The Trump Deranged really do think this President is capable of being Hitler.

In a post on his usually rational and excellent blog “Simple Justice,” criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield embroils himself in an apocalyptic scenario where President Trump decides to break the law, defy the courts, and impose his will on the nation. Greenfield writes in part,

What mechanism exists to prevent a president from simply doing whatever he pleases? I gave the short list of how this works on the twitters.

There are three primary checks on presidential power:

1. Virtue
2. The military’s refusal to support unlawful action
3. Revolution

Some replied that this was wrong, ignoring the constitutional separation of powers, court rulings, Congress’ laws, even elections and impeachment. They missed the point. Honoring all the guardrails built into the system falls within the first check, virtue. It only matters if the president respects the law and the Constitution. Andrew Jackson realized this when he mumbled, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” What if the president just says “no”?

What is Congress or the Supreme Court going to do if the President tells them to kiss his executive butt? Congress may have the spending authority, but it’s the Treasury that holds the cash and writes the checks. The Supreme Court may have the authority to hold an action unconstitutional, but the military serves under the Commander in Chief.

If the president abides by the limitations of law or constitutional authority, as has generally been the case up to now despite the occasional overstep, then the mechanics of our society work. But what if he doesn’t?

I regard this as pure fearmongering of the sort that fueled virtually the entire Democratic party and Axis assault on Trump over the past several years. What if he doesn’t? What if he declares the national language to be Swedish? What if he decrees that all citizens under the age of 16, are 16? The trigger for Scott’s dystopian U.S. hypothetical was Trump’s firing of the Inspector Generals without meeting the statutory requirement of a 30 day waiting period and Congressional notice. This kind of technical violation by a President is so common that it can be found in every administrations, often in much more severe forms. My guess is that one or more legal advisor told the President that the law involved could be challenged, perhaps successfully, on constitutional grounds, but in any event, firing the IGs is hardly justification for evoking Andy Jackson’s infamous defiance of the Supreme Court.

By “virtue” I assume that Greenfield means ethics. I have written here for years and years that Trump shows no signs of employing ethical decision-making in his thought processes. He has beliefs, and a view of the world and life, all culminating in a philosophy of “Do what you have to do to fix things, accomplish your mission, goals, and objectives, and to win.” That mindset leaves little room for ethics. However, Trump does have values. One of them that the Trump-Deranged deny is that Donald Trump is a patriot, a loyal American, a believer in American values and traditions, and absolutely dedicated to making democracy work for the United States. Nobody becomes President who doesn’t have those values. It has never happened, and never will.

But Greenfield goes full hysteric. “Will Congress stand up against the President? ….And even if Congress arose in outrage at Trump’s violation of law, so what? Assuming there was a way to take it to the courts, would Trump obey a court ruling?” He continues, “If he Jackson’d the ruling, what then?….After all, isn’t the outcome, like the elimination of DEI or cost-prohibitive deportation of immigrants, all that matters, regardless of how he gets there? ….Perhaps there’s a line even Trump won’t cross, whether because there is some iota of shame within his rotund orange exterior, or because he eventually grasps that his desperate need for validation will be lost when his schemes collapse.”

[Couldn’t resist the cheap shot ad hominem insult, eh, Scott?]

Greenfield goes on to say that “we” knew Trump lacked any virtue when we elected him, “and yet here we are. But if there is no line, and Trump has no virtue, then the options are limited. Consider what you would do if, in 2028, Trump announces that there will be no election, that he will remain president and that you will do whatever he tells you to do. What will you do then?”

And…and...what will you do when he turns into a giant mushroom demon with flesh disintegrating eyes? Huh? Then what?

Scott’s readers seconded his alarm, with one writing, “The Vaeth memo freezing spending makes the firing look like small potatoes by comparison.”

The New York Times just announced that “Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director for the Office of Management and Budget, told federal agencies that the memo freezing aid had been rescinded. “If you have questions about implementing the president’s executive orders, please contact your agency general counsel,” he said in a memo.

Oh.

Never mind!