Patterico's Pontifications

1/7/2020

Fox Business Host: Americans Need To Understand Their Obligations To Trump

Filed under: General — Dana @ 6:26 pm



[guest post by Dana]

In spite of the idea of an “elective monarchy” having been rejected when it was proposed at the Constitutional convention, it has been disturbing to watch Americans act as if Trump is akin to a king with extensive powers presiding over the land. It’s far more disturbing, though, to see said king be deified by Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs:

“This is a president who’s already — in my opinion, he’s already historic, but in my opinion, he’s also already one of the greatest presidents and with another four years, in which to get more done, he’s already set a standard, Congressman, for presidents that most mortals won’t be able to meet. He outworks them. He outthinks. He is remarkably resourceful. He’s bright. His judgment is second to none.”

The above statement was made by Dobbs four days ago. And while you might write him off as little more than a nut job, Dobbs recently reached 40 consecutive months as the most-watched cable business host, so clearly someone is watching. While he may not have the audience that a Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson have, he is nonetheless influencing Americans with his fantastical propaganda.

Two days after Dobbs made the above statement, he stepped further into the murky muck of delusion when he dared to to take Americans to task for not understanding their obligations to this president:

“We’ve seen in the Republican Party great unity behind this president, great strength in his leadership. It is a shame that this country which has — is benefiting so much from this president’s leadership does not understand their obligations to the leader who is making it possible for all of us.”

Dobbs is spectacularly befuddled if he truly believes (and I think he does) that Americans have any obligations whatsoever to this president (or any president, for that matter):

In a constitutional republic, the people have no obligation to any politician, not even the president. He works for us. We give him the job and pay his salary. It is our duty as a self-governing people to monitor what he does and make our own decisions as to whether that policy is in our personal interests and the collective national interest. We have no obligation to overlook the president’s crimes because the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up. That’s core to Dobbs’ appeal here, tailored for business leaders who’ve made money while the president attacks the separation of powers undergirding our system of government and extorts foreign governments into attacking our elections and monetizes his office for personal gain. The only way we would have such a mandatory devotion to The Leader is if we now believe the president is the state, and that patriotism is allegiance to the current political leadership rather than the Constitution of the republic. This is possibly the most un-American sentiment possible, but it’s certainly starting to take hold.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

28 Responses to “Fox Business Host: Americans Need To Understand Their Obligations To Trump”

  1. Hard to wrap the mind around this…

    Dana (643cd6)

  2. My obligations to this president (or any other) are precisely ZERO. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Bupkis.

    Gryph (08c844)

  3. Heh!

    The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

    ARTICLE II, SECTION 1, CLAUSE 7

    nk (dbc370)

  4. Apparently, there is a competition among Faux News talking heads for who can give Trump the loudest, wettest, sloppiest kisses, and with Carlson Tucker falling back (if not out of the running altogether) with his criticism of the Soleimani strike, Dobbs is putting in a burst of extra effort.

    nk (dbc370)

  5. He outworks them. He outthinks. He is remarkably resourceful. He’s bright. His judgment is second to none.”

    … and his new clothes are exquisite!

    Dave (65a95a)

  6. When Dobbs was much younger at CNN, his hair was grey.

    Today he and his Fox audience are much older and it’s his hair that’s dyed.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  7. so dobbs has gone full happyfeet…

    Dave (65a95a)

  8. Well today’s game of ‘who would go Nazi’ was easy.

    Dustin (d9d65a)

  9. We citizens* have no obligations to Trump. Trump does have obligations to us.

    *NB Before July 1776 we were subjects. The difference in terminology should be enough to make the point.

    Kishnevi (7ee5f0)

  10. Some one said something.

    mg (8cbc69)

  11. Ex-con and televangelest jimmy bakker says if you don’t love trump you are not saved!

    asset (27e2c9)

  12. Who would jesus bomb?

    asset (27e2c9)

  13. So, if he signs a law we don’t like, we can ignore it?

    How about if we don’t like his foreign policy, can we actively work to undermine it?

    At what point does a citizen of a republic have to accept that they do not have a personal veto power over their country’s elected leadership?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  14. he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

    So, no tax refund?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  15. so dobbs has gone full happyfeet…

    Dobbs has been a Tancredo-level nativist for quite some time. Still he’s not wrong about elected officials having the right to pass laws, set policy or otherwise exercise their Constitutional powers — and the OBLIGATION of citizens to abide by such unless and until they can change it by democratic means.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  16. So, if he signs a law we don’t like, we can ignore it?

    No, only the president has the right to ignore the laws he doesn’t like, apparently. He has an Article II where he can do whatever he wants as president, you see.

    How about if we don’t like his foreign policy, can we actively work to undermine it?

    Oppose the president’s policies at your own risk. If you cross him, he has the right to use your tax dollars to bribe foreign governments into harassing you with sham investigations, and also welcomes the assistance of hostile countries’ intelligence agencies and militaries in dealing with his political foes.

    Dave (1bb933)

  17. Never forget that your speech is violence, while our violence is speech.

    Most. Violent. President. Ever. Do I really need the sarc tag?

    felipe (023cc9)

  18. Bloomberg 2020 Senior Advisor Tim O’Brien posted a twitter poll:

    Everybody feeling safer with Trump at the helm as the military and diplomatic stakes escalate in Iran and the Arab world?

    With over 46,000 votes, the results were:

    Yes – 85%
    No – 15%

    O’Brien was under no obligation to Trump to keep this poll up so with “19 hours left to vote”, he deleted it.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1214773728590094336
    _

    harkin (d6cfee)

  19. I subscribed to Business Week for many years, read it every week. The articles were interesting and informative, always up to date and on point.

    Then one day I received the new issue. On the cover was Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress. I was like, what does she have to do with business? I opened the magazine, and the table of contents looked like a junior high collage, with all these circles and connecting lines, pictures and drawings. It was unreadable, but I thumbed through the magazine anyway. There wasn’t one article of any interest.

    It was unbelievable. One week Business Week was among the best magazines. The next week, it was garbage. What happened? I don’t know. Maybe they fired the editorial staff and intelligent writers, hired a bunch of teenagers, and changed their target audience to MTV droids, who know nothing about business.

    As a marketing decision, it was on the scale of New Coke. I threw the magazine in the trash and didn’t renew my subscription.

    About a month later, I got a phone call from . . . Business Week. The representative asked why I hadn’t renewed my subscription of twenty years. Are you kidding me? Because the magazine turned into crap.

    Same thing happened with National Review, after Buckley retired, by the way. Same thing happened to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

    Once there were sources for intelligent commentary on business, and on issues important to a conservative/libertarian audience. You know, adults. Not anymore.

    I asked the representative for Business Week, do you think I want to read junior high material? I’ve taught junior high, and my students could produce better work than your writers.

    What Lou Dobbs fails to understand, and this extends to all the other ‘conservative’ commentators, is that the American people are under no obligation to pay attention to anything they have to say. Trump deification is a bad business decision. It will only result in lost audience shares.

    We are adults, not children. We are free citizens of a republic, not subjects to a monarch. The more Trumpified the Republican party becomes, the less relevant it will be.

    Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1)

  20. 19. Gawain’s Ghost (b25cd1) — 1/8/2020 @ 8:15 am

    One week Business Week was among the best magazines. The next week, it was garbage.

    It;s still good – it”s just become a general newsweekly. Like Time and Newsweek used to be or pretended to be, only better.

    There are now 3 good newsweeklies: Bloomberg Business Week, The Economist and “the Week.” (which resembled the Literary Digest of the 1920’s – not 1930s)

    Sammy Finkelman (3bf6ea)

  21. Kevin M (19357e) — 1/8/2020 @ 12:41 am

    and the OBLIGATION of citizens to abide by such unless and until they can change it by democratic means.

    Nobody believes that.

    I don’t see anybody trying to stop he importation for personal use of prescription drugs from Mexico or Canada. Or even enforcing federal marijuana laws.

    Sammy Finkelman (3bf6ea)

  22. Mr. Dobbs misspoke. He should have said, “…he’s already set a standard, Congressman, for presidents that most mortal sinners won’t be able to meet.”

    Paul Montagu (e1b5a7)

  23. Bloomberg 2020 Senior Advisor Tim O’Brien posted a twitter poll:

    Everybody feeling safer with Trump at the helm as the military and diplomatic stakes escalate in Iran and the Arab world?

    With over 46,000 votes, the results were:

    Yes – 85%
    No – 15%

    O’Brien was under no obligation to Trump to keep this poll up so with “19 hours left to vote”, he deleted it.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1214773728590094336
    _

    harkin (d6cfee) — 1/8/2020 @ 5:59 am

    LOL the need for partisans on discussion forums to manipulate online polls is one of the most hilarious things about modern politics. Left out of your complaint: they probably had evidence of automated bot voting and took down the poll because it was meaningless.

    Dustin (d9d65a)

  24. he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

    So, no tax refund?

    Kevin M (19357e) — 1/8/2020 @ 12:34 am

    Huh? The government giving back overpaid taxes is not a payment.

    iowan2 (9c8856)

  25. Nobody believes that.

    Then everyone should STFU about the Rule of Law and accept our chaotic overlord.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  26. Huh? The government giving back overpaid taxes is not a payment.

    Well, it’s an “expense” to many Democrats. But that was satirical reducio ad absurdum: People say that a Trump hotel booking a room for a government employee is an “emolument.”

    Anyone who brings up the word “emolument” wrt Trump when it doesn’t mean “payment for official services” is distorting meaning. If a Secretary of State got big payments to her piggy bank Foundation right after she did the giver an official favor, THAT would be an emolument.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  27. It would be fun if the IRS went after the Clinton Foundation for apparent emoluments, declared them taxable income and assessed taxes, penalties and fines.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  28. If a Secretary of State got big payments to her piggy bank Foundation right after she did the giver an official favor, THAT would be an emolument.

    The Clintons have never received a salary from the Clinton Foundation, and Hillary did nobody any “official favors” in the Uranium One decision.

    There are many things the Clintons can be truthfully criticized for but this isn’t one of them.

    Dave (65a95a)


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