This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Ever since the tea party became a force in American politics starting in 2010, the anti-government folks' favorite complaint is how the Constitution has been violated over the years by presidents, Congress and the courts.

It is a refrain heard daily on radio and TV talk shows, mostly by conservatives howling about the Obama administration, and throughout the blogosphere.

And those protesting most loudly speak as though they are constitutional experts, having read and comprehended every line and understand the sacred document far better than the jurists who are authorized by that very Constitution to interpret its meaning.

And now we have the phenomenon of Donald Trump and a vocal, passionate following who have finally found the savior they have sought to bring us back from the abyss of a government that has lost its way and forgotten the principles of the Constitution.

A study of that following, and a careful viewing of Trump's rallies, to me show just how the politics in this country have gone awry, and to a large extent I blame the tea party frenzy for taking us down this crazy road.

The tea party, while actually begun on legitimate principles, has become an amalgam of angry groups, whether they be religious fundamentalists who fear the country has become anti-God, frustrated folks who believe they would have better jobs and lives if we weren't overrun by immigrants, gun-rights advocates who think for some inexplicable reason that we don't have enough gun rights in this country, or, to mention the elephant in the room, the racists who can't stand the fact we have a black president in the White House.

They have all found a home in the tea party. And they are all angry. And Donald Trump is smart enough to recognize that. He has tapped into it and it has worked for him.

But his latest outrageous remarks, which seem to have bolstered his base, show how ridiculous the arguments about protecting our Constitution have become.

Trump has said he wants to ban all Muslims from coming into the country, at least temporarily. He also has said he wants to require that all Muslims in the United States, including U.S. citizens, be registered as Muslims.

To be fair, most of the other Republican presidential candidates have repudiated that idea, noting correctly how unconstitutional it is. Most responsible Republicans also have denounced the notion of registering citizens on the basis of their religion.

But Trump's base has embraced and endorsed the idea. And let's face it. Trump's base is the largest single base among the various factions in the Republican party so far in this election cycle.

If you look at that base at Trump rallies and in social media, and you listen to the rhetoric, it is clear that a large percentage of that base is adamant about their gun rights and any regulation of gun ownership, any type of control to keep guns out of the hands of crazy people, is unconstitutional on its face.

The Second Amendment, after all, says clearly, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

But when it comes to the First Amendment, according to Trump's supporters, infringing is OK.

The language of that amendment also is clear: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

That means the government cannot favor one religion over others, and it cannot stop or interfere with the practice of any religion, as they all are equal under the law.

Making Muslims register with the government is about as blatant a violation of that amendment as you can get.

Yet the Trump nuts are all for it while at the same time screaming that any talk of gun control is violating their constitutional rights.

Trump's mantra is, "Make our country great again."

I can't help but think the mantra coming from the graves of Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Everett Dirksen, Robert Taft, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln would be something like, "Make our party great again." —