Former Office of Government Ethics chief Walter Shaub posted a message to Americans on Tuesday warning them that President Donald Trump might try to overthrow the Constitution and the rule of law to save himself and keep power.
It all started with a New York Times op-ed by conservative commentator David Brooks, who predicted that Trump might be so desperate to end federal investigations and legal proceedings against him that he delegitimizes our legal system to escape justice.
”When the indictments come down, Trump won’t play by the rules. He’ll delegitimize those rules. He’ll delegitimize our legal institutions. He’ll personalize indictments, slander every prosecutor. He’ll destroy the edifice of law in order to save himself.”
Of course, that’s a very scary thought, but one that becomes increasingly possible as Trump ramps up his attacks against the FBI and the Justice Department. Hell, he already slanders Special Counsel Robert Mueller and federal attorneys investigating him. And Shaub not only thinks Brooks is right, but thinks Trump might try to use the military to put down any protest or resistance that would follow, and may even go so far as to cancel the 2020 Election.
I think Brooks is right. I don’t know if the end will come in 2019 or in 2020, but the end is coming. The only question is what will end. As we get closer to the core of the problem, the corrupt president and his enablers in Congress and elsewhere will fight more furiously /1 https://t.co/g6VQAkKzS8
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
against America for their short-term partisan goal of holding onto power at any cost. The fact that we’ve reached the point where we’re having to prepare for this inevitability should be the alarm that wakes some of his complicit enablers from their mesmerized state, but /2
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
2018 taught us that the ability of the compromised politician to rationalize is great. We must hope that enough of our institutions hold — not all of them will — and that enough of the American people recognize the clear and present danger and are willing to pay a cost to /3
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
stand up for democracy. We’ve got to hope the culture of the military is strong enough that its leaders and member would refuse to follow illegal orders. In 2018, we saw Trump’s willingness to use the military to stage a political stunt at the border immediately before an /4
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
election. We also saw his willingness to abruptly withdraw the military from Syria, against the guidance of his advisers, to distract from his unraveling political situation. Would he dispatch them to disperse a crowd or shut down an election? Would they comply with /5
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
such a lawless command? I’d like to think our military personnel would remember their oath to serve the people and obey the constitution. The incidents involving the recent tweet out of U.S. Military Command and the soldiers seeking his signature on campaign paraphernalia were /6
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
not encouraging, but so far they seem like isolated incidents. Our military has a long tradition or respecting civilian authority. Members of the military can prepare for the coming crisis by remembering their oath. Civilian Feds do the same. They should ask themselves at what /7
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
point do patriotism and basic morality compel them to put their oath before the whims of the politician in charge or his appointees. Above all else, military and civilian members of the United States government have a duty to place loyalty to the Constitution, laws and ethical /8
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
principles above the private gain of individual politicians and political parties. Much the same is true for the citizens of this nation. Freedom is ours to lose. Enemies of that freedom include not only foreign powers but also domestic actors who would supplant democracy with /9
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
authoritarian rule. Lawful peaceful protest comes at a cost that we must be willing to pay. The unfortunate reality is that the costs and risks are not borne equally, but they must be borne or we could lose more than we can imagine. The question we should ask ourselves is /10
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
whether our contribution matches our love of country and the ideals of democracy. Could we give more time or more money? Do we have a plan in case a lawful peaceful mobilization is necessary. I think Brooks is right: The wolves are coming. The question is: Are we prepared? /11
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 1, 2019
Seeing as how Republicans have refused for two years now to stand up to Trump as he does nothing but destroy our nation and our alliances, it’s hard to know where the GOP would draw the line as long as they think they will get their agenda passed.
What makes Shaub’s questions about where the military will lean so scary is that Trump’s approval rating among active-duty troops is split down the middle, although it is waning.
But should the military back Trump, our democracy would be replaced by a dictatorship and all of our rights would be stripped away.
Shaub, however, is correct when he says our troops and commanders would have to violate their oath to the Constitution to do it.
But the fact that this possibility is even being thought of and discussed is cause for Americans to be deeply disturbed, and it’s why everyone must insist that federal investigations of Trump be allowed to continue and that the rule of law prevails. And perhaps most of all, Americans should be prepared to not only protest, but fight in defense of our country and institutions. If the wolves do come for us, Americans will face a choice. They can be slaughtered like sheep or be willing to go down swinging until their last breath in a show of strength and determination that would make the Founding Fathers proud.
Hopefully, it will never come to that, but everything Trump has done is unprecedented, and if Republicans refuse to stand up to him and he gets the military to back him, the people need to be prepared for the fight of our lives. Our freedom and nation will literally depend on it.
Featured Image: Wikimedia
