It's Not Politics, It's Principle

There are strong reasons to believe that motivated Americans will overcome this hateful regime

(Photo by Nora Carol Photography via Getty Image)

There are days when we are left to worry whether the Trump regime’s assault on our democracy will leave our beloved country in ashes—and then there are days when there’s reason for optimism that our Constitution, values and principles will provide the necessary bulwark to withstand the hostile onslaught.

I have been thinking about this as we’ve seen a series of judges and others standing up for the rule of law and constitutional principles, amid a felonious, immunized White House occupant recklessly seeking to expand his power and feed his grievances. That includes over 177 lawsuits that have pushed back against the illegal efforts to dismantle our government and democracy itself.

I took particular encouragement from the lawsuit filed this week by National Public Radio (NPR) in response to a Trump executive order attempting to deny NPR funding that Congress already approved. The suit describes Trump’s actions as “textbook retaliation.” Here’s how NPR CEO Katherine Maher vividly summarized her organization’s response.

“We are not choosing to do this out of politics,” Maher told Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR’s All Things Considered. “We are choosing to do this as a matter of necessity and principle. All of our rights that we enjoy in this democracy flow from the First Amendment: freedom of speech, association, freedom of the press. When we see those rights infringed upon, we have an obligation to challenge them.”

Lets linger there for a minute: It’s not politics. It’s principle.

One of Trump’s ongoing efforts has been to politicize virtually every aspect of our lives. Science and research and higher education are now endangered by a regime that attacks it as political. Funding for critical infrastructure projects is abandoned because it is aiding blue states. Our diverse military is undermined by a regime that ruthlessly rejects its achievements and heritage as “woke.” The hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery—and every solider that sacrificed his or her life—is desecrated by Trump who could not care less and only pursues political advantage.

Nothing is sacred as Trump and his operatives continue to trash traditions and norms: What previously brought us together as Americans has been replaced by division and hate. This deeply cynical politicizing operates as if there’s no such thing as principle, values or morals to drive decision-making and actions. As if all that matters is politics and power.

You and I may be horrified because these actions are immoral and unprincipled. But the grim reality is they demonstrate Trump’s belief that exploiting his power for personal gain makes him the smartest guy in the world.

Morals and principles? Human decency and human rights? Those are for weaklings and fools. Laws like due process for everyone in America? They’re not about to let that get in the way of their fascist takeover. When confronted, they simply deny, deny, deny they are breaking any law. Habeas corpus? Falsely insist—as Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem did—this gives Trump the right to deport people.

But here’s the thing: The Constitution provides a framework, a set of rights and principles, giving us more than a fighting chance to reject their arrogant agenda. The Constitution and our laws continue to inspire our fellow Americans to make this fight more than a barroom brawl as Trump seeks to exercise maximum power.

You can see it in the ruling on Wednesday by the U.S. International Trade Court rejecting Trump’s tariffs. “The Constitution assigns Congress the exclusive powers to ‘lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,’ and to ‘regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,’” the three-judge panel began in its 49-page opinion. It ended like this: “The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) to regulate importation by means of tariffs.”

You can see it in a second tariff ruling yesterday by District Judge Rudolph Contreras. “This case is not about tariffs qua tariffs,” he began in his 33-page opinion. “It is about whether IEEPA enables the President to unilaterally impose, revoke, pause, reinstate, and adjust tariffs to reorder the global economy. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that it does not.”

In his conclusion, Contreras responded to declarations by Trump’s cabinet operatives, Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, that “catastrophic harm to American foreign policy and national security would ensue from granting the relief requested” like this: “The President cannot act unlawfully and then use the effects of having that action declared unlawful as a putative shield from judicial review.”

In other words? We are still a system of laws. This president cannot ignore them by falsely insisting the country is facing a national emergency in his quest to do whatever he wants. We may find out soon if the Supreme Court takes up the case and agrees.

Let’s return for a moment to NPR’s lawsuit against Trump and his regime’s claim that NPR is politically biased and funding approved by Congress should be stopped. The response is inspired. Trump’s executive order “violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, and also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information,” the 44-page suit begins.

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation,” it continues, “it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in matters of politics or opinion…As the Supreme Court reiterated just last year, ‘it is no job for government to decide what counts as the right balance of private expression.’”

In other words, it’s not politics, it’s principle that must define America.

We cannot be naive about the grave harm Trump and his lawless regime can and will continue to do—to the American and global economy, to higher education, to scientific and scholarly research, to our commitment to free speech and due process, to the fundamental democratic principles that bind us as Americans, create the fabric of our society and have long inspired the world. It’s hard to overstate how much uncertainty and stress this cruel regime is spreading.

Yesterday District Judge Allison D. Burroughs’ ruling momentarily blocked the regime’s efforts to ban international students from attending Harvard University, for example. Recognizing that she’s dealing with an unreliable government, the judge stated that it was important to ensure it followed legal procedures. “I do think an order is necessary. It doesn't need to be draconian, but I want to make sure nothing changes. I want to maintain the status quo.”

That was a source of cheer at Harvard’s commencement ceremony yesterday. Yet Trump’s hostile and deeply foolish action is inevitably causing international students to fear they’ll be forced to leave Harvard and America. They’re trying to get an education and he’s abusing them—like he has so many others—as political pawns.

But as we confront the daily assault on our democratic way of life, let’s keep the faith that the majority that rejects tyranny will prevail. There are days that it can be hard to see, but there are genuine reasons for optimism as the ideals and principles that built our nation continue to motivate the resistance.

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