Unfit to be the Ruler of a Free People

One of the awful consequences of the Trump Presidency is that he - and his fascist henchmen - will have complete control over the 250th anniversary celebration of the debating, writing, ratifying and approval of the Declaration of Independence.  

Very long story short, this document, its creation, its meaning and its consequences, is, and always has been, central to my lifelong interest in the American revolution in particular, and the great American Experiment in general.  There has always been something powerful - moving and inspiring - about the Founders wrestling with what it means to be free and independent, and then going and doing what needed to be done.  Thomas Jefferson - as conflicted and imperfect as any of the great names in American history  - remains a hero to me, mostly because he was able to wrap up what America meant at that time and articulate it so that, when it was read on village greens all across America, people cheered and church bells rang.  If I could transport myself through time to one historic event, I would probably choose to be on every village green in America, simultaneously, listening to the Declaration being read out loud to the assembled people of that place.  As it is, I have to content myself by listening to the NPR recording of the Declaration on July 4, as I have done since it first appeared in 1988.

And then came Donald Trump.  A great portion of my anger at him has to do with what he has done to this fundamental idea of America (and also what he has done to the world's longest-lasting set of founding principals, the US Constitution).  The Declaration, and the Constitution, define what is great about America, and he is eviscerated both.  

But this is not a post about politics - at least, not much.

Over the last few years, I've been 'taking' courses at Yale, from the comfort of my home.  Over the last 20 years or so, Yale has had video cameras in lecture halls, and put the videos online, and I'm the beneficiary.  Recently, I 'took' a course in the Revolutionary War, taught by Professor Joanne Freeman, and so was interested to see that she was one of the three lecturers who would be presenting Yale's America at 250.

During the third lecture in this series, on the Declaration, Dr. Freeman read four of the American grievances against King George III (the great bulk of the Declaration is actually the listing of these twenty seven grievances), as examples:

    

    - He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, 

    - He made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices.

    - He kept among us in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

    - He affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

I wonder why she chose those?  I could add some more:

    - For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

    - For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

    - For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments      

             

This section of the Declaration ends this way:

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Indeed.