O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.

Trump has redefined “weapons of mass destruction” to include fentanyl. His redefinition lets him ignore due process so he can bomb foreign nationals on the high seas.

He offers no evidence whatsoever that the boat people traffic fentanyl. He just makes a claim and hellfire missiles rain down. There are no trials, no evidence, no testimony, no lawyers representing the accused. If unimpeded, Trump will repeat his redefining activity whenever he wants, and it grows ever more sinister.

The president may well use the same kind of thinking to redefine any person or organization as criminal. This allows him to make outlaws of opposition legislators, noncompliant judges, and political parties. The evening news may soon show FBI agents perp-walking lines of shackled senators, judges, and party leaders into custody.

Redefining damages our entire legal system. If redefining words allows government agencies to ignore proof of a crime, then they can arrest or kill anyone at any time for any reason. If government agencies can ignore due process, then they can do whatever they want. Trump uses his redefining power to ignore the law.

We have a system of checks and balances to protect us from just such an abuse of power. If we can’t check Trump’s unbalanced language, then we should redefine him into civilian status and return to the rule of law.

John Atherton is a a retired philosophy professor from Dover, who spent four years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Swaziland, now Eswatini. He’s married and has two grown children, and four grandchildren.

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