There was a time in which I was absolutely convinced that every Ricochet member, like most Americans, signed on to the general formulation: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!” (Crafted by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her biography of Voltaire.) That is we hold the First Amendment and all of our fundamental rights to be sacrosanct to all Americans. To do otherwise is to deny the concept of citizen self-government at the foundation of our Republic. I believed this to be fundamental to everyone parting with the proverbial Starbucks cup of coffee to join Ricochet.

It is becoming more evident daily that the fundamental civil rights of one Donald J. Trump have been seriously abridged. And those rights have been abridged by instruments of government under the direction and control of Barack Obama initially and thereafter by rogue elements of our current Administration with the aid and support of those seeking partisan advantage in the Congress. They call themselves #theResistance, but they are in support of a criminal conspiracy to deny one particular American — Donald J. Trump — his civil rights, and are uncaring or “extremely careless” about the civil rights of those who committed the crime of supporting his election.

There is no doubt that many in #theResistance are deluded into believing that this is a necessary means of saving the nation from a tyrant. If tyrant he be, Trump is a poor excuse for one — fostering the dissolution of power of the unelected, appointing judges who pledge fealty to our constitutional form of government, and reducing the burden of government on the productive citizens of our country.

But maybe he isn’t a tyrant. Maybe he is simply a crook. Ought not the instruments of government be applied to reveal his crimes? Was there not virtue in seeking to prevent a crook being elected? And, if elected, removed? By any means necessary?!

The Bernie Sanders brigade would say that the 2016 election was two criminal enterprises contending against one another. I grant that that is at least half true. Much has been established about the Clinton criminal enterprise, much less has been established about a Trump criminal enterprise. There is a species of criminal who seeks to benefit from the opportunities for graft inherent in politics. So it is a rare campaign indeed that has two concurrent phenomena: (1) a real chance at success, and (2) complete freedom from any person within a candidate’s sphere that might have a shady side.

Given the known knowns about the Clintons, how was the government called upon to save the nation from Trump? How were civil liberties so cavalierly abridged in the course of so doing? I grant that there may be a case in which a criminal enterprise is about to take over government, and that right-thinking Americans in law enforcement would be scrambling to figure out a way to thwart that enterprise. I understand that there may be some real thorny constitutional questions in that circumstance.

But there were no thorny constitutional questions in 2016. There was only conspiracy.

And conspiracy remains. Today it has several elements: (1) the malign actors in government who for ideological reasons and to ensure partisan success determined to abridge the civil rights of Trump, his associates and supporters, (2) the malign actors among their allies in other governments and the media, (3) the deluded masses manipulated by (1) and (2) into believing a narrative in order to maintain and hold political support against Trump and his agenda, and (4) the individuals who, in their political affiliation, should be acting as natural allies for a man who, but for his personality, deserves support of his civil rights.

Group (4) needs to ask themselves the question today: “Do I really believe in the constitution and the civil rights enumerated there? Do I really support the upholding of those rights for people I do not like personally?” If the answer is “yes” then three things need to happen:

1. Anyone who is not a progressive needs to understand what is happening here and consider how their next action, word or deed, is going to promote constitutional government or empower the forces arrayed against it. Yes, George Will, I mean you.
2. The Democrats have to be administered the greatest drubbing possible at the polls this November.
3. The 116th Congress needs to holds Watergate-style televised hearings to fully explore the history of the 2016 campaign and the actions of government officials both during and subsequent to the campaign.

Trump may be an unworthy beneficiary of the Constitution. Then again, he may not be. But he was and is entitled to his civil rights. And so, too, are his supporters. The story that is beginning to emerge is the “Big Lie” — the lie that was designed to protect the malign actions of certain partisans while accusing someone else of doing that in which the accusers were engaged. The DOJ IG report is going to add fuel to a burn that is already under way.

And each of us needs to face whether we pass the test of true self-government — vouchsafing the rights of our fellow citizens by controlling the conduct of our government.