The Constitutional crisis we have feared has come

Way back, it seems like forever ago, in the first days of the Trump regime, those of us watching our country's degradation would sometimes respond to the latest violation of democratic norms by asking "Is this the Constitutional crisis?" And cooler legal heads would say "No, not this."

Well, now we're there, with Trump-toady William Barr using the former "Department of Justice" to cover for a criminal president. And apparently the entire Republican party is ready go along for the ride on the wrecking ball, treating lawful investigations and Congressional oversight as an attempted coup.

We should note that this attempt to consummate the coup is the product of the success of resistance. Until we elected a Democratic House of Representatives last November, Republicans could pretend to adhere to norms of law while packing the courts and turning the apparatus of government against much of the people. No longer -- we kicked back and they have to knock over yet more of the remaining facade of Constitutional government to protect what they are making, a corrupt enterprise they hope to make permanent.

I'll turn further description the Constitutional crisis over to an unrolled Twitter thread from David Rothkopf, one of the more enlightened permanent Washington swamp creatures who cares deeply about the country.

I don't think we fully realize the profundity of Barr's assertions yesterday. The idea that a president can determine whether or not he ought to be investigated or that a president is incapable of committing obstruction are not just outrageous assaults on Constitutional values.

Taken in the context of this administration's systematic rejection of the oversight role of Congress and of the law--whether it is the emoluments clause of Constitution or the obligation of the IRS to hand over tax returns to the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee -- what we are seeing is nothing less than a coup, to use a word the president has grown fond of. Trump and Barr are seeking to eliminate the checks and balances that are a hallmark of our system and to effectively render the Congress subservient to the presidency.

Combine this with the efforts of the Senate to load the courts with judicial candidates loyal to the president and the implication of McConnell, Graham & Co. that they will not fulfill their own Constitutional obligations, and you see a devastating picture.

The GOP, in order to achieve narrow political objectives which translate into the further empowerment of a tiny minority who represent America's richest and most powerful individuals, corporations and financial institutions, are seeking changes that will forever change us.

That they are doing this in complicity with foreign enemies, themselves captive to oligarchies whose interests are commingled with those of our ever, rapaciously ascendant ruling class, makes this all the more pernicious. Not only is the power of the few being raised above that of the many who once were the supreme source of authority in our democracy, but our national interests are being compromised to serve those of foreign rulers who wish us ill, or who are actively seeking to destroy us as a nation.

Should Trump, Barr, McConnell and Graham succeed, then those foreign enemies, notably Vladimir Putin, will succeed as well. Our democracy will lay in ruins. Our Constitution will be gutted. The idea that no man is above the law in America will be murdered before our eyes.

That is the effort we saw afoot yesterday... and that we see today as Barr refuses the House's request that he testify...and that we are seeing daily in serial rejections of the authority of the Congress or of the laws, regulations and standards that have governed past presidents.

It may have appeared that Barr was just an incompetent, a bad liar lying badly. But look at his words--from his assertions of presidential authority to his refusal to condemn the most obvious forms of collaboration with a foreign enemy -- and you will recognize the depth, severity and urgency of the crisis we face. Don't discount this as politics as usual. Don't shrug this off as more partisanship in Washington. Read or watch what was said...what is said and done daily.

And then recognize that impeachment of Trump and of Barr, potent challenges to their efforts to grab power and systematic efforts to remove them from office by the ballot box, must be our collective highest priority. The alternative is the final step in the empowerment of an American aristocracy and the cold blooded murder of the ideas and ideals that our founders and every subsequent generation of Americans fought for.

What are we doing about it? It's on us.