As one administration fades into history and another begins, one lesson jumps to the foreground. No one person is bigger than the Constitution or the Presidency. Despite fears from some and panic from others, no one stayed in the White House refusing to leave. The US Secret Service did not need to forcibly remove anyone from the Oval Office, so a new caretaker can take his temporary seat behind the Resolute Desk.
Despite the cloud of controversy that surrounded the Trump Administration, it was not without accomplishments. The most significant could be seen this past December, with the lightning of the Menorah In Dubai to celebrate Hanukkah. Israelis are traveling to the UAE under Israel passports for the first time ever. There is a Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery being constructed. Jews, Christians and Muslims are celebrating weddings together in Dubai and products bearing the words “Made in Israel” are being imported. A year ago these events would not even be considered in the wildest fantasy. This is an incredible accomplishment.
Yet, despite the magnitude and Earth moving nature of this accomplishment, everything is overshadowed by the events of January 6, 2021.
Blame for January 6 has and continues to be apportioned, and although the Trump administration is certainly not without fault, there is plenty of blame to go around. A huge number of Americans feel marginalized. The US vs THEM mentality is probably more prevalent now than any other time in the last 40 years certainly. The twenty-four hour news beast has become a ratings machine rather than gathering and reporting news. There is no way to under-estimate the extreme hatred the left feels for the right or the fear and total contempt the right feels about the left. This is a plague upon both our houses.
Yet, the Founding Fathers crated a Republic based on the concept of MISTRUST. The Founders put limits on the powers of the President. The Founders created a system where each of the three co-equal branches of Government could stop the others. They provided for the PEOPLE to elect Representatives to the House; but specifically removed the “people” from otherwise voting on Federal laws, or even electing Senators directly. The people electing Senators has only been since the 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913. Before that time, State Legislators chose the Senators of a states, and there are a large number of people who believe repealing the 17th may not be a bad idea.
The fact is, despite what politicians like to say, we DO NOT live in a Democracy; we live in a Republic. This is something we all must be reminded of from time to time.
We have all been through an “interesting” four years. Regardless of ones political views, one cannot deny that we have faced struggles unlike anything the vast majority of of us have seen on our lifetime. A new administration is being sworn in, and perhaps now it is time for all of us to take a breath, and remember that administrations will come and go. The actions of one administration may be reversed by the next. Regardless it is not about the person that sits in the Oval Office. Our nation is more important than any one man.
As one President leaves and the next is sworn in, the question must be asked again as it was asked in times past: “How Stands the Republic?”
The Republic Stands.
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