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THE VIEW FROM HERE - We all remember from high school that the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, the year after the war began; that America operated under the Articles of Confederation starting in 1781 which was two years before the end of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and the Articles were in effect until 1787. OK, no one remembers this stuff. It’s all a haze and most Americans confuse the Declaration with the Constitution. Nonetheless, people will shout “I know my rights,” which usually signals a complete ignorance of their rights. Almost everyone thinks that we are a democracy when we are a Republic. Hence, a review is in order.\
1776
The Declaration was authorized, written and adopted in 1776 for the revolution which had begun the prior year. It set forth all governments’ duties to protect each individual’s inalienable rights. Next, it detailed how Great Britain’s violations of those rights justified the revolution. The Declaration could have been based English law; it was not. It could have been based on Christianity; it was not. Instead, the Declaration set forth a new philosophical basis for legitimate governments, i.e., the government’s duty to protect individual inalienable rights and the Declaration rejected any notion of group rights or the divine right of kings. The Declaration’s values were derived from the European philosophers, most particularly John Locke (1632–1704).
The universal values of the Declaration were remarkable in that in addition to providing justification of the war, it set forth the basis to end slavery while wisely not using that word. Because the Southern states never would have accepted a direct anti-slavery clause, Jefferson’s universal principle that all men had inalienable rights was not so in-their-face as to override their need to band together with the other Colonies. Jefferson slipped in another anti-slavery aspect: While John Locke spoke of Life, Liberty, and Property, Jefferson said Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness so that later no one could argue that slaves were property to support the claim that White people had the right to own Black people.
1781 (2 years before the war ended)
The Articles of Confederation, which the 13 Colonies ratified on March 1, 1781, created Confederation Congress. It did not attempt to create a More Perfect Union, but rather to hold together the colonies to fight King George. A document which was designed for a war time confederation was woefully inadequate for peace time.
1787
After the war’s end in 1783, there was a need to rectify the Articles’ weaknesses. Thus, another convention was called. After experiencing the deficiencies of a confederation, the delegates realize that an entirely new Constitution was required. Hence, the preamble began, “In order to form a more perfect Union. . . . ,” which set the theme that America needed a much stronger central government.
The Constitutional Convention had to deal with two perennial problems of all governments. (1) how to provide the central government with sufficient power to function, and (2) how to prevent that power from corrupting the entire system. Everyone at the convention was well educated in the history of governments from ancient Greece through 1700's Europe. Furthermore, each delegate had personal experience with a central government with too much power, i.e., Great Britain, and with a government with too little power, i.e., the confederation. Thus, they devised a myriad ways to balance one power faction against another. As Benjamin Franklin stated, the result was, “A republic if you can keep it.”
1787-1791
The States would not ratify the Constitution without additional amendments protecting certain states and individual rights. Although Congress adopted 12 amendments, only amendments 3 through 12, were ratified and became the Bill of Rights, aka, The First Ten Amendments, in 1791. Their purpose was to limit the power of the federal government to protect certain specified rights from government infringement. Some applied to individuals and others applied to states. (The Second Amendment was a state’s rights amendment and conferred no individual right to bear arms contrary to what the Supreme Court ruled two centuries later.)
This brief chronology reminds us that the Republic was carefully drafted after years of experience in order to check and balance power. Why? Because power-mongering factions always want to aggrandize their power and the only effective way to protect people’s individual rights is to prevent the accumulation of power in anyone one place, be it in Congress, in the Courts, or in the Presidency. See Federalist Paper #10.
The Other Beneficiary of a Republic
Seldom, if ever, do commentators discuss the great benefit which the President derives from the Republic’s checks and balances on his power. The Constitution’s first and strongest check on a President’s power was forming a Republic and rejecting a democracy. As the Framers knew, a democracy had no rule of law since the latest vote of the populace became the law of the land. Hence, whoever wins the Presidency in a democracy can claim a mandate to pass whatever laws he wants. As a democracy slides into an authoritarian rule, its president will often intimate the legislature into doing his will – under his faux electoral mandate. Sometimes, a president will simply usurp the legislative function and rule by executive fiat, daring the legislature to challenge him.
After grabbing too much power, power hungry leaders will claim that they embody the will of the people and launch purges of dissenting opinions within the government. They cease to try for consensus, but instead employ power plays, especially purges. Political parties which are controlled by their extremist faction covet maximum power. Dems are controlled by Wokers and GOP by MAGA.
One will note that Donald Trump has expressed these sentiments several times. He wants to jail Liz Cheney. He wants the Department of Justice to prosecute his political opponents and nominates the ilk of Kash Patel who promises to carry out unconstitutional revenge politics.
The Constitution lays down a strict procedure to amend the US Constitution; yet, Trump believes that he can erase Constitutional clauses with an executive order, i.e., 14th Amendment Sec 1 “All persons born . . . in the United States ... are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” He falsely claims that only the USA has such a citizenship clause, jus soli, when in reality 33 other nations have one. Even if the US were the only nation, what’s wrong with being a leader? Due to the hubris from his Narcissism and his Histrionic personality, he rashly attacked a cornerstone of the US Constitution. Histrionics such as Trump are shallow thinkers who are prone to flamboyant outbursts. Worst yet, Histrionics are easily persuaded by men of ill will, e.g., end citizenship birth and his anti-Trans rages. Trump fails to realize that those children born in the USA of illegal parents grow up to be excellent citizens. He also fails to recognize the strong backlash which will occur among more recent immigrant groups and among the centrist voters without whom he will lose the 2026 mid-term elections. The entire House and 33 Senate sets will be up for election.
There is a world of difference between deporting criminals and penalizing babies. Rational people know that undocumented parents will give birth within the United States. It takes a cruel person to visit the sins of the parents on the children. Trump would be wise to leave the 14th Amendment unchallenged.
Yes, Adherence to The Republic Can Save Donald Trump
Because the Constitution places restrictions on the powerful, it benefits those in power who would disregard its checks and balances. The Woke Dems, especially Nancy Pelosi and her Identity Woke DEI policies and Barack Obama and Joe Biden with their Woke Foreign Policy, transgressed the US Constitution, but the Dems were rather quiet about it so that the public remained unawares until the great harm of Wokedom descended upon the nation, i.e., the Congressional testimony of the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and University of Pennsylvania. Domestic Wokeism is diametrically opposed to both the Declaration of Independence’s individual inalienable rights and to the purpose of the US Constitution to secure the Blessings of Liberty.
Obama’s effete Woke foreign policy has brought upon the free world Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in 2014 and its second invasion in 2022. It secured Assad’s control of Syria when Assad crossed Obama’s red line not to use chemical weapons and Obama did nothing except suck his thumb. Under the Woke Obama Doctrine of appeasement now and appeasement forever, Biden allowed Iran to sell its oil to China. Thus, Biden indirectly funded Iran and its proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, etc. so that they could attack Israel. The Houthis also closed down international shipping through the Suez Canal. Almost 71,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and about 43,000 Ukrainians. Of the 40,000 plus Gazans killed, about 60% to 90% were militants and not women and children as Woke Biden falsely claims. Obama’s Woke betrayal of Syrians resulted in over 100,000 additional Syrian dead and allowed Assad to remain in power for another decade. Russians, Ukrainians, Hamas militants, Syrians are all human beings whose lives matter. Who died on Trump’s non-Woke watch? Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s general in charge of the Quds Force.
One area which national security should investigate is any and all Obama and Biden deals to protect Iran without their obtaining the advice and consent of the United States Senate. While the general rule is that presidents may take actions to support ratified treaties, presidents may not take actions in contradiction of ratified treaties. When one reviews the behavior of Biden with Iran, there appears to be a pattern to assist Iran and its proxies against Israel. Such behavior violates several US treaties which were passed with the Senate’s advice and consent.
Americans and the free world should thank Netanyahu and Israel for resisting the Woke impediments which Biden imposed on Israel. As a result of Israel’s rejection of Wokeism, Hezbollah was decimated. Israel’s destruction of Hezbollah was a substantial factor in the fall of Assad’s Syrian regime.
Trump’s true friends should impress upon him that the number one reason why a leader fails is that he promotes an illusory mandate which far exceeds the national ethos. The Republic provides Congress and the Senate the necessary checks and balances to protect Trump from himself.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected])
