The well-orchestrated “No Kings” protests across America had my conservative buddies bristling – so much so that they made a point of wearing their MAGA caps at our weekly breakfast. I was not the most popular item at the table, after suggesting that the protesters – while motivated more viscerally than intellectually – were in fact illuminating the darker side of our current president. A side that rejects rather than embraces conservative ideals and principles. Principles anchored in in natural rights, rule of law, minimum government and maximum freedom.
Trump has done some things that align with these ideas, which conservatives should appreciate. Take the appointing of Tulsi Gabbard, who courageously defends our civil liberties in the face of an intelligence community that wages war daily on the American people. Take RFK Jr., who boldly challenges the corrupt Big Health-Big Government Establishment that is making Americans more sick and less free. The No Kings demonstrations ignored these heroes, underscoring how deeply partisan these “spontaneous” events really are.
But I have challenged my GOP friends to take off their own partisan blinders, and focus on applying their conservative beliefs to all office holders of both parties. Do that, and they’ll soon discover that the prideful, profane, power-obsessed Donald Trump is not a principled conservative at all.
How long, for example, will loyal Republicans close their eyes to the shocking tactics of Trump’s ICE agents? Dealing constitutionally – and humanely – with illegal immigrants is a good and necessary federal calling. But in the words of constitutional scholar John Whitehead, ICE has “metastasized into a domestic terror force … fueled by profit-driven incentives and outlandish quotas.” Whitehead goes on to describe Trump’s “goon squad” as “masked, militarized, lawless bounty hunters who are willfully trampling our First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.” He gives many examples – serious stuff, that left unchecked, will only get worse. This is not how a constitutional republic operates.
Internationally, when Trump isn’t bombing countries we aren’t at war with and blowing out of the water small boats “suspected” of carrying drugs, he’s assuming unconstitutional power to impose trade-war tariffs without Congressional approval – a taxation without representation that lands squarely on every American consumer.
Another indicator of “kingly” presidential power is the use of unconstitutional executive orders to create so-called “administrative law” that bypasses Congress. Liberal Democrat Joe Biden, during his four-year term, issued 162 such orders – an average of 40 per year. At last count, professed conservative Donald Trump has signed 210 executive orders in less than a year.
If Republicans are serious about constitutional rights and reining in government, they should be at the head of the parade, sounding the alarm over Trump’s ever-increasing abuse of power. But because of politics, most aren’t. Partisan blinders keep them from seeing; keep them from acting.
Are the Democrats any better? In one sense, they are far worse. They are just as blind to governmental oppression when their party is in charge. But because the Democrat/socialist core philosophy advocates a top-down, imperialistic model of government (freedom can’t be trusted, elected officials know best) our Democrat friends have a harder time recognizing blatant abuse of power.
Case in point. Where were the liberal Democrats when for three years, Joe Biden locked down our entire country, shutting businesses, schools, churches, and our fundamental right to free associations and free choice? All of this was based on a governmental propaganda campaign of fear and intimidation, and an official policy of lying about the nature of COVID, the efficacy of the masks and the serious health risks associated with forced vaccinations. We may never know the full extent of the harm Fauci & Co. inflicted – while Democrats chose to “see no evil” and further empower the dictators.
America is a constitutional republic, where something called The Bill of Rights establishes in great specificity, absolute legal limits on the powers of government. We call it rule of law. Freedom is not a political gift, and the Constitution is not an optional contract. We have liberty because God bestowed it, and we require our government to defend it. Let’s take off our partisan blinders and hold every politician – Democrat and Republican — accountable to their oath of office, and to We the People, who they are hired to serve, not rule.
Roger Koopman is president of Montana Conservative Alliance. He served four years as a Republican in the Montana House of Representatives and eight years as a Montana Public Service commissioner. He operated a Bozeman small business for 37 years.