Ken Buck talks a lot about the Constitution and the need to protect it from an “unlawful President.”
Why, then, would Mr. Buck support Donald Trump, a presidential candidate who has demonstrated, on multiple occasions, either his contempt or complete ignorance of our nation’s guiding document? Why would he support someone he once said was “a fraud”? And why would he encourage others to do the same?
Mr. Buck took an oath to “support and defend” the Constitution. Now, he is supporting and defending a Presidential candidate who has said he would close places of worship, restrict free speech, and “swamp” (Trump’s word) the courts with judges with “real opinions,” which presumably means opinions that agree with Donald Trump. Buck, who regularly complains about executive overreach and unconstitutional Executive Orders, is now telling people to vote for a candidate that has promised to issue more executive orders than Obama. Buck, who is usually very concerned about the separate role of each of the branches of government, suddenly does not mind that his party’s presidential candidate does not understand the constitutional separation of powers.
Buck has said that only Trump can protect the nation from the biased judges that Hillary Clinton would appoint to the Supreme Court. Think about that - in order to protect the Supreme Court, Buck wants you to elect a candidate who knows nothing about the Constitution and who has said that a judge who might rule against him is unqualified to hear his case. The Supreme Court is part of a system of checks and balances. It was not intended to be a rubber stamp for the President or a political party.
For Ken Buck, it was never about the Constitution. It has always been about power. It’s about the power to micromanage a President, even as the Congress repeatedly fails to take responsibility and to do its job; the power to block legislation proposed by members of his own party; the power to punish Americans who are poor, unemployed, or who are facing hard times and tough choices. For Ken Buck, “promoting conservative values” is simply a euphemism for making sure that money and power stay with the people who already have money and power. Buck seems to be convinced that a Trump presidency would help meet those objectives. He’s probably right.
Buck could have come out against Trump, as several of his Republican colleagues have already done, if not on constitutional grounds than at least for Trump’s reaction to the Khan family. Instead, he has chosen to remain silent while Trump insults the sacrifices of military families. Instead of condemning Trump’s polarizing rhetoric, Buck has piled on his own “us v. them” statements.
Politics doesn’t shape your priorities. It exposes them. For Ken Buck, it turns out that the Constitution is not really a priority after all.