by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
During
his
State
of
the
Union
address,
Donald
Trump
thought
he
was
being
clever.
He challenged the
Democrats
in
the
chamber:
“If
you
agree
with
this
statement,
then
stand
up
and
show
your
support: The
first
duty
of
the
American
government
is
to
protect
American
citizens,
not
illegal
aliens.”
Needless
to
say,
Democrats
did
not
stand
up
and
show
their
support.
Stephen
Miller,
the
White
House
deputy
chief
of
staff, cheered Trump’s
challenge. He
posted
on
X
after
Trump’s
speech:
“The
entire
Democrat
Party
disqualified
itself
from
government
service
in
this
one
exchange.
Nothing
like
it
in
U.S.
history.”
Nothing
like
it
in
U.S.
history.
Sure
glad
I
didn’t
miss
it.
Any
sentient
human
being
of
course
realizes
that
Trump’s
stunt
was
actually
not
very
clever.
This
type
of
challenge
simply
requires
posing
a
seemingly
rhetorical
question
that
demands
more
than
a
one-word
response. You
can’t
answer
“yes”
or
“no,”
because
the
question
calls
for
more. You
can’t
either
stand
up
and
cheer
or
sit
quietly. You
must
explain.
To
understand
this,
put
the
shoe
on
a
Republican
foot: “If
you
agree
with
this
statement,
Republicans,
then
stand
up
and
show
your
support: The
first
duty
of
the
Supreme
Court
is
to
uphold
the
United
States
Constitution,
even
against
a
president’s
attempt
to
impose
illegal
tariffs.”
Hmmm. That
requires
more
than
either
standing
up
and
cheering
or
remaining
seated.
Republicans
might
want,
for
example,
to
discuss
the
propriety
of
Trump’s
tariffs,
or
say
something
else,
to
put
the
question
into
context.
So,
too,
Democrats
might
have
wanted
to
talk
about
whether
it’s
the
first
duty
of
the
government
to
protect
American
citizens
against
illegal
aliens,
even
if
that
means
sending
masked
troops
into
American
cities
and
occasionally
killing
innocent
American
citizens.
Now
that
we’re
playing
this
game,
I
have
a
few
other
questions
to
pose
to
Republicans. No
discussion,
now. Either
stand
up
and
cheer
or
remain
seated:
The
first
duty
of
American
customs
and
immigration
enforcement
personnel
is
to
protect
American
citizens,
not
to
kill
them.
The
first
duty
of
young
people
in
the
United
States
called
to
serve
their
country
is
to
answer
patriotically,
not
to
evade
the
draft
by
ginning
up
supposed
bone
spurs.
The
first
duty
of
the
president
is
to
avoid
political
violence,
not
to
incite
a
crowd
to
attack
the
Capitol
Building
and
later
to
pardon
those
involved
in
the
attack.
America’s
first
duty
is
to
stand
by
our
allies
in
times
of
need,
not
to
threaten
to
take
over
Canada
or
Greenland.
The
first
duty
of
high-ranking
American
officials
is
to
protect
America’s
secrets,
not
to
post
them
on
Signal
chat
groups
that
include
editors
of
magazines.
The
first
duty
of
the
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
is
to
protect
Americans
from
illness,
not
to
discourage
them
from
taking
life-saving
vaccines.
The
first
duty
of
the
Executive
Branch
is
to
ensure
that
justice
is
blind,
not
to
prosecute
your
political
enemies.
Are
you
starting
to
get
the
idea?
For
Trump
to
think
this
was
clever,
and
for
Miller
to
think
it
disqualifies
all
Democrats
from
public
service,
is
not
quite
correct.
In
fact,
one
might
say
that
the
first
duty
of
an
American
president
is
to
speak
the
truth,
whenever
possible,
to
the
American
people,
not
to
intentionally
mislead
them
for
no
reason
whatsoever.
Care
to
stand
up
and
cheer?
Mark Herrmann spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].