Russ Feingold: Donald Trump acts like an illegitimate president for a reason

[babylonsister]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/11/donald-trump-illegitimate-president-james-comey

Donald Trump acts like an illegitimate president for a reason
Russ Feingold

In the firing of FBI director James Comey, the US president seems not to care about how Americans view him. Is that because most didn’t vote for him?
Thursday 11 May 2017 09.19 EDT
Last modified on Thursday 11 May 2017 10.12 EDT


The American people did not really choose Donald Trump. His presidency exists without the support of the majority of voters and, in turn, without a true mandate from the American people. Trump walks and talks instead like an authoritarian, and seems to believe he is above the people and the law, and need not answer to either. He wants to be untouchable. He behaves with impunity and acts as if legal standards like obstruction of justice don’t apply to him.

Firing the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, demonstrates a whole new level of defiance of the rule of law and our foundational system of checks and balances. More bluntly, it proves just how dangerous an illegitimate president is to our democracy. His actions do not only undermine the legitimacy and credibility of his presidency; they are a direct threat to our constitutionalism and our democratic legitimacy.

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The case for obstruction of justice by the Trump administration is being built right now, and we must demand that Republicans and Democrats join together so that the grave danger to our democracy is called out for what it is and remedied – and not swept under the rug.

We also must not lose sight of the larger fight at hand. Tuesday’s events stem directly from our own illegitimate electoral system, which produced Trump the president. They are the result of voter suppression, dark money in politics, and the esoteric electoral college – all of which serve to silence the American people. To restore our democratic legitimacy, together, we must overcome these more entrenched challenges that strengthen those elected officials who opt to be silent when it is time to speak out.

We must make the national popular vote determinative, Congress must pass a 21st-century Voting Rights Act and we need to keep up the pressure in favor of comprehensive campaign finance reform. If we fail to do this, we are a nation at risk of the Trump-Pence administration becoming a catastrophic precedent, rather than a one-time phenomenon that our democracy overcame.

Russ Feingold was a 16-year member of the US Senate judiciary committee

[milestogo]

1. From someone who deeply respects our democracy and constitution.

[niyad]

2. k and r