15 Sep Between Laws and Elections: The People’s patience must grow thin
By,
Andrés Alburquerque, Senior Fellow, MSI2
In theory, the American presidency is the top job in the world. In practice, its occupant is straitjacketed by a never-ending cycle of elections and by judges who treat the Constitution as clay to be molded to their own ideological tastes, or- to put it bluntly- to those of their puppetteers. Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 exposed this contradiction in stark relief. He won a mandate from the American people, yet at nearly every turn his agenda was slowed, diluted, or outright overturned—not by voters, but by courts and a political class obsessed with condemning him to defeat; as well as with the next electoral contest.
His second presidency has been a replay on steroids. Almost every decision has been challenged, which reminds me of a stanza in No Quarter by Led Zeppelin: “and walking side by side with death; the devil knocks their every step.”
On the one hand, America lives in a state of permanent campaigning. Before one election ends, the next is already around the corner. Presidents barely begin to govern before their allies in Congress are back on the trail; no wonder nothing gets done in that “august body”. Policy continuity vanishes into a chimera: tax reform, deregulation, border enforcement—all are hostage to midterms, special elections, state contests, and, above all, special interests that sap energy and fracture the backbone of the national will. The left exploits this cycle brilliantly, using off-year contests and ballot initiatives to blunt the momentum of any conservative reform. But we may always counter that the right could have done the same when they were in the minority, and the “ biblical, eternal question” is: why are we always behind? Why are we always Abel? Is it in our nature? Are we really that honest and well-intentioned, or are we simply less worthy of success? Or, as I’ve come to suspect more often than not lately, are we wittingly partaking in this sinister scheme? Are we merely one more part of this perverse conveyor belt that delivers only chaos and obfuscates the people’s judgment?
On the other hand, there is the growing power of the judiciary, where left-wing judges rule from the bench at the behest of shady powers, hidden institutions, and left-wing fraternities. Under the guise of the staunch defense of the proletariat lies the zealous tutelage of the interests of a dark, shrinking elite. Executive orders on immigration, common-sense restrictions on radical ideology in the military, even straightforward environmental deregulation—time and again, these were blocked not by the people’s representatives but by courts that see themselves less as interpreters of law than as arbiters of political destiny, and most of all; as mastiffs ready to jump at our jugular at the command of their masters. More and more, the once seemingly demigodly judges have gradually become too worldly, earthly, and mundane, and are now exposed to manly sins. Trump was elected to secure the border, revive industry, and defend American sovereignty, yet federal judges in distant circuits have been called on to act as if their robes gave them a veto on the will of the electorate.
The result is a sobering lesson: presidents may campaign on bold promises, but once in office, they govern inside a cage. Again, opposition to Trump has always been much more vociferous than any protest the rest of us may have ever carried out against the cabal. That doesn’t really speak volumes of their militancy; it merely puts a mirror in front of the people’s fearful faces.
Elections splinter the people’s mandate into minute debris scattered on the square of public opinion, while judicial supremacy smothers it altogether to its silent death. If America is to recover the principle of government by consent, it must confront both pathologies: endless campaigning that paralyzes leadership, and a judiciary that substitutes its own preferences for the Constitution. Otherwise, the question will only grow sharper as the people’s patience grows thinner; do presidents really govern, or are they mere actors in a pageant run by others behind the curtain?
I believe the response to the current situation lies hidden within the lyrics of No Quarter:
“They carry news that must get through; to build a dream for me and you. They chose the path where no one goes.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute (MSI²).