“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 …
“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… the Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
President Donald Trump (February 24, 2020)
When the 2020 election results became evident, Donald Trump orchestrated the “big lie” he actually won reelection and Joe Biden’s victory was stolen, the result of …
“Compromise is not about losing. It is about deciding that the other person has just as much right to be happy with the end result as you do.”
Donna Martini
The flames of partisan tribalism have infected politics since the 1800 election between Federalist John Adams and his Democrat-Republican rival Thomas Jefferson. …
"He's all about himself. He's not about building or supporting the party."
Paul S. Ryan
Donald Trump’s latest assault on Republican fundraising efforts should be a wake-up call and remove all doubts as to where his loyalties lie!
He delayed the first COVID stimulus checks until his name could be printed on …
“We were discussing their strategy for tomorrow, and we were sharing our thoughts, in terms of where the argument was and where to go,”
Senator Ted Cruz
At the outset of the Senate Impeachment trial of Donald Trump, each of the body’s 100 members (the trial’s jurors) declared, “I solemnly swear (or affirm) …
“The intentional effort to influence the outcome of a juror’s opinion, vote or decision by unlawfully communicating with the juror in either a direct or indirect manner, outside the scope of legally permitted courtroom procedure.”
Definition of Jury Tampering
Once the results of the 2020 election became clear, Donald Trump became consumed, …
“Prudence means understanding your situation, seeing what good can be accomplished in it, knowing what options are both morally legitimate and likely successful—and then pursuing the wisest goal in the wisest way”
Brian C. Collins
Unquestionably, President Trump’s words and actions were the catalyst for the mob invasion of the nation’s Capital. …
“We will never give up; we will never concede”
Donald Trump (January 6, 2021)
In the wake of Wednesday’s violent demonstration and lawless assault on the Capitol building questions must be asked … and answered.
Concerns Trump can still wreak havoc on our democracy and imperil our national security has initiated calls for …
"So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."
Donald Trump (January 3, 2021)
Despite White House claims President Trump is “doing the work of the American people”, he has spent the past …
"Our Anerican republic will endure only as long as the ideas of th emen who founded it continue dominant"
James Russell Lowell
Republican politicians must stop pandering to the president and his delusional belief he won the 2020 election and begin a process of helping to heal a dangerously divided nation.
As the …
"Don't talk to me that way."
Donald Trump (November 26, 2020)
While answering reporter’s questions for the first-time since the election, President Trump went on an angry tirade about massive voter fraud, horrible Republican governors and state election officials who certified accurate vote totals showing Joe Biden won and then falsely claimed, …