The Fourth Wall

Attribution: Photo by Ilmi Amali Q.A on Unsplash

By Geoff Carter

I’m sick of politics. The last six weeks—four months—have been exhausting. We’ve gone from shock to disappointment to denial to acceptance (pretty much the stages of grief) to greater shock, disbelief, fear, and anger. Of course, to be fair, this is only one side of the argument. 

There are others who believe that what is going on in Washington now is a good thing, that President Trump is cleaning up governmental bureaucracy and that Elon Musk is using the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to execute a brilliant a strategy for excising government waste. 

I have news for those of you who think that. What’s going on in D.C. is not a good thing. 

First of all, DOGE is slicing and dicing government departments and programs like a squad of drunken samurais. They are laying off federal workers—necessary federal employees like VA nurses, nuclear technicians, and meteorologists—indiscriminately and stupidly, sometimes having to rehire those fired the day before to keep things functioning. These workers are not stereotypical bureaucrats; they work hard to provide necessary services.

The president—to this point—has issued close to a hundred executive orders ranging from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to overturning a constitutional amendment. At best—if he had a sense of humor—some of these moves look ridiculous, it might seem as if he were joking. But he’s not. 

He wants to annex Greenland, to take over Panama, and to make Canada our fifty-first state. These moves are (to be generous) delusional and megalomaniacal. In some ways, he seems like a twelve-year-old playing the board game Risk. 

The president is also putting our economy into a tailspin by instituting his on-again off-again tariffs. By issuing another executive order stating the economy was in a state of emergency, Trump has given himself the power to issue tariffs. Congress could have taken this power back but refused to—one of the many concessions they have made to this administration.

In fact, the Republican-led Congress has done nothing except nod, smile, and step aside for the executive overreach of this man. The president—and his pet DOGE—are cutting budgets to specific governmental departments, something that only the Congress, which has power of the purse, is supposed to be able to do. The Republican House and Senate majorities—afraid for their jobs and probably their safety—have not tried to stop him. 

The Democratic minority has done what it could, but that’s not much. They’ve complained, rallied their constituents, but when the opportunity arose to stop the continuing resolution to extend the budget deadline, they caved. They could have shut down the government in order to force negotiations but didn’t. And so Trump marches on in his quest to dismantle our democracy.

Our democratic system is built on checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government gets too much power. The legislative is supposed to check the executive, and vice versa; the judicial is supposed to check the legislative, and vice-versa; and the executive is supposed to check the judicial, and vice-versa. It’s a system that had worked remarkably well—with some glitches every now and then—until now. Since Congress is in the pocket of President Trump and living in fear of losing their jobs—and more, they do not—and will not—check his abuses of power. 

The judicial, however, is doing its job. Dozens of egal actions have been brought against the administration and its pet DOGE for illegal firings, misuse of funds, illegal arrests and suspension of due process, and violations of constitutional law. According to The New York Times, forty-six of those rulings have “temporarily paused some of the president’s initiatives”, yet questions linger about what the courts might do should Trump decide just to ignore their injunctions and rulings. The courts have an enforcement arm, the U.S. marshals, but even if the administration or the president was found in contempt of court, what could they really do? Arrest him? Highly doubtful. 

State governments have stepped up to fight the overreach. Illinois, New York, and California have instituted policies to help protect trans people, immigrants, and women from Trump’s draconian policies. According to the ACLU, fifteen state attorney generals have formed a coalition to protect trans kids. A number of other states, including North Carolina and Washington, have moved to protect reproductive rights as well as the rights of immigrants.

There is one further check on the executive overreach of this administration which I call the fourth wall. This is the voice of the people. And it is being heard. 

Mass demonstrations have been popping up all over the country protesting any number of Trump’s policies including his evisceration of the VA, Social Security, the Department of Education, USAID, and the appointment of Elon Musk as head butcher. Women’s rights, immigration, trans rights, pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia and pro-Canada protestors are cropping up everywhere. And there’s more being protested. Much more. These demonstrations are not just happening in big cities. They are also happening in small towns in bright red districts like Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Trump’s policies are very unpopular, and citizens are not shy about showing it. These voices are being heard. Republican representatives are being eviscerated at town halls to the point where party leaders are instructing members not to have them. One Kansas representative abruptly left in the middle of his town hall, a chorus of boos hard on his heels. 

Some democratic representatives have held town halls nearby—or actually in—Republican districts. Since Wisconsin Representative Greg Van Orden refused to hold a town hall in his own district, so democratic rep Marc Pocan held a town hall just ten miles away and invited Van Orden’t constituents. The meeting was packed with constituents with both districts. Representative in California, New Jersey, and other states are doing the same. 

Senator Bernie Sanders has mounted a nationwide “Stop the Oligarchs” tour which has drawn thousands of participants at every stop. Vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota governor Tim Walz is sponsoring town halls of his own in farming areas in Iowa and Nebraska hit hard by Trump’s ridiculous tariffs.

An executive power grab is happening. That is undeniable. Our democracy is at risk. 

The first wall is failing. The highly partisan legislative branch is doing absolutely nothing to stop Trump. 

The second wall is holding. The judicial branch—our rule of law—is checking the executive branch’s breaches of constitutional law. At least for now.

The third wall is pushing back. States like Illinois and New York are using their own laws and powers to push back on Trump’s civil liberties violations.

And, finally, the fourth wall, the will of the people, is rising. Like a tsunami, it is washing over the land. The American people are frustrated, disappointed, embarrassed, and angry. 

The people of this country know who they are and what they are. We know we will not be subjugated to the will of petty and greedy men drunk with power. We will fight for ourselves, and we will fight for our neighbors. We’re not going to take it.

The fourth wall will hold against this would-be tyrant and his feckless cronies.

Notes

1. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/us/trump-administration-lawsuits.html
2. https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/state-and-local-governments-are-saying-no-to-trumps-radical-agenda