A bill or joint resolution that has been vetoed by the President can become law if two-thirds of the Members voting in the House and the Senate each agree to pass it over the President’s objection.
Article I – Section 7
Last week, only moments before it was scheduled to begin, President …

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely “
Lord Acton
 
President Trump is nakedly using tactics employed by Putin, Xi and other autocrats he so admires to exercise his insatiable quest for near total power;

Pay-to-play schemes to coerce some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, corporations, law firms and media organizations …

“It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.”
Mahatma Gandhi
 
In most aspects of civilian, military and even government life, people are held accountable for their actions or inactions and the consequences which result from them.  However, there is one arena where this otherwise universal axiom …

“If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 5, 1944
Prior to the invasion of Normandy, Supreme Allied commander General Eisenhower, drafted a speech taking full and personal blame should the D-Day invasion turn into a military catastrophe, despite the fact it was …

I read the following excellent and timely opinion piece on The Chris Hedges Report/Substack.  It is only the second piece written by a third party I have ever posted in nearly forty years f writing social and political commentary … and echoes many of the warning signs for the future …

“The Congress shall have power … To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal,”
U.S. Constitution – Article I Section 8
 
In 2024 Donald Trump campaigned on (a) an explicit repudiation of prior administrations’ efforts to affect regimes-changes or engage in subsequent nation-building and (b) a doctrine respecting the sovereignty of …

“When hypocrisy is a character trait, it also affects one’s thinking, because it consists in the negation of all the aspects of reality that one finds disagreeable, irrational or repugnant.
Octavio Paz
Amazingly, President Trump and many conservative Republicans have argued it should be solely up to parents to make decisions regarding …

“My gut tells me more sometimes, than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me”:
Donald Trump (2018)
Once again, the world witnessed an American president defending a foreign autocrats rather than defending the credible analysis his nation’s finest intelligence agency.
During a 2018 post-summit press conference with Valdmir Putin in Helsinki President Trump …

Article I, Section 8  –  U.S. Constitution
In President Trump’s unrelenting quest to reshape America’s representative democracy into a autocracy he simply ignores the Constitutional Article II limitations on his office, the role of the Legislative Branch, and the Rule of Law; while believing he is accountable to no one.
His ordering military …

“I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”
William F. Buckley Jr.
Many Americans passionately believe parents should have the ultimate say in:

their children’s medical care, including what vaccines their children receive and on what schedules;
in controlling the historical, scientific, social and religious-based educational information …

“No right was deemed by the fathers of the government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government.”
Fredrick Douglas
The assassination of Charles Kirk was reprehensible … as was that of …

“Sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie; it’s to make people fear the liar.”
Anne Applebaum
Never before has any American president politicized public spaces and government buildings with banners featuring their face, a propaganda ploy more commonly associated with autocratic leaders in China, Russia, North Korea and other …

“Partisanship, parochialism, excessive public debt, ambitious leaders who could come to power playing off our differences, and a poorly informed public who might sacrifice their own liberties to find relief from divisive politics”
George Washington
President Trump is absolutely correct … America has been and remains an exceptional nation!
Unfortunately, the president ignores …

“Patriotism means to stand by the Country.  It does not mean to stand by the president.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump increasingly makes clear, in spite of the Constitutional limitations imposed on the presidency, he intends to amass more unconstrained power for the Executive Branch and for himself, personally!
While not on the golf …

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
 
Credible scientific studies have concluded the Climate, despite Republican claims it’s a hoax, is fast approaching a tipping point where global warming may be irreversible.  However, America’s unique experiment in representative democracy may also be …

“I’m afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.”
Jim Garrison
 
We were warned:

By the architect of our Constitution, James Madison; “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by …

“In a constitutional democracy, persons owe loyalty to the Constitution, rather than the government”
James Buchannan – Hillsdale College
 
U.S. Attorney General Pam Blondi has justified firing or demoting respected Department of Justice attorneys for failure to be a “zealously advocate” on behalf of the United States, even in situations where …

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Last sentence of the Declaration of Independence
Knowing their actions would lead to war, which if lost would result in them …

“First came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then …

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
 The signors of the Declaration of Independence understood the potentially lethal consequences of their actions yet opted to, “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” by formally severing ties …

“Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal,”
President Trump’s Executive Order to unilaterally
repeal energy and environmental regulations
 
Donald Trump’s insatiable thirst for and expansive interpretation of presidential power has been the defining characteristic since his inauguration.  His issuances of daily, often legally-questionably, Executive Orders and Actions have …

Of course I’m not going to do it,”
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele
 
Despite judicial orders, President Trump remains defiant when it comes to repatriating a wrongfully arrested and deported legally-protected El Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the country for a decade, is married to an American citizen with whom …

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Attributed to Voltaire
 
For nearly fifty years Liberals have been justifiably accused of censoring speech with which they disagree.  It has taken the form of establishing so-called free speech zones on high school and …

“he who saves his country does not violate any law”
Donald Trump
 His wildly inaccurate remark, “I have an Article II where I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” and embracing the label of “king” epitomizes Donald Trump’s exaggerated and narcissistic ego and disrespect for the Constitution!
Trump’s election …

“Every 25 seconds, someone in America is arrested for drug possession.”
Human Rights Watch and the ACLU
America’s War on Drugs dates back to 1971 and is estimated to have cost our nation more than $1 trillion, sent millions of people to prison for low-level and non-violent offenses, and seriously eroded Constitutional-protected …

“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,”
President Trump – January 20, 2025
Trump has long billed himself as being a “unifier” and on election night declared his victory was a “massive mandate.”
In 2024 of the approximately 242 million eligible voters only 155.3 million (a dismal 63.9%) actually …

“Every square meter of the Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to be so,”
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino
 
Trump’s continuing threats to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland as being crucial for our national security are not only shear madness but could have disastrous national and international consequences.
Sending troops into …

“For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it is wrong.”.
H.L. Mencke
 On the campaign trail, Donald Trump preached a steady diet of simplistic remedies for the kitchen-table concerns and complex challenges affecting so many Americans.  With the Democrats seemingly incapable of providing credible alternatives, voters naively swallowed Trump’s …

“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 …

“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. …

“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 …

“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 …

“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 …

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, …

“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 …

"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 …

'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 …

“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 …

“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 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 …

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 …