In a letter to John Adams dated September 12, 1821, Thomas Jefferson wrote the following, "The flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them." At the time, Jefferson was echoing John Adams' concerns about the spread of democracy, even citing events surrounding military revolutions in and around Spain and Portugal.
Jefferson might have felt that what they had started forty-five years prior was an example for the world to emulate if they wished. He also must have felt it was a powerful force. That was clearly in terms of democracy coming up against despotism, for surely anyone taking part in a democracy would either confront or simply not align with a despot.
However, that is exactly what we have now ... someone from a democracy embracing and trying to align with despots.
The President of United States, Donald Trump, recently returned from a summit in Singapore with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, who he referred to as "funny", "strong", and "smart". He also described the North Korean dictator in nearly contradictory terms, at one point saying Kim "loves his people", and at another point (addressing Kim's human rights violations against his own people) saying Kim is "a tough guy". When asked -- by a correspondent for the Republican Party's propaganda machine, Fox News, no less! -- about Kim being "a killer [who is] executing people", Trump's response was this:
"Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people, and you take
it over from your father, I don’t care who you are, what you are, how much of an
advantage you have – if you can do that at 27 years old, that’s one in 10,000 could
do that."
So, Trump's answer to that question was that Kim is one of 10,000 people who could take over a position from his father. Huh?! Additionally, by saying "tough people", Trump nearly justifies what Kim has done to his people, as if it is their fault!
The result of that summit in Singapore was that Trump once again displayed his favor for despots and Kim now has a kind of legitimacy on the world stage, and enormous legitimacy in his own country. It was not a win-win situation, unless you say the winners are Kim Jong Un's and Trump's egos.
Trump's praise for, and turning a blind eye to, Russian president Vladimir Putin has been ongoing. From saying nice things about the Russian leader and blocking sanctions against Russia put forth by the U.S. Congress, to remaining quiet on other issues, Trump's affinity for despots like Putin has been showing for some time. Like Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin is known to be an iron-fist, murderous leader. And yet, Trump has referred to Putin as "a strong leader", even giving him an 'A' for leadership.
At the third and final presidential debate in 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said that Vladimir Putin would "rather have a puppet as president", referring to Trump. Turns out, she was right ... and how!
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also a human rights violator. He has been converting China's politics into a one-party authoritarian system, had individuals critical of him captured (with their whereabouts, or even if they are alive, kept quiet), and even having Muslims in China placed in centers intended for "political re-education". A Chinese human rights activist, Hu Jia, once said about Xi, "His ultimate goal is to preserve Communist Party rule and if someone strives for freedom, they will lose their freedom." And yet, when Trump visited the Chinese leader last November, similar to Kim Jung Un, he made no mentions about the human rights violations at Xi's direction going on in the country, even calling the leader "a great gentleman" later.
In March of this year, China's parliament removed the two-term limit on its presidency, which would have required Xi to step down in 2023. By removing the term limit requirements from the country's constitution, Xi became, in essence, ruler for life, similar to Chairman Mao. When Trump heard about this, his response was, "Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."
Because president for life is so ... American?
Let us not forget about the Philippines and its president Rodrigo Duterte. Mr. Duterte is another despot for whom human rights are irrelevant. In 2009, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, which Duterte is in the process of dissolving, reported on what it called the "systematic practice of extrajudicial killings" by a vigilante group called the Davao Death Squad (DDS). Investigations have been made into a possible link between the DDS and the Duterte government. Some of those killed were drug addicts, street children, and petty criminals.
Duterte has been open about his support of these killings. Several human rights organizations have recorded well over 1,000 deaths at the hands of various death squads in the city of Davao alone between 1998 and 2016, much of that time while Duterte was mayor of Davao. Some witnesses have come forth and said they did the killings at the direct order of Duterte, sometimes even swearing loyalty to him.
A hostage crisis in 1989, during Duterte's time as mayor, in Davao ended with the deaths of all sixteen hostage-takers, all prison inmates, and five hostages. The hostages, fifteen total, were Protestant missionaries. One of the hostages killed was Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Duterte said the following:
"I looked at [Jacqueline Hamill's] face, son of a bitch, she looks like a beautiful
American actress. Son of a bitch, what a waste. What came to my mind was,
they raped her, they lined up. Was I angry because she was raped? Yes, that's
one thing. But she was so beautiful, I think the mayor should have been first."
He later described the comment as a joke and even threatened cutting all diplomatic ties with Australia and the United States because their respective ambassadors to the Philippines had publicly condemned the comment. Two weeks later, he said his then-potential presidency would be "bloody", in which he would grant "a thousand pardons a day" for any police officers and soldiers who were accused of violating human rights. He even joked about pardoning himself. This, from a man with whom Trump described as having a "great relationship".
Donald Trump admires thugs, brutal regime leaders, dictators, and despots -- even saying he wants Americans to stand up and listen to him like they do to Kim Jung Un in North Korea -- while insulting, dismissing, and sticking it to U.S. allies.
Makes you wonder what kind of president he really wants to be.
Our founders knew that electing someone like Trump was possible, so they put in place whatever they could, while trying to maintain a free society, in order to avoid it from happening. And yet, here we are. We have a president who aligns himself, not with democracy, but with despotism.
Our founders did put in place certain provisions with which we can deal with such circumstances as we have now. One of them is impeachment, which requires: a) the House of Representatives has to bring forth and vote in favor, by simple majority vote, of at least one article of impeachment; b) the Senate holds a trial (with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court serving as presiding jurist, lawmakers from the House serving as prosecutors, lawyers for the President serving as his defense counsel, and the Senate members serving as jury); and c) at least a two-thirds vote in favor of impeachment, which results in the president being removed from office. Another provision is the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1967, which requires the Vice President and at least thirteen members of the Cabinet to vote in favor of removal of the president, to immediately notify Congress of their vote in the affirmative, and then the Vice President would assume the position of President. (This was used only twice before, in 2002 and 2007, when then-President George W. Bush underwent colonoscopy procedures, and the transfer of power was for only a few hours both times.)
Under current political conditions, neither of these provisions will be used.
Terry
TOMORROW
IMMIGRATION
(INCLUDING THE SEPARATING OF FAMILIES POLICY)
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