The Magic, Harmless Bullet

In a rare moment, Donald Trump slips up and tells the truth, in the process revealing two things about himself. He tells Will Cain 

And there was- people were screaming "get down, get down. The whole thing was just crazy. And it's hard to believe a year is up and uh, here we are and a lot of things have happened since then, including the presidency. So I have an obligation to do a good job, I fee. I was really saved. I was really saved by (points upward) somebody really special. 

Since he was wounded by shrapnel (oh, I mean, his ear hit by a bullet) a year ago, Trump has peppered his remarks with mention of God, hoping to convince Americans that he believes in said entity. He has innumerable conservatives on social media convinced and on June 21, he outdid himself in a four minute address following the bombing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. He remarked at one point  "I want to just thank everybody, in particular, God. I want to just say we love you God, and we love our great military, protect them. God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America."

One doesn't have to have a Master of Divinity to have read John 4:24a, which states definitively "God is spirit." One fairly typical commentary explains

First—and this is important—we know what spirit is not, and that is physical. Anything physical (made of matter) is characterized by limitations. As an example, consider human beings. We each have a beginning, a limit. We all die, another limit. We occupy a certain space in the universe, also a limit. We live in the present, not the future. This is, again, a limit.

But God has no limits....

God is not somebody because God is not a person. This perspective is not limited to theologians but is basic to an understanding of the Old Testament and of the New Testament.  Donald Trump will not use only people, but also God, for political gain.

God is "really special," in the manner of a young man telling a young woman "you're really special," which often the young woman finds insincere. Nonetheless, that is not the more significant portion of Trump's remark to Cain. The President added

The people that are shooters- not so much, but people that, who are shooters, say "it's almost impossible that that was a miss". And it was a hit (pointing to his ear) but it was a miss.

President @realdonaldtrump was saved in Butler, PA by the Grace of God: “I was really saved by somebody very special…. people that are shooters say it is almost impossible that was a miss." pic.twitter.com/rugD5RODCh

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 11, 2025

Good save, man! But we know what you said. No one says about anything "it's almost impossible that that was a miss" unless it was a miss. Realizing he had let the cat out of the bag, Trump promptly contradicted himself by stating "it was a hit but it was a miss."

He didn't explain how it was a "hit" because it was not. After allegedly being struck by a bullet, Trump wrestled Secret Service agents to get back onto his feet,  requested his shoes, and then

forced his right fist through a tangle of agents' arms. He raised it high into the air before pumping his fist. "Fight" he mouthed to the crowd and cameras as he pumped his arm sharply three times, in a sign of undeniable defiance and assurance that he was OK. The gesture sent the crowd cheering, with many rising to their feet.

Yet, no medical report ever has been released. It was an actual act of defiance, put on by an accomplished, professional actor. If the candidate were in fact hit by a billet, he is Superman, and not the fictional character but the real deal.

As Michael Kinsley once noted, "a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth." It is "a mistake whereby a politician inadvertently says something truthful which they had not meant to reveal." As FBI director, Christopher Wray was not technically a politician but committed a Kinsley gaffe when on July 24, 2024, eleven days after the assassination attempt, he

indicated there might be more the American public did not know about the injury. Wray suggested in congressional testimony that the wound may have been caused by shrapnel, while Trump and his former White House physician had said it was caused by a bullet.

Wray remembered that he wanted to leave the Bureau on his own terms rather than be fired by an someone who could be President again and is known for holding grudges. However, his agency on July 26 claimed "what struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle."

O.K., but amazed that it was "a miss" in Butler, Pa., Donald Trump begs to differ. 

The President was uncharacteristically sloppy when he let in on the secret. But it really presented no danger to his image as the tough guy who can thrust aside a deadly bullet. When Christopher Wray suggested Trump's wound may have been caused by shrapnel, he probably hoped that the media or Democratic politicians would pick up on the hint and not accept the official, Trump-approved version.

He was mistaken, And though the President, a year later, was uncharacteristically sloppy when he let us in on the secret, he really needed not fear for his image as the tough guy who can thrust aside a deadly bullet. He banked on what he got.

It would be a media unwilling to probe where it must in a free society. It was a media which during the last campaign was unwilling to ask Trump: if his call for terminating the Constitution included freedom of religion; if his wife, born in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), is one of the immigrants who "poison the blood of our country"; or whether he would he'd provide a document proving he was shot on July 13, 2025. It's almost as if the media are afraid of the answer they would get.

And now that the President has let his guard down and virtually admitted that no bullet hit him a year ago, silence still will reign. Donald J. Trump is good for business, and the bottom line is the bottom line.

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Color me unimpressed.

🚨 Hakeem Jeffries just called for Pete Hegseth to resign and he didn’t mince words:

“When you limit Ukraine’s ability to be successful in the war of aggression that Russia has launched against a sovereign country, you undermine America’s national security interests. And that’s… pic.twitter.com/7PyFoqXObA

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) July 9, 2025

As Jeffries suggests, Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified to be Defense Secretary, Ukraine is our ally (or should be), and Russia is our enemy (or should be).  However, we remember when after an incident at a federal detention center in Newark, NJ in mid-May, the House Minority Leader

hammered the Trump administration for threatening to arrest Democratic members of Congress, saying such a move would constitute a clear case of executive overreach.

“It’s a red line,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. “They know better than to go down that road.”

Four weeks later, a federal grand jury

indicted Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., on three criminal counts, after the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey alleged that she broke the law when Congress members' visit to an immigration detention facility ended in a physical altercation….

The indictment lists three counts of "assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering" with federal officers, with a potential prison sentence if McIver is convicted.

Evidently, the Administration, undeterred by Jeffries' threat, did not "know better than to go down that road."

And as with Jeffries, Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) also recognizes that Hegseth should resign or be fired.

BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Republican Don Bacon just came out and said that Pete Hegseth should resign. This is huge. pic.twitter.com/e3FiMM34X1

— Democratic Wins Media (@DemocraticWins) July 10, 2025

But stunning? It was not stunning, nor is it any more significant that Hakeem Jeffries' threat turned out to be.  Don "the pig"* Bacon, the US Representative from Nebraska's C.D. 2 was re-elected in November as Kamala Harris became the 4th (she, Biden, Obama twice) Democrat to win the district in a state which awards one electoral vote to the winner of each of its two congressional districts, as well as two for victory statewide.

This is not a conservative district. Yet

In a trend, Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District Rep. Don Bacon vocally pushed back, expressing concerns about the Senate version of the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, emphasizing that he had received reassurances the bill would not degrade the quality of healthcare for people covered by Medicaid.

He even said he won’t support the Senate’s reconciliation bill if it cut the Medicaid provider tax rate.

But in the end, he voted for it. Bacon defended his vote, like the rest of the delegation, by emphasizing the preservation of the Trump tax cuts.

“I wish they had done the house … version,” Bacon told CNN, “But I have an opportunity to protect taxpayers … from a 20% tax increase.”

And then Don Bacon announced his retirement. Some Republicans are assumed to be concerned about the working and middle classes, yet voted for the President's megabill because they were intimidated by the prospect of Trump supporting an individual to challenge them in a primary (or "to primary" them, as the grammar-challenged would have it).

Yet, the moderate Don Bacon, from a blue-ish district, called it quits. Three days before passage of Trump's megabill, the Nebraskan 

announced his retirement from the House to a group of local reporters Monday, confirming leaks that emerged late last week in Washington, D.C., and Omaha, that his fifth term representing the Omaha area in the U.S. House would be his last.

“I hope to be remembered for … I’m a Christian, first … American, second … somewhere down here being a Republican,” Bacon told reporters. “It’s about doing the right thing … I’m a traditional conservative at heart.”

Bacon was right about one thing- the bill, expected to increase the national deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade, is a traditionally conservative one because Republicans have eagerly exploded the debt, hence multiplying the debt, since at least the days of President Reagan. Also conservative:

Wealthy Americans would benefit far more from the tax package than those lower on the income scale, according to a Tax Policy Center analysis of the Senate bill.

While all households would see their taxes reduced, some 60% of the benefits would go to those making $217,000 or more (the top 20%). These folks would receive an average tax cut of $12,500, or 3.4% of their after-tax income, in 2026, the analysis found.

But the lowest-income households, who earn about $35,000 or less, would receive an average tax cut of only $150, less than 1% of their after-tax income. Middle-income households would see their taxes reduced by about $1,800, or 2.3% of their after-tax income, on average.

This analysis does not take into account the historic cuts to the nation’s safety-net program, which would hurt lower-income Americans. They would see their income reduced after factoring in the changes to Medicaid and food stamps, according to a report from the Budget Lab at Yale.

In another Ronald Reagan special, the bill does shovel wealth upward, because that has been the guiding principle of the GOP for the last half-century.

So, perhaps I'm being unfair to Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries merely threatens what he cannot deliver. Republican members of Congress range from the truly repugnant to the those who make The Wizard of Oz's cowardly lion look like a pillar of bravery, and without the lion's compassion. Pete Hegseth, nominated by Donald Trump because he looks good on television, should not be anywhere in the federal government. It has been a hostile takeover of the federal government- and perhaps others to follow- which will provide tremendous fodder for future historians of authoritarianism.

* not really a pig; but hey, "bacon"

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A Pathetic Excuse for a Son

In a major upset, Eric Trump is right about one thing.

Hey, Pocahontas…FYI: the President doesn’t own a bitcoin mining company. Thank you for your attention to this matter. https://t.co/kH8p0yaEFd

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) July 9, 2025

Elizabeth Warren remarks

Nobody wants weak crypto rules more than the President of the United States. A majority of President Tump's wealth, as much as seven billion dollars worth, is now based in crypto from issuing some stablecoins to issuing his own meme coin to owning a bitcoin mining company and to controlling a huge portfolio of crypto investment.

In March, President Trump's sons Eric and Don Jr. founded American Bitcoin when it merged it with crypto miner Hut 8, of which it is a majority-owned subsidiary. It has announced plans to go public with a reverse merger later this year with Gryphon Digital Mining.

But the rest is accurate. Even before taking office for a second time, Donald Trump had accumulated wealth of approximately seven billion dollars. And now

.

The 47th president has his own memecoin, which has a market capitalization of more than $1.7 billion. And then there’s World Liberty Financial, a sprawling crypto project that includes a yet-to-be-released app for decentralized finance—a term for banking services like lending and borrowing conducted on a blockchain.

Moreover, World Liberty Financial has its own stablecoin, or cryptocurrency pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar. Its market capitalization is now $2.2 billion.

And as if to remind us that he's a wholly-owned subsidiary of Donald Trump, Eric Trump has concluded his tweet with "Thank you for your attention to this matter," which his father has been doing since late June.

And of course, "Pocahontas."  When Donald Trump tried to call Elizabeth Warren's bluff by calling her "Pocahontas," she rose to the occasion and took the test. That proved to be a strategic error as it angered tribal groups and the last thing a Democratic politician ever wants to do is to hurt someone's feelings. It did expose Donald Trump as a bigot, which any sentient being already knew he was. With repetition of the slur, Eric has demonstrated that the validity of the old cliches that the apple does not fall far from the tree and like father, like son.

Democrats could call President Trump a name, if they ever could agree upon one. Unfortunately, the public might not have a problem if their President were labeled "Vladimir." And if the slur "Adolph" were applied publicly to Donald Trump, he might be flattered and not be so gracious as to laud them for their insight.

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No Big Thing, Evidently

With no sense of irony, Politico editor and columnist Michael Schaffer writes

A few ew weeks ago, my POLITICO colleague Nicholas Wu and NBC’s Sahil Kapur ran into D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton in the Capitol. Like good congressional reporters, they jumped at the opportunity to pepper a lawmaker about the news of the day. In this case, one question concerned Norton herself, a civil rights icon who is now the oldest House member: Would she run for another term next year, by which point she would be 89 years old? “Yeah, sure,” Norton said.

Coming on the heels of multiple stories about Norton’s alleged cognitive decline, the statement made news. But a few hours later, Norton’s office began unmaking that news. The Democrat “wants to run again but she’s in conversations with her family, friends, and closest advisors to decide what’s best,” a spokesperson told Wu. There was still no final decision.

It was all awkward and embarrassing- and did little to buttress Norton's insistence that she's as shar as ever. And then, amazingly, it happened again. Last week, Kapur once again approached the delegate and asked about her plans. Once again she said she's running. "Yeah, I'm going to run for re-election." And once again, her spokesperson quickly walked back the comment, telling Axios that "no decision has been made."

The spokesperson, Sharon Nichols, did not offer any explanation for the discrepancy.

Well, maybe because the discrepancy was trivial. Admittedly, the concern has been precipitated by a legitimate fear that veteran 88-year-old legislator Norton has lost her fastball just as the District of Columbia "faces escalating threats to its home rule" from a hostile Trump Administration. Alert Thompson and Jake Tapper! Eleanor Holmes Norton was asked whether she will run for re-election and said "yeah, sure" while there still had been no final decision

This in turn comes on the heels of the scandal captivating Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper about the last 12-18 months of the Biden Administration. When the duo was doing the rounds before publication of their book, Thompson remarked "beginning in 2023, the ration of that functioning and non-functioning starts to change dramatically and also non-functioning Biden is getting worse."  Tapper claimed (emphasis his) "we're talking about to the point of you not being able to have a conversation. You are not able to come up with data information, knowledge, names that you should have at the ready."

So of course, this has prompted controversy: No, actually not:

Donald Trump took off on a winding rant about his summer vacation plans Tuesday when asked a crucial question about “Alligator Alcatraz.”

During a press conference at the ICE facility in the middle of the Florida Everglades, the president was asked whether there was an “expected time frame” that detainees would be kept at the hastily constructed immigrant detention center, and whether it would depend on the immigration judges staffed there.

“When you say, uh, what was the first part of your question?” Trump asked, clearly confused.

“Is there a specific time frame you expect the detainees to spend here—days, weeks, months?” the reporter repeated.

“In Florida?” Trump asked.

“Yes, here at Alligator Alcatraz,” the reporter responded, but the president had already jumped into a response about how much he loves the Sunshine State.

“I’m gonna spend a lot of—this is my home state. I love it. I love your government. I love all the people around—these are all friends of mine. They know me very well. I mean I’m not surprised that they do so well. They’re great people,” Trump said, singling out Governor Ron DeSantis, who previously campaigned against Trump but now acts as a cheerleader for his new wetland-themed concentration camp.

“I feel very comfortable in the state—I’ll spend a lot of time here,” Trump continued. He said that he would continue to visit despite his current digs at the White House, which had allowed him to “fix up” the “little Oval Office.”

“But I’ll spend as much time as I can here. You know my vacation is generally here ’cause it’s convenient. I live in Palm Beach. That’s my home. And I have a very nice little place—nice little cottage to stay at, right? But we have a lot of fun,” Trump continued, joking about his massive estate at the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Sometimes, Trump's meanderings are referred to as an "off-the-cuff style," as when he told West Point graduates at a commencement ceremony six weeks ago about the trophy wife of the late real estate developer, William Levitt. Sometimes it's joking, or being "playful," or even a "preternatural gift." 

Whatever is wrong with Donald Trump- and there is, and has been for a few years, something wrong with him- we must not call it "cognitive decline."  You see, "cognitive decline" is Joe Biden in physical decline with a terrible debate performance or Eleanor Holmes Norton's uncertainty about seeking another term. 

Yet, the President of the USA is standing immediately in front of us, in real time, claiming divine intervention for everything which works in his favor. God did this, God did that, says the ultra narcissist who shut out God while leaning on the power of positive thinking until he was wounded by shrapnel last summer in Butler, Pennsylvania.

This is happening now; a President of the United States of America. Yet, somehow he has escaped the scrutiny which a mere member of the House of Representatives and an ex-President got. Across the board, our media is failing us.

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He's Lying

With all due respect to Jeff Greenfield, Donald J. Trump does have a certain, probably satisfactory, level of literacy. He also has a certain level of being raised in New York City.

I find it highly probable that Trump has no idea that “Shylock” is a term drawn from a character in a Shakespeare play, since that would require a certain level of literacy.

— Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) July 4, 2025

The great, longtime journalist (and Jew), Greenfield obviously realizes

"Shylock" is a Jewish character in "The Merchant of Venice." In its description of the Shakespeare play, the Anti-Defamation League notes that the character, who serves as an antagonist, is frequently portrayed as a "conniving and cruel" money lender, reinforcing stereotypes of Jewish people as money-hungry and greedy.

So of course, as NBC News reported early on Independence Day

President Donald Trump used an antisemitic slur to describe exploitative bankers during a speech Thursday as he touted congressional passage of his massive domestic policy bill.

Trump made the remark in Des Moines, Iowa, at what was billed as an event by a nonpartisan group to kick off celebrations for next year's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But Trump's campaign-style speech quickly took on a partisan tone, with the president expressing "hate" for the Democrats who voted against his "big, beautiful bill."

While ticking through the bill's provisions, Trump described one aimed at protecting family farmers by allowing them to pay a reduced estate tax when transferring ownership to their children.

"No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases, shylocks and bad people," Trump said. "They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite."

When asked by reporters after his speech about the antisemitic connotations of the term, Trump said, “I’ve never heard it that way.”

“To me, shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates” he added....

Trump's anti-Semitic remark should be understood in the context of  his personal background, professional contacts, and political advisors. Donald Trump did not grow up in Wyoming, the Great Plains, or Mississippi in which Jews are practically unknown.

 

Instead, Donald Trump grew up in the wealthy Jamaica Estates enclave in the Jamaica section of the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. He became a real estate developer in Queens, the borough of Manhattan, and elsewhere.  Aside from certain parts of southern California and Dade County, Florida, that's the greatest concentration of Jews in the USA. And when Trump was a boy and young man, the percentage of Jews in the New York area probably exceeded that even in southern California.

In real estate, Trump had numerous Jewish acquaintances and associates, unsurprising for an individual in that line of work in that region. As an actor (The Apprentice) in Hollywood, Trump could not have avoided coming into contact with a great many Jewish people if he set out to do so. 

His daughter married a Jew, probably for reasons not dissimilar to those random individuals choose their mate. She converted to Judaism, very likely primarily because it was the religion of husband Jared Kushner. (Ivanka: "I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.")

The 79-year-old Donald Trump has had a relationship with Jews throughout his life aside from- possibly- his years in military school. Yet, on July 3, he would use what the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs noted is "among he most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes."

There is less interest in William Shakespeare nowadays, especially- though not completely- because classic, including English, literature is far less taught in schools at all levels than it once was.  However, most individuals reared in the 1950s and the 1960s had at least a passing knowledge of William Shakespeare. And even those who didn't have that did know what "Shylock" referred to, some invoking the term in particularly unpleasant moments.

Let's stop giving Donald Trump an out by pretending that he is illiterate or stupid. He has gotten around plenty, including with those Jews who (as with others) he believes can benefit him.  He is a bigot and it's unsurprising that a guy with a whole range of prejudices would include anti-Semitism among them.

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Bleeding Ukraine

To be fair- and when haven't I been fair to Donald Trump?- I don't actually believe that this is what our President was telling her.

June 25. Trump tells a Ukrainian journalist—whose husband is on the front lines—that he’ll see what he can do to help shield Ukraine’s skies from Russian attacks.

July 1. Pentagon chief Hegseth halts vital aid to Ukraine, including support to defend cities from missile strikes. pic.twitter.com/by2js2c3h1

— Resurgam (@Resurgamhub) July 2, 2025

Attempting to appear reassuring, President Trump tells the foreign reporter "I can see you're very well- you know, it's amazing." Learning that her husband is fighting in Ukraine, Trump notes "well, that's tough, you know."  When he realizes she is asking about supplying Ukraine with Patriot anti-missile missiles, Trump states "we're going to see if we can make some available."

As a skilled politician- and actor- Trump held out the hope, without a foolish promise, that Ukraine would get the help it needed. With "it's amazing" and "well, that's tough, you know," he was extending sympathy. Unfortunately, he concluded with the utterly patronizing "that's a very good question and I wish you a lot of luck. I mean, I can see it's very important to you."

If appearances are telling- and sometimes they're not- the reporter wasn't buying it. "We're going to see if we can make some available" was vague, a wise approach because 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a pause in sending a shipment of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine amid concern about the U.S. military’s stockpiles, according to two defense officials, two congressional officials and two sources with knowledge of the decision.

Hegseth ordered the delay weeks after he issued a memo ordering a review of the U.S. stockpile of munitions, which has been depleted after years of the United States’ sending weapons to Ukraine to defend against the Russia invasion, as well as nearly two years of military operations in the Middle East as the United States fought Houthi rebels in Yemen and defended Israel and allies against Iran, four of the officials said.

The munitions and other weapons could be held up until the assessment is complete, the two defense officials and two congressional officials said, and if the munitions are in short supply or needed in other parts of the world, they could be held back even longer.

The weapons being delayed include dozens of Patriot interceptors that can defend against incoming Russian missiles, thousands of 155 mm high explosive Howitzer munitions, more than 100 Hellfire missiles, more than 250 precision-guided missile systems known as GMLRS and dozens each of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, AIM air-to-air missiles and grenade launchers, the two defense officials, two congressional officials and two sources with knowledge of the decision said.

For some of us who are not experts in military weaponry, this sounds at least plausible. Then a member of the Administration blew the cover when

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: “This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe. The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran." The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The spokeswoman is saying "We're not running out of weapons. We simply don't want to help democratic nations when invaded by totalitarian states". The macho "just ask Iran" so precious and performative. If Iran were put under truth serum, it probably would say something quite different.

So what seems clear from the intel, is that we probably should have reloaded the B2s, and gone for a second round. Instead the impulsive toddler was desperate to have a strong ending to the movie and declare a cease fire.

This is a show to him, entertainment, and he’s the…

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@AdamKinzinger) June 30, 2025

 

Donald Trump is so rude and crude that we tend to forget that he is a shrewd politician.  He promised merely "we're going to see" about the weapons because that is devoid of meaning. It was a moment in which he faced a young, obviously distressed woman and feigned concern. And then he proceeded with his strategy of acting as an instrument of the imperialist ambition of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

                                       HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

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Good Luck, Democracy

The Miami Herald reports

With less than five months to go before Miami residents were scheduled to head to the polls to vote on a new mayor and city commissioners, the city of Miami has postponed the upcoming November election to 2026 in a move that critics have described as a “power grab.”

On Thursday, the Miami City Commission voted 3-2 to move the city from odd- to even-year elections — a change that its proponents said will drastically increase voter turnout. But the decision also comes with fine print.

As a result, the city’s elected officials will get an extra year in office. That includes Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who are both term limited. Suarez, a former city commissioner, will get a 17th consecutive year in Miami City Hall, and Carollo will get a ninth. 

Commissioners Damian Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted in favor of the election date change, and Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Carollo voted against.

Pardo, the item’s sponsor, has argued that changing to even-year elections is a much-needed reform that will significantly increase voter participation while also saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in election costs. But some have questioned whether the city actually has the authority to change the election date without voter approval. The city charter states that municipal elections take place in odd years, and charter changes require voter approval.

 

Four weeks ago, Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice told Steve Inskeep of NPR's Morning Edition

Unfortunately, the National Emergencies Act, even though it was passed to rein in a presidential use of emergency powers, does not include a definition of national emergency, and it doesn’t include any substantive criteria that have to be met. So the president actually has significant discretion to decide whether a national emergency is. Now, of course, even the broadest of discretion can be abused, and the word emergency does have a definition. So at least in theory, a president could go so far that the courts would step in and say, that’s not an emergency. But so far, courts have been very, very reluctant to do that.

If in a year he believes Democrats are in striking distance of winning back the Senate or the House of Representatives, the President will declare a national emergency and jeopardize congressional elections. (War, anyone?) At that point, the Supreme Court may be the only institution standing between the man who has called for termination of the Constitution, declared himself the Chosen One, King, the greatest President ever. and absolute rule. And as Charlie Pierce puts it, what the mad king wants, the mad king gets.

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