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As expected, President Biden wasted no time overturning the Trump legacy with many Executive Orders. Since his inauguration on January 20, ther new president has signed 30 Executive Orders, 19 on the first day of his presidency alone.
Executive Orders are presidential directives addressed to federal authorities subject to congressional and judicial oversight. Perhaps the most famous order is the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln on January 1, 1863. Franklin D Roosevelt signed 3522 Orders, compared with President Trump’s 212 Orders. Some presidents have used this discretionary legislative power sparingly, but certainly since the 1980s, the signing of Orders on their first day in office has provided incoming presidents with an opportunity to destroy the legacy of their predecessors.
There are at least two reasons why this legislative approach to overturning a predecessor’s legacy is a disturbing development. One reason relates to the legislative authority of the president to adopt these measures. Although there is no doubt that, in accordance with Article Two of the US Constitution, the president possesses some degree of discretionary legislative power which usurps the legislative privileges of Congress. Hence, it is an executive power that should be used sparingly.
The other reason relates to the specific circumstances involving the ascendancy of President Biden, who says his Executive Orders are aimed at unifying the country after the divisiveness and confrontations of the Trump era. However, there is evidence that these Orders, rather than unifying the country, will only inflame the Trump constituency, which is sizeable. Trump supporters may well feel alienated, disenfranchised, and neglected.
It could be argued that the hurried rejection of the Trump legacy discloses an unwillingness to differentiate between the flawed character of President Trump, on the one hand, and the substance of his Executive Orders on the other. As to the former, Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President, and his views and actions were conveyed to the public in a belligerent manner. But Trump’s character should not necessarily overshadow the fact that some of his Executive Orders were defensible and supported by many people in the United States.
It may thus be useful to briefly revisit some of Trump’s Executive Orders.
Trump signed an Order banning immigration from some designated mainly Muslim countries. Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, called the so-called Muslim ban “nothing less than a stain on our nation”. However, according to the Trump Administration, the ban was a necessary measure to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil. The ban, which was declared constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2018, also carefully targeted countries which were known to support terrorism. One may well disagree with Trump’s blanket ban of all applicants from these countries, instead of using an individual approach. But criticising the ban on the ground that it is an odious example of xenophobia and religious discrimination is simplistic because it fails to consider the real or perceived threat of state-sponsored terrorism.
The immigration policies of the United States will be an important battleground during the next four years. This is because President Biden, by Executive Order, has already removed caps on refugees and asylum seekers. He is also providing a pathway of eight years to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
In addition, a Biden Executive Order provides for the United States to re-join the World Health Organization, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The President also signed an Order to ensure that all federal agencies deliver an action plan on racial equity within 200 days to address any disparities in policies and programmes.
Another Executive Order created the new office of COVID-19 Coordinator, who would report directly to the President. It is doubtful, however, that the creation of a new bureaucracy is an appropriate and useful response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. It is also expected that the President’s Order to provide a US$1.9 trillion COVID relief package will adversely affect the economy in the long run. While it is easy to print money, it is foolish to believe that it will not result in inflation, fewer employment opportunities, and enormous debt levels. While helping working families financially is a compassionate response to the COVID challenge, a proposed expense of this order should be reviewed by Congress as a matter of priority.
Parts of the American electorate will dislike Biden’s reversal of the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and his unblocking of federal funding for nongovernmental organisations that provide abortion services abroad.
The hurried nature of the signing of Biden’s Executive Orders creates the impression that they were adopted, at least to some extent, for the purposes of revenge. Revenge is a powerful human motivation which, however, is based on a misconceived belief in moral superiority. Joey Garrison and Courtney Subramanian in USA Today argue that, “The swiftness is meant to demonstrate urgency to turn the page on a divisive four years under the Trump administration”. While they provide a reason for the “swiftness”, it is precisely the overturning of the Trump legacy that will exacerbate the sharp divisions already existing in American society. To treat the last four years as an aberration is a serious mistake because it will ensure that conflicts and misunderstandings continue to fester.
The failed second impeachment trial of President Trump will not help because that too will be viewed by his supporters as an egregious example of revenge. Common sense suggests that impeachment should only be used to unseat a sitting president, not a former president. Perhaps the real reason for impeaching President Trump during the dying days of his presidency was to ensure he would not be able to pardon himself. Indeed, in accordance with Article Two, Section Two, Paragraph One of the Constitution, an impeached person cannot be pardoned by the President.
Executive Orders are often arrogant expressions of the deemed superiority of an incoming administration. If so, Biden’s Orders may not lead to stability and unity, but instead may well result in greater strife and disunity which is the opposite the President claimed intention.
Professor Gabriël Moens AM is an Emeritus Professor of Law at The University of Queensland, and author of a novel on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, entitled A Twisted Choice
Progressive socialists sincerely believe that their party includes every decent person. They seem never to hear and understand the arguments against their positions and policies, with the result that modern political discourse has become a shouting match. Their obsession with identity politics has created an escalating ‘cancel culture’ in place of genuine debate in American politics.
Such is the psychological explanation for the irrational belief among the Democrats that by cancelling all the major decisions made by Donald Trump, and ‘reprogramming’ the handful of deluded fools who supported him, they are restoring decency and democracy. Their interpretation of democracy as a political system is that it should reflect the will of all sane citizens. Under these circumstances, it does not really matter how they win and hold power, since a government that does not share their ideology is insane and therefore illegitimate y definition. Any necessary manipulation, deception, cheating, or election-rigging is justified under these circumstances, in their view.
Progressive socialism was vigorously opposed by Donald Trump, who promoted liberty, defended Christianity, and upheld the traditional interpretation of the United States constitution. Like Achilles before the walls of Troy, he is urgently needed on the battlefield, and must be persuaded to return to the fight if the Republicans are to turn the tide in the next round of elections.
What about the corrupt and cheating Joe Biden’s “flaws”. Apparently he has none!
Why do articles about Donald Trump always have to be prefaced with his surposed character “flaws”. It is when I stop reading!
What are Donald’s flaws? I have yet to see any.
His temperament always gets a mention as well!
I wish all politicians had his “temperament”.
“Supposed”
Edwina, does it not bother you that Mr. Trump is, by his own admission on radio, if nowhere else, a man whose morals are in the gutter? Does it not bother you that he often exudes pride? He once said that he’d never needed to ask for forgiveness. If he truly meant that, he certainly is not a Christian. I can be opposed to Clinton, Obama, and Biden without having to be a Trump fan. I can see that he did do a number of good things, and that he has been shamelessly hounded by the Democrats in an unconstitutional display of blind revenge, without approving of his personal character. Nor do I have to be part of the Me Too screamers to be an advocate of old-fashioned morals. It is a shame on the land of my birth that a man of Mr. Trump’s lack of character ever got the nomination of the conservative, “moral” side of politics.
Rebekah, speaking of morals maybe Hillary would have been better for us after all or perhaps Bill! Epstein anyone!
I’ll take Donald’s “morals” any day.
Edwina, in my conscious lifetime, I have clear memories of US Presidents back to FDR. In my politically conscious lifetime, my memories go back dimly to Truman and somewhat more clearly to Eisenhower. Counting what we now know about the 15 American Presidents of that era, particularly those of more recent years, I would identify only Truman, Eisenhower, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush father and son, and with several asterisks, Obama, as having any valid claim to sufficiently untarnished character traits to be considered reasonably suitable to be the leader of the free world. So,nearly half were notorious crooks or moral scumbags, and known to be so before their election. Only three, Truman, Carter and Obama, were Democrats.
The Clintons were, and remain, in a despicable class of their own, but to this day worshipped by Democrats, particularly women, who happily ignore Bill’s satyriasis and Hillary’s grubby “Pay for Play” acquisitiveness.
In that company, Trump is a towering moral giant.
all you write, Professor ,makes sense. As you say, the Trump supporters see these orders as revenge. Not since their civil war has the USA been so politically divided. As some commentators have posited, the political divide is greater than their racial divide. Biden’s words will not appease. Empirical evidence and any Psych will prove, The only way to unify disparate groups is to have a common enemy. This is what troubles me…. a unifying conflict
“Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President, and his views and actions were conveyed to the public in a belligerent manner. ”
Dear me, this is the same old, same old, as others note above too. It is extremely wearying to read useful commentary that always feels bound to preface any sensible remarks with this sort of character critique that is never made about other Presidents. The Trump Derangement Syndrome fostered by ALL of the main-stream media in the past four years and after this dubious election is still alive and well. It will take a long time and the passage of some decent historical analysis of media performances before this old canard about President Trump’s totally negative personality is laid to rest. His manner and delivery was very little different from some other highly successful and older-style Presidents in American history, and his honesty and patriotism and keen common sense regarding policy was second to none. His achievements were outstanding and he kept his promises. That half of America’s voters who concentrated on results rather than negative media spin about every minor aspect of this President’s life and statements turned out in their millions to express their support for him. Any other man treated in the disgraceful and outright lying manner in which President Trump was reviled would have buckled under the strain. This outstanding President’s response was to speak directly to the people via Twitter and to ignore the MSM and the Washington establishment. Who could blame him for that? Why, the MSM, of course.
The Biden Presidency is a farce, by the way. It always wears ‘a lid’.
This puppet has his strings pulled elsewhere, by the solid Marxist-backed left.
They are not even after ‘revenge’, they are after revolution. It is not pretty.
Nevertheless, in spite of my concerns above, I am pleased to see an Emeritus Professor of Law recognise that Joe Biden’s statements about ‘unity’ are not necessarily then supported by the outcomes delivered when we have regard to specific Executive Orders streaming now out of the American White House.
I say ‘statements’ because I cannot in any honesty say his ‘intentions’ about unity were real, unless he is even more seriously deluded than I think. No-one compos mentis signing such Orders as Biden has signed could believe that they would be anything but red rags to any Republican bull, entirely without any unifying outcome, and incidentally very economically damaging to the USA.
Thank you Doubting Thomas, your recollections seem to be much the same as mine.
I found Kennedy’s “morals” rather wanting and his mafia (?) association unspeakable.
Obama is a President I have major, major problems with. Much about him has been covered up by the fawning press!
Republican Presidents are mocked, derided and lied about, think the wonderful Reagan (and Donald!) and Democrat Presidents have the press run cover for them and their open corruption, “body counts” and sleaze.
I also agree in that company, and probably most company, Donald is a towering moral giant.
As a bonus he is single handedly trying to save our wonderful Western Civilization against impossible odds.
Hey, let’s get it straight, the only entity any politician is ‘leader’ of is their own party. They do not ‘lead’ people, the Chief Executive of the USA does not ‘lead’ the (decreasingly) free world. He is an elected servant of the people of those united states, just like our pollies are of the various Australian governments. They are there to do a job. They are not medieval monarchs. Grown-ups do not need leaders. It’s only tyrants who think this is their quest.
I’m with Lizzie B on this one. All of our perceptions of President Trump are filtered through the eyes and ears of a hostile mainstream media army. Unless a person has lived closely and/or worked with him for a reasonable length of time, the interpretation of his temperament will be limited to, and distinctly coloured by, that hostile press coverage.
Want to help save the Anglosphere in its Western free-enterprise form, imperfect as it is?
Yes? Then best get the context right.
This is not a matter of a Democrat president doing the usual things expected of leftist/marxist-inspired Governments/Administrations.
This is a resumption of the very successful marxist/anti-Westernist campaign that really picked up steam when Obama was the figurehead.
The neo-marxist, anti-Westernist forces are now in full rampage mode -they control the Big State/public services and all pertaining apparatus: Big Media, Big Tech, Big Law, and the education systems.
Want to solve a problem -then understand and define the problem correctly.
That used to be at the heart of effective training in all the hard professions, and in the trades.
Too many non-marxist people expect that the West will be saved from the ravages of neo-marxism by having a nice-guy leader who has all the lovely attributes required of leaders by non-marxist naive idealists.
Naive idealists who never had to fight for anything Good, True and Beautiful, and know nothing of what is involved in defeating a determined enemy
And they want their leaders to be pristine examples of moral/ethical behaviour, according to naive/idealistic standards.
And these naive idealists just do not want any conflict, anywhere at any time, or at least not in public view.
They just want everything to be lovely and peaceful, at least in public view.
That’s very sweet of them.
Now check the lessons of history -and note that no Good Entity/nation/people was saved from Evil by nice-guys who follow the nice rules.
Must wake up, must get smart, must get wise, must get tough, must fight.
And fight to win.
Gabriel,
Surely you have been paid by the UQ Confucius Centre or the Socialist Activists.
This essay degrades the whole standing of the Quadrant society.
To say without any evidence “…the flawed character of President Trump, …. Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President, and his views and actions were conveyed to the public in a belligerent manner…” is a typical pathetic socialist cry baby claim.
How did Biden get into the White House? By the worst electoral fraud in modern history.
What skills and positive advancement has Biden produced in his political life? Absolutely none. And I refer you to fact that Thomas Sowell, during the Bork Supreme Court audition, had to repeatedly explain simple economics and social law to a Senator Biden, who had no idea then and nothing has been advanced since 1974.
What sane minded person signs an executive order to kill babies in the womb and yet he hasn’t the guts to kill the baby the day it is born? No sane man nor President Trump ever did that, yet the fraud currently in the White House signs an EO to allow abortion again. If this Biden person is so wonderful to promote abortion then let him lead by example and get CNN to video to the world Biden himself with hammer and knife to smash the babies head and slit its throat. Biden is a very corrupted person who disgraces the title of President of the USA.
The divisions in the USA were created by the Anti-Christ Obama and puppet Biden. So to suggest Trump created division is pure poppycock. What complete moron like Biden would sign an EO to instruct males to compete in female sports and then shower and change with females in the same room?
It would have been most worthy of your essay to highlight the strength of Trumps character to withstand the continual daily attacks whilst doing his job to create an economically strengthened independent USA.
President Trump has a character of strength and fortitude which has made him the greatest President the USA has produced. May I ask; Any foreign wars during the Trump years? How many peace deals during the Trump years? Who calmed the storm and negotiated peace with North Korea…Trump you say?
Ask yourself which man would you have lead an army to defeat an advancing enemy….If you consider Biden has the merit to lead by technical competence, moral intellect and physical strength….then go back to the Confucius Centre because it is only there you will find Biden hiding drawing his corrupt salary.
Biden will ruin the USA people by his incompetent and corrupted character, absolutely unfit for any public office.
On his first day in office, Biden rescinded the Trump administration’s executive order prohibiting critical race theory training for federal agencies and federal contractors. Critical race theory is a racist, toxic ideology that pushes the idea that white people possess unearned privilege as well as an inborn oppressive streak.
Biden also wasted no time in abolishing the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, an educational initiative designed to counter left-wing indoctrination and promote the teaching of American history from a patriotic perspective.
According to Roger Kimball:
“The negative consequences of Biden’s more pragmatic executive orders are incalculable. Nevertheless, the symbolic importance of dissolving the 1776 Commission may, in the end, be the single most destructive act promulgated by the new administration in its opening effort to repeal the achievements of the last four years.
In dissolving the commission, the Biden Administration clearly signaled that it was siding with the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” a malignant, anti-American fantasy whose guiding axioms are that America was founded as a “slavocracy” and that the American Revolution was fought primarily to perpetuate the institution of slavery.”
https://amgreatness.com/2021/01/23/transmitting-the-truth-about-americas-founding/
“ Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President, and his views and actions were conveyed to the public in a belligerent manner. ”
Says you apparently yet his term with all the weight of the deep state and the fake news media I’d say he had precisely the right temperament. The way his actions are conveyed to the public continue in the jaundiced and mendacious narrative of the last 4 years.
Anyone who thinks Donald J Trump is going to spend the next 4 years in Florida playing golf and being a bitch needs to read more. That is definitely not going to happen.
Must understand:
This is not some sort of Biden show.
This is a full-scale, many-front attack on Western Civ by the neo-marxist, anti-freedom anti-Westernists.
The campaign to destroy the West from within began in earnest after 1945.
The years of the Obama Admin was its highest point until the Trump counter-punch.
And now the anti-Westernists are surging again, enslaving the ordinary people, aided by massive electoral fraud as enabled by Big Tech, and various billionaires.
“Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President, and his views and actions were conveyed to the public in a belligerent manner.” A ‘great’ president is determined by his legislative and governmental achievements – and Trump had them in spades. And he achieved because of his temperament, not in spite of it.
Agree with Peter OBrien but this is just a fact check: Biden cannot in his wildest dreams sign executive orders (EOs) providing “US$1.9 trillion COVID relief package” or “providing a pathway of eight years to citizenship for illegal immigrants.” Both need Congess. He might have apsirations to do both but aspirations aren’t EOs.
Gabriel,
Please provide the required specifications to be a President of the USA.
Point me to the clauses in those specifications where it requires the President to be;
(1) Racist and promote racist policy
(2) an Abortionist to murder the innocent
(3) a Communist to cancel freedom of speech
(4) an Industrial villain to cancel energy proofing contracts only to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of honest workers
(5) so Insecure and Timid that 20,000 soldiers and razor wire shall be the only attendees to witness your inauguration
(6) Demented
(7) Corrupted for personal financial gain via illegitimate nepotism
(8) Knowingly gain advantage by fraud
(9) a self Confessed Liar
(10) a destroyer of the National Security & Border Protections
.
Biden easily satisfies all above conditions.
And you are trying to tell me Trump has a flawed character ?!??!
Just saying’ but I read Sarah Huckabee Sanders autobiography of her time in the White House as Trump’s Press chief. She says, with many examples provided, that Trump was a perfect gentleman to female staff, was caring, considerate, consistent and all round, an admirable person character-wise. One example was that if he knew staff were fatigued or having difficulties at home, he would go out of his way to help them. Sarah was a devout Christian and herself has impeccable morals — in my view. She also provides many examples of despicable behaviour by the press corps, the ones who proclaimed Trump’s “bad character” to
their readers.
Poll: One In Six Biden Voters Would Have Changed Their Vote If They Had Known About Scandals Suppressed By Media – https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/24/poll-one-in-six-biden-voters-would-have-changed-their-vote-if-they-had-known-about-scandals-suppressed-by-media/
The coalition of government and media that defeated Donald Trump is now hell-bent on ‘erasing’ his more prominent supporters. Many conservative academics are fighting to save their careers as colleagues turn hostile and denounce them for their alleged complicity in the Trump agenda. High profile scientists like John Ioannidis and Michael Levitt, who formerly spoke out against official virus control policies have fallen silent in the face of vicious attacks on their professional and personal reputations. Fine men and women who stood up to the MSM and the Democrats have been demonized, not only by the general public, but also by their colleagues and former friends. In what closely resembles a phenomenon all too familiar from Soviet Russia and Communist China, their public biographies have been rewritten by their enemies,. The current Wikipedia entry for Scott Atlas, for example, is basically a recitation of his supposed errors and incompetence – an indictment against which he has no recourse.
Google, YouTube and Twitter are all complicit in this process. An online search for material on Scott Atlas now reveals mainly hit-pieces against him, while many prominent conservative voices have been banned and retrospectively deleted from YouTube. Efforts are being made in some quarters to limit the effects of this holocaust, but it is likely that many careers will be permanently compromised, and much that was on the public record lost irretrievably.
Speaking of the 1776 Commission (now abolished by Biden), here is Trump’s September 2020 address on the teaching of American history:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WGvn6N1qPE
It’s a great speech. If only we had an Australian leader prepared to defend our history and heritage from the Left’s attacks and distortions. Instead, we have a weak Liberal-National government that has almost totally surrendered to the Left when it comes to the history and culture wars.
Is it your opinion that Mr Trump is not suitable? or have you fallen for the oft-repeated “acceptable throat-clearing” ahead of making a point that may well be read as positive towards him?
The last sentence should be changed from “may well” to “it’s assured that” for every action he has taken has been designed to inflame, to think otherwise is to think those behind him are stupid, they are not.
If emeritus President Trump did not have the temperament to be president, he would not have increased his mandate by an *additional* 8 million votes (easily breaking President Reagan’s astounding record of an additional 3 million votes).
Don’t like him?
Tough.
That’s why he was and is the ideal US President.
Today’s West Australian says that, on Saturday, the WA premier was asked to come into a wedding reception when guests saw him passing by. Like a celebrity, Mr. 88 Percent was welcomed at this wedding; the father of the bride referred to him as his god.
It struck me that many of the comments on this Quadrant piece are little different. Some Trump supporters refuse to accept that Mr. Trump even HAS faults, and will not listen to the opinion of anyone who dares to state otherwise. Their belief appears to be that ANY criticism of Trump makes a person a supporter of Clinton and Biden (despite the fact that some of us were conservatives back when Trump was donating money to the Democrats). Such sentiments are worthy of cancel culture, not the calm exchange of opinion.
Abraham had faults. Solomon had faults. Peter had faults. George Washington had faults. My grandad, who was a missionary for over fifty years and started multiple churches, had faults. My mother has faults.
A refusal to approve of anything Mr. Trump does is often referred to–understandably–as derrangment. A refusal to disapprove of anything that he does is surely the same. More than that, it verges on the blasphemous.
“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God.” Revelation 19:10
Rebekah, The above commentary, I believe, is taking issue with Gabriel’s single statement in an otherwise reasonable essay. The irritant which Gabriel scratched was to suggest “…the flawed character of President Trump, …. Trump did not have the right temperament to become a great President…”
Gabriel did not qualify his conditional requirements to be a great President, rather he discussed the vengeance of an unpopular usurper, who according to a majority percentage of the USA, gained advantage by fraud. The revelation(s) of corrupted success by dishonest gains and the entrenched mechanisms of the deep state activism within Washington DC does nothing to enhance the character of the current White House incumbent.
The Biden socialist communist regime is invoking patently anti-Christian sexist and racist orders in some blinded believe of advancing society with nil forethought for the economy..
The Trump capitalist agenda was to promote and secure a profitable economy for the advancement of a free society.
This is not Trump derangement syndrome, it is just a fear of the peril the blinded Biden will place upon free law abiding Christian nations.
.
The quality of the Biden character does nothing to inspire me (and it is apparent many others).
The best action right now is for the Biden Harris joke to resign.
Philip, I do not necessarily agree with you, but I can understand your irritation at this author’s mentioning Mr. Trump’s faults instead of simply defending him. However, like Edwina in the earlier comments, you’re not addressing my point. Some Trump supporters seem unwilling to admit that the man even HAS any flaws. I admire General Patton, but he had some very definite and well-known faults. It is no more justifiable to deny that, than for people of another political leaning to deify their heroes.
Rebekah, We appear to be wandering off point a bit…..Gabriel’s essay in one sentence attacks the personality character and temperament of Trump before he attained Presidency status. Then for the remainder of the essay he (Gabriel) discusses the actions of the current White House usurper, Biden, in present tense. The character strength of Trump as President has been proven. The presidential strength of character of Biden is yet to be proven, but early indications are not positive.
The measure of greatness in any profession can be assessed, ignorant of personality flaws in an earlier life.
Yes President Trump does have flaws and as you have said he is the first to admit them…..I haven’t enough letters in the alphabet to list Bidens flaws.
.
I think a common denominator is, We all are born with Original Sin, thus we all have our flaws.
President Trump became a great President not because of his personal flaws, but because he did the job of President by putting those flaws aside and by strength of character with honour and respect for the American citizen he turned the economy around and created prosperity for American people. All this whilst his political opponents and the MSM persecuted and slandered beyond believe.. Weaker people have capitulated.
I also think I may have exhausted my limit of commentary posts per Quadrant rules…so I better go now.