Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. A foundation America was built on, and a foundation that has been slowly degrading for over a hundred years. One of the safeguards of this ideal was accountability in our leaders, the idea that no one was above the law held America’s ideals in place. In the last few years, that ideal has been trampled repetitively.
Take the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Presidential immunity when acting over the Executive Branch. This put a major halt to the January 6th trial. I would like to add, that whether you think President Trump was guilty or not doesn’t matter here, because immunity covers both. A guilty president is protected under it. A common argument used to back it up was it would allow the president to be unrestricted in his ability to do his job. However, every president beforehand operated without immunity and many arguably did their job well. The only few presidents who didn’t were those such as Richard Nixon, who resigned from his office early after evidence of corruption came out.
My point here is that even if you currently believe President Trump has done nothing wrong, the protection and immunities granted are still a serious problem, regardless of your beliefs. Because once we have no accountability to one of the most powerful people in the world, we have lost control over the government, and our voice for justice and law is no longer heard. We can decide which king we want, but at that point, we’re deciding on a king, not a leader.
Thankfully we aren’t at that stage yet, but steps in that direction have been made. Not a single word in the Constitution is given about immunity for the President, not one line. And yet, immunity has been given by the Supreme Court, two branches enacting beyond their power. And from the decisions being made, it seems unlikely that they will cease on their own. Sure the judicial branch has struck down a significant portion of Executive Orders as of late, The attempted end of birthright citizenship is one of them, as have other similar cases regarding everything from the enforcement of Congressional funds to the deportation of legal immigrants.
This leaves us with a major question, can the steps made towards a dictatorship be undone? Yes, they can. As those of you astute in the Constitution might recall, there is a third branch, Congress. As the decades passed, Congress delegated more and more of its power to the executive and judicial branches. Encourage Congress to step onto its full plate of authority, and encourage them to make leaders accountable. We are a country governed by laws, not by men, and we need to hold those who break them accountable. However likable, charismatic, or alike they are to us.
