There is this philosophy some people cling to which says that humanity has advanced in keeping with its improvements in technologies. However, this is pure sophistry. In fact, a deep examination of history reveals that people born hundreds of years in the past were not much different than we are today, and in truth, technology does not reflect well the morality of a peoples.
Our Founding Fathers were some pretty smart men. And the concepts and philosophies that guided them remain as vital today as they were revolutionary in their era. Among the many things they grasped well is the core idea that power corrupts, and "absolute power corrupts absolutely." Proof of the wisdom of people born from prior generations, comes from the source of this often used quote from Lord Acton, whom in 1887 wrote:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." -- John Emerich Edward Dalber (Lord Acton)
And let's make it clear, that in this context, "men" refers to the species, not the gender!
When we break down the essence of our Constitutional form of government, the most critical part is the concept of checks and balances, where our Founding Fathers took great pains to ensure that no one person, nor even one small group of people, would be able to weld unlimited power. So, long before Lord Acton's famous quote in 1887, the danger was well known.
What we see in the hysterical actions and organized statements of today's Democrat controlled House of Representatives, and a great many elected Democrats in general, is proof of the wisdom of checks and balances, as well as the corrupting influence of great power. The need for checks on power was appreciated long ago. In a speech given in 1770 to the UK House of Lords, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, uttered this phrase: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it." William Pitt could draw upon his own experiences for real world examples of such corruption.
Europe was ravaged by the capricious edicts of power mad monarchs, who abused unlimited power. Wars were fought repeatedly because some small collection of monarchs thought there was some advantage to be gained by sending tens of thousands of peasants into battle to slaughter each other. Rarely were wars of this era fought over noble ideas like liberty and human equality. Instead, they were fought over land, money, and power. So, make no mistake, whether it was people born in the 18th century, or in the 21st century, everyone knew well the living examples of tyranny derived from unchecked power, and they equally knew the pernicious influences of money, privilege, and power.
So, there is really nothing new in this headlong plot to impeach Donald Trump. Such capricious acts of tyranny are a trend in man's felonious abuse of power. And people born hundreds of years in the past were well aware of what power can do to people. But, it isn't merely Nancy Pelosi, or the Squad, or headstrong fools like Adam Schiff, who see power corrupt them. Even Republicans like former Massachusetts governor William Weld have succumbed to the maddening influence. Weld recently said that it is time to put Trump to death for treason! Weld is one of two addled Republicans who fantasize about a primary challenge against the incumbent President.
In the minds of these corrupt people, asking a foreign head of state to "look into" possible criminality is sufficient to be labeled a traitor, and have your execution publicly exclaimed! It doesn't matter any longer what the details are. These latest details are just more self-serving nonsense, heaped upon trodden layers of previous nonsense, buried under an avalanche of truth that overwhelmed the insanity of it all. Nor, for that matter, would such corrupt people comprehend the capricious evil of a dual justice system, one that would award freedom from investigation to some people, based upon political ideology or connection. That was another thing our Founding Fathers gave us, based upon a sober knowledge of human history, a system of equal justice for all!
No one gets a free pass, and there is nothing whatsoever wrong, much less criminal, with asking for an investigation of actions that plausibly violate the law. So, Joe Biden doesn't get a free pass from legal consequence just because he decides to run for President, and nor does his son Hunter Biden. However, what we do need, is for all Americans to respect the investigative process, so that when an investigation is carried out, such as by Robert Mueller against Donald Trump, and no criminality is discovered, that we move along, vice layer investigation after investigation into a never ending feeding frenzy of political vendetta.
The United States will likely survive this latest foray into the insane, because we have a sufficiently broad collection of people with the power to analyze what's going on, and the sense to check a terribly corrupt intent. The very idea, that with the 2020 Presidential election just 14 months away, that we would impeach the sitting President, vice let the American people exercise the ultimate audit of Presidential authority, is shear evil. The ballot box is a far more effective litmus test of Presidential authority than some coup attempt orchestrated by power mad Democrat House members.
The remarkable truth, as well as a powerful revelation of the intelligence of the American people, is that despite over three years of non-stop media demagoguery, combined with rabid scheming, all designed to make Donald Trump look like a modern day Marquis de Sade, we have poll after poll showing that 67% of the American voting public is decidedly against the impeachment push the Dems have unleashed.
Sane members of the Democrat party, like former Hillary Clinton adviser Doug Schoen, are convinced it will even cost the Democrats the House in the upcoming 2020 election. Sadly, for the Democrat party, sane voices like Schoen are being banished to the wilderness and silenced. But, when a House majority spends two years doing nothing but fruitlessly investigating one American President, while abdicating their larger public duties, then the people have a habit of applying proper remedy. One need only look at the fate of the Republican House majority in the election that followed their impeachment of Bill Clinton, even though, unlike with Donald Trump, Bill Clinton was actually guilty of the crime of perjury in a Grand Jury investigation.
The same motivation exists for the repudiation of this latest impeachment effort. That motivation is that in America, we elect our government. We do not therefore need coups, bloody or otherwise. America is strong enough to survive two years of even the most corrupt and maniacal power lust in Congressional history. And further, as a people, we can check such power mad corruption in the most convincing of means, electoral devastation at the ballot box!
-- Ken Stallings
This column is copyrighted under provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and all rights are reserved. Please do not re-transmit, host, or download these columns without my written permission.