The “No Kings” rally on June 14 has to be a powerful precursor to the essential mass demonstrations that will rid this nation of the authoritarian wave that has swept away both law-abiding Republicans and law-abiding Democrats.
Americans have always been able to count on the stability of this nation because it is guided by a time-tested, carefully amended Constitution that has provided an iron-clad framework for 237 years that all politicians have respected. During the course of this country’s history, the nation has moved in one direction or another politically, but always within the deeply respected boundaries of the Constitution.
Washington, Fillmore, Lincoln, Hoover, FDR, Reagan, Obama, and every president in between has pushed very different policies and goals but have respected the U.S. Constitution and the absolute Rule of Law.
However, courtesy of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party that has squashed all traditional norms of that party, we now have a president who could not answer when asked whether he had to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Meet the Press interviewer Kristen Welker on May 4 of this year: “But even given those numbers, don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States, as President?”.
Trump’s answer: “I don’t know.”
End of story. End of story. Without our president being able to answer that question in the most affirmative way possible, we have a responsibility to protect our Constitution through nonviolent but vigorous, relentless and overwhelming nationwide protests. This oath-breaking answer by Donald Trump cannot stand. It throws away every ounce of what defines this nation as a free country with individual and collective rights protected by our Constitution. For Trump, his oath to defend the Constitution is shockingly thrown away in the midst of a word salad interview — an interview in which he also said he did not know if he had to respect the Constitution’s requirement for due process.
Every president has to swear to uphold the Constitution. The actual oath administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Our Constitution was not perfect when it was written and ratified. It took 132 years and 19 amendments for women to have the right to vote, and it will most likely need future amendments, but it is an astounding human achievement, and it cannot be just thrown away.
Peaceful, nonviolent, massive protests and demonstrations have incredible power. There is dramatic history to back this up. In 1968 Russia invaded Czechoslovakia and ruled it with an iron fist. However, due to the powerful protests of its citizens, the nonviolent Velvet Revolution happened and a playwright, Václav Havel, was elected President of the new Czech Republic.
And the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolizes what American must do now. Once a critical mass of public protest is achieved, political mountains can be moved peacefully. On the day the checkpoints in the Berlin Wall were opened, East German border guards were overwhelmed by the size of the nonviolent crowd and changed history by simply giving up and opening the checkpoints, allowing the free flow of people between East and West Germany. The massive crowds that day were the culmination of peaceful protests that just kept growing.
It is now up to us to demonstrate with such size and commitment that we will not allow a sitting president break his oath of office, plead ignorance and deny his responsibility to defend our Constitution. Unless we all follow the Constitution, there is no United States of America — no land of the free and no home of the brave.
