An American Story: What Does America Represent to You?
We are exactly one year from our next election. Then what?
As Americans, we face this question. We are a Constitutional Federal Republic, a Representative Democratic Republic. In short, to many Americans, we are simply a Democracy.
“We the People” is a phrase meant to represent all Americans, without regard to race, religion, or any other differences among us. This is why we are also called a “melting pot” of humanity.
Yet these representative terms, known to almost all Americans, have been co-opted by specific groups, signaling these groups are more truly representative of America. They are not, of course.
Today there are members of Congress, Republican members, who openly push racial segregation, race-based nationalism, religious-based nationalism, elimination of immigration based upon race and religion, and the forced removal of immigrants based upon race and religion.
Much of this has remained hidden within our society for decades, if not centuries. Occasionally these groups crawl from the gutters to espouse their hateful beliefs, typically without a basis other than their own ignorance and hatred.
The question is why?
Some History — Greek Influence
The American version of Representative Democracy is new, a hybrid of ideas. When researching the beginnings of democracy, most refer to the influence of ancient Greece: “A U.S. state resembles the community structure of an ancient Greek polis, or city-state … All Greek city-states had sets of rules by which the people lived in observance and laws they were required to obey. In ancient Greece the idea of rule of law came from the philosopher Aristotle’s belief in natural law.”
Another Greek influence is “the Constitution, a concept that influenced the formation of the United States government was the written constitution. Aristotle, or possibly one of his students, compiled and recorded The Constitution of the Athenians and the laws of many other Greek city-states.” (https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/greek-influence-us-democracy/ )
The influence of the Ancient Greeks is well-known. What is not so well known is the influence of the most powerful Native People’s tribal community in North America, the Iroquois Confederacy.
More History — Native American Influence
The Iroquois Confederacy inspired Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the other founders as they considered the formation of the Constitution. These founders even adopted the Iroquois nation’s symbol, the bald eagle, as the new nation’s national symbol.
In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution(3) that said, “The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself.”
In other words,
- ancient Greece gave us the idea of our existing city-state structure as well as a constitution to act as a guide and provide for the “rule of law” we have, in the past, considered necessary for the success of our nation.
- The Iroquois Confederacy filled in the blank spaces to develop our nation’s political system and our Constitution.
This is the basis for what is now called a Constitutional Federal Republic, also known as the United States of America.
Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here?
Exactly one year from our next election a major consequence, this country is not only divided but is on a path to a totalitarian regime, a dictatorship. This path to a dictatorship and single-party rule is led by the Republican Party, losers of the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
The Republican Party has been led by Donald Trump since his election in 2016. Yet dating back to 1990, an article/interview with Donald Trump in Vanity Fair referenced his admitting to being given a book “My New Orders”, a collection of speeches by Adolph Hitler. Ivana Trump references this book as one that is kept by Trump on his bedside stand.
As recently as 2018, President Trump stated: “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things.” Trump reportedly told this to his military staff chief John Kelly, who had to explain to the 45th President who the allies and adversaries were in both World Wars. Trump exhibits he has/had absolutely no knowledge of American or World History whatsoever.
Further, there is a comment from Trump’s then-wife Ivana, who stated on more than one occasion that John Walter, who works for the Trump Organization, when he visits Donald in his office, he clicks his heels and says, “Heil Hitler,” possibly as a family joke. Possibly not, given Trump's statements and actions since losing the 2020 election.
People like Trump, those who would be dictators, kings, and autocratic rulers, don’t get to where they are without enablers. Trump has plenty of enablers within the Republican Party. This is particularly true within the current House of Representatives.
Enabling Trump and a potential future for the US as an authoritarian state is one result. The other has been the eye-opening corruption of our elected government in both Congress and the Judiciary. No longer evident are those elected officials who wish to govern and protect this nation and its citizens.
What is evident is the focus of elected officials to create outside income streams, pushing lies and conspiracy theories. Why? Because Trump has made it a focus of his entire Presidency. He has played to the ignorance and hatred of a segment of an uneducated and apathetic public, and his enablers within the Republican Party want that, and need that, for them to maintain their own grip on power and money.
This is where we are, today, in this country. We are a nation of people who have listened to the lies, the incessant bullshit that has come from the Republican Party for seven years now, and many are unable to distinguish between truth and conspiracy theories.
We have a political party, Republicans, who have shown the country they will do whatever is necessary, a political party of moral turpitude, a political party intent upon one thing, power, no matter how it is obtained. Moral turpitude is defined as “A wicked, deviant behavior constituting an immoral, unethical, or unjust departure from ordinary social standards such that it would shock a community.” This describes the Republican Party in Congress today.
Voter polls show Trump leading the existing President. This is where the citizens of this country are at, incredibly. Half of the citizens in this nation are willing to support a person who has been indicted 91 times for:
- lying on his taxes and cheating Americans on their taxes
- stealing, lying about, and hiding national secrets, including showing nuclear secrets to foreigners and others
- attempting to overthrow the last election
- attempting to declare martial law and take away the right to vote of American citizens
If elected, Trump has already stated he will:
- “set aside the Constitution” and take over sole control of the Federal Department of Justice.
- take over the military and replace all those in charge with people he can trust. This includes killing at least one military General by firing squad.
- institute mass deportations of all immigrants whom he determines illegal and/or legal but unnecessary.
- deputize the National Guard to carry out mass deportations and deny entry to legal immigrants based on their ideological beliefs
- institute “ideological screenings” for the country
- to challenge long-standing legal limits on the military engaging in domestic law enforcement.
- pledged to invoke the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 — a law cited during World War II to approve the surveillance and detention of Italian, German, and Japanese immigrants.
This is the man who would be President if a majority had their way. This is a person who openly states he will take away your Constitution, your Right to Vote, and your freedoms under the Constitution.
He “will be your retribution,” he tells his supporters.
He will be your dictator and his Republican Party will be his power.
Trump’s proposals, immigration and otherwise, have been embraced by the Republican presidential hopefuls closest to him in the polls. He is not alone in this authoritarian quest for power. The Republican Party is behind him.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy have both pledged to carry out mass deportations and end birthright citizenship. Nikki Haley and Tim Scott have also joined Trump and DeSantis is calling for the U.S. to reject Palestinian refugees.
The question over the next few months will be how many Americans are willing to continue to allow any of these people pushing for an authoritarian dictatorship to remain in office, let alone have the power to rule this nation.
Read again, over and over until this is embedded, ingrained, in your mind, exactly what these people say they will do. They are serious about controlling your life and the lives of everyone in this nation. So, what will you do?
Further, the other question is: “What does America represent to you?