Newsletter - April 2023

 “A republic if you can keep it.”   Famous words from Benjamin Franklin when he was asked if the Continental Congress had decided on a republic or a  monarchy.  What does that statement mean for Americans in 2023?  Are we going to have a republic or as many people think we have, a democracy? What is a republic?  In a republic supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives and has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Many Americans assume that the United States is a democracy.  News flash!  You don’t want to live in a pure democracy.  In a democracy the majority rules.  If the majority vote to tax everyone at 90% of income that is what will happen.  There is no recourse.  There are no representatives who will represent another opinion.  Dissenting voices have no place in the society. The United States is a representative democracy.  That means that our government is elected by citizens who vote for their government officials.  These officials represent the citizen’s ideas and concerns in government.  Voting is one way to participate in our democratic government.  Citizens can also contact their officials when they want to support a change in the law.  We participate in our representative democracy when we vote and when we contact our elected officials.

Let’s look at some of the thoughts expressed by James Madison in Federalist #10. 

“Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction.  The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice.  He will not fail, therefore, to set a due value on any plan which, without violating the principles to which he is attached, provides a proper cure for it.  The instability, injustice and confusion introduced into the public councils, have in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations.”

The extremely dubious charges brought against Donald Trump are in one way, the result of what has been happening in the United States for the last 40 years.  People have been elected to positions which once would have resulted in the rule of law being followed.  Criminals would have been punished for their crimes instead of getting a slap on the hand and being released.  Schools would not be teaching strange theories which have no scientific basis and leave parents totally out of the discussion.  As more and more people are elected who do not respect or believe in the constitution and the foundations of our country, the foundation of the United States is weakened.

As has been noted in previous newsletters, the goal of many people both in government and out is to radically change our democratic republic system of government.  These people want to rewrite the constitution so that their ideology becomes the law of the land.  Since they were unable to exert the control over Donald Trump they wanted, it became imperative to get rid of him.

The legal proceedings against Donald Trump are far more serious for our country than the challenges to the former President and how he will respond.  The challenges to Mr. Trump are a microcosm of what our country is facing.  Fortunately, the former President has the financial resources for his upcoming legal fight.  That statement is not meant to diminish the challenges Mr. Trump is facing.  However, the average American is facing much longer and life changing challenges. 

To many people in office, Donald Trump did not follow the way of many politicians in the top echelon of government.  He was an outsider.  Therefore, he must go.

The challenge for everyone else is this:  if weird law suits can be brought against a former President what recourse does the average citizen have? 

Here is an example of what perverted law looks like.  Douglass Machey is a social media “influencer” who wrote under the pen name “Ricky Vaughn.”  During the 2016 election, Vaughn/Machey posted a funny meme urging Hillary voters “to avoid the line and vote from home” by texting “Hillary” to a certain number.

The assumption is that no one would be stupid enough to fall for the joke.  However, his satire was effective enough to get him banned from Twitter prior to Elon Musk.  The feds said they thought that his meme was part of a “plot to disenfranchise black and women voters.”  Apparently, the feds think black voters and women voters are really stupid.  However, Vaughn/Machey was charged with a felony and on March 31 was convicted in the Eastern District of New York.  He faces up to 10 years in jail for “his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.”

How about the January 6th demonstrators?  Some of the people who were there have been in solitary confinement for over two years.  They have had no trial.  The conditions they are in are very bad. 

A further degredation of our political system is the bias of judges who were appointed by a Democrat president.  Some of those judges always rule against a Republican or conservative plaintiff.  This means that fair trials are a relic of the past.

Xi Van Fleet is a survivor of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.  She believes that the past of communist China is repeating itself in the United States. She has made the following statement.“You are cheering for your own demise.  April 4, 2023 would be remembered as one of the deadliest days in America when Democrats made our country a banana republic of communism.”Mao weaponized law to target his political enemies and that is happening in the United States.

The disruption and unease so many people are experiencing is resulting in citizens moving to friendlier states or withdrawing from political life.  But, remember, if the forces of anarchy can get to a past President those same forces can certainly get to Mr. and Mrs. Average American.

It is time for all Americans who care about preserving the freedoms our founding men and women fought for to make sure they are involved.  That means registering to vote even though you might be called for jury duty.  That means educating yourself about the issues of the day.  That means working on campaigns for local elections which is where change can most easily happen and which will start to make changes at a foundational level.  Most of all, it means that as an informed and educated citizen you are aware of what is going on in your community and your country.  Those are the responsibilities of a citizen – especially one who wants to continue living in the greatest country that has ever existed.