After Excusing Obama's Misdeeds, New York Times Now Attacks Trump for 'Bold Claims of Presidential Power'
The newspaper's uneven coverage of executive power abuse.
The New York Times just published a strong piece explaining why many legal experts believe Donald Trump's agenda "is a recipe for a constitutional crisis." As the Times notes, "Trump's blustery attacks on the press, complaints about the judicial system and bold claims of presidential power collectively sketch out a constitutional worldview that shows contempt for the First Amendment, the separation of powers and the rule of law, legal experts across the political spectrum say."
It's nice to see The New York Times sit up and take notice when a presidential wannabe trashes the Constitution. My only complaint is that the Times is not exactly consistent when it comes to shining the spotlight on executive power abuse.
For example, recall that back in 2010 President Barack Obama tried to evade the Constitution and its pesky requirement that all appointments to high office first be approved by the U.S. Senate. Obama sabotaged the Senate's constitutional role by making several purported recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board when the Senate was not actually in recess. This flagrant violation of the separation of powers by Obama was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a unanimous Supreme Court.
Yet the president did have his defenders at The New York Times. "With no sign that Republicans are willing to let up on their machinations, Mr. Obama was entirely justified in using his executive power to keep federal agencies operating," the Times declared in an editorial defending Obama's bogus recess appointments.
The New York Times is absolutely correct to examine Donald Trump's unconstitutional agenda and his blatant contempt for the rule of law. Too bad the misdeeds of a certain sitting president did not face similar scrutiny from this "newspaper of record."
