POTUS does not understand the limits of his power.

Donald Trump  is frustrated in his inability to move legislation.  He said in a recent interview that the form and function of the US Constitution are "archaic" and should be restructured so that it would be "modern."  He also says that he would like to change the libel laws, evidently for the purpose of controlling dissent.  So far as I know there are no federal libel laws.  They are all state laws.  The federal constitution protects freedom of speech but the law, so far as I know, does not offer the opportunity to sue for defamation in the federal Article Three courts.  Does DT not understand that he does not control the state courts or legislatures?  He is frustrated with his inability to move legislation in the US Congress?  By analogy, if he were still in business, the response by a CEO type to a business plan for the company that obstructed his planning would be to seek to change the business plan at a stockholders meeting.  Well, pilgrims, the US Constitution is not a business plan and the US Congress is not a stockholders' meeting.   The US Constitution contains provisions for its own modification through amendment or a constitutional convention.  Neither of these processes is anything like a stockholders' meeting.  In fact the constitution was designed to make its modification difficult, and not easy at all.  An amendment required 2/3 approval in BOTH houses and 2/3 ratification by the state governments.  This was necessary in framing because a number of the original states would not have ratified the document without that approach.  Yes, that means that the Union is an agreement among the states.

The extent to which DT understands the US government system is, IMO, doubtful.  He appears to this lay observer of humans to have a number of learning disabilities; a form of Asperger's syndrome perhaps, ADHD, and dyslexia are among the possibilities.  The comedian Hassan Minhaj told the press at the White House Correspondents; Dinner on Saturday that their responsibility is greater now than it has been in previous administrations because this president does not read briefing papers, cannot endure protracted oral briefings and has little knowledge of world affairs in his mental "library."  It seems to be the case that he gets his information from 24/7  TV news .   That is really unfortunate since most 24/7 news is merely a mouthpiece for someone's information operations whether left or right.

At the same time he has watched a lot of movies  What a combination of influences!  pl

Comments

[steve]

Yes.

[steve]

I don't really see the prominent signs of Asperger's, though you could make the case for some ADHD. What I would be more worried about is early cognitive dysfunction. Dependence upon family and emotional lability are signs of deterioration in its early stages, along with the inability to adapt well to new situations. Hard to tell since his image is so heavily scripted by both his supporters (on the positive side) and his detractors (on the negative side) that we won't be able to tell wha tis happening until he is much further along. They hid Reagan's issues quite well.

Steve

[Marko]

Apol ,

That's not DT "playing" anything,that's DT.

I don't rule out the idea of smokescreens and deadly stuff,however.

[Babak Makkinejad]

No, he missed the part about people liking war; an insight, that like so much else about the War Between the States, I learnt from Margaret Mitchell.

[turcopolier]

steve

IMO his impulsive outbursts would fall in that area. pl

[turcopolier]

steve and apol

steve - You never answered my point about DT having all the cards in a parliementary system. Apol - if it looks like a duck ... pl

[English Outsider]

Tyler got it right. It's just that Trump, for whatever reason, no longer does.

He's still your President. It was a deadly piece of theatre in Syria and his administration no longer feels the love from this particular outsider. I happened to see the chocolate cake interview and that was it for me. But however low his chances of coming good now are they're still higher than Clinton's would have been.

And if he's been turned, I very much doubt the people he gave a voice to have.

[turcopolier]

Lars

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2009/08/was-the-civil-war-necessary.html

pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

Well I think the current system only encourages the most incorrigible narcissist to run for US Presidency; after all, he or she is going around telling people "Vote for me because I am so Great."

And the electorate has bought into this; that the Presidency of US is an office only fit for the "Greatest American".

A consequence of it, in my opinion, is that the US President often cannot level with American people because if he does so, then he will be rejected as not being "The Great Man/Woman" and would be replaced by the next fellow who could convince the electorate that he is greater.

The "Blood, sweat, and tears" speech of Churchill is not possible in the United States, in my opinion.

It is interesting that you mention FDR, the greatest US statesman of the 20-th century; how much his star has diminished while the Cult of Churchill keeps on going.

[Medicine Man]

DT is probably being used as a smokescreen, so you are half right.

[MRW]

Well, I’ll go out on a limb.

The one thing that Kim Jung-Un (sp?) has wanted since 2013 is to meet with an American president and talk. Obama snubbed him. The Chinese has asked the US since 2014 to meet with and listen to Korean concerns. No luck.

So that little dance on CBS on Sunday was a pas de deux for Kim, imo.

(1) the butter poured down his back about taking over when he was 25 after his father died and surviving palace intrigues and running a country. (Ignatius on Morning Joe this AM thought it was unbecoming a US prez to say the things he did buttering up Un. Thought minions should do it.)

(2) As Thomas Mann once said of someone, “He’s not such a big man that he can make himself so small.” Well, the US president can. And it’s an old trick from Sun-Tzu if you can pull it off to make your enemies think you can’t handle “it." I heard in Trump’s ‘frustration’ with Congress another message for Kim that left to his druthers, Trump could just whack him and end it, but there’s a pesky Congress that can block him, so there’s some save-face space and TIME for Kim to negotiate without going full postal. Kim has a million-man army, but those soldiers are needed for the harvest or the people will starve, as they did a few years ago. One of the harvests didn’t come in because someone (us?) planned an altercation, or something, and Un had to pull the soldiers off the fields to don uniforms. Kim’s--and all North Koreans--fear is another 1950s when Pyongyang was wiped out, over a million dead, two buildings left standing. The starvation was unbelievable. 20 million refugees with no homes, heat, food...everything obliterated.

[Fred]

Babak,

Who taught all those Americans about the structure of our government? What party are they in? As to the most important Americans, the fake Americans, who do you think they vote for and why?

[Fred]

Sid,

I think he's busy with the deportation force.

[Nancy K]

Of course he envies their power. Thank God for the Constitution and the separation of powers.

[Eric Newhill]

English Outsider,
I was behind Trump almost as much as Tyler. What can I say other than the Borg sucked his brain? Too bad, I knew it could happen. At least he isn't calling me a privileged racist and taxing me to death while carrying out the will of the Borg. So there's always that to hang on to. And he lets me keep my guns, which are beginning to look more relevant all the time.

I am also still hoping that Trump started a trend in which outsiders can be viable candidates.

All the stupid gaffs, seeming ignorance of history and Constitutional processes and self-center impetuousness were always a known feature of The Donald. Like a lot of supporters, I didn't care about any of that as long as he stuck to his guns re; the key pillars of his platform - and sticking it to the elitists/Borgists. Almost all candidates and politicians of the last 30 years or so say really stupid stuff.

All of that said, maybe it's a good thing that he's not just ignoring NoKo like past administrations have. I mean they appear to have a lunatic dictator with nuclear weapons and a constant program to develop a means of delivering them as well exerting a constant threat to SoKo. At least Trump is addressing the situation and not sticking his head in the sand.

Speaking of sand, while I do not agree with the lame missile attack on Syria over a highly likely faked Syrian govt poison gas attack, the action worked wonders for Trump. It was like political magic. So there's still a possibility that the guy is crazy like a fox. Time will tell.

[mauisurfer]

You say
quote
The federal constitution protects freedom of speech but the law, so far as I know, does not offer the opportunity to sue for defamation in the federal Article Three courts.
endquote
In fact a defamation suit could be heard in federal court if the litigants were from different states, it is called diversity jurisdiction. But STATE law would be applied by the federal court hearing such a lawsuit.
Pardon me, but I used to be a law prof long long ago.

[David E. Solomon]

I believe that what they are all trying to hide is an economy on the verge of a serious breakdown.

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

The Washington Post reports that Trump got rolled in his first budget negotiation. I admit I am baffled. Steve’s description of old age fits me and, apparently, the President to a tee; “Dependence upon family and emotional lability along with the inability to adapt well to new situations”. Can the President just be ignored? This does not portend well for the future. 80% of Americans were thrown under the bus by the Reagan/Thatcher counter-coup and Globalization. The populist President the people elected in 2016 has flopped 180 degrees on every election promise. The establishment rules. JFK; “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/05/01/daily-202-eight-ways-trump-got-rolled-in-his-first-budget-negotiation/590687f2e9b69b3a72331f09/

[Barbara Ann]

I fear it may be Trump who has miscalculated. Advantage lies with NK, if they sit tight. Status quo means they continue to develop nukes/missiles - which means it is Trump's move. If NK won't budge, this can only be a preemptive strike which likely leads to nuclear war. In chess this situation is called zugzwang; you lose because you have to move next.

In his previous life Trump's 'foes' were rational corporates who could be relied upon to fold out of calculated self-interest if bullied adequately. I don't recall a chapter in Art of the Deal on strategies for delusional personality cults whose very existence is sustained only by ever more dramatic displays of weapons designed to destroy you.

[turcopolier]

barbara Ann

You only post a comment once her and then wait for me to decide whethe or not to publish it. pl

[eakens]

If Trump gets impeached, will Kushner go with him?

[Bill Herschel]

If it was necessary, then as a corollary it was necessary for 620,000 soldiers to die in the Civil War.

From there one must proceed to the question, did the Civil War work? Whoever answers that question in the affirmative must also state unequivocally that there would still be slaves in the United States today had the Civil War not been fought. If that cannot be stated, then one must state at what point in the history of the United States would slavery have disappeared without the deaths of 620,000 soldiers. Recall that slavery was inextricably intertwined with cotton, white gold.

Bear in mind that the preponderance of the Founding Fathers were slave owners including Benjamin Franklin. The blood of 11,000,000 African American slaves was on their hands. The holocaust had already occurred long before 1850.

But if the Civil War was not fought to end slavery, but rather to preserve the Union, I return to my first question: was preserving the Union worth the lives of 620,000 soldiers? Preventing secession was worth 620,000 lives. What utter nonsense.

And we come to today. Our country is so perfect that we can be allied with Saudi Arabia, a society so repellent that I am sickened by it. Oh, yes, the Civil War was necessary so that we can get into bed with Saudi Arabia today.

[Bobo]

Well we are three plus months in and those that like or hate DT have not changed much. He has been moving along steadily enacting what he can but being stifled by Congress as usual, our real problem. For all McCain's faults he is right about one thing "watch what he does not what he says" or something along those lines. We have a first rate cabinet who have all gotten out and around learning the ropes. There have been a few missiles and bombs tossed and more to come. Vlad seems to being flipped while we are getting close with China.
I believe he was right in getting out amongst the people the other night versus attending the Swamp Fest. Hopefully he does that for another three years or so.
Yes, I miss Tyler as others do but I do not see his view changed but enhanced as we have a worker in the White House looking out for his fellow workers.
Oh, is there a Doctor in the House.

[Edward Amame]

Babak Makkinejad

Going back to the old system of pres selection by party bosses is a non starter. The nominating process just needs to be shortened and overhauled. Free tv time for candidates and public financing of elections by the taxpayers would be welcome too, but that's probably not possible with this SCOTUS.

None of those things will happen. Nevertheless, a different kind of Dem candidate will be running in 2020, the Dem Party got rightly chastened in 2016. FDR's star is rising again and I expect that "Blood, sweat, and tears" language as a way to a "hopeful future" would be welcomed by Dem primary voters. AFL-CIO pres Richard Trumka is looking at people like Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Jeff Merkley as prospects because they all have clear economic messages.

I don't understand what goes on on the GOP side. The party is ideologically hidebound, but Trump ran and got elected as a populist.

[BillWade]

Back in 2016, seems so long ago, Trump said he'd meet with Kim Jung Un, wonder if he still feels that way? Video if you care to look:

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2017/05/01/donald-trump-says-he'd-meet-kim-jong-un/101163920/

I can only lament now that we didn't elect Ron Paul back in '08.