Trump Is Not the Problem

David De Hart points a finger at the Constitution

Below is David De Hart’s Letter to the Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in response to Erwin Chemerinsky’s “Are there any guardrails left to slow a second Trump presidency?” Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Berkeley Law School. I recently reviewed his book No Democracy Lasts Forever. Chemerinsky’s Chronicle article is a missed opportunity to call for a new Constitution based on the principles of one person, one vote — a chance I’m not convinced he was ever interested in seizing. Now that Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office, will Chemerinsky hold fast to his position that a new constitution is an “essential element in understanding and ultimately solving the crisis”? Or, will he turn back toward the Constitution in the hope that maybe, just this once, it will solve the problems it created?

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San Francisco Chronicle, Letter to the Editor, published 11/5/2024 

'Trump not the Problem'

Regarding “Are there any guardrails left to slow a second Trump presidency?” (Open Forum, Nov. 4): Our Constitution does not check nor balance power by any stretch of the imagination. 

Donald Trump, a felon, sex offender, wannabee tyrant and former president twice impeached, would have never survived a truly democratic government. 

Before people start finding a scapegoat to blame for the chaos surely to follow the presidential election, no matter who wins, perhaps a deeper analysis is needed to find the real culprit. 

Our government functions just as the founders intended: to thwart democracy at every turn to opt for a government of minority rule. Our archaic Constitution from the 18th century is no match for the problems that plague our country in the 21st century. We need a democratic Constitution that embraces the defining principle of one person, one equal vote. 

Let’s not kid ourselves about the reason why Americans are so frantic and worried about our country’s future on the eve of a presidential election. America is what it is because of our Constitution.