By AILEEN BURKE News Editor and KAYLA DEMICCO Opinion Editor
“The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot,” said Ann Coulter, a well-known conservative Republican political commentator, after Trump announced on Feb. 15 that he was to, and subsequently did, declare a national emergency about the southern border wall he seems virtually obsessed with constructing.
According to the Webster-Merriam dictionary, a national emergency is “a state of emergency resulting from a danger or threat of danger to a nation from foreign or domestic sources and usually declared to be in existence by governmental authority.”
On Saturday Night Live’s episode on Feb. 16, Alec Baldwin returned to the show to act as Trump to declare a Fake National Emergency and to make a parody of the press conference he held in Rose Garden.
“We need wall, because wall works. Wall makes safe,” said Baldwin, as Trump, mocking all the nonsense Trump actually said during the real press conference. “I am basically taking military money so I can has wall.”
After the show, Trump tweeted, “Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!”
With his ongoing feud with liberal media, he followed that with, “THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”
During this press conference, Trump spoke about the death penalty in relation to the drug problem we have in America. Baldwin as Trump said, ““Imagine if we used the death penalty for non-violent crimes. You shoplift, bing bing, two in the back of the head. Just something to kick around.”
Trump has used this rarely administered tactic in order to have control over what happens with the funding and construction of the wall separating America and Mexico.
It is important to note that Trump is also rather quick to utilize the executive order as a way to usurp the Congress; a maneuver that has been historically seen in times of war or by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression in order to enact all aspects of the New Deal/ “Alphabet Soup;” this was a plan developed to revitalize the economy. There does not seem to be much effort on his end to try to work with the other two branches of government in any sort of balanced manner.
As you may have heard or read in previous editions of The Chronicle, Trump had shutdown the government while holding his breath about his wanting the United States government providing the funding necessary to fill his drastic request, and made history with the longest-ever government shutdown at 35 days. Although it ended on Jan. 3, 2019, the effects were felt by many Americans in a great capacity thereafter, and will be held over the administration for years to come.
The shutdown was temporarily halted in order for Trump to deliver the majorly contented state of the union address, in which he still took a great deal of time out in order to propagate for the construction of the wall. All of these events spurred the president to administer this radical emergency declaration; a declaration that will cost more to the American security forces and system than the average member of the attentive public can comprehend. Interesting, considering the amount of attention the president gives to wanting to benefit the system that is currently in place.
The further, less discussed issue that comes with the successful declaration of “The Wall” as a national emergency is the historic, monumental shift in presidential power that will come in later administrations. After this unprecedented wielding of power, there is no reason why a sitting United States president cannot declare emergencies over the construction of general public works/good, such as roads, parks, hospitals or dams. It is debatable, of course, if he even understands the level of change that was just given to the Executive branch of the United States government.
Actual national emergencies would include the aide to Puerto Rico, Flint Michigan’s water situation, infrastructure in the United States, the ongoing opioid epidemic, gun violence, wealthy inequality and domestic terrorism. NOT a border wall.
Declaration of national emergencies should be reserved for actual emergencies. You would not call 911 if you got a paper cut, but we guess people reserve assorted levels of judgement.
It’s more like a global emergency, this anti christ administration is literally throwing Christian babies into wire camp’s, taken from thousands of heart broken Christian mommy’s. If the biggest false witness in Christian history (trump), and pence believe that Jesus is telling them to throw Christians into wire camp’s, then they need an exorcism!!!! Jesus would weep at the incarcerate Christians entity , better known as (ice) . This is what happens when you give Christian babies to Lucifer as sacrifice. There are thousands of missing Christian children, and many more that have been sexually assaulted, because of this administration, Does this sound like the defender’s of Christianity or the devil? Sincerely Albertino, the protect our Christian brothers and sisters movement. P.s. we support every one regardless of race or religion or sexual identity, everyone!!!! We believe democrats need to grow a pair and simply say, stop attacking Christians, it’s anti christ behavior?