The story is not apocryphal, but witnessed and recorded in the notes of Dr. John McHenry.
On September 18, 1787, in Philadelphia, as Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independence Hall at the end of the Constitutional Convention, a lady asked:
“Well doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Franklin replied, presciently it now seems: “A republic, madam — if you can keep it.”
Benjamin Franklin must be rolling in his grave.
On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quoted the great statesman, sage, and philosopher to justify an unjustifiable impeachment inquiry against President Trump, really a naked power grab, thereby shredding the Constitution while Pelosi pretends to defend it.
Franklin, a connoisseur of human folly, would no doubt savor Pelosi’s hypocrisy, even while mourning the death of the republic he helped found.
September 24, 2019, may well mark the death of the American republic. A republic requires at least two responsible, prudent parties that both obey the law and respect the Constitution.
The Republican Party alone is not sufficient to sustain our constitutional republic.
Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry has no legitimate basis in law or the Constitution. There is not the least evidence President Trump has committed any “high crimes and misdemeanors” — the only legitimate basis for impeachment in the Constitution.
Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry subverts the Constitution, recklessly abusing one of the most important powers entrusted to the House.
She has mobilized the impeachment power for no legitimate purpose — not to protect the Constitution, uphold the law, or safeguard the institution of the presidency — but for partisan political purposes. Pelosi hopes to use impeachment as a weapon to cripple and defeat President Trump and Republicans, usurping the power of the American people to resolve political differences through fair elections.
Although the Senate will not vote to impeach President Trump, elections under the cloud of an illegitimate impeachment are not fair. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats know this — their desperate hope is that the impeachment inquiry will give them a decisive advantage in the next elections.
Pelosi and the Democrats have shredded the Constitution in their quest for totalitarian power.
Over the years, the Democratic Party has evolved from being “the loyal opposition” and a responsible, moderate partner with Republicans in governance into a totalitarian movement:
— They seek to grow the power of government to radically transform the economy, society, and impose “politically correct” values on everyone, completely contrary to the precepts of limited government and popular freedom embodied in the Constitution.
— They are intolerant of opposing views past mere hatred, to the point of violence against free speech and moral perspectives based on religion and traditional values.
— They have a “big lie” in false claims of impending apocalyptic climate change to justify demanding a totalitarian agenda of socialism and government control over everything. The “big lie” is a sure symptom of a totalitarian movement, as in Nazi Germany’s “big lie” about an “international Jewish conspiracy” and Communism’s “big lie” about the necessity of class warfare and world revolution to achieve a “worker’s paradise.”
— The Democratic Party that attempted a coup d’etat against President Trump by illegally weaponizing the FBI, CIA, and Department of Justice, and that has now violated the Constitution with an illegitimate impeachment inquiry, when they next win the White House, cannot be trusted to respect constitutional rights of free speech, property rights, religious liberty, or gun rights. Indeed, they have promised to violate all these, and should be expected to do so.
Thus, Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry leads the Democratic Party and our nation over the Rubicon, away from the last vestiges of constitutionalism, into a cold civil war over the nation’s future.
What should Republicans in Congress do?
Fight fire with fire.
For decades, the Republican Party has done little or nothing to fight back against subversion of basic institutions by the Democratic Party that has finally brought the nation to the present constitutional crisis, and to the threshold of totalitarianism.
For decades, Republicans passively accepted the takeover of public schools and universities by the Left, takeover of the judiciary by the Left, domination of federal departments and agencies by the Left, and domination of the media by the Left.
Republicans in Congress must no longer deceive themselves that continuing their “gentlemanly forbearance” is anything other than cowardice and surrender to the Democratic totalitarian machine they helped create.
Step one in a Republican counterrevolution is to deny legitimacy to congressional Democrats until they recognize the legitimacy of the Trump Administration and “play fair” with the Constitution and the law.
For example, House Republicans should no longer recognize Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, or recognize any Democrats as legitimate committee chairmen. Republicans should form their own committees, appoint their own chairmen, hold their own hearings, and even pass legislation through the Republican caucus in protest — until Democrats learn again to play by the rules.
Step two — sweep the next elections in the White House, Senate, and House.
Step three — Republicans must finally heed conservatives who for decades have offered good ideas for liberating education, courts, government, and media from the Left.
Dr. Peter Vincent Pry is executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security. He served on the Congressional EMP Commission as chief of staff, the Congressional Strategic Posture Commission, the House Armed Services Committee, and the CIA. He is author of "Blackout Wars." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.