Carla Freiman Feuer

A brilliant retired lawyer from Minnesota, Albert T. Goins, has given me permission to quote this excerpt from his latest observations about Mr. Trump’s willingness to to give aid and support to those who would attack our allies: “Perhaps, Mr. Trump forgot (if he ever knew) that our international obligations and treaties—such as those we undertook as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—are themselves the supreme law of the land as recognized at Article VI of our Constitution.  As the so-called supremacy clause states in relevant part:  “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land….” Article VI, Clause 2 of the U. S. Constitution. Now, Mr. Trump’s inane remarks are likely well with the zone of protected political speech under our First Amendment rights, but his South Carolina statement evinces Trump’s fundamental unfitness to serve as President—and reveals his willingness to turn our treaty obligations into a seamy political ‘protection racket.’ And, Trump’s claims that he would encourage an adversary to attack an ally based on his personal view that they were ‘delinquent’ in making financial contributions to that alliance raise more serious concerns.  Donald Trump’s statements in South Carolina may not themselves rise to the level of an insurrection, but they clearly reveal the fact that if he regains office Mr. Trump is poised to unravel the binding obligations which the Constitution has imposed upon every  president from Washington to Biden.”