Requiem for a Republic-Part 3

By William L. Garvin

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”  Abraham Lincoln

When you look at the leading contenders for the presidency, it is difficult not to ask: “Is this the best that we can do?”  Did the devolution start when candidates started playing sax on television talk shows and answering questions about whether they wore boxers or briefs?  Did it start when being cool took precedence over being competent?  Did it start when charisma replaced character?  Was it because we became involved in nation building in countries that prefer Neanderthal social policies?  Did it bottom with a president engaging in sordid sexual relations in the oval office and then blatantly lying about it on national television?  Or was it when emotions became paramount to reason and rhetoric superseded rationale?  Was it all of the above or none of the above?  Maybe it’s not them; maybe it’s us….

Thomas Jefferson noted that “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”  Apparently, fewer and fewer people should be trusted in contemporary times.  If you think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court, you can’t be trusted.  If you don’t know who the vice-president is, you can’t be trusted.  If you don’t know how legislation becomes law, you can’t be trusted.  If you think a president increasing the national debt by $4 trillion is “unpatriotic” but think it’s okay if “your president” runs it up by $9 trillion, you can’t be trusted.  If somebody chalks “Trump 2016” on a sidewalk on your campus and you are “traumatized” or “terrorized” and have to run to your “safe space’ where you demand prosecution of the “aggressors,” you can’t be trusted.  If you think it’s “okay” for a president to release thousands of felons who have been convicted and imprisoned by a jury of their peers, you can’t be trusted.  If you think it’s “okay” for a governor to give 206,000 felons voting rights solely by executive order, you can’t be trusted.  Seriously, prisoners who have committed crimes against society are now being given the right to elect the people who define the crimes against society?  If you think it’s okay for attorney generals to investigate “global warming deniers” then you must think it was okay for Lois Lerner and her IRS cabal to target conservative political groups and you can’t be trusted.  At least the attorneys will be happy since the 31,487 scientists (which includes 9,029 PHDs) who have challenged anthropomorphic global warming will now have to hire legal representation for defense of their right to think and disagree.

One should always remember the words of John F. Kennedy: “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs.  Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”  One should also remember Dwight David Eisenhower: “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”  And what about when Ronald Reagan noted that “Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives” and “We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many people are added.”  With record numbers of people receiving food stamps and in poverty, with record numbers of people leaving the work force, fewer and fewer are in the position of having to support more and more and their ever-increasing entitlements. Thomas Jefferson also noted that “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” 

Why is this happening?  As George Washington said: “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”  Politicians of all stripes have concocted a system of political convenience to secure their own survival and the public be damned!  That’s why Trump and Sanders both resonate in their condemnation of the “corrupt” and “rigged” systems and the ability of rich entities such as labor unions, the Chamber of Commerce, George Soros and the Koch brothers to wield disproportionate influence.  Trump has always bought access and Hillary has always sold it.  Two-thirds of America thinks Hillary is a liar, dishonest, and untrustworthy but Democrats will vote for her anyway.  The only candidate with higher unfavorability ratings than Hillary is Donald.  So the question remains, is this the best that we can do?  If so, it’s goodbye freedom, goodbye America!