We are a republic; If we can keep it
Deliberations over the new U.S. Constitution had just come to a close. The proceedings ran through that sultry summer from May through September of 1787 with the public held at bay. As the delegates left the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, a Mrs. Powell spotted Benjamin Franklin and called out to him, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Without hesitation Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
As articles of impeachment have been brought against President Trump, our country, indeed our democracy, has arrived at a true constitutional crisis. It has, and rightly should, stir great passions in most of us. It should concern all of us for our democracy is a republican democracy — that is, we elect officials to represent all of us — we the people.
At the very core or foundation of our republican democracy is a collection of principles including: checks and balances, consent of the governed, due process, equality, freedom of speech, liberty, rule of law and separation of powers to name a few. This foundation is formed in the very document Franklin and the other delegates labored over in 1787, the Constitution. What can be the fate of a House whose foundation is in crisis if its owners standby and take no action?
The articles of impeachment are two. Article 1) Abuse of power. Article 2) Obstruction of Congress. The known facts provided through the rectitude of civil servants who refused to be muted are these:
鈥� The president acting both directly and through his agents directed a scheme to pressure Ukraine to open two investigations that would benefit his 2020 election campaign and not in the national interest.
鈥� The president used his official office to withhold an Oval Office meeting and $391 million of security assistance to pressure Ukraine into meeting his demands.
鈥� Everyone was in the loop including the president, his chief of staff, secretary of state, vice president, a number of staff at both State Department and National Security Council, and certainly the Ukrainian government.
鈥� Despite public discovery of the scheme, which caused President Trump to release the aid, he and his surrogates continue to solicit Ukrainian interference in our elections and threaten our national security.
鈥� President Trump repeatedly defied congressionally issued subpoenas by directing current and former Executive Branch officials not to provide testimony or documents to the committees conducting the inquiry. White House Council Pat A. Cipollone sent a letter to the committees stating there would be no cooperation, period. If there is anything unknown about this scheme, it’s because the president illegally blocked access to information in total.
By these facts, President Trump used and continues to use his distinctly presidential authority to coerce a foreign government into providing political dirt on his chief opponent in the upcoming presidential election, a betrayal or compromise of the national trust. It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with an election. Moreover, prohibition of election meddling by foreign entities is further buttressed by the U.S. Constitution. Among the chief concerns of the Founders was foreign interference in our elections, a topic addressed during the Constitutional convention and covered in Article II, Section 1, the Emoluments Clause, which is intended to prevent bribery or untoward influence of the chief executive.
When the Constitution was undergoing a state-by-state ratification Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote a series of 85 essays, the Federalist Papers, advocating for and explaining in detail the intent of the Constitution. In Federalist 68, titled The Mode Of Electing The President, Hamilton clearly elucidates that, “Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption.”
With regard to obstruction of Congress, no president in the history of our nation has every categorically refused to cooperate with subpoenas issued through an impeachment inquiry. President Trump is doing what he did in the private sector. That is, make contractors and suppliers take him to court to get anything out of him and then keep appealing until they either ran out of time or money. The courts thus far have found for the committees seeking testimony and documents, but he keeps appealing. During that time he continues to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 elections looking for any advantage at any cost. Country be damned. The aphorism, justice delayed is justice denied, has never held greater meaning.
At times it feels as though truth itself is on trial, though, in the fullness of time it will be acquitted. However, right now we are at a crossroads and we must decide: are we a country where a strongman can do as he pleases, break the law, violate the constitution, lie to the public at will with his party dedicated root and branch fearing to cross him, or are we a country of laws based on a constitution that provides for coequal branches of government which hold each other in check and where no one is above the law? What is at stake is nothing less than the integrity of our democracy.
The Trump administrations malfeasance has become a practical school in which we are receiving an accelerated course in civics. The lesson to take from this course is that the great threat to American democracy isn’t fascism. It isn’t communism. Its indifference. It is our house and Congress works for us. We must demand that Congressional Republicans place our republic over party by voting to impeach or we may not be able to keep it.
Leroy Renninger is a resident of Chalk Hill.