The more I think about….

The more I think about the anonymous Op Ed piece in the New York Times, the angrier I get. Trump has been claiming since his election that there is a “deep state” within the Washington bureaucracy working against him. Others, especially liberal media figures, have claimed he is just paranoid. Well, now we know he was right, as proved by the public (if anonymous) self-confession of one of the very “deep state” figures working against him. Bureaucrats of course always try to shape the policies of their elected leaders to fit their own ideology, or to enhance their own power or line their own pockets. That was the substance of the highly successful  1980’s British comedy series “Yes, Minister” and “Yes, Prime Minister”. But this now borders on an outright coup.

Now I don’t think much of Trump’s style or language, but he was legally elected by the citizens of this country, and to be fair he has worked to implement most or all of his campaign promises, something politicians are not noted for. And indeed some things have improved, even if the left won’t admit it or won’t give him any credit for it (though they are quick enough to blame him for anything that goes wrong). Growth has almost doubled, unemployment is the lowest it has been in a decade, working class wages are climbing, and illegal immigration seems to have dropped. We may not like some of his campaign promises, but enough voters did like them to get him elected, and in our democratic system of government that is how the system is supposed to work.

The overweening arrogance of elite Washington insiders who presume to assume that their own personal judgement is better than that of millions of American voters is disgusting, but it is also dangerous. We are in danger, it appears, of being governed by a secret cabal of unelected elites who subvert the elected officials they supposedly work for and who think many of the voters are stupid “deplorables” (Clinton’s words) “clinging to guns and religion” (Obama’s words), and who are, in their self-righteous manner, absolutely sure that their Ivy League training qualifies them override the electorate.

There is indeed a constitution crisis at the moment as many on the left claim, but the source of that crisis is not the President but rather some of those who oppose him. The left apparently aren’t capable of learning. In 2013 when Democrats controlled the Senate Harry Reid unwisely eliminated the filibuster for judicial nominations below the Supreme Court, and that unwise maneuver is why Democrats, now out of power, are now powerless to oppose Trump’s Supreme Court nominations. Along the same lines, the vicious attacks by liberals on President Trump are setting the stage for the next president from their own party to be similarly attacked and mercilessly harassed.  Or as the old saying goes, “what goes around comes around”. This is not healthy for the nation.