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THE VIEW FROM HERE - One may suppose that Sen. Tuberville could defend himself against the betrayal charge by claiming that he is too stupid to know what he is doing. Whether Tuberville intends to sabotage Trump or is too dim witted to know what he is doing is an open question. A couple days ago in speaking about Fox News’ Pig Hegseth’ nomination to head the Department of Defense, Tuberville said that the GOP has no duties under the Constitution’s advice and consent clause; that duty fell solely to the Dems. Tuberville affirmed his anti-Constitutional position that Trump has the right to have whomever he desires.
The Advice and Consent Clause
As to presidential appointments, US Constitution Art II, Sec 2, Clause 2 states:
“He (President) . . . shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States. . . “
Nowhere does the Constitution say that members of the President’s own party are relieved of their Constitutional duty to advise and consent. In fact, as a practical matter, the opinions of the President’s own party are more likely to be heeded as they come from his own officials whose welfare depends on Trump making wise decisions. The Federalist Paper 76 shows why the Constitution made the advice and consent clause compulsory on all Senators. (Never rely on anything the Federalist Society writes about the Federalist Papers.)
It is a Three Step Process
Few realize that Art II, Sec 2, Clause 2 has three parts: (1) the nomination by the President, (2) The approval or rejection by a majority of Senators, and (2) the actual appointment if the majority consents. After the Senate votes to approve by a majority, the President does not have to take the third step and actually appoint the nominee.
Federalist Paper 76 Explains the Purpose of the Advice and Consent Clause
“[T]he necessity of their (majority of Senators’) concurrence would have a powerful, though, in general, a silent operation. It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity. In addition to this, it would be an efficacious source of stability in the administration.”
“Silent operation” means that when an unwise nomination is made, Senators working behind the scenes will help the President to realize this mistake so that he can reverse it without the actual need of a public vote. This “silent operation” philosophy was used to have Pres. Richard Nixon resign rather than face the humiliation of a House impeachment plus the Senate conviction.
The last sentence, however, is perhaps the most vital. By preventing a President from appointing unfit characters based upon personal loyalty to him, the Senate will provide Trump with a “stable administration.” With friends like Tuberville, Trump needs no enemies. While Trump may love blind loyalist, they will ruin his administration.
The Role of Trump’s Personality Disorders
Trump’s friends more than his opponents need to live in reality and recognize his two personalty disorders. Histrionic HPD and Narcissistic NPD with paranoid features. Decades ago, I had a friend who was subject to frequent epileptic seizures. Ignorant friends convinced him that taking medication was a sign of unmanliness. Within a few days, he was dead after he had a seizure in the shower. When he fell, he stopped up the drain and drowned. Fools like Tuberville’s and Sen. Ron Johnson’s encouraging Trump’s worst instincts do him a huge disservice.
As this column has been explaining since December 2016, neither Trump’s friends or foes should ignore his personality disorders; they control all his behavior. Histrionics make impulsive decisions with almost no foresight of results. They are impressed with flamboyant statements like Kash Patel’s saying he could close down the FBI headquarter and send all the agents into the field to fight crime. Trump’s nominating grossly unqualified loyalists for crucial positions is a form of political madness. Narcissists like Trump tend to fly into involuntary Narcissistic Rages when some disagrees with them. Thus, most advisors are too fearful to oppose Trump’s follies.
Pig Hegseth Is an Alcoholic and Worse
One does not need to know whether his co-workers at Fox News are telling the truth. All one needs is for one’s family have had an alcoholic-in-denial. Almost word for word, alcoholics-in-denial say what Hegseth has said. Nixing Matt Gaetz was relatively easy since Trump had no deep commitment to him. Someone managed to get Gaetz on Trump’s jet back from Florida and corner Trump in the back of the plane, after which Trump rashly appointed Gaetz. Hegseth, on the other hand, was Trump’s choice because he liked how Hegseth kissed up to Trump on Fox and Friends Weekend Show. Thus, Trump is more emotionally committed to Hegseth than he was to Gaetz.
Do not be naive. All of Hegseth’s background details are not public, but the walls are covered with handwriting. Not only is he an alcoholic, his actions are unaccepted in almost all areas. While Trump does not care about Hegseth’s abuse of women, that is the least of his problems. Two conservative non-profits veteran groups have removed him, inter alia, due to inappropriate expenses. Trump needs to realize that there is more than one way to spell embezzlement. Tuberville and Johnson should STFU so that rational Senators can protect both Trump and the Republic by scuttling the Hegseth nomination ASAP. Florida Gov. Ran DeSantis, on the other hand, has experience in running an entire state and also in rooting out Woke DEI.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected])
