“Get Trump!” Damn the Constitution

by Alan M. Dershowitz, GATESTONE  •  August 24, 2022

The ACLU, which has long objected to the overuse of search warrants instead of subpoenas, is silent about the search of Mar-a-Lago (pictured). As long as the goal is to get Trump, anything goes including hypocrisy, inconstancy and unconstitutionality. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Many of my friends on the left fear [Trumpism] as much as many on the right feared communism in the 1950s. And they may have a point. But not enough of a point to destroy a century of progress in civil liberties, free speech, due process, and the rule of law.
  • Articles are now frequently appearing in the mainstream media demanding compromises with important rights in the name of “Getting Trump.”
  • My former colleague Laurence Tribe, who taught constitutional law for half a century, now seems willing to weaponize the Constitution to serve his partisan end of “Getting Trump.” Incredibly, he has advocated prosecuting Trump for the “attempted murder” of then Vice President Mike Pence. To do so would require retroactively and unconstitutionally expanding the law of attempts to fit Trump’s ill-advised actions and inactions with regard to Pence. But apparently that doesn’t matter to Tribe and his followers, who care more about achieving their “noble” ends than they do about the ignoble means they are willing to employ.
  • The ACLU, which has long objected to the overuse of search warrants instead of subpoenas, is silent about the search of Mar-a-Lago. As long as the goal is to get Trump, anything goes including hypocrisy, inconstancy and unconstitutionality.
  • I would give everyone “the benefit of law,” but not only “for my own safety’s sake,” but for the sake of future generations. Once the Constitution and civil liberties are “cut down,” it is difficult to regrow them and the “winds that would blow them” might prevent us from “standing upright” against new tyrannies from the extreme left and right.
  • This important right [to vote ] should not be taken away by unconstitutional means, even if the result were to be the unlikely re-election of Trump. That is the price of democracy.

There is a movement afoot to “Get Trump,” at any cost. The goal is to prevent him from running in 2024. Many in this movement are willing to use any means to attain what they believe to be a necessary and admirable goal. “Democracy is at stake,” they claim. They are prepared to sacrifice constitutional rights, civil liberties, principles and the rule of law to stop former President Donald Trump.

This is a familiar argument to me. I fought against it in the 1950s, when decent people who believed that Communism was a grave danger to democracy were willing to trample on the Constitutional rights of alleged communists and fellow travelers, in order to prevent them from destroying our democracy.

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August 25, 2022 | 6 Comments »

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  1. Hello, Edgar.

    I appreciate the fact that Diershowitz, at times, has vindicated President Trump. This help should, however, be taken with a large grain of salt:

    I voted against Trump twice. If he is renominated, I plan to vote against him a third time. That is my right in a democracy, just as it is the right of Trump supporters to vote for him. This important right should not be taken away by unconstitutional means, even if the result were to be the unlikely re-election of Trump. That is the price of democracy.

    — Alan M. Dershowitz
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18827/get-trump-constitutionhttps://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18827/get-trump-constitution

    Dersh OMINOUSLY compares the current situation with the era of Henry VIII. Thomas More, of course, lost his head — as ultimately did also his rival Thomas Cromwell, as well as Mary, mother of King James I and Elizabeth’s courtier Walter Raleigh. The ultimate victors over these intrigues were the United States of America, and the freedom it has safeguarded for over two centuries.

  2. Such an excellent presentation, and in such a sort time span-less than 15 minutes. What if he’d allowed himself, say, 30 minutes-or more.??

  3. Jared Kushner’s new book promoted by 45:

    08/22/22

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    https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/news-xgnmv9e8mj2389

  4. Dershowitz goes on to say in the article:

    I fought against it in the 1950s, when decent people who believed that Communism was a grave danger to democracy were willing to trample on the Constitutional rights of alleged communists and fellow travelers, in order to prevent them from destroying our democracy.

    Although back then the fear was more exaggerated than it may be now, there was genuine concern about the increasing influence of communism throughout the world….

    Today the fear is Trumpism. Many of my friends on the left fear it as much as many on the right feared communism in the 1950s. And they may have a point.

    WHAT ??? Is Dershowitz really saying that the communist threat of the 50’s was “exaggerated” in comparison to the threat of Trumpism, and that the Left may have a valid point in their fear of Trump? This just goes to show that Dershowitz is still a Conservative wanna be, and that he does not yet fully understand what Trumpism is or how irrational the Left has become.

  5. Precisely- Why I Wrote My book “GET TRUMP” which was blocked by mainstream media and social just before Election 2020- & Relaunched Recently with new foreword by George Washington and Abe Lincoln. THEY WANT TO GET TRUMP – I simply get Trump and all good he did to make America Great Again -while keeping all his promises – many to the great state of Israel. Endorsed by Dennis Prager – GET TRUMP by Gus Mollasis, a comprehensive read following the Great President fighting the Establishment who persecuted him as he battled to preserve the American Dream for everyone. Get TRUMP is available on AMAZON.com and Barnes & NOBLE.COM. GET TRUMP Today! A must read! “Confessions, Observations and Solutions from a RED, WHITE & BLUE INDEPENDENT VOTER who states prophetically “NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE IN AMERICA- YOU EITHER GET TRUMP or YOU WANT TO GET TRUMP..