, or the importance of upholding the Constitution.
I would never suggest that living in America has been a paradise, but I think this really is a case of people not knowing what they have until it’s gone. If there’s widespread rage on the frontend here, there will be another kind of outrage on the backend when people see what it’s like when everything breaks and radicals take away the things they take for granted.
This is what’s coming, mostly metaphorically, of course:
They took all the trees, put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em
But the real challenge here is that someone has to preserve our right to vote out these people when we grow disenchanted. That’s where the importance of the Constitution really matters, because if no one will enforce the law there’s no way to ensure we’ll have another free and fair election.
Heroes may be required.