The United States has endured a painful political period over the last several decades, and things don’t appear to be getting any better. Republicans and Democrats are at war with one another. While each side believes it is fighting for America, the truth is they are fighting for themselves. For some time, Americans have known politicians were corrupt but accepted it as part of life. Now, that corruption may be coming home to roost.
During the Obama years, many conservatives, and some independents, were angry about the tone of former President Barack Obama. He once declared that people like myself preferred to cling to guns and religion instead of absolute trust in government. The insults rang for eight years. By 2016, the slowest growing economy in nearly a century, coupled with over 1.9 million Americans no longer participating in the workforce, was enough.
Trump talked to the anger and frustration of tens of millions of Americans. He became relatable in a way that others hadn’t before. His brash style and insults were viewed as candid and refreshing by many voters tired of being insulted themselves and harmed by policies that benefited the elites and other countries over their needs.
Six years later, Trump destroyed the goodwill among key voter groups he needed to win elections. Most of his handpicked candidates in the 2022 midterm elections lost handily, especially in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Now, his words are getting more divisive. Last week he called for the suspension of the US Constitution. This is at or near the top of all the reckless and irresponsible things he has said. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first, how did we get to this point?
The Founding Fathers knew this day would come. The road was long and windy, but it happened more quickly than one could imagine. In the shorter term picture, Elon Musk is demonstrating that a bit of corruption can go a long way. Late last week, he began exposing how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Twitter may have been coordinating a censorship campaign of conservative news and conservatives.
While all the information isn’t out yet, we can glean a few facts about the Hunter Biden laptop story. First, Twitter intentionally suppressed it to benefit Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and harm Trump. Former Twitter head of trust and safety Yoel Roth admitted the company made a grave mistake and said it should have never been removed. In 2020, the social media giant kicked Trump off the platform, as well as numerous conservatives. That led to allegations of unfairness by Twitter and other social media companies. To expound on that matter further would require an extended essay, and I prefer to get directly to the point.
For whatever reason, legitimate or not, Trump called for the suspension of the US Constitution. That is WRONG! Period. End of discussion. It must be emphatically pushed back on. Where I’m concerned, that should put a dagger in his presidential aspirations once and for all.
The fact is, the US Constitution is the only glue holding the country together. Another day, I’ll argue why liberals are wrong to interpret the founding document as they do. Suffice it to say, if the country’s leaders and courts properly followed it, we wouldn’t have many of the messes we have today. The Bill of Rights has been trampled on in many cases, and I’ll talk about one example of that tomorrow.
The point is the Constitution is the last thing that should be suspended. What we need is for the government and politicians to adhere to it. Nothing short of that will solve a single problem.
While I believe Trump shouldn’t run in 2024 for a host of reasons, the calling to suspend the Constitution is another example, regardless of his motivations for the statement. All the reckless announcement did was reinforce a false narrative about conservatism. It, and Trump, should be widely denounced. America is not a dictatorship where leaders can suspend the Constitution when the political environment or circumstances don’t go their way. No one who says such things should occupy any level of government power in America.
The only way for Republicans to refute Trump is to support candidates who stand vehemently behind the Constitution and champion it. They must do so without fear or shame and contrast Constitutional principles with liberal policies that undermine it.
Trump’s reckless declaration should force every American to evaluate every candidate for elected office. Democrats are no less corrupt than Republicans.
Benjamin Franklin said after the ratification of the Constitution in 1787:
“I agree to this Constitution … and I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.”
Both political parties want absolute power, and it’s only gotten worse over the last several decades.
The question is, will anyone stand in the gap to argue for America and the Constitution?
Will Americans again look to the beauty of its founding document, which created the greatest country in the history of the world? Or will they continue to allow politicians to shred it for partisan power?
While Trump may make a mess of things, it’s also an excellent opportunity for conservatives to make the contrast.
Let’s hope they will do so!!!
The Conservative Era
