But it’s proving to be positively humiliating to be one of his allies.
That’s what American conservatives are discovering these days. No matter how much support they give this president and no matter how many previously sacred principles they are asked to compromise in service of some senseless fight he provokes or incidental whim that occurs to him, Trump always wants more from them.
Always demands more from them.
U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, is but the most recent conservative to learn—actually, relearn might be a better term—this lesson.
After showing some signs of a spine and a conscience by asserting that the president required congressional approval before he could squander American lives and treasure in Venezuela, Young caved under pressure from the White House and voted to give Trump unrestrained authority to launch the United States into undeclared war.
Young said he did so because he’d received assurances from national security personnel that the administration would consult with Congress before any future engagements in Venezuela.
Right.
By now, Young and other Republicans in Congress must feel a bit like Charlie Brown in the old Peanuts comic strip. They line up to kick the football, swallowing Lucy’s assurances that she’ll hold it in place, only to flop flat on their, uh, backs when she yanks the ball away as his foot is flying forward.
Doubtless, the folks in the Trump administration are just as genuine with their promises to seek congressional approval for further foreign military adventures as the assertions by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett were that they saw Roe v. Wade as “settled” law when they testified to the Senate during the nomination process.
Then, once they got on the bench, they reversed course and went about unsettling that “settled” law as fast as they could, stripping millions of American women and families of reproductive rights in the process.
Similarly, current U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi assured, assured, assured members of the Senate during her confirmation process that any pardons issued by the Trump administration would be decided on a case-by-case basis. Hours after she was confirmed, the president issued blanket pardons for the folks who trashed the Capitol, assaulted police officers and attempted to steal an election.
Promises from Trump and company are worth about as much as degrees from Trump University or any of his other bankrupt enterprises.
Still, though, faithful soldiers such as Young continue to line up to kick the ball while team Trump stifles chuckles in anticipation of the pratfall soon to occur.
I understand the pressure Young was under. This president and his unquestioning followers view all qualms about any Trumpian impulse as a fundamental betrayal.
But the fact is that Young, in asserting the necessity of congressional approval for starting wars, was the one defending a classic conservative principle.
The founders of this nation housed the power with Congress to declare war for sound reasons.
The first was that they’d had extensive experience with European monarchs sending their sons off to fight, kill and die on purely selfish grounds. So, they gave the arm of government closest to the people who would do the fighting, killing and dying the authority to declare war.
Second, they believed it was important for a nation to be unified if it entered a horrific conflict.
Among other things, a declaration of war from the people’s branch of government protected American presidents. It said to other nations that their quarrel in any conflict was with an entire country, not just a rogue chief executive, so killing our president wouldn’t end the fighting. It would only intensify our resolve to battle on.
Last, but perhaps most important, the founders understood that wars are much easier to start than they are to end. That’s why they did what they could to make sure there would be opportunities to ask questions and engage in debate at the front end of such fights, rather than after the nation was stuck in a tragic quagmire with few good options for concluding the bloodshed.
Todd Young knows all this. He’s a smart guy and normally a clear-thinking classic conservative.
Yet, he continues to consult his inner Lucy when the Trump administration urges him to try just one more kick.
And another humiliating pratfall beckons.
