My kindly editor always wants me to write about “Colorado Politics,” for some reason. I usually do, but I’m again outraged at a certain president (again), who regularly attacks the concept a free and open press. Now, my best guess is that my saintly and handsome (and forgiving) editor likely doesn’t read my stuff too carefully, so I’m going to sprinkle in random “Colorado politics” words from time to time, to make him think that I’m doing my real job instead of waxing philosophic about Washington, D.C. (Jared Polis!) But, unfortunately, the larger First Amendment issues raised by Mr. Trump’s recent actions must be (sadly, again) addressed, regarding both a free press and a certain wall.

I’ve written before about my great concern regarding the message our president is regularly sending to his base and to the nation about a free press. Two recent attacks in particular should trouble those concerned with the long-term health of our republic (Romanoff!).

The first was the predictable but still unsettling tweet from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, wherein the president reacted poorly to yet another witty takedown of him on Saturday Night Live. That’s not news; presidents hate being mocked. But since the dawn of the TV age (google “Vaughn Meader” for a spot-on JFK), presidents have been impersonated and, well, mocked. Before that, political cartoons were often devastating. But our Mr. Trump has, as is so often the case, taken his objections to a new level. In the aforementioned angry tweet (“Aforementioned Angry Tweet” would be a good name for a band), Mr. Trump declared his disgust and called for “retribution” against NBC. That should chill you to the bone.

A second and even more shocking POTUS tweet came in response to an exhaustive and carefully sourced story in the New York Times. In the “offending” article, the reporters detailed Mr. Trump and his acolytes’ circling of the wagons for the past two years, as multiple investigations are coming into focus regarding Mr. Trump’s business, literally and figuratively. The president’s response was a tweet in which Mr. Trump again calls the New York Times “fake news,” and then repeats the phrase that is perhaps the most troubling thing any U.S. president has ever said. He declared that the Times was “a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! (caps in original).

If you study dictatorial leaders in the past, you often see an early step on the road to fascism is to declare to one’s supporters that only he himself has the “real news” and anyone who says anything different is an enemy. If you honestly say that would be just fine, well, you may want to brush up on your Hobbes (the philosopher, not the stuffed toy). Attacking a free and open press is bad, but it’s not the only Trumpian assault on our nation’s laws lately.

Recall please that Mr. Trump loudly says he can take money from other places to pay for his wall. It was under President Nixon that the issue of “impoundment of appropriated funds” became an important issue. While previous presidents – as far back as Mr. Jefferson – did from time to time “impound,” or refuse to spend, monies appropriated and authorized by Congress for a particular program that the then-current POTUS didn’t like, it was Mr. Nixon who elevated the practice to an extreme level. As a result of Mr. Nixon simply refusing to spend money, Congress passed new legislation that specifically denied a president the ability to redirect monies coming from Congress, unless there is a national emergency. That national emergency loophole will, I suspect, be examined closely by the courts. (Grand Junction!)

And so, dear readers, we again find ourselves protesting against Mr. Trump’s attacks on the media, as well as his idea that he can spend tax dollars where and how he wants. It all feels very familiar, eh? But I’d ask those who are comfortable with Mr. Trumps’ actions to consider the fate of Mr. Nixon.

Now, I don’t know if my repeated defense of the very need for a free and open press is making any difference at all, or am I just jousting at the current windmill of DC. But regardless, I’d ask you all to ponder the implications of every future president getting to decide what is and what isn’t news, and where and when to spend our taxes.

The warning bells are ringing loudly, and I hope we will heed that call. (Hickenlooper, Bennet, Gardner!)

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.