As a political cartoonist, I know it’s part of some unwritten rule that I should just post some schmaltzy comic to “never forget” September 11th, and I am sensitive to that, but a week ago, we learned of an unelected shadow government running the country and we’re already forgetting THAT.
And I’m angry.
As far as I’m concerned, we learned pretty bluntly (that only the New York Times can really confirm, based on the identify of the author of the anonymous op-ed) that we’ve been living under a constitutional crisis since day one of this administration. I say this as bipartisan as I possibly can, the President of the United States is currently not in charge of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, and that should alarm everyone. So who is in charge? Who can be held accountable in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack? Are we to just trust that the “adults in the room,” who no one elected, will just take care of everything? Where is that written in Article II? Where’s Truman’s “The Buck Stops Here” plaque?
And because people just can’t resist comparing everything to Watergate, I’ve seen multiple comparisons to Mark Felt’s Deep Throat, as if a whistleblower who still carried out his appointed responsibilities of the office he held is somehow comparable to a team of people who are actively molding the government to whatever they think it should be and expect to be called “heroes” for their service. Did I somehow miss the calls for a full investigation into this?
Blame me for the hyperbole of this if you’d like, but although 9/11 took place 17 years ago, the attack on the very foundation of our democracy has finally reached the White House.
As a political cartoonist, I know it’s part of some unwritten rule that I should just post some schmaltzy comic to “never forget” September 11th, and I am sensitive to that, but a week ago, we learned of an unelected shadow government running the country and we’re already forgetting THAT.
And I’m angry.
As far as I’m concerned, we learned pretty bluntly (that only the New York Times can really confirm, based on the identify of the author of the anonymous op-ed) that we’ve been living under a constitutional crisis since day one of this administration. I say this as bipartisan as I possibly can, the President of the United States is currently not in charge of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, and that should alarm everyone. So who is in charge? Who can be held accountable in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack? Are we to just trust that the “adults in the room,” who no one elected, will just take care of everything? Where is that written in Article II? Where’s Truman’s “The Buck Stops Here” plaque?
And because people just can’t resist comparing everything to Watergate, I’ve seen multiple comparisons to Mark Felt’s Deep Throat, as if a whistleblower who still carried out his appointed responsibilities of the office he held is somehow comparable to a team of people who are actively molding the government to whatever they think it should be and expect to be called “heroes” for their service. Did I somehow miss the calls for a full investigation into this?
Blame me for the hyperbole of this if you’d like, but although 9/11 took place 17 years ago, the attack on the very foundation of our democracy has finally reached the White House.