The Danger of Divine Caesars
One of the greatest tragedies of our American government is the vast overreach of the executive branch, which by its very nature was designed to carry out or execute the laws that the legislative branch (Congress) had passed. Yet, we have seen that throughout our history, presidents have sought to increase their power and overreached the powers of their office. Whether it was the removal of Native American tribes by Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren, suspension of habeas corpus by Abraham Lincoln, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II by Franklin Roosevelt, or any number of executive actions taken by presidents over the course of two centuries, the fact remains that presidents often overstep the authority granted to them by Article II of the Constitution.
But a distinction must be made. No president has been more guilty of this than Donald Trump, particularly in the early months of his second administration.
Previous presidents at least outwardly chose to follow the law and respect the institutions of our government. Trump openly flouts the law and has quoted another tyrant, the self-proclaimed Emperor Napoleon I: “He who saves his country does not violate any law”. This is not only false, but it is demonstrably dangerous, as is the Supreme Court decision made last year which dictated that presidents have absolute criminal immunity for official acts. This has laid the groundwork for presidents to be kings in all but name. In fact, on March 30 Trump told NBC that he is not joking about seeking a third term, something presently banned by the constitution.
Our founders were incredibly concerned about the unchecked power that could be held by a single man and to that end established checks and balances by all three branches of government. Unfortunately, much of our judiciary and many of our legislators lack the fortitude and the integrity to deny this so-called king his illegitimate throne. They, particularly his confreres in the GOP, refuse to exercise their authority, and the power granted to them by the Constitution and the people. Instead, they bend the knee to a man who corrupts everything he touches.
Why do they do this? Fear? Self-service? Do they hope to gain more power, more influence, more riches by agreeing to his every whim and attacking those who question his motives? We do not know the answer, but what we do know is this that a dangerous cult has been formed around this president, and he has become a godlike figure himself to his followers.
Mr. Trump seems to believe that he has a divine mandate. After all, did he not survive an assassin’s bullet not just once but twice? Did not the Hand of God Almighty reach and protect him? That is at least what he and his minions would tell us and have convinced his followers. So too have tyrants and kings, despots and dictators claimed throughout history. From the deification of Augustus Caesar to the divine right of kings to the self-proclaimed destinies of Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, those who desire to wield ultimate power for its own sake, rather than the sake of the people, have sought to identify themselves as connected to the divine. They subsequently form cults of personality around themselves and promise their followers that their voices will be heard and that only dear leader can save them and the nation.
Does this sound familiar? It is exactly the playbook that we saw 80 years ago in Germany. This led to the great tragedies that were World War II and the Holocaust and now we see the very same from 47 himself. Like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Putin, Lukashenko, and many others, the POTUS proclaims himself to be the only one who can make this nation great again. Yet like those men and all tyrants he lies. It is not him or any king or any one man who can make our nation and this world a better place. Instead, it is we as the people who have that power. As the great actor Charlie Chaplin stated in his film The Great Dictator, “In the 17th chapter of St Luke it is written, ‘the Kingdom of God is within man’- not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you, You, the people have the power.”
We have this power. We have the power to destroy this cult and to make this world better. In almost 250 years we have never bowed to kings or despots, and we must not do so now. We will destroy this cult by revealing to its followers what it truly is: a web of deceit built on misery, bigotry, and despair. We will peacefully and lawfully demand that our legislators and our judiciary hold this man and others like him to account. We will ensure that those like him can never hold power again by refusing to fall sway to their lies and we will tirelessly work to make our republic one where all might live in peace and justice.
Signed,
Publius
