During Donald Trump's four years in the White House – and ever since – Democrats and left-wing pundits have often described his presidency as a time of chaos. Considering everything that has happened in the United States and the wider world since Joe Biden took over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., this portrayal of the Trump years is both hilarious and tragic. In truth, those on the political left did everything they could to create chaos during the Trump years – and they intend to repeat those efforts should the 45th president become the 47th.
There is plenty of evidence to support that prediction, but first, consider everything that was done to hinder the previous president and his agenda. Most notably, of course, were his two impeachments by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives – the second time, just a week before Trump’s term in office was due to expire.
Neither impeachment was based on any hard evidence of wrongdoing but, rather, on how Democrats and their witnesses chose to interpret – or perhaps misinterpret – Trump's intent. Both impeachments led to acquittals in the Senate, but these were merely the two most prominent attempts to derail Trump's presidency.
According to a December 2020 report from The Hill, 103 multi-state lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration in its first three years – 96 of which were initiated by Democrat attorneys general. This far exceeds the number of multi-state suits brought against both President Obama and President George W. Bush during their entire eight years in the White House. The report also notes: “Democratic attorneys general sued Trump 40 times in his first year in office alone, more lawsuits than have ever been filed against an administration in a single year.” The state of California alone sued the Trump administration 100 times.
The Fearmongering Media
The anti-Trump media has for months been pumping out wild theories about the tyrannical dystopia Americans will face if Orange Man Bad returns to the Oval Office. One need only do an Internet search for the phrase, “if Trump wins,” to discover a festival of fearmongering. Allegedly, the 45th president's second non-consecutive term will result in, among other things, the shredding of the Constitution, the persecution and imprisonment of Trump's critics and political opponents, the abandoning of international treaties and organizations, and the wholesale destruction of the environment. Another dire prediction for the return of Trump is the stripping away of all manner of “rights.” (In quotation marks because the so-called rights under threat have little to do with individual liberty and more to do with standards of behavior to which progressives have decided they are entitled).
Aside from the fever dreams of left-wing journalists and activists, though, what evidence is there that Mr. Trump's opponents intend to deliver four more years of obstructionism and legal turmoil?
The Plan to Contain Trump
Take a June 12 article from Washington’s most prominent left-wing newspaper: “Why scientists fear a second Trump term, and what they are doing about it.” The subtitle of this article says it all: “Several federal agencies are working to safeguard research, including climate science, from future political meddling.” When a new contract was drawn up in June between the federal government and “the union representing nearly half of Environmental Protection Agency employees,” provisions were included that would “ensure workers can report any meddling without fear of ‘retribution, reprisal, or retaliation,’ are ‘a way for us to get in front of a second Trump administration and protect our workers.’” The quoted words are those of Marie Owens Powell, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238.
If a future Trump administration changes the policies or practices at a federal government agency, is that “meddling”? Would this attitude extend to any and all attempts by Trump and his Cabinet members to make changes at any federal department or agency? If Trump's previous White House tenure is anything to go by, then yes, it presumably would.
The New York Times on June 16 published an article with the title: “The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started.” It describes “extraordinary preemptive actions” being taken by “an emerging coalition that views Donald J Trump's agenda as a threat to democracy.”
Aside from whatever else is being formulated within the corridors of Deep State power, there is absolutely no reason not to expect a rerun of 2016-2020. That is, a fresh and unrelenting barrage of lawsuits. The New York Times observes that the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Centre, and Democracy Forward – an organization formed after Trump's 2016 electoral victory specifically to tie his administration up in lawsuits – are already preparing to challenge Trump policy initiatives in court.
There is always the specter of impeachment, of course, should the Democrats find themselves with a majority in the House of Representatives at any point during another Trump term. Indeed, if Trump does win in November and Democrats, at the same time, manage to eke out a majority in the lower chamber, how many Americans – be they Republican or Democrat – would bet against pledges to impeach Trump being issued even before his inauguration?
Trump supporters might do well to temper their expectations, should their man become the next president. The progressive left may have to relinquish political power if that comes to pass, but it will still wield enormous bureaucratic, regulatory, and activist power – enough to make Trump's legendary vow to Make America Great Again an uphill battle.
The lesson here goes far beyond the partisan politics of the day. It is bigger than Donald Trump, bigger than Joe Biden, and bigger than any ideological differences. The bureaucratic class – one of the most important components of what has come to be known as the Deep State – has spent decades consolidating its power to the point where it is virtually untouchable, even by politicians elected to the highest offices in the land.
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