I'm aware that it can be pointed out that our system of government assures us that the worst that could happen is we have to wait till Jan. of 2025 to be rid of Trump. But, in going over the comment I left regarding his power grabs, his consolidation of power in the Executive branch, his effort, in other words, to put the president above the law, his effort to create an executive who can bear no accountability whatsoever, he is, in effect, creating a degree of absolute power in that branch. It's that precedent that concerns me. Does us little real good to have term limits on the office of the presidency, if said presidents can stand above the law while in that office. It's like a system of temporary dictatorships, and I don't want such power in the hands of any one person, let alone one like Trump.
Developing on this thought further. The trend toward what has been called an Imperial Presidency did not start with Trump. But, man, is he accelerating it. Long since I have questioned the wisdom of allowing so much power over hundreds of millions of citizens in the hands of one individual. Consider but one result, in but one action by Trump's head of the EPA:
"The first major
rule Wheeler signed as acting administrator refuted his claim that he could fulfill President Trump’s
directive to “clean up the air, clean up the water, and provide regulatory relief” at the same time. By rolling back the Obama-era coal ash rule, Wheeler provided regulatory relief to his old friend the coal industry by weakening environmental protections established in 2015 to clean up coal ash ponds, which are laced with toxic contaminants that leak into groundwater. The move was a
top priority for coal baron Bob Murray, owner of Murray Energy, Wheeler’s
most lucrative client when he worked for the Faegre Baker Daniels law firm.
Coal-fired power plants have been dumping this residue from burning coal into giant, unlined pits for
decades. According to the EPA, there are more than
1,000 coal ash disposal sites across the country, and a recent
analysis by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project found that 91 percent of the coal plants filing monitoring data required by the 2015 rule are polluting water with unsafe levels of toxic contaminants. Wheeler’s EPA
says the new rule — which extends the deadline for closing some leaking ash ponds and allows states to suspend groundwater monitoring and set their own standards — will save utilities as much as $31 million. But the agency ignored the enormous costs of cancer and neurological and cardiovascular diseases
linked to coal ash ingredients, which include arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury."
https://www.salon.com/2019/07/22/10-ways-andrew-wheeler-has-decimated-epa-protections_partner/
Why are we allowing one man, ultimately Trump, to unilaterally affect, in a negative fashion, the health of countless other Americans? The fact that he can do this, with scarcely a peep out of our press, signifies a flawed system to me. If he has the power to do this, then we need to adjust how much power we allow in our chief executive, I should think.
