History Repeating Itself?

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

Professor Timothy Joseph's article, "Trump's Impeachment Is Just Like The Fall of The Roman Empire," which appeared here: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/trumps-impeachment-just-fall-roman-empire-121346 is a sobering read for anyone concerned about the fate of the United States of America.

He wrote: "The Republican senators’ speedy exoneration of Trump marks perhaps the most dramatic step in their capitulation to the president over the past three years.

That process, as I wrote in The Conversation last fall, recalls the ancient Roman senate’s compliance with the autocratic rule of the emperors and its transformation into a body largely reliant on the emperors’ whims.

Along with the senatorial fealty that was again on display, there was another development that links the era of the Roman Republic’s transformation into an autocratic state with the ongoing political developments in the United States. It’s a development that may point to where the country is headed.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the president’s personal position is inseparable from that of the nation itself. This is similar to the notion that took hold during the ascendancy of the man known as Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, who was in power from 31 B.C. to A.D. 14.

Trump defense attorney Alan Dershowitz asserted that “abuse of power” by the president is not an impeachable offense. A central part of Dershowitz’s argument was that “every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest” and that “if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

This inability to separate the personal interests of a leader from the interests of the country he or she leads has powerful echoes in ancient Rome.

There, no formal change from a republican system to an autocratic system ever occurred. Rather, there was an erosion of the republican institutions, a steady creep over decades of authoritarian decision-making, and the consolidation of power within one individual – all with the name “Republic” preserved."

This should scare the hell out of every true patriot!

A Courageous Patriot

How far my former political party has fallen! Only one out of fifty-three Republican senators with the courage to convict this lawless man who has hijacked the party of Lincoln! And, not just any Republican senator, the man who was their nominee for president in 2012 - the senator from Utah, Mitt Romney. After enduring a relentless and ruthless effort to ensure that he remain a "team player," he decided that the oath which he took before God to do impartial justice and protect the Constitution of the United States superseded any obligation he had to person or party. Well done senator, if I were a Utah voter, I would vote to reelect you to office.

In his remarks before the United States Senate, Romney said:

"The defense <Trump's legal team> argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution’s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the president. Hamilton explained that the Founders’ decision to invest senators with this obligation rather than leave it to voters was
intended to minimize—to the extent possible—the partisan sentiments of the public.
This verdict is ours to render. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our
duty. The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the President
committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a 'high crime and
misdemeanor.'
Yes, he did.
The President asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival.
The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so.
The President delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders.
The President’s purpose was personal and political.
Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust.
What he did was not 'perfect'— No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national
security interests, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is
perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine."

A full transcript of his remarks is available here:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/full-text-romney-s-speech-why-he-ll-vote-convict-n1130936

Trump's Dystopian America

For those who are unfamiliar with my background, a brief summation is in order for the purposes of this post. I am a Christian, patriot and family man. I served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army for over two years and was honorably discharged at the conclusion of my enlistment. I have been a student of the history and politics of the United States for all of my life (my degree majors were history and political science). Recently, I authored a book (An American Family Bible) on my family's role in the history of the United States covering the period 1585-1987. Formerly, I was a registered Republican for many years, but I have been an independent and unaffiliated voter in more recent years. I have always flown the flag, recited the pledge of allegiance and enthusiastically celebrated Independence Day. And I used to enjoy watching episodes of The Apprentice on NBC.

Nevertheless, as past posts on this blog have indicated, I have been dismayed by developments of the last four years - the election and subsequent presidency of "the Donald." In just four short years, this man has succeeded in undermining my faith in the institutions and country which I have faithfully served and revered for my entire life. He has taken a divided country and erected an impenetrable barrier between the two sides. He has actively sought to undermine public confidence in the rule of law, the separation of powers, freedom of the press and U.S. intelligence gathering. He has also reshaped the once mighty Republican Party into a personality cult devoted to himself. However, I believe the most damning way in which he has undermined our republic is in the realm of the confidence we formerly enjoyed in the results of our elections.

By inviting foreign interference in the 2016 election and soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election, he has called into question not only the legitimacy of his own presidency - but our ability to have any confidence that the results of all future elections will be the real verdict of the American people. Moreover, it appears that he has been completely successful in thwarting any efforts by the press or the U.S. Congress to put a stop to his cheating!

After successfully stonewalling the House impeachment inquiry (not producing a single witness or document subpoenaed by that body), he has succeeded in bullying all but two Republican senators into joining him in covering up his misdeeds. At the end of last week, the U.S. Senate voted 51-49 not to call any witnesses or subpoena any documents in the President's trial before that body. They did this knowing that John Bolton and others could provide incriminating or exculpatory evidence in Trump's trial - it simply didn't matter (Moreover, even when Bolton's book finally comes out, Trump has succeeded in completely destroying the credibility of a man who was formerly widely regarded within conservative and Republican circles). The paramount objective of my former party's senators was ending the trial and preventing Trump's removal from office! During the trial, Trump's defense team argued that the President is allowed to stonewall to protect executive privilege and can do anything to get himself reelected because he believes it to be in the national interest that he continue to be president!

Think about the implications of these assertions being allowed to stand - think about what these precedents mean for presidential power going forward. If the president cannot be indicted for crimes and can thwart any investigations into his wrongdoing and cannot be impeached and removed from office for abuse of power, then we no longer have a president - we have a king or dictator. The only check left on a rogue chief executive would be an election, uh-oh!

Add to all of this the fact that the American electorate has already elected this man once and at least half of them don't want to see him removed from office and there won't be any meaningful restraints on foreign interference in the upcoming election, and the prospects for Trump's reelection don't seem as remote as one might hope. Hence, I believe if Trump is reelected the game is up. American democracy will be a thing of the past - a story for the history books. The nation that I have served, loved and defended for all of my life will no longer exist! Hence, I may have to reevaluate my attachment to Independence Day celebrations and patriotism if the objects of my devotion no longer exist!