George Washington’s Birthday: Be Inspired by Washington to Defend the Separation of Powers

As I do every year, I post that the United States federal holiday, which is called “George Washington’s Birthday,” is called by most States by other names, such as “Presidents’ Day,” and popularly referred to the same way States do, and never celebrated on Washington’s birthday of February 22. I note the day was not only intended to honor only the Father of Our Country as President, but as the General who led the American patriots to victory in the Revolutionary War and as a Founding Father, among his other accomplishments. By diluting the purpose of the holiday by emphasizing the presidency and the other Presidents, it distracts from the focus of appreciation of Washington’s accomplishments and his exemplary model. Furthermore, because of the professional media and popular focus on the other Presidents, it is necessarily divisive, and because scoundrels are included, inappropriate and demoralizing, instead of uplifting. I therefore propose every year that the name and focus of this federal and state holiday should be restored. But because of this current focus on other Presidents and on the presidency, it is relevant to recall Washington’s presidency in one aspect that is particularly relevant today to understand the false notion of the office that has gradually developed. The First President, like everyone after him until 1840, for President or even for Elector, did not campaign for the presidency. Therefore, he did not have a platform or “agenda.” The Framers of the Constitution had intended the office of the Chief Executive to execute the laws approved by the Congress, which represents the People and the States, not to be the proponent of laws, except to make recommendations to the Congress based on his observations and judgment, while the President’s duty is primarily to serve as the Commander in Chief and chief diplomat. Furthermore, as the Union of States was formed for unity and for defensive and foreign affairs purposes, most domestic matters were left to the States. A fundamental principle of the Constitution is the Separation of Powers of the Branches of government and the system of checks and balances between the branches. Although the Chief Executive has certain powers, most matters must be debated and approved by the Legislative Branch because the Congress is the representative body of the People and the States who formed the Union because the Framers, after the experience of the Colonies under the British Monarchy feared the danger of an autocratic ruler. Thus, the current argument by Donald Trump’s administration and supporters that because the People voted for him, which is not true because the People vote only for the Electors who elect the President, that his platform must be accepted in full, the Senate must accept all his nominees, and he may rule autocratically by decree, is constitutionally baseless. Voters elect only candidates to any public office, not candidates’ or their parties’ platforms, based on the qualifications of the candidates. In other words, elections for public office are not literally referendums on issues. Even if a candidate has a general platform that a plurality of voters who elect him favor, he may offer greater specificity once in office or even change his mind, but even if a public official intends to carry out an entire specific platform, it is the prerogative of the Legislative Branch to consider and enact any part of the it that constitutionally must be enacted by law. The President is only owed deference on nominations to inferior administrative or advisory offices to the extent of his confidence in a nominee, but the Senate’s Advice and Consent power is intended as a check against the Executive’s power to appoint any unfit or unqualified nominees, or any who hold unconstitutional views. The President has a constitutional obligation to “take care the laws [enacted by Congress] are faithfully executed.” He thus does not have absolute power over inferior officers when there are statutes that limit presidential powers, and especially cannot impound (decline to spend) money lawfully appropriated by Congress. The Legislative Branch also may require the performance of certain duties by Executive Branch officials or constrain them from engaging in certain acts. The Judicial Branch, not the Executive Branch, has the constitutional power to judge the constitutionality of laws and executive acts. George Washington provides America and the world with a great example of a constitutional republican executive who defers to the legislature and judiciary, instead of usurping their powers and ruling autocratically. Americans would benefit from recalling Washington’s example today and be inspired to defend the constitutional principle of the Separation of Powers as a safeguard of liberty.

Donald Trump is Making the Same Mistakes with Ukraine as He Did with Afghanistan

Donald Trump is making the same mistakes about Ukraine as he did about Afghanistan. Just as he legitimized the Islamist terrorist-sponsoring Taliban militia by negotiating directly with them and excluded the Afghan government that was an ally of the United States and granted them concessions ahead of time, such as releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners of war, the Russian-backed Trump ended the diplomatic isolation of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union/Russian Empire, to discuss a deal to end the Russo-Ukrainian War, without first speaking with the Ukrainian President, and granted Russia two major concessions to appease Putin before: rewarding Russian aggression by allowing Russia to keep the Ukrainian territory it has stolen and leaving the Ukrainians living there under tyranny, and denying NATO membership to Ukraine or even any American security guarantee to deter further Russian aggression. Trump’s deal with the Taliban to end (i.e. lose, instead of win) the war in Afghanistan was to withdraw American troops, of which there were only 2,500 in a non-combat advisory role, in exchange for a promise by the Taliban not to host again al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on American that killed 3,000 people. Trump’s deal undermined the Afghan government and hamstrung Trump’s successor, Joe Biden. The disastrous Trump-Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan allowed the Taliban to return to power to oppress Afghans, after the U.S. had led an international coalition to overthrow it by 2002, and trigger a mass refugee exodus, and allowed al-Qaeda’s leader to live secretly in the Afghan capital, while inhibiting the U.S. from being able to continue to target al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan as effectively as before. Just as Trump’s goal to end the Afghan War, instead of defeating the Taliban, did not provide better protection against Islamist terrorism, his goal of ending the Russo-Ukrainian War, instead of defeating Russian aggression, will only encourage more of it.

Foreign Digest: Belarus, Bolivia, South Africa, Germany and Russia

Belarus: The presidential election earlier this month in Belarus was a farce, as the opposition had boycotted it because of restrictions on liberty by the longtime Belarusian dictator that preclude free and fair elections. The results of the election four years ago in the former Soviet Republic were fraudulent, which triggered protests that were repressed with violence and mass arrests, a massive refugee exodus, and economic sanctions by the United States and its allies. Belarus, as a member of what I call the Axis of Rogues, is an ally of Russia and allowed Russian troops to invade Ukraine from its territory to commit aggression against Belarus’ southern neighbor. Bolivia: There were protests last week in Bolivia against mining contracts by the leftist Bolivian government that are perceived as favorable to Russia and Communist China. South Africa: After the passage of a law last month enabling the South African Government to expropriate land not in use or for public benefit, Donald Trump announced last week that the U.S. would grant asylum status to Afrikaners (South Africans descended from Dutch colonists), even though South Africa is a relatively free country and the whites, including Afrikaners, are part of the South African leftist-led coalition Government that includes centrists and conservatives. In contrast, Trump denies refugee status to people living in tyrannies, including those personally at risk of persecution, such as Afghans who worked with us, as I explain in my last post. He liberally interprets the fear of white Protestants of persecution in free States as credible, such as during his first term when he granted asylum to a German family, but not to non-whites, Catholics (including white Hispanics), or Muslims who follow the law and seek asylum on American soil. Trump’s travel ban had prohibited Syrian Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) from fleeing tyranny, war and Islamist terrorism. Bigotry and demagoguery that encourages xenophobia are Trump’s motivations, more than any supposed security or ecnonmic concerns. Germany: The Vice President of the United States, a Trumpist Republican, condemned immigration to Europe in his address to the Munich Security Conference late this week and disgracefully met with the leaders of the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AFD), the largest neo-Nazi German party, thereby legitimizing them in the name of the U.S. The week before, the conservative opposition party supported AFD’s anti-migration bill in the German parliament that was defeated, which was disturbing to many Germans and other Westerners. The center-right party, which is leading the polls for the federal parliamentary elections in September, together with a conservative Bavarian partner, but not enough for the bloc to win a majority on its own, was forced after its shameful parliamentary tactic that legitimized the neo-Nazis, to make it clear that it would never form a government with the AFD, with which they would have the required majority to form a government. Vance had encouraged Germans politicians to work with all parties, including the AFD, but the conservative party condemned the AFD’s repugnant views and historical revisionism. Nazis and other fascists have been strictly kept out of power in Germany since the Second World War, in which the totalitarian Nazis (the German Socialist Party) were defeated by the Allies and removed from power. Germany is a U.S. ally as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russia: Russians defied threats of persecution by the regime of tyrant Vladimir Putin by commemorating the first anniversary today of the death of the leading proponent of freedom in Russia, Alexei Navalny. The center-right political leader died in a remote Russian prison under harsh conditions as a political prisoner. Russia has prosecuted people just for placing flowers at his tomb, as dozens did today, among other forms of protest. American and other Western Ambassadors also did. Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union/Russian Empire, came to power through elections a quarter century ago, but has usurped elective representative government with increasing authoritarianism.

Trump Is Putting Venezuelan and Afghan Refugees at Risk of Losing Life or Liberty

Donald Trump is ending Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan refugees who had fled persecution by the Socialist dictatorship in Venezuela. Around 600,000 Venezuelans are legally present in America. I had mentioned in my last post that a Republican United States Representative had proposed legislation to protect Venezuelan refugees seeking asylum from persecution and refugees fleeing Communist Cuba and Marxist Nicaragua, who together constitute a plurality of refugees currently fleeing to America, including those non-Mexicans applying for asylum from Mexico through a special exception to the usual legal requirement of having to be on U.S. soil to claim asylum, but Trump’s latest move is targeting refugees already present. The ending of temporary protected status for Venezuelans and the closure of the asylum process in Mexico prove that the anti-migrant rhetoric by Trump and his supporters during the campaign misled some voters to believe that Trump would only oppose illegal immigration, as his restrictive policies, on top of an already-excessively restrictive immigration policy, also includes refugees who have followed the legal process. The anti-migrant demagogue also cancelled a program shortly after taking office that helped provide visas to Afghans who worked for the U.S. or who for its Afghan government ally who would face retaliation, including death, from the Islamist Taliban de facto Afghan regime. Around 15,000 Afghans had cleared the process, which takes years, as it includes a reference from an American government official, a background check, a health screening and an interview. During his first term, “pro-life” Trump had implemented redundancies in the program and cut its staff and budget willfully to put America’s Afghan allies and their families at risk because of his demagoguery. The U.S. has taken in many Afghans and gotten its allies around the world to re-settle tens of thousands of others. The ending of the visa program for Afghan allies, which even came as some of the Afghans were scheduled to be on flights out of the Central Asian State, left many of the 15,000 Afghans in legal limbo in Pakistan, Qatar and Albania, where they were temporarily staying, in addition to the rest in hiding in Afghanistan. American veterans have been working for years to help get Afghan allies out of Afghanistan, as the U.S. had promised in exchange for their work for the American-led international coalition that overthrew the Taliban in 2021 after it had harbored the al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America that killed a record 3,000 people. Thus, ending the visa program for Afghan allies puts American security at risk by discouraging allies from risking their lives and that of their families to work for the U.S. The program had strong bipartisan congressional support. We conservatives should urge Congress to restore the program. As I have noted, Trump’s xenophobic policies against refugees, whether fleeing persecution in Venezuela, Afghanistan or anywhere else, do not protect America from significant threats, but deprive America of the benefit of people who have special insight into tyranny and a greater appreciation for liberty than Americans can possibly have. Such policies also dangerously undermine belief in the American creed that every human being has a birthright of freedom.

Republican Congressional Pushback against Trump

Even before Donald Trump took office, the pushback against his autocratic and authoritarian tendencies had begun, even amongst Trumpist Republicans. The United States Senate rejected his proposals for recess appointments, which would have undermined the Senate’s Advise and Consent role on presidential nominations, and ending the filibuster, which would have diminished the rights of the minority and the Senate’s role as the world’s greatest deliberative body. Trump’s nominations, which are based more on loyalty to Trump than on qualifications, of nominees who are of unfit character, inexperienced, dishonest, credulous of conspiracy theories or even disloyal. His first nominee for Attorney General was forced to withdraw, but other dangerous nominations will be voted on soon. There has been some concern among Senators and anti-Trump Republicans and conservatives outside of Congress over other several other nominations, and there already were some Republican votes against one nominee. Trump nominated former Democratic U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii for Director of National Intelligence who is an apologist for terrorist-sponsoring tyrant Bashar Assad of Syria and the tyrannical ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin of Russia, who is trying to restore the Soviet Union, for whom she spreads propaganda. She is also sympathetic to a former federal employee who leaked massive amounts of counterterrorism documents and fled to Russia. Trump’s inexperienced nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy, is another liberal Democrat who believes in scientifically disproven conspiracy theories against vaccines and proven public health policies. His nominee for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, is an extreme loyalist to Trump who is dishonest and credulous of debunked conspiracy theories, and who was sympathetic to the January 6, 2021 Insurrection inspired by Trump that attempted to thwart the certification of Trump’s presidential 2020 election loss. Conservatives should contact their Senators to urge them to oppose particularly these nominations, among others of concern. In the Congress in general, there are several Republican members in both the Senate and House who are not pro-Trump who will be influential in the two closely divided chambers. There is a division also among Republicans in Congress over the budget and the debt ceiling, with Trump’s policy of not raising the debt ceiling being rejected by the GOP-led House even before he took office. There is significant bicameral Republican support for continued military aid to Ukraine to defend it against Russian aggression. This Reaganite wing of the GOP opposes the Trumpist isolationist wing. A Republican Representative has introduced legislation to exempt Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans fleeing Communist, Socialist and Marxist dictatorships, respectively, from Trump’s mass deportation policies. Trump’s protectionism will also likely generate some opposition from among congressional Republicans. Therefore, despite the broad support for Trump in the Republican Party, there are many areas of division, even among Trump supporters, between conservatives and Trumpist populists who support protectionism, nativism, isolationism, and authoritarianism, in addition to opposition to nominees and policies from those who are not Trumpist. In addition to public pressure, litigation, State action, and elections, there will continue to be plenty of opportunities for anti-Trump conservatives and Republicans to oppose the most Trumpist policies and even to be successful in some cases against this clear and present danger.