The Emergency
AJ Robinson

Last time, I wrote of the Great Orange and his obsession with the wall. I focused on how he lied to his minions that the wall was already under construction. I put forth the idea he’d lied to them, again, as to how far along it was and essentially nothing was beyond him when it came to going too far.

• There was no emergency when he declared there was.

It only took a week for Trump to confirm I was wrong. Trump just declared the first non-emergency National Emergency in the history of our nation. What’s even wilder is that he literally said there was no emergency as he was declaring it. I know the man is obsessed with pleasing his base, but even I’m surprised to see how stupid he can be.

Mind you, I am not in the least surprised to see him declare this ridiculous non-emergency. I’m amazed to see him admit it, on national television, how the action is totally made-up and unimportant. Wow, now that is taking stupidity to the nth degree.

Amid all the doom and gloom of the naysayers and worrywarts, I do see a single ray of hope for our future. I never thought I would ever say this, but Trump has actually accomplished something meaningful. Yes, I know, they must be skiing and building snowmen in a certain nether region, an inferno where he will rotate among the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth circles. Let’s hope they don’t sing that song from Frozen. Oh, talk about pure torture.

I digress. Let’s get back to Trump’s one true positive act. He has now set a precedent in using the National Emergency Law for something that clearly is not an emergency.

Originally, meant to help manage unusual or extreme events and incidents, such as hurricanes, tornados, terrorist attacks and so on, no one ever thought any president would be dumb enough to use it for something frivolous. We never thought of a president that didn’t release his tax returns, who sided with racists and our enemies or who attacked all of our cherished institutions.

We now have a president willing to subvert our laws. He believes he can do anything he wants. He believes he can take whatever action he wishes, with impunity, as long as it’s done in the open, in public.

• Future presidents and emergency powers.

What happens in a couple years when we have a new president, maybe even a democrat, sitting in the White House? What if President Warren, Sanders or Biden decides healthcare or gun violence is a national emergency? If a mass shooting, such as the Pulse Nightclub or the Las Vegas concert, takes place and we know one will eventually occur, what’s to stop the president going on national television and saying, “Gun violence is epidemic in our country; I’m declaring a national emergency and doing (blank).”

I leave it to your imagination to wonder what that “blank” might be. Would he or she decide to outlaw all assault weapons or require background checks on all gun purchases? Oh, maybe he or she would order the registration of all guns. The president might go to the extreme, ordering all guns collected and suspending the Second Amendment.

• I have two words for you.

I know what you’re thinking. “No president would be dumb or crazy enough to do anything like that.” I have just two words in response to that proclamation: Donald Trump. If you run down even a partial laundry list, even a fraction, of the insane antics in which he engages, doing something like single payer healthcare or banning assault guns are tame by comparison. With that in mind, I have to say, he has done something worthwhile and now we have to see where it’s going to lead.