Berl Falbaum
On September 17, 1787, after the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, reached agreement on and signed the country’s first constitution, Ben Franklin was approached by a woman who asked him:
“Well, doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
“A republic,” Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”
That Franklin response has often been quoted for its wisdom, implied cynicism, inherent warning, and for Franklin’s uncertainty. Not in the 246 years since the Constitution was adopted has it been cited out of fear.
That is until now. Never before, given the threat of a second Trump presidency, has the country faced a potential political upheaval that gives Franklin’s answer an entirely new and ominous meaning.
There is nothing opaque about Donald Trump’s objectives to upend the Constitution or his authoritarian instincts. He has been quite clear about his intentions and yet millions continue to support him (not just Republicans but Independents and some Democrats as well)
and are prepared to throw the Constitution into the “ash heap of history.”
The threat is so prevalent that The Atlantic magazine devoted 62 pages of its January/February issue to the dangers of a second Trump White House. It addressed the consequences to 24 policies if Trump is reelected. The issues covered are:
Autocracy, NATO, loyalists, immigration, the Justice Department, misogyny, climate, journalism, science, corruption, China, the courts;
Extremism, abortion, disinformation, history, partisanship, normalization, civil rights, freedom, the military, the left, anxiety and America’s character.
In the article on autocracy, David Frum, who cites Franklin’s quote, observes:
In a second term, “Trump would arrive with a much better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers in tow, and a much more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries and impunity for himself.
“If Trump wins the presidency again, the whole world will become a theater for his politics of revenge and reward,” Frum wrote.
A second Trump White House, he added, “is the kind of shock that would overwhelm all other issues. It would mark the turn onto a dark path, one of these rips between ‘before’ and ‘after’ that society can never reverse.”
As I have written previously, in his first term Trump erred in believing he could run the government as he did the Trump Organization: He orders and they comply/obey. But he learned that’s not how it works. He appointed good people --- think Mattis, McMaster, Kelly --- who would not violate the Constitution and blindly do his bidding.
Next time around, he will only appoint loyalists and sycophants like: Representatives Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace, Senators Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance and Lindsey Graham. How about Herschel Walker (remember him?) or Lt. General Michael Flynn?
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of Trump lapdogs.
So how serious is the Trump threat? In my view, very serious and not just because of the polls that show him beating Joe Biden in key swing states -- where the election most likely will be decided by only 150,000 to 200,000 votes -- but nationally as well.
Joe Biden, Michelle Obama and others have frequently tried to console us when addressing Trump’s venality, by continually assuring us, “This is not who we are.”
But when you look at the numbers, this is exactly who we are. Consider that while Trump lost in 2020, he garnered 74 million votes, 10 million more than in 2016 when he won. This despite all the corruption, lies, an impeachment (the second impeachment came a week before his term expired), and bogus charges of a rigged election, etc.
And here is a major point: His support rests not just with Republicans. According to exit polls and election research, more than 40 percent of the Trump vote in 2020 came from Independents. And more startling, of his total, 5 percent were Democrats.
As Mark Leibovich writes in The Atlantic piece headlined “This Is Who We Are”:
“Who is this ‘we’ anyway? Because it sure seems like a lot of this ‘w’ keeps voting for Trump. Today the dictum sounds more like a liberal wish than any true statement of our national character.”
Biden and Obama might amend their comments along the following lines: “This is not who we should aspire to be.”
When I reflect on all of Trump’s corruption, tens of thousands of lies, sexual depravity, January 6, and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, I keep thinking about Sherman Adams, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, who went on to become chief of staff for President Eisenhower but had to resign in 1958 because he accepted a vicuna fur coat and other gifts from a friend whose business was being investigated by two federal agencies.
Contrast that against six Republican presidential candidates who said they would support Trump even if he were convicted of felony charges.
Then there is the vulgarity of Trump campaign material which has not received much media attention. In Iowa, even children wore wearing T-shirts with vulgar slogans. I will not repeat the profane language nor describe the items sold in Iowan souvenir stores in this column.
How far we have fallen. How did we come to the point where our entire moral and ethical foundation has been destroyed and our commitment to truth and integrity has been abandoned?
Sadly, there is nothing on the political horizon to give us much hope that a second Trump presidency is not in the cards; that Trump will fail. The odds appear to be in his favor.
If Franklin were alive today, he would probably reply to the question from the woman: “A republic and it looks like there is a real danger you won’t keep it.”
—————
Berl Falbaum is a long time political reporter and author.
On September 17, 1787, after the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, reached agreement on and signed the country’s first constitution, Ben Franklin was approached by a woman who asked him:
“Well, doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
“A republic,” Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”
That Franklin response has often been quoted for its wisdom, implied cynicism, inherent warning, and for Franklin’s uncertainty. Not in the 246 years since the Constitution was adopted has it been cited out of fear.
That is until now. Never before, given the threat of a second Trump presidency, has the country faced a potential political upheaval that gives Franklin’s answer an entirely new and ominous meaning.
There is nothing opaque about Donald Trump’s objectives to upend the Constitution or his authoritarian instincts. He has been quite clear about his intentions and yet millions continue to support him (not just Republicans but Independents and some Democrats as well)
and are prepared to throw the Constitution into the “ash heap of history.”
The threat is so prevalent that The Atlantic magazine devoted 62 pages of its January/February issue to the dangers of a second Trump White House. It addressed the consequences to 24 policies if Trump is reelected. The issues covered are:
Autocracy, NATO, loyalists, immigration, the Justice Department, misogyny, climate, journalism, science, corruption, China, the courts;
Extremism, abortion, disinformation, history, partisanship, normalization, civil rights, freedom, the military, the left, anxiety and America’s character.
In the article on autocracy, David Frum, who cites Franklin’s quote, observes:
In a second term, “Trump would arrive with a much better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers in tow, and a much more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries and impunity for himself.
“If Trump wins the presidency again, the whole world will become a theater for his politics of revenge and reward,” Frum wrote.
A second Trump White House, he added, “is the kind of shock that would overwhelm all other issues. It would mark the turn onto a dark path, one of these rips between ‘before’ and ‘after’ that society can never reverse.”
As I have written previously, in his first term Trump erred in believing he could run the government as he did the Trump Organization: He orders and they comply/obey. But he learned that’s not how it works. He appointed good people --- think Mattis, McMaster, Kelly --- who would not violate the Constitution and blindly do his bidding.
Next time around, he will only appoint loyalists and sycophants like: Representatives Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace, Senators Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance and Lindsey Graham. How about Herschel Walker (remember him?) or Lt. General Michael Flynn?
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of Trump lapdogs.
So how serious is the Trump threat? In my view, very serious and not just because of the polls that show him beating Joe Biden in key swing states -- where the election most likely will be decided by only 150,000 to 200,000 votes -- but nationally as well.
Joe Biden, Michelle Obama and others have frequently tried to console us when addressing Trump’s venality, by continually assuring us, “This is not who we are.”
But when you look at the numbers, this is exactly who we are. Consider that while Trump lost in 2020, he garnered 74 million votes, 10 million more than in 2016 when he won. This despite all the corruption, lies, an impeachment (the second impeachment came a week before his term expired), and bogus charges of a rigged election, etc.
And here is a major point: His support rests not just with Republicans. According to exit polls and election research, more than 40 percent of the Trump vote in 2020 came from Independents. And more startling, of his total, 5 percent were Democrats.
As Mark Leibovich writes in The Atlantic piece headlined “This Is Who We Are”:
“Who is this ‘we’ anyway? Because it sure seems like a lot of this ‘w’ keeps voting for Trump. Today the dictum sounds more like a liberal wish than any true statement of our national character.”
Biden and Obama might amend their comments along the following lines: “This is not who we should aspire to be.”
When I reflect on all of Trump’s corruption, tens of thousands of lies, sexual depravity, January 6, and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, I keep thinking about Sherman Adams, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, who went on to become chief of staff for President Eisenhower but had to resign in 1958 because he accepted a vicuna fur coat and other gifts from a friend whose business was being investigated by two federal agencies.
Contrast that against six Republican presidential candidates who said they would support Trump even if he were convicted of felony charges.
Then there is the vulgarity of Trump campaign material which has not received much media attention. In Iowa, even children wore wearing T-shirts with vulgar slogans. I will not repeat the profane language nor describe the items sold in Iowan souvenir stores in this column.
How far we have fallen. How did we come to the point where our entire moral and ethical foundation has been destroyed and our commitment to truth and integrity has been abandoned?
Sadly, there is nothing on the political horizon to give us much hope that a second Trump presidency is not in the cards; that Trump will fail. The odds appear to be in his favor.
If Franklin were alive today, he would probably reply to the question from the woman: “A republic and it looks like there is a real danger you won’t keep it.”
—————
Berl Falbaum is a long time political reporter and author.
