Break Constitution in Case of Emergency
It seems like I can forget about normal days during this administration. I sat down this morning hoping for a quiet day — maybe throw on some cartoons in the background while I caught up on grading — maybe a little Batman: The Animated Series, something with a villain who doesn’t pretend to be the hero. But instead, I’m reflecting on the President’s decision last week to deploy Marines in Los Angeles, another round of emergency declarations, and Marco Rubio saying things that made my political science degree physically ache.
If you’ve been watching Republican leaders twist themselves into knots, defending power grabs they once claimed to oppose — don’t worry. You’re not imagining it. You know it’s performative, you know it’s B.S. — and maybe you just haven’t had time to pull out your rhetorical scalpel and name it. That’s where I come in. I’m just a political science professor who’s been around long enough to recognize a playbook when I see one — and I keep receipts.
Let’s start with what happened last week. The President of the United States sent U.S. Marines and National Guard troops into Los Angeles during peaceful demonstrations, citing a “national emergency” that legal experts across the spectrum are calling unconstitutional. A federal judge initially blocked the deployment, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has since issued a temporary stay on that ruling — allowing the federal presence to continue while the legal fight plays out. But the damage is already done. For Trump and his enablers, the optics were the point. Strength. Order. Boots on the ground. You know, like when Kristi Noem executed her dog to show “dominance.” Same energy.
This isn’t about safety. It’s about submission. What we’re witnessing is argumentum ad metum — Latin for “appeal to fear”— wrapped in camo and stunt cast with soldiers. And the people applauding it the loudest? The same clowns who used to pound the table about federalism like it was a religion. Now they cheer for federal overreach like it’s a Monster Jam rally.
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/break-constitution-in-case-of-emergency