If you want a good sample of the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of conservatives, look no further than the Washington Post, specifically an op-ed in yesterday’s issue by noted conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt.
In his op-ed, Hewitt takes Colin Powell, a fellow conservative who served as secretary of state, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and national-security adviser, to task for suggesting that President Trump “has drifted away from the Constitution.”
As a devoted conservative, Hewitt comes passionately to the president’s defense, denying heatedly that Trump has violated the Constitution. In fact, Hewitt asserts, it is the Democrats who have violated the Constitution in several ways that he specifies in his article.
Has Trump “drifted away from the Constitution”? Consider the following ways in which he has:
1. Trump has waged deadly and destructive wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Syria, and other countries? Where is the constitutional authority for Trump to do that? The Constitution expressly prohibits the president from waging war without a declaration of war from Congress. Hewitt undoubtedly knows that. Yet, as a devoted conservative, he remains silent about it.
2. Trump’s unilateral trade war against China, including his unilateral imposition of taxes on the American people, violates the Constitution. Under the Constitution, it’s Congress’s responsibility to levy taxes, and the Constitution does not permit Congress to delegate its powers to the president. Hewitt undoubtedly knows that. Yet, as a devoted conservative, he remains silent about it.
3. Trump’s unilateral decision to establish a welfare plan for American farmers who he has bankrupted with his trade war against China. Where did he get the money for this massive welfare plan? Not from Congress, even though the Constitution makes it clear that it is Congress that decides what matters the government will spend its tax revenues on. So, where did Trump get the money for his farm welfare program? From the tax revenues that his tariffs were bringing into the federal coffers, something that the Constitution does not authorize. Hewitt undoubtedly knows that. Yet, as a devoted conservative, he remains silent about it.
4. Trump’s decision to use a Pentagon slush fund to finance his Berlin Wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Under our system of constitutional government, Congress decides how tax monies are to be spent. Congress denied Trump’s request for funding for his wall. Trump circumvented that congressional decision by ordering the Pentagon to use its slush fund to do what Congress refused to do. Hewitt undoubtedly knows that. Yet, as a devoted conservative, he remains silent about it.
5. Trump’s unilateral imposition of economic sanctions on Iran and other countries, which have wreaked death, suffering, and destruction on countless innocent people in foreign lands. The Constitution does authorize a president to target innocent people with death, suffering, and detraction for the purpose of achieving a political goal. Hewitt undoubtedly knows that. Yet, as a devoted conservative, he remains silent about it.
You can tell that Hewitt’s op-ed is written by a conservative just by reading the very first paragraph, where he pays extreme deference to Powell as a “distinguished soldier-statesman” who, “like retired generals Jim Mattis, John Allen and John F. Kelly, and indeed all who have faced death to protect the U.S. Constitution.”
Faced death to protect the U.S. Constitution? Who’s Hewitt kidding, other than himself and other conservatives? When did any of these generals ever “face death to protect the Constitution”?
Certainly not in Iraq or Afghanistan. They faced death in violation of the Constitution, given that they were waging war and wreaking death, suffering, and destruction on millions of foreigners without the constitutionally required congressional declarations of war against either country. In fact, let’s not forget the central role that Powell played in the run-up to the war on Iraq when he, President Bush, and their interventionist cohorts were building the case to the American people of an imminent WMD attack by Iraq on the United States.
Even some of the attacks that Hewitt levels against Democrats for supposedly violating the Constitution ring hollow and only go to show how conservatives warp the Constitution to suit their own ends.
Hewitt, for example, says that Democrats are attacking the Constitution for advocating an expansion of the number of justices on the Supreme Court. Where in the Constitution does it prohibit Congress from expanding the number of Supreme Court justices? Nowhere! While it might not be a wise or beneficial thing to do, If Congress voted to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, it would be entirely consistent with the Constitution.
Hewitt also says that Democrat plans to abolish the Electoral College would be unconstitutional. What he obviously forgets is that the Constitution permits the Constitution to be amended. If the Constitution was to be amended to abolish the Electoral College, how could such action be considered unconstitutional?
Conservatives. When it comes to moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy, they are no different from progressives. And they are equally responsible for the plight in which our nation finds itself.
The post The Moral Bankruptcy and Hypocrisy of Conservatives appeared first on The Future of Freedom Foundation.
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