The Politics of Revenge

Donald Trump could have been an entirely normal Republican President. It would have been easy (at least for a normal person who wasn't a narcissist) to put his divisive, hateful rhetoric behind him and just get down to the business of governing. He started off on the right foot, thanking Secretary Clinton for her many years of government service and sounding downright humbled by his election win the day after the election. Progressives among the Democrats would have still opposed his policies, which differed little from run-of-the mill Republican fare, but anyone attacking his personality flaws would have just sounded petty. He could have appointed experts who knew their field, rather than loyalist yes-men and -women. The economy, for the most part, continued to improve (even though it was largely a continuation of the trends started at the end of Obama's second term) giving him bragging rights and making him look good. He made it through three years without an external crisis, and the crisis of the pandemic would have challenged any president. Even with Covid rampaging through the country, he could have been re-elected if he had handled it differently. I give him credit for pushing the pharmaceutical industry to come up with a vaccine, which was produced in record time. But he sunk himself, first by pretending it wasn't a problem, then by projecting false hope about how quickly it would go away, then by undermining his own experts instead of coordinating a consistent narrative - and supporting half-baked conspiracy theories. It was about him and not about the hundreds of thousands who were dying. 

Trump's constant stream of personal attacks, unseriousness about his responsibilities, ignorance and public incompetence, as well as his apparent belief that he could flout the norms, and even the law, was what got him impeached twice and made him the subject of multiple civil and criminal indictments. His public comments were often virtual confessions to various crimes! It's as if he has been daring the justice system to do something about his actions. I'm not saying there isn't a political component to the numerous investigations, but the idea that it's "election interference" as many Republicans say, is ridiculous. A glitch in our election laws allows someone who is under indictment, or even has been convicted and imprisoned, to run, be elected, and serve as President. Nothing prevents it. Whether it's true or not, it's an article of faith among Democrats that they'd rather run against Trump than any of the more traditional conservative Republicans. Someone like Sen. Tim Scott or former Gov. Nikki Haley might receive votes from conservative leaning independents who would never vote for Trump. Even some moderate Democrats who have never supported Biden might cast a vote for a Republican in that case. Trump on the ballot will mean that Biden will win. Probably. 

Despite the obvious fact that the investigations into Trump are justified, (in most cases Trump doesn't deny doing what he is accused of, just that he "did nothing wrong") Republicans are rewriting history to claim that the impeachments were unjustified (even unconstitutional) as are the various investigations into documents, January 6th and his alleged financial crimes. They have taken up Trump's cry of "witch hunt" and have set out on a mission of revenge and retribution. The majority of the business that the House of Representatives is engaged in is "investigations" where they badger and shout at witnesses who don't say the things that they have already decided is the truth. Republican politicians obsess over the President's former drug addict son, making allegations based on assumptions about his business dealings and further assuming that, just because they don't know everything about those business dealings, they must by corrupt. Sitting members of the House of Representatives routinely refer to "The Biden Crime Family", as if that's a settled fact. They have created a Committee on "The Weaponization of Government" that does nothing but weaponize government. 

If by some horrible twist of electoral fate Trump is elected in 2024, and Congress is back in the hands of the Republicans, Trump has stated that that he is "your retribution". We'll see what a politicized Department of Justice really looks like.

Freedom

Freedom. 

That's what we celebrate on Independence Day, July 4th, isn't it?

But what is freedom?

Independence from rule by the British Empire, to be "free" from them, was the ostensive reason for the rebellion which resulted in a change of status from thirteen British colonies to thirteen independent states held together in a loose confederation. Looking back from our vantage point 200 plus years after the fact, we tend to view the British as the "bad guys" and the colonists as the heroes of the story. The English were the "other" in opposition to "us". But the truth was that "they" were "us". The colonists viewed themselves, and were viewed by those in the homeland of Great Britain, as every bit as English as someone living in London. Sure, a colonial landowner was viewed as having lower status than a landowner back home, but likely had a higher social standing than a poor tenant farmer or city dweller in England. So it wasn't a case of some foreign empire trodding on "the people". So what was it that they wanted to be free of?

Keep in mind that things were run, in the colonies and in Great Britain itself, by wealthy, male, landowners. Women had no rights, had no recognized position in society. While the hereditary aristocracy based on titled nobility had not taken root in North America, the people in power were every much a ruling caste as the dukes and barons overseas. And of course the concept of "whiteness" was in full flower. Anyone not considered "white" was viewed as lower than low. The native populations of Africa and the Americas were considered uncivilized savages and unworthy of inclusion in society. For as far back as the dawn of recorded history weaker peoples were conquered and sometimes annihilated or enslaved. Kingdoms and empires absorbed smaller, less powerful kingdoms. Look at a map of any area from a thousand years ago and you'll often find completely different people resident there. The European conquest of the Americas was no more a case of "stolen" land than the Danes and the Normans conquering Great Britain - overthrowing the Saxons who had previously displaced the Britons - was stolen land. The difference was that the descendents of the conquered people were still viewed as savages who needed to either be exterminated or assimilated, and had no rights as citizens. The descendents of enslaved people were still enslaved - and even when "freed" were denied rights that so-called white people enjoyed. 

So free to do what?

The white, male landowners were "free" to run things as they chose, "free" from the interference of a faraway government, "free" to dominate a new, closer-to-home government, and in the case of Southern landowners, "free" to continue to base the economy on slavery, which was in the process of being outlawed by the British Parliament. Things weren't much different before and after. 

Fast forward 247 years:

Things are still less "free" than we hoped that they would be, but there has been progress. A truism that often gets rolled out around certain holidays is that we "owe" our freedom to the military. It's certainly true that a strong military serves as a bulwark against foreign invasion, but I would argue that it does more to keep us secure and safe, than free, unless you're imagining us being invaded & turned into a communist dictatorship without the military to protect us. In my lifetime the military has been used more to secure our national interests than to keep us safe or free. If not the military, than what has secured our freedom?

The oligarchs who wrote the Constitution were no fans of democracy. While there were democratic aspects to the governmental framework that they created with the Constitution, they clearly did not trust "the people" to make "correct" decisions. The Electoral College, the indirect (originally) election of Senators, and other elements were clearly undemocratic. But the framework, along with the original amendments, the Bill of Rights, contained the seeds of the destruction of the original order. The first opening for a change in who was free is easy to miss, but it's out there in plain sight: it's very nonspecific. I've used the term "framework" quite a bit, but that's all the Constitution is. It's amazingly vague, leaving it up to future legislatures and executives to write and enforce laws. This seeming loophole allowed future governments to change the way things were done. Whether intentional or not, it made it possible for the way things were to change as people changed. The second opening for change is easier to see: the ability to amend. Almost immediately ten amendments were added to the Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of speech, religion, assembly (just in the first!), due process, and others. Later amendments eliminated 3/5 compromise, guaranteed equal protection, outlawed slavery, provided for birthright citizenship, and extended the right to vote to women. 

Americans who had a vision for greater freedom for all took advantage of the mutability of the Constitution along with its amendments and began to agitate for change.

If you want to thank some segment of society for our freedom, include he military by all means, but thank all those who used the right of free speech to push for change, used the right of freedom of assembly to protest injustice, who insisted upon the legal right to equal protection under the law for everybody to be treated equally. Thank the union members who pushed for safe workplaces and fair pay, while you're at it, thank them for weekends and this holiday! Thank the people in the civil rights movement for forcing our government to live up the promises of freedom and equality and endured fire hoses, dogs and beatings to make it happen. Thank teachers who educated us and our children on what our rights and freedoms are. Thank pro bono lawyers who represented those who were harassed and arrested for demanding what the law already promised. Thank LGBTQ activists whose very existence was illegal, but pushed and pushed and pushed to be recognized as people deserving of respect. 

We're in a phase of our nation where hard-earned freedom is being peeled away because the doctrine of originalism. Those who adhere to this judicial philosophy, whether through sincere belief in its correctness, or as a way to justify their bigotry, are taking us back little by little to a time when there were precious little freedom. Take a minute this Independence Day to consider how you can help get us back on the path to freedom.