Happy Birthday America!
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”— Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863
To truly celebrate America, one has to know who we are, where we came from, where we are now, where we are going, and that well-intentioned Communism and its light-weight sibling, Socialism, are wholly inconsistent with American Exceptionalism. And then there is the many “I”s coming together to be “We”: E Pluribus Unum.
Time has come for all of us to better comprehend who and what we are, after all “the voice” of the “Silent Majority, albeit, pretty loud on its own, has its loudspeaker in our POTUS – President Trump – who is incessantly causing – by Tweet and act – an “American Spring” cleaning (with results akin to “Arab Spring” a la conservatism) – and our institutions are waking up to be lawful & robust – as if anew. I fear that some Americans don’t really understand America, ignore as they do history’s nuanced journey and impossibly impose present-day mores on yesteryears, and many well-meaning folks who took “compassion” to heart, are violating laws in a nation of laws. So, a look back is wise, as it’s timely.
“We the People” are the beginning “words” of American Exceptionalism’s second of two founding documents – our hallowed Constitution. Of course, the Declaration Of Independence, written by my hero Thomas Jefferson, created the “right” to do so. The Constitution has it’s embedded Separated Powers regime – structural separation, to force an ad hoc joinder – thereby squeezing more public good from power by discord. America is at her best when we are divided on policy, but united as a nation. America First, then, is a predicate to legitimate argument.
One-half of us love Donald J. Trump and one-half of us can’t get rid of him fast enough. That’s our America since 2016 – even without foreign meddling – especially President Putin’s return “gift” to Hillary for her meddling in his prior re-election; and Putin won despite her. Hillary lost by cheating Bernie Sanders of a “fair fight,” and got the wrath of his ardent supporters and Trump’s supporters voting in lockstep to elect “The Donald,” to be president of these United States of America.
Magna Carta. While “Richard the Lionhearted” was off in the Middle East fighting the Crusades, the Barons got King John to limit the King’s unlimited sovereign rights, thereby sharing some of the King’s sovereign powers with the hordes of landed gentry. This was a seismic event diluting the power of Kings. Independently of the Normans, a prior Saxon, Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeded in imposing, with his death, “Separation of Church & State.” This is embodied in our Bill of Rights.
American Exceptionalism
Fast forward several centuries to 1776 – 3 years after the American Revolution started in Boston with the Indian Tea “bopping” in its harbor during the “Boston Tea Party.” Well, “We the People” were all landed gentry, and excluded ordinary everyday people, such as indentured servants. Of course, it excluded slaves – our Original Sin – our fellow Americans were “3/5″ of a person.
Gettysburg Address: Recipe of honest governance – “for the people.”
Fast forward once again – and it took the Civil War and a Republican Yankee President Abraham Lincoln to remove the Constitutional soulful damnation of the 3/5th of a person, aka our Original Sin, and “We the people” was now “wholesome”: 1 for 1, for each and every one of us, landed gentry or not, counted! Gettysburg Address is the everlasting test of legitimacy of our government and our leaders, as only if it helps “the people,” are they legitimate.
But what ails us is that we – and almost all of us grew up after WWII – and saw the great American Middle class as a permanent feature, rather than the unintended consequence of the GI Bill: free education for the returning victorious GIs. Well, the GI Bill ran out, and with it the Great American Middle Class. Congress, are you listening?
During Reagan’s time we were the greatest creditor nation in the comity of nations. Sadly, today, the world’s greatest debtor nation. Every president between Reagan and Obama is responsible for this debacle. Enter Donald Trump – an errant candidate for president running to run, not win. That’s why he had as much fun as he did. But he connected to lots of people who wanted to say “Merry Christmas,” or “I want White Power in a White-majority country” or “when I order coffee or a burger, I want to hear English, not Spanish or some other language, like Hindi. Remember Charlottesville. All those who came to America, was because we loved what America was and wanted to live and blossom here. We did not come to change her, even as we have the duty of citizenship to protect her from enemies foreign and domestic. Immigrants come to embroider America, not conquer her.
“MAGA” became a battle-cry – that I embraced as a Democrat, who honors Senator John McCain as an American Hero – because I had been issuing a warning since Bill Clinton days in the 1990’s, as I saw the American Dream in the Intensive Care Unit, and objected to Indian Call Centers – as they took away jobs from single or divorced American mothers whose main skill was speaking and connecting well to their neighbors. Well, my warnings were ignored on the altar of profit, until Trump harnessed the anger, and unexpectedly mined it all the way to the presidency.
No Conspiracy; Obstruction; and Senate Refusing to Convict
Watching the events in real time, I was repeatedly struck by most of Trump’s lawyers being carnival-worthy – leaving aside criminal-fixer Michael Cohen. Had candidate-Trump and POTUS had real lawyers, he would not need “loyalty oath” from then-FBI Director Jim Comey. He would know he can’t be guilty of “conspiracy” without an express or a tacit in-line-Of-sight “nod & a wink”; which were not present, even if fantasied. No need to bash Jeff Sessions’ proper Recusal, no need to dangle pardons, and surely no need to fire Mueller. Indeed, cooperating with Mueller was the path to disinfectant sunshine and proven patriotism. Same cooperation was good for Russia – indeed, I so requested publicly. Instead, obstruction of justice – interfering in legal process is obstruction – now haunts. Given our almost evenly divided nation, the Senate will not convict. Wacky result of legal malpractice of the highest order, damning a presidency that otherwise has disrupted the world to get more for America. Yes – improve our balance sheet – even as Trump engages with our “enemies” head-on. DPRK’s Chairman Kim is an example. Europe paying more for NATO, another. Pacific Fleet renamed Indo-Pacific, China finally challenged to be “fair” – as they have been unfairly ripping us off since 1971, and engaging with Russia’s Vladimir Putin – not like Barack’s secretive “hot mike” – “I will have greater flexibility after the election,” but in broad daylight being friendly and jovial, while in private tough and sanctioning.
The state of our union is very strong, and reflected in many facets. Of singular importance is our military’s condition – and it is awash in cash, being rebuilt and expanded, including a Space Force. One can almost see “Star Trek” as NASA’s next project; I hope they find Captain Kirk and Spock. As for our “Ballot Box,” the core keeper of our sovereignty, we need to make it hack-proof, and social media Meddling-Free. Congress are you listening?
Our 2020 presidential sweepstakes are on, and socialism or communism – like in the 1920’s and 1930’s – is trying to make a comeback – even as the USSR, and now Russia have abandoned both! Let me state, what to me is obvious: No Democrat running can win and become POTUS – even after Bob Mueller’s Testimony – if s/he embraces socialism or communism. Oh, to my 2016-favorite Joe Biden, knock it off with the dead-on-arrival “apology tour.” If it had been me, as then chair of Senate Judiciary, I’d be proud of giving Anita Hill the witness seat – as that was the maximum power of Judiciary Chairman. Biden was not her lawyer, not her judge, and the Senate wasn’t a trial. Meekness is not deliberative; appeasement is not a policy; and Americans can’t stand a wuss! Even Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, now a legal force to reckon with in New York, no one can ever accuse of being a “wuss.” Worth remembering for all candidates: President Trump is a New Yorker, and a As Frank Sinatra said: If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
At the heart of the American Dream is the Declaration’s merit-based “pursuit of happiness” – not guaranteed being happy like everyone else – as in communism or it’s lighter sibling, socialism. The “pursuit of happiness” was intended as an eternal journey for each future generation to undertake, not as a “dead-end” destination as Communism and Socialism cause. Dead ends are inconsistent with American Exceptionalism.
We have the greatest nation in human history – we call “home.” We need to make our friends and family love and honor America. We need to treat America as our home: windows open, and door closed. Only those we want to come in, are allowed in. Compassion is a “safety valve” that ought to be used sparingly when the “law” becomes “an ass”. DACA is an example. Congress, are you listening?
Happy Birthday America! We love you…
(The author is an eminent attorney based in New York. He can be reached at ravi@ravibatralaw.com)