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It’s Not About You, but the Survival of the Republic
We are at a critical juncture in the history of this country: survival of the Republic is at stake. We can’t afford to try to be comfortable with politics; all the evidence points to more disruption, anger, and chaos, as the Progressives realize they are, for one of the first times in their movement, in serious trouble. Now is not the time for conservatives and Republicans to quibble about differences. The moral high ground is not what you’ve always thought it was. And we need to deal with the shift through the power of our own unity.
Donald Trump has been the scapegoat of our rebellion against social and political change. But instead of throwing up our hands in resignation, or blaming everyone but ourselves for the mire we find ourselves in, we have to face the truth: the Constitution itself is at risk. We have violated it by allowing our children to be taught to disrespect it; we continually see the misuse of the court system; we’ve allowed politicians to distort the Constitution and the rule of law for their own purposes. It’s time to act.
We must unify for the sake of the Republic, to honor our founders and to preserve the Constitution.
What does unifying “look like?” We watched an excellent example through the entire impeachment process: Congressmen decried the abuse of due process regularly, Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows in the lead. They spoke out repeatedly without personal attacks unless, as in the case of Adam Schiff, blatant lies were spoken. Senators came together, too, voicing their concerns but making a wise decision to acquit the President. We must learn to express outrage with dignity. We have to do it every chance we get, regardless of what the Democrats say and the MSM ignores. We must unify in making our message clear: the public is being betrayed and lied to, and we are losing our country in the process.
We must do even more:
- We must transcend to a higher level of values to preserve the Republic. Our personal values (which are usually only personal beliefs and preferences) must be studied carefully, to make sure we are not just making excuses about protecting them because we are afraid of change. We must identify the larger issues, such as freedom and the Constitution, and not demand that our personal agendas are met. We must unify to save the country.
- We must weigh the importance of the character of the President against the continuance of liberty. Is it more important to have a President that doesn’t tweet hyperbole, or to have a country that teaches our children about the Constitution, about our American history and heroes, about the freedoms enumerated in the Bill of Rights? We must unify around priorities.
- We must constantly hold the bigger picture in mind, whether we think the President does or not. “Keeping America Great” also extends to maintaining the greatness of the most successful Democratic Republic on earth. We must unify whenever we possibly can about the policies he supports, not whether we like the manner in which he presents them.
We need to recognize and accept that the near future will be ugly. We can contribute to the chaos or we can align ourselves around its survival. We can have a knee-jerk reaction to the President’s actions, or we can weigh them against the consequences of their potential failure.
Please know, however, that I am acutely aware of how difficult this sacrifice will be. We will need to sacrifice trying to always realize our personal beliefs around character and decorum. We may need to let go of our strong commitment to seeing the country operate as we wish it would; we have already lost the high ground in many areas to the Progressives. Continuing to lament those losses without unifying around a greater cause will further damage the country.
Also, I want to emphasize that I am not asking people to walk in lock-step. We can disagree with the President without attacking him. We can point out better alternatives; we’ve seen him change his mind. But we can no longer afford to fight interminably among ourselves. We may win a battle or two, but we will lose the war.
We are fighting for the future of our Republic.
Published in Politics
Bravo!
I’ve been trying to say the same thing, but wasn’t able to put it together the way you did. We need to keep an eye on the big picture, on the long game. Never-Trumpers seem to have lost the ability to focus on these, and they’d let our grand experiment in individual freedom fall into the hands of those who would return us to serfdom.
I agree. May cooler heads prevail. Let us not fall into the same hyperbolic patterns of irrational, unfounded, and false statements. Name calling may feel good in the moment, but accomplishes little of constructive value. Let us keep our eye on the ball – the preservation of the Constitution. May we find the fortitude and capability to strike the balance between personal ideology and collective integrity, to those ends – to preserve the unique principle of the individual as sovereign.
How about suggestions for practical individual actions we could take?
Yes. This. And it is why Romney’s vote was so disheartening. It was important that all Republican Senators and Representatives stood for good Constitutional order. And they, to their everlasting credit, all did…except for Romney. How he could ignore the constitutional harm that the Democrats were doing is just beyond me. But his history shows that he is quite capable of convincing himself of some very strange realities. That history truly does put to the test a belief in his good faith and the truth of his reliance on personal conscience. I accept him at his word and would never ever trust him with anything again. His judgment is too poor. I know Mitch is going to make nice to keep the caucus together, but Utah needs to find a way to retire Mitt as quickly as possible.
Thank you so much for your feedback, @stad! I’m so grateful to know that I’ve made sense!
Very astute, @bryanmcallister! Thank you!
Great idea, @rushbabe49! For one, just writing about it is a great idea! Others?
Thinking about these ideas requires a certain ability for self-reflection. I think, in part, that’s what he lacks, and what others lack, too.
I agree with all you say. Unfortunately, I find it hard to believe that many in rabid opposition value the constitution, and the country as founded, above their own sense of decorum and as such, their sense that they are members of an elite that is above and better than those they disregard. We seem to have allowed or created a new aristocracy that looks down their nose at voters, and is disgusted that the voters would dare elect someone not up to their standards.
Trump is unacceptable, not one of them, not tolerable in their club. They consider that a far greater threat than anything about the constitution, individual rights, or other silly worries of the benighted masses. Once they have full and complete control again, the rest will fall in to place! And until then, they just want to see it all crumble- because success without them is not to be endured!
Work together? I will work together to instill conservative/constitutional policies and values. (They have pretty clearly rejected that.) What I won’t do is compromise those constitutional and conservative principles in the name of ‘working together’. We have done that for so many years and so many Republican administrations that it put us where we are- in danger of losing our free republic. The time for half measures and being satisfied with slowing the movement towards liberal tyranny is long gone.
If we really are at a crisis point, then it’s already too late.
Spoiler: It’s too late.
So you are just giving up? Really, @belt. I’m not giving up.
Did you see me say anything about compromise?? No, we shouldn’t compromise, @phenry. That is precisely what brought us here. No compromise, no slowing the movement–just tough opposition.
I also hope that some of those Never Trumpers will at last be shaken a bit at the outrageous behavior of the Democrats. I will not give up.
I hope not, but it’s pretty easy to believe. We just had 8 years of a black president, and race relations are at their worst in how long? A late septuagenarian socialist is one of (if not the strongest) candidate for president among young people who also strongly support a loudmouth inarticulate bartender congresswoman as well as a morally bankrupt Islamist immigrant who likely committed multiple acts of fraud, not least to include marrying her own brother.
If you read those few preceding sentences anytime before the year 2000 they would have been so fantastic that they would have made no sense. And yet, here we are.
First, Susan, great post.
Second, I want to add one more action. Pray. See Clifford’s excellent post on this, just an hour ago.
Third, I agree with Susan that it is not too late. Actually, the Lord could fix this pretty quickly.
Agree! Pray! Thanks, Jerry!
I agree with Susan and Jerry. And thank you Susan for focusing on the Constitution and the nation as a republic. Well, it was established as a republic. Lately, not so much. We still have the foundation, we need to save it. President Trump is obviously learning a lot. He had a focus on a few areas when he surprisingly won the 2016 election. His interest in school choice is encouraging. Our family, religious, and educational institutions must revive an understanding within our youth of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and the underlying governing principles deriving from the former and embodied in the latter.
I know that some people will give up for all kinds of excuses. It’s going to be an uphill battle, and there’s no way of knowing if and how much we can recover from our Founding Fathers. But I’m so sad to see that a number of people are just caving in. Are they really prepared to live under socialism to a greater degree than we are already experiencing? Are they not concerned about their children? About their communities? I so appreciate that you see the value in my argument, @bobthompson. Thanks.
Excellent Post.
I agree that we are at the point where we need to be truly concerned with the survival of this country. However, I can’t remember a time when we’ve had such a concerted effort by so many of our supposed “leadership” to insure our Republic’s demise. Am I an alarmist? Google the “New Way Forward Act” for an example.
This isn’t going to be a battle for the fainthearted or the timid.
Yes, for an easy starting point, one other very simple thing I recommend is for each of us to turn away from the sarcastic meme which mocks our ideological opponents. Why make this personal? Often times it also misrepresents the truth and only muddies the water for meaningful discussion. I see on my Facebook wall [yes, I’m old school and still use Facebook] friends of all persuasions giggling at another clever meme. Sure, in the moment that’s funny, but what does it contribute to the community’s narrative? It is divisive, and only gives excuse to polarize.
I agree wholeheartedly, @bmcallis. I think we need to fight them where they are, but there’s no point in using their ugly techniques. We have to remember that the people are watching both sides, and ugliness doesn’t make us points, IMHO. I have just started to read Yuval Levin’s latest book, and it looks like he’s pointing to strengthening our institutions. I think he has a good point and I’m excited to see what he has to say.
Thank you for that recommendation! I’ll have to check it out. Is this “A Time to Build”? I’m not familiar with Mr Levin. What are your thoughts on his other books? Any one of them, in particular, that is of interest to you?
Yes, that’s the one. I also very much like his book, The Great Debate which contrasts Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. He’s also been on podcasts recently (I listen to a few, so I can’t remember which one) where he talks about A Time to Build.
I don’t think the Right is rebelling against change. We’re rebelling against the way some changes are being forced on us, and on our children. We’re rebelling against the growth of government, and the loss of personal liberties. A lot of these things may be changes to the status quo, but that’s not why we oppose them.
I think we are rebelling against the changes the Left is trying to force on us, and they blame Trump for their trying to make them. Sorry that wasn’t clear.
Disagree. Our political institutions are simply not that fragile. This is the argument that the House democrats used.
And the moral high ground is important, and in fact, is of first importance. For a republic requires good and moral people to make it work. And it is an imperative that you do not view your fellow citizens as the “enemy”.
@billnelson, by survival of the Republic I don’t mean just the government itself, but the culture. The Progressive incursion into education at all levels, moral relativism, attacks on the Bill of Rights, the electoral system, as examples, and you and I know there are many more. I fear that the Left will keep forcing their agendas and we will get tired of fighting.
You are correct in pointing out that our Constitutional institutions are not fragile. These Marxists have been at it for 100 years. The present period has two features that represent new threats, the embedding of people with socialist leanings in out political institutions and our government bureaucracies and the failure to teach American societal civics in our public education system. Our institutions are still strong but if you pay attention you will see serious attacks on our Constitution exemplified by those efforts to neutralize the 2nd Amendment and the Electoral College.
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