Two Hundred and Fifty Years ago when the founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they attacked King George III of Great Britain for Monarchist, Fascist-like rule, which, they asserted, violated Laws which Nature’s God decreed for all human beings. The laws cited were Natural Law, Canon Law, and Common Law, which eventually were embedded into US Constitutional Law.
The founding authors stated that a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impelled them to separate from Great Britain.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The first three items on the list of grievances dealt with the Rule of Law.
–– He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
— He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
— He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
The Constitution, the founders contended, has moral authority because it contains the three prior laws; includes concepts of freedom, equality and justice; specifies civic responsibilities of leaders and led; and was ordained and ratified by the people.
Liberty, truth, probity and honor are the four cardinal principles of a democratic society. But Justice is the fundamental law of such a society.
As Sam Johnson said: “The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public.”
The 14 PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY that were embodied in the Constitution:
The Rule of Law; Free and Independent Courts; Participation by citizens in governance; Equality; Accountability; Transparency; Political Tolerance; Multi-Party System; Control over the Abuse of Power; Freedom of Economy; The Bill of Rights; Human Rights; Free And Fair Elections; Acceptance of Election Results.
The United States prevailed over Great Britain; but, now, 250 years later, the highest legal entity in the country – the Supreme Court – has allowed Trump to achieve what King George, as well as the Confederate Nation, wanted – an Authoritarian government characterized by the rejection of political plurality; the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo; concentration of political power in an authority that is not responsible to the people; curtailment of democratic voting; and reductions in the rule of law.
John Roberts,’ better, Trump’s, Supreme Court gave Trump a crucial legal shield and wide immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts;” redefined the balance of power among the branches of government; obviated the separation of powers doctrine; and effectively rewrote constitutional limits on executive authority, which enabled Trump’s abusive reign.
No right is safe in the new legal regime the court has created. – Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Under John Roberts’ leadership, the Supreme Court has become the most critical element of Trump’s ruling quint-fecta, which consists of the presidency, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, the House, and the Senate.
The threats we are experiencing from the behavior of our rulers in DC are more akin to tyrannical activities perpetrated in nations Trump labeled “S–t-hole” countries rather than anything Americans have experienced in our history, even including the Civil War. In the Civil War, the president of the United States was not the Supreme Leader of the Domestic Enemies and had not perpetrated an act of tyranny – to wit: January 6, 2021.
Trump is something worse than a fascist — Heather Digby Parton
Truman also rightly blames WE THE PEOPLE for our plight: “The American people have to awaken every now and then to the fact that they are responsible for the government they get. And when they elect a person to the presidency (even by default) who does not take care of the job, they have nobody to blame but themselves.”
Nature may abhor a vacuum, but despots revere and exploit them. Trumpism has gained immense power because of the vacuum created by American indifference to elections. When the people fail to fulfill their civic responsibilities for sustaining a democracy, a vacuum results, and tyrants, ever vigilant, ever present, rush into the spaces.
In 2024, a major vacuum was created by the decision of 111 million Americans to self-disenfranchise which allowed Trump to win by a razor thin margin. And now more than ever, Rectification is demanded and is possible by voting in the 2026 midterms and the general election in 2028.
