The headline of The New York Times editorial was crystal clear. Here it is:
Coronavirus Is Advancing. All Americans Need to Shelter in Place. The worst of the pandemic is yet to come. Listen to the medical experts. It’s time for a national lockdown.
The editorial said this way back there on March 28th:
“President Trump needs to call for a two-week shelter-in-place order, now, as part of a coherent national strategy for the coronavirus to protect Americans and their livelihoods.”
But now? Just over two weeks later? Now The Times is headlining this on April 14th:
It’s the Worst Possible Time for Trump to Make False Claims of Authority – He does not have “total” authority over states.
This isn’t confusion. It’s insanity.
This jewel of hypocrisy the paper published by Georgetown law professor Neal Katyal says this:
“I teach my law students that every so often in the law, the best way to understand the veracity of a claim is just to say it out loud. They got a great example of this on Monday when President Trump made a contribution to the legal lexicon: ‘When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.’
In terms that would even have made President Richard Nixon blush, our commander-in-chief sounded more like the leader of some tinpot dictatorship than of the United States.
Our Constitution was designed to reject such arrogation of power. Separation of powers and federalism aren’t fusty concepts designed to please rebellious aristocrats; they are the living embodiment of our founders’ desire to divide and check power — not vest ‘total’ ‘authority’ in one person, no matter how wise that person may be.”
Hmmm. So what is the position of The Times here?
In March the paper insisted that President had the authority “to call for a two-week shelter-in-place order, now, as part of a coherent national strategy for the coronavirus to protect Americans and their livelihoods.”
Then, a handful of days later, it was running the Katyal piece that insisted that: “Separation of powers and federalism aren’t fusty concepts designed to please rebellious aristocrats; they are the living embodiment of our founders’ desire to divide and check power.”
So…which is it?
If the President doesn’t have the authority over states – why was The Times not only saying, make that demanding, that he not only had the authority but that he use it to force a national lockdown?
Let’s cut to the chase.
The only reason for these two very different positions from the same Leftist State Media outlet is the same reason: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
If hating the President means scorching him for not shutting down the entire country and overriding the authority of state governors – do it. If hating the President means scorching him for saying he would consider overriding the authority of state governors to open the country – do it.
This isn’t confusion.
It’s insanity.
