CommentsONE MAN’S OPINION-While we assign dates to such events as the beginning and death of a nation, the reality is that such dates are usually significant events which seem representative of the social, political or economic changes that have occurred over a longer period of time.
The Declaration of Independence was written and signed on or around July 4, 1776, but it merely set down a political philosophy harkening back to ancient Greece. More recently, John Locke had reasserted the notion that the sole purpose of a legitimate government was to secure the inalienable rights for every individual, including Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Since the colonies were asserting their independence from Britain and its class-based society, Thomas Jefferson inserted the word “equal” to emphasize that no individual had any more or any less inalienable rights than any other man, i.e., no aristocracy, no monarchy. In 1776, no rational person thought “equal” meant all individuals had equal talents or that all wealth should be divided equally.
The Declaration Did Not Establish the Republic
When a child is born, one does not know that sort of character he or she will have upon coming of age. Prior to the Declaration, the nation had already began writing the Articles of Confederation. Contrary to today’s mythology, the Declaration did not kick off the whole revolution thing. When Jefferson wrote, “When. . .it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another. . .they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” the revolution was already under way. He was merely explaining to the world the reasons that the colonies were in the process of breaking away from Great Britain.
In fact, the first version of the Articles of Confederation had been written by Benjamin Franklin and presented to Congress in July 1775, an entire year before the Declaration. Paul Revere’s ride was April 18, 1775, which was months before Franklin’s draft of the articles (which everyone ignored). The Boston Tea Party, in which Paul Revere participated, was in 1773.
One thing is certain: Paul Revere did not shout “The British are coming!” He and the others were riding in secret to warn their colleagues that “regulars,” which is what the Colonists called the King’s troops, were on their way. Thus, screaming is the last thing he would have done as the “regulars” would have immediately arrested him. Remember, the Crown had troops quartered in private homes. (That’s why the Constitution’s Third Amendment forbids quartering of troops.) In addition, since all colonists were British, it would been similarly to yelling, “We are coming.”
The Rise of the Republic
After the revolution, the former colonies attempted to operate under the Articles of Confederation, but the individual state’s fear of a central government having too much power had resulted in an impotent government. In 1787, eleven years after the Declaration, the Constitutional Convention was called to remedy the Articles’ defects. Instead, the convention created the Republic as the form of government most likely to balance the legitimate need for governmental power against the inalienable rights of the individual citizens.
But it was thought the Constitution as written was unlikely to be ratified because people demanded limitations on the government’s power to harm their inalienable rights. Hence, in 1791 the states ratified The Bill of Rights, i.e., the first ten amendments.
The Slow Demise of the Constitution as the Basic Law of the Land – Was January 31. 2020 the Death Knell of the Republic?
As I recited in CityWatch articles in October 2019, the Republic has been under serious attack by Nancy Pelosi due to her perfidious disregard of the Constitution’s impeachment process. The problem is not, as the GOP would have it, that Trump did nothing wrong, but rather the danger came from Pelosi’s sabotage of the House’s sole power to conduct the first phase of the impeachment process, including the gathering of evidence. Pelosi refused to gather enough evidence to enable the GOP to Nixonize Donald Trump.
Professors Noah Feldman and Jonathan Turley explained to Jerry Nadler’s Judiciary Committee that impeachment -- not elections -- is the means by which a Republic protects itself from a mobocracy since the passions of the electorate could potentially sweep away the limitations on the power of the President. Nancy Pelosi, however, saw her personal power in promoting a mobocracy just as Trump saw himself as the sole embodiment of the government. According to Trump, if he did it, it was right. That is a restatement of Charles I’s Divine Right of kings for a secular nation.
By the time the House phase reached Nadler’s Committee on December 4, Pelosi’s sabotage was clear. John Bolton had already signaled that he had evidence, while the House had the “sole power” to call witnesses. Under the Declaration, nothing is more vital than securing the inalienable rights of the individual, and the founding fathers knew the destructive passions of the electorate could destroy the Republic. (Why do you think Ben Franklin said, “A Republic if you can keep it”?) Nonetheless, it was not too late to stop Pelosi’s attack on the Republic. Reps. Schiff, Nadler, and others could have opposed Pelosi and reissued the Bolton subpoenas along with subpoenaing Rudy Giuliani and others such as Lev Parnas. There would have been political hell to pay from Pelosi, but cowards should not run for Congress.
Pelosi Perfidy Redux in the Senate
Senate Majority Leader and part-time Turtle Impersonator Mitch McConnell announced to the world that he would have nothing to do with any constitutional falderal and the Senate would acquit Trump. Translation into everyday language: “If Pelosi does not gather the evidence which is as ubiquitous as autumn leaves in Vermont, the Senate will not do it.”
It is one thing to ask the GOP to Nixonize Trump, but it is politically outrageous to ask the President’s own party to gather the evidence. Knowing this political reality, Pelosi abrogated her constitutional duty to protect the Republic. Instead we got the lie that Trump was stopping her. What part of “sole power” did she not understand?
Hail Mary - There Is No Grace
Appropriate for Super Bowl season, John Bolton made his Hail Mary play, proclaiming that he has the evidence to tie Trump one hundred percent to the unconstitutional conduct. When Bolton threw his political football high in the air, he must have prayed that at least ten percent of the Senate GOP members would vote to take evidence. On January 31, 2020, the Senate killed due process and the Constitution’s ability to save the Republic by voting against hearing evidence.
Pelosi and McConnell will be celebrating the demise of the Republic, eager to advance their personal fortunes in the new American mobocracy where there will be no limits on the President’s power.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney and a CityWatch contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.