Our Democracy Can Be Lost at the Ballot Box

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”
George Santayana
  
Retired General John Kelly and other senior Trump’s Administration officials  confirm Donald Trump’s admiration of world leaders is limited to ruthless authoritarians including Putin, Xi, Orbán and Erdoğan, MBS, Kim Jong Un and even Hitler, whom he claims “did …

Does It Concern You?

“A second Trump presidency is the most existential national security threat to our democracy in our lifetime. The global world order that the Greatest Generation fought and died for, then handed to us to sustain, will be severely damaged. Their sacrifices will be squandered if we aren’t there to defend …

America’s Better Angels

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”
Albert Einstein
 As with his other campaign mistruths, Donald Trump’s claims Georgia Governor Brian Kemp hadn’t been able to reach President Joe Biden to discuss Hurricane Helene’s impacts on his state and Federal agencies were, “going out of their way to not …

The Anti-Democratic Candidate

“Trump demands that government actors pledge loyalty to him, as opposed to the law or to the Constitution”
Rick Pildes
 
Donald Trump’s rants claiming undocumented immigrants are all recently released criminals from foreign prisons and mental institutions and “poisoning the blood” of Americans and declaring of Haitian immigrants, “They’re eating the dogs. …

Is Trump Mentally Fit?

If President Biden or Vice President Harris had praised the (fictional) “late, great Hannibal Lecter”, ranted about Haitian immigrants eating peoples’ cats and dogs, described immigrants as criminals and “poisoning the blood” of Americans, quoted Hungary’s autocratic dictator as a personal a character reference, talked longer about the sizes of …

The Presidency is All About Character

“Never underestimate your adversary,
former President Bill Clinton
 
Democrats celebrated throughout the recent Democratic Convention in Chicago … many already predicting Kamala Harris to win in November, perhaps in a landslide.
On a personal level, she appears to be genuinely grateful for the support she has received since President Biden withdrew from the …

Alliances Make a Difference

“She [Kamala Harris] is a competent and experienced politician who knows exactly what she is doing and has a very clear idea of her country’s role, of developments in the world, and of the challenges we face,”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany
 Donald Trump’s campaign is currently struggling for an identity and …

Decision Time For Democrats

Every choice comes with a consequence. Once you make a choice, you must accept responsibility. You cannot escape the consequences of your choices, whether you like them or not.”
Roy T. Bennett
 The Democratic Party is fast approaching its own Rubicon, or point of no return.  While Trump has been anointed by …

The Democrats Biden Conundrum

“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern and I think I’m the best qualified to win, but there are other people who could beat Trump, too.”
Joe Biden
 This week’s Republican convention witnesses the coronation of Donald Trump despite having proven he is unfit to return to the presidency.
During and since …

Biden Damning Admission

”The coming days are critical …”
President Biden’s alleged comments to some of his staff
 
Already sinking in the polls across the political spectrum, during his recent meeting with Democratic governors President Biden excused his dismal debate performance, in part, on his travel schedule and getting too little sleep; and he didn’t …

A Squandered Opportunity

“I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President,”
Lyndon B. Johnson (March 1968)
Watching last evening’s presidential debate was like viewing a train wreck in slow motion.  As speculated in “For Biden – It’s Show Time”, it was essential the …

Who Would You Believe?

“They made up a ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ statement. So terrible.”
Donald Trump
 
 In today’s “Morning Shots”, William Kristol penned a timely commentary, “Trump’s Latest Lies About His Lies,” excerpting from a recent speech he made at the annual Faith and Freedom Conference.
Trump criticized a 2020 article in the Atlantic, based on multiple …

For Biden … it’s Show Time!

“the time is now and the place is here and … there are no second chances”
Jeanette Winterson
 
The most important date of this year’s presidential campaign is just a week away when President Biden and former President Trump faceoff in a debate hosted by CNN, where they will not be allowed …

2023-24 Civics Scholarship Essay Contest Winners

June 14, 2024 – TheLegacyof1776.Com recently recognized the winners of its 2023 Civics Scholarship Essay Contest; the first-place winner, Jack Swartley is a Central Bucks West High School, Doylestown, PA senior and the runner-up Kayla Brown is a senior attending Harry S. Truman High School in Bristol, PA.
This civics contest, …

Always the Victim

The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite!
Tennessee Williams
 
Contrary to his rants, Donald Trump’s recent conviction was not result of any influence by or direction from President Biden or the Justice Department, but from his own actions!  An impartial jury of 12 average citizens, …

No Person In America Is Above the Law

“the last thing I want to do is put you in jail.”
Judge Juan Merchan
 
The media must stop prefacing every report about Donald Trump’s current and pending trials with an emphasis the cases are “unprecedented” as he is a former president or that he is again running for president … subtly …

Presidential Campaign Conundrums

“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 …

Putin’s Candidate

“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 …

Isolation and Appeasement

 “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 …

Theology Eclipsing the Constitution

“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 …

Congressional Allegiances in Question

"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 …

What is His Ultimate Goal?

“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 …

Trump’s America After Me Campaign

“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 …

Trump in His Own Words

"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 …

Democracy Works When Compromise Replaces Inflexibility

“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 …

A Theocrat at the Helm

'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 …

The Greatest Threat Facing America

“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, …

A Danger of Textualism

                                    “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 …

An Ominous Warning

“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 …

The Parental Rights Charade

                                                                          

“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 …

Political Hypocrisy on Display

 

“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 …

Is Our Democracy Slipping Away?

“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 …

A License to Discriminate

“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

               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 …

Where Are the Patriotic Republicans?

“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 …

Equality and Social Aspirations Do Not Equate to Socialism

“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 …

Will Statesmanship or Partisan Politics Prevail?

“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 …

The Second Amendment is Not Absolute

“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 …

No Person Is Above the Law

“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 …

Liberals … Be Careful What You Wish For

"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) …

And the Next Speaker Could Be ….

“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 …

A Tyranny of the Minority

“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.  …

Our Cowardly Washington Elite

“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, …

It Can Happen Here

“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 …

When Will Congress Begin to Act Responsibly?

“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

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 …

An Ongoing Threat to Our Democracy

"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 …

Censorship – A Sign of Fear and Ignorance

“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 …

Second Annual Bucks County (PA) Civics Scholarship Essay Contest

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 …

Our Nation’s Institutions Under Attack

“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 …

Announcing the 2022 High School Scholarship Essay Contest

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 …

The Cost of Patriotism

“… 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 …

No American Can Be Above the Law

“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 …

A Slippery Slope Toward Theocracy

“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 …

What Does It Mean to be a Patriotic American

"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

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 …

An Open Letter to President Joseph R. Biden

"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, …

Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport

 

"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 …

It’s Long Past Time for Congress to do What’s Right

“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 …

Overturning Roe – a Slippery Slope for Individual Liberty

“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 …

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