(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Wanting Everything, All at Once [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-07 By David Glenn Cox Oh Lawdy, Lawdy! The King is going to change the way we vote! And then he’s going to dismiss the Senate! Then he’s going to calm the fuck down and get a grip or he will exhaust himself punching at the air. What do you suppose will happen to an Administration with blood in their eyes out to fight everybody about everything? To change the way we vote, the King would need to change the Constitution to do that. How long could that take? Five or ten years? Elections are the responsibility of the States. You remember, those precious state’s rights Republicans are always burbling on about. Let the states decide, they said, unless they don’t like the decision, then they like Washington’s intervention. So, the King would soon find himself in a quandary. Convince the states, including Republican bastions to cede their power and authority to Washington. To give up their power unilaterally with nothing offered in return. You better send your best salesman on that call. You’d have to be a pretty dim bulb to do something like that. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, this is Merica! The states would still run the elections only the orders would come from Washington. Everyone who wants another boss to answer to, raise your hand! The other option, the less likely and more frightening option. Would be if the King goes full Adolph on us and tries something stupid. While the stupid part is easy enough to visualize. It’s probably not a good idea to overthrow the Constitutional government while you’re still new on the job. Besides, we haven’t even had a Reichstag fire yet. Just sayin, that’s all. If you’re going to follow the man’s book, follow the damn book. Dismiss the Senate? How exactly would one go about doing that? Call each Senator one by one, and tell them politely they are dismissed? Or ring a bell like school and make an announcement over the PA? “Attention, attention all Senators! You’re all dismissed! Effective immediately! By order of the King!” But just hypothetically speaking there is no legal instrument for the King to dismiss the Senate. There is however a legal instrument to remove a King through the United States Senate. Be careful who you bloviate at your majesty. How would the House of Representatives respond to this existential challenge? If the King beheads the Senate, you almost certainly know you are either next on the hit list or a spineless jellyfish. Articles of impeachment before the end of the week. As the Senate waits anxiously, gavel in the mid-air mouthing “Guil…” Now, what if those recalcitrant Senators refused to be dismissed, what then? Call the police? “911, what is your emergency?” I have a Senate that refuses to be dismissed! I want them all arrested! Oh, never mind, I’ll just call the Pentagon. What do you mean you only follow lawful orders? I’m the King! Do you mean to tell me it’s unlawful to arrest the entire Senate? Does the King really want to go there on his first week? Instead of a romance and a honeymoon period an armed stick up and a sexual assault. It’s highly unlikely to happen. The King needs those people and antagonizing people you need is bad business. Threatening to dismiss them implies incarceration. That’s always the way, you rarely just go home. And sometimes, you never get to go home. Let’s be honest about it. If the King is going full Adolph, they might get two in the back of the head. Let us visualize the horror! Because a King who would threaten such is a King who would try and do such. Going to deport millions and start a trade war too! Going to punish “woke” Universities. Going to go after enemies in the military and enemies in the Justice Department and FBI. Sounds like someone whose eyes are a lot bigger than their stomach. Like a little boy who is going to ride every ride at the carnival bound to throw up on the tilt a whirl. Childlike and wanting everything, all at once. Wanting Christmas every day. Boastful big talk certain to focus the attention of adversaries. Teddy said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Not, run your mouth threaten your allies and see what happens next. It could be blood in the streets, full on authoritarian fascism, but I doubt it. Only on the grounds of competence. They would if they could. But they aren’t smart enough to solve the riddle of getting across the river with the goose, the fox and the bag of corn. If the King dismisses the Senate, the Senate will most certainly dismiss King right back. The police or military will not arrest the Senate, nor will they arrest the King. He will hole up in the big White Palace. A standoff, except Congress controls the purse strings. The King won’t be able to achieve his other objectives while busy trying to dismiss the Senate. The King can declare Martial Law if he likes, but that won’t help the economy much in the middle of a trade war. “All trucks off the road at sundown! All stores to close at six o’clock!” Der Fuhrer had a choice to make back in 1942, send his forces towards Grozny and the much-needed Caucasus oil fields or North, towards Stalingrad. Der Fuhrer could have one prize or the other, but not both. Der Fuhrer decided to divide his forces and try to gain both anyway and ending up famously having neither. Or as Abraham Lincoln once advised, “One war at a time.” “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” ― John F. Kennedy Brother, you said a mouthful! 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