As Elon Musk leads his horde of young techie marauders on a lawless rampage through all the federal agencies that provide vital services to the American people, burning and pillaging as he goes, the question on sane and patriotic minds is: “Can someone stop him?”
My provisional answer is no.
As many have pointed out, empowering an unelected billionaire to swiftly dismantle federal agencies and randomly fire thousands of workers is illegal and unconstitutional. Whether one likes the bureaucracy or not, these governmental entities and programs have been created over several decades by a succession of congresses, and Congress, alone, has the authority to change or abolish them.
But President Donald Trump does not care. He and Musk have egos the size of Mount McKinley (or is it Denali?) and they have learned a dark secret: if you are bold enough and are given enough power, you can ignore the Constitution, do whatever radical thing you wish and there may be no one who can make you stop.
Members of the House and Senate are the ones whose constitutional powers are being sundered, but Congress is in the hands of Republicans who have consumed gallons of Trump Kool-Aid. A majority of them are dunderheads who believe the right-wing fantasy of the dreaded “deep state.” The rest are odious cowards who refuse to risk their political careers by rejecting even the most outrageously unqualified and dangerous Trump cabinet appointees.
As for the Democrats in Congress, they are reduced to impotent gestures. Yes, they band together to give all-night speeches on the floor of the Senate that delay a confirmation vote for a few hours. They lead chants in front of small crowds of protesters outside closed federal buildings. But Musk does not hear them. He is too busy destroying aid programs that support American farmers and feed starving people in Africa.
The Justice Department could halt Musk’s demolition derby, but you may have noticed that the department responsible for defending the Constitution is now staffed by Trump’s lawyers.
But the courts! The courts will save us! Yes, several federal judges have ruled that aspects of the executive branch blitzkrieg are unlawful, but, if Trump and Musk ignore them, who will enforce those rulings? Trump’s servile attorney general? And, if Musk or some other Trump administration official somehow gets convicted of illegalities, will Trump not simply pardon them?
Hey, how about the conservative Supreme Court? That question answers itself.
So, it is left to the American people to look up from their cellphones, wake from their social media stupor, set aside what they have heard on Fox News and come to the aid of their country. I guess that could happen, but I am not betting on it.
See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
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