“Between and Rock and a Hard Place”
Anon
 
Candidates running for office face a major challenge, trying to appeal to and appease their base while not alienating swing voters … who ultimately dictate most election outcomes.
President Biden’s campaign continues to struggle with a perception chasm between the actual state of the economy …

“I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours”
Donald Trump
For close to a year, former president Donald Trump has bragged that if elected in 2024 he would end the war in Ukraine “in one day” and the “deal would be easy.”  When pressed as to how he might …

 “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
John F. Kennedy – Inauguration Speech
Eighty-eight years ago today, Hitler ordered German …

“A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
 In a concurring opinion supporting the Alabama Supreme Court ruling frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker leaned heavily on Christian scripture, “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” and “All human …

"The only thing for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do noting!"

Edmund Burke

Tragically, the Republican Party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Reagan, to which my parents belonged their entire lives, has for all practical purposes ceased to exist. 

Today, the majority of Republicans in both the House …

“The American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border … and someone running for president ought to try and get the problem solved, as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, save that problem!  Don’t solve it!  Let me take credit for solving it later.’”

Republican Senator Mitt Romney

The …

“Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault.”
M. Scott Peck

Lest anyone doubt presidential wannabee Donald Trump’s priorities, his rhetoric makes it crystal clear addressing such critical issues …

"I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me."

Donald Trump

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump spoke the following words, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will …

“Compromise is an agreement between two people where each person gives up a coveted desire to bring a close to the disagreement”

Anon

George Santayana famously noted, “Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it.” 

Tragically, very few Americans remember or are even familiar with the consequences of America’s isolationist policies …

'Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.'"

Speaker Mike Johnson

Newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made it clear his actions are driven by his faith and looks to the Gospels to form policy positions.  Echoing evangelical and Christian Nationalists ideologies, he …

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.”

James Madison

Ask any politician, political commentator, or cable talking-head about the greatest threats facing America and you will predictably hear China, Russia, Iran, …

                                    “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,”

Article I – Section 5

United States Constitution

For textualists, the embarrassing and potentially destructive circuses presently on display in the House of Representatives and Senate may be perfectly acceptable as the Constitution permits each chamber to establish its own rules.  Its drafters …

“I love the poorly educated”

Donald Trump  (February 23, 2016)

It is not surprising the leading Republican presidential candidate limits his campaign stops to adoring crowds who, without any evidence, believe his lies about a stolen election, Democrats being socialists, the Justice Department has been weaponized, and his victimhood.

Discarding his vengeance-filled litany …

“Truth and hypocrisy cannot exist in the same room.”

Matthew 23

Think of the irony, one political party claims to champion “parental rights” and a “less intrusive government.”  Yet, that party’s most visible politicians have no problem advocating for and enacting laws restricting the rights of individual citizens who may not share …

“Truth and hypocrisy cannot exist in the same room.”

Matthew 23

After castigating President Biden for not traveling to Maui until nine days after the wildfire that destroyed the island’s historical capital of Lāhainā had been extinguished, Governor Ron DeSantis refused to meet with the President who visited Florida’s Gulf Coast, where …

“Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.”

Adlai Stevenson

America’s 244-year experiment in representative democracy and the freedoms it has bestowed on its citizens has endured …

“I hate prejudice, discrimination, and snobbishness of any kind – it always reflects on the person judging and not the person being judged. Everyone should be treated equally.”

Gordon Brown

For nearly a century, successive Administrations championed the expansion of the rights of disenfranchised Americans, whether based on gender, race, nationality, religion, …

               Muzzling Speech Endangers Democracy

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country …

“It’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very damning.  But I do think if even half of it is true, then he’s toast”

Former Attorney General Bill Barr

In the wake of his 37-count indictment, Donald Trump launched a predictable tirade, again baselessly claiming the 2020 election was stolen and portraying himself …

“I am angry that the Democrats don't have the ability to explain to Republicans that we should be able to feed people in this country, and that it is not socialism.”

Lewis Black

Republican presidential wannabees, together with the GOP’s Congressional caucus and conservative media talking-heads, have been extremely successful in labeling …

“You can compromise without violating your principles, but it is nearly impossible to compromise when you turn principles into ideology.” 

Jamie Dimon

Speaker McCarthy and President Biden are embroiled in a risky game of political chicken over increasing nation’s debt ceiling, necessary to cover spending obligations previously-authorized by Congress. 

McCarthy is being held …

“I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth for home defense.  But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon of needed for defense of a home.”

Ronald Reagan

The Constitution and Bill of Rights …

“There shall be one rule of Justice for the rich and the poor; for the favorite in Court, and the Countryman at the Plough.”

Samuel Adams

Trump avoided criminal liability during his presidency based on a Constitutionally-questionable 1973 DOJ memorandum which concluded “indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly …

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1903) … although often attributed to Voltaire

“Anti-Woke” rhetoric has become the centerpiece of conservative politics and given license for subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, demonization of and discrimination targeting non-straight (LGBTQ) …

“The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers”

U.S. Constitution – Article 1, Section 2

With only 213 Democrats elected during the mid-term elections it would seem the Party will have no realistic say in the election of the chamber’s next Speaker. 

Kevin McCarthy, the current frontrunner, has demonstrated he’ll …

“The tyranny of the minority is infinitely more odious and intolerable and more to be feared than that of the majority.”

President William McKinley

Florida Governor and presidential wannabee Ron DeSantis’ anti “Woke” campaign is a series of undemocratic solutions in search of problems and “red meat” for GOP and MAGA conservatives.  …

“Sadly, too many politicians in Washington lack the courage to do something to fix our problems.  They are worried about the political implications of making the hard choices we so desperately need …”

Matt Salmon

On January 19th, the Federal Government reached its authorized borrowing limit, a staggering $31.381 trillion.  Technically, …

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

Marcus Aurelius

In 1935, during the depth of the Depression Sinclair Lewis published a novel in which the average American’s political ignorance and complacency resulted in a …

“The debt is being cynically exploited by the far right, with collusion of the Democrat establishment, to undermine what remains of social programs, public education, unions, and, in general, remaining barriers to corporate tyranny.”

Noam Chomsky

The new Republican House majority has staked out a number of goals, a few admirable and …

2022 Civics Scholarship Contest Winners

December 12, 2022 – This morning TheLegacyof1776.Com recognized the winners of its 2022 Scholarship Essay Contest; the first-place winner, Jessie Jin (a Council Rock North High School senior) and runner-up Hailey Morath (a senior attending Conwell-Egan Catholic High School).

This civics contest grew out of a profound …

"Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution,"

Congresswoman Liz Cheney

With the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th 2021 insurrection and assault on the U.S. Capitol about to release its final report and the U.S. Justice Department; District of Columbia; States of Georgia, Florida and …

“If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries,”

Peter Scheer – Executive Director

California First Amendment Coalition

There is a dangerous movement sweeping across the country.  It began with pressures …

Our nation’s recent and unsettling escalation of partisan tribalism, selective use of “freedom of speech”, “religious liberty” and “gun rights” simply to justify parochial political and social ends, a willingness to accept conspiracy theories while rejecting irrefutable facts, and a growing tolerance for violence as a means to achieve otherwise …

“I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Donald Trump  (time and again)

Had Donald Trump not transferred hundreds of classified (many marked SECRET, TOP SECRET and TOP SECRT//SCI) and other documents which, pursuant to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, are legally the property of the United States to his home at Mar-a-Lago in January …

Building on the success of our inaugural 2021 Civics Scholarship Essay Contest, thelegacyof1776.com and the Bucks Courier Times and Intelligencer are pleased to announce their 2022 scholarship contest.  The contest is open to all seniors attending a high school located in Bucks County.  The contest will again be focused on …

“… for meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States”

Presidential Medal of Freedom Criteria

Yesterday, Americans witnessed the price an individual often pays for exhibiting true Patriotism.

Sadly, the vast majority of Republicans continue to embrace the former president’s “big lie” about a stolen election, ignore his attempted …

“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Article II, Section 4

During his 2016 presidential campaign, then candidate Trump bragged, “I could stand in the middle of 5th …

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Certain recent Supreme Court decisions have embraced high-priority political objectives of conservative, primarily Christian Right, activists; justifying their opinions on “originalism” and questionable interpretations of the First Amendment.

These range from …

"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."

James Bryce

It is fitting on the 246th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to reflect on what it means to be an American patriot.    

Survey any random group …

Be Careful What You Wish For

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

Margaret J. Wheatley

Last week, to the dismay of Democrats, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a women constitutional right for an abortion.  The Court’s …

"The fabric of democracy is always fragile everywhere because it depends on the will of citizens to protect it, and when they become scared, when it becomes dangerous for them to defend it, it can go very quickly.".

Margaret Atwood

June 24, 2022

Dear President Biden:

Since January 2017, our fragile democracy has been, …

"The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution."

Thomas Jefferson

Sadly, Republicans have stonewalled reasonable and meaningful, overwhelmingly popular gun control legislation, complaining about losing Constitutional Second Amendment rights.  Yet, they’ve been quick to embrace a dangerous and delusional ex-president who frequently violated his Constitutional oath of …

“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.”

Justice Antonin Scalia – District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Only 21 weeks in to the year and the United States has witnessed 213 mass shootings, a staggering average of 10 per week … with 27 having taken place …

“Liberty is the power to do everything that does not interfere with the rights of others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every individual has no limits save those that assure to other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights.”

Thomas Paine

If the recently released draft opinion …

Last fall, Holy Ghost Preparatory High School senior Patrick Lichtner was awarded the runner-up scholarship in the Civics Contest sponsored by thelegacyof1776.com and the Bucks County Courier Times and Intelligencer.

This morning we received the following hand-written "Thank You" note fromPatrick.

It speaks volumes about Patrick not only for his sucesses at …

“What I said on the phone call with the Ukrainian President is ‘perfectly’ stated,”

President Trump (2019)

Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen’s recent OpEd, “Russia Can’t Win. But Biden has no Strategy for Victory”, lambasted President Biden for alleged shortcomings in responding to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine and genocide of …

“Now is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time.”

President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address

March 1, 2022

Since the 2020 election, the Republicans Party has attempted to rewrite history, whether echoing Trump’s baseless claims about a stolen election or redefining the deadly January 6th assault …

“To promote the general Welfare”

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

In the wake of the recent Canadian trucker’s demonstrations in Ottawa, the conservative-leaning Great American Patriot Project has urged and recruited American truckers to participate in a “Freedom Convoy”, a copycat cross-county caravan to protest “the unscientific, unconstitutional government overreach in regards …

“Censorship reflects society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”

Potter Stewart Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

Under the guise of encouraging parental involvement in the education of their children, state legislators, school board members, teachers and school administrators are being pressured, and sometimes …

“they are being treated so unfairly."

Donald Trump (January 29, 2022)

As the 2022 mid-term elections approach, Donald Trump continues to focus on his big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him!

Perpetuating allegations of election fraud, Trump has taken a page from “Mein Kampf’s” rulebook: never allow the public to …

Kamaljeeth Vijay and Patrick Lichtner, seniors from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem and who were joined by their parents, were named winner and runner-up in a countywide civics scholarship essay contest sponsored by theLegacyof1776.com, the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer.

The contest was open to all Bucks County …

Hans von Spakovsky’s OpEd opinion, “Gerrymandering” in inevitable in a democracy” is regrettably true; unless fundamental democratic principles prevail.

Gerrymandering results from a Faustian pact between Republican and Democratic legislators intent on retaining their monopolistic stranglehold on the political process.  In Pennsylvania, with its closed primary system and challenging ballot access …

This morning thelegacyof1776.com and the Bucks Courier Times and Intelligencer announced a scholarship essay contest for Bucks County High School Seniors focused on Civics and creating a greater understanding and appreciation of U.S. History and our Constitution. 

BACKGROUND

Today, all too many people liberally toss around such terms as “freedom of speech”, …

“Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.”

D. H. Lawrence

An imperative to the health and survivability of a democracy are both open, free and fair elections and public faith …

“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority.” 

Ayn Rand

While there is no explicit language in the Constitution guarantying “right to vote”, President Lyndon Johnson recognized it as one of our nation’s most cherished liberties, “This …

"In the first 50 years of the filibuster, it was used only 35 times.  But the last Congress alone had 112 cloture motions filed plus threats of more.  This is tyranny of the minority."

Peter Fenn

The Senate’s inflexible partisanship has paralyzed Congress’ ability to reach reasonable compromises on legislation to improve …

“When in the course of human events …”

Declaration of Independence  (July 4, 1776)

It was 245 years ago today, July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the American colonies' separation from Great Britain and setting an unchartered course in which, for the first time, …

This is the first of what will hopefully be many insightful and reasoned guest commentaries addressing a variety of political, social and other important issues affecting America and Americans

In any competition, there must be a common set of standards used to create a fair and transparent battle. For our representative …

“Those who supported us are being left to die”

Ryan Crocker, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan

Foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer Trudy Rubin’s recent OpEd, “Afghans who aided U.S. need our help, and fast”, is a resounding call for the Biden Administration to pull out all the stops to provide …

“If guns don't kill people, why do mass killers arm themselves with guns?”

DaShanne Stokes

When just one of 7.7 million people who had J&J’s Covid vaccinations died and five others experience a blood clots, those vaccinations were halted across the US and Europe, although no direct correlation has as yet been …