Yesterday, in the United States of America, we saw the destruction of democracy. Whereever you were in the world, you could see the images, live, of the terror that reigned down on the US Capitol Building, stopping Congress in its tracks. This destruction of democracy was incited and inspired by the leader of the United States, President Trump. Those people who were protesting, who were roiting, who attempting a coup d’état of the United States Congress and the Presidential leadership going forward, are not patriots of America, and they are not defenders of the Constitution of the United States, or defenders of Democracy. They are allowing an authoritarian dictator, somebody who does not like to relinquish power when they need to, and cannot accept “no” for an answer, to rule supremely over a nation. They are destroying their country. They are destroying our country.
Yesterday, there were scenes of terror visible on our screens worldwide. There were scenes of destruction. These people stopped votes from taking place. They stopped argument. If that is what they want to beleive is democratic, then they do not understand what democracy is. In fact, they are fighting against what democracy is in its most simplistic form. They have been lead by a President that is no better than a facist dictator at this point, to beleive exactly what he says.
The words of a President, and the words of a leader, are some of the most important words we as a society hear. They are words which we follow. Some of us take those words spiritually, others look for meaning between the lines. Some people take those words literally. Those words are important. Everything that we say is important. As a leader of a country, people are going to listen; people will take what you say literally, regardless of whether you intend for those words intepreted by the people in a literal context. They will listen to what you say regardless of whether it is true or untrue. Therefore, when you potentially incite violence by those words, or even use words which could be interpreted by some as inciting violence, and in this case, inspiring violence, it is not okay; it is beyond the realms of acceptable language to be used by a leader of a country, especially the President of the United States, who is, after all, is the leader of the free world supposed to be the Leader of the Free World. These allegations that the Republicans, that Trump Supporters, have lost an election because of “voter fraud,” and that it was stolen by the Democrats, are wrong, and need to stop. Any politician, and any senior or authoritative figure who is repeating these claims, do not support democracy or the freedom of the American People. Instead, they beleive in the Freedom of Hatred, and that only.
These political figures who are these self-proclaimed political & democratic “fighters”, and that includes people such as Republican Senator for Texas, Ted Cruz, don’t support your freedom. They support “freedom” for a select few, usually themselves. That is why they beleive in this freedom of hatred. These people “beleive” and support the Second Amendment’s Right to Bear Arms not for your protection or the protection of American ideals, but for the protection of their rights, and their ideals. They beleive in these freedoms and these rights on the grounds that they can kill and they can intimidate people by enforcing what they beleive are their rights. I will reiterate; they do not care about your rights, they only care about their rights. They did not care that 81 million Americans voted for President-Elect Biden; they only care about the fact that 74 million Americans voted for President Trump. They only “care” about the First Amendment’s right to the Freedom of Speech when it supports their speech and their ideas; they do not support your opposition to that speech, or speech which disagrees with their viewpoint. In fact, they hate that kind of speech. This speech is usually only protected by them so that they beleive they have the right to hate upon others, and to defame them. They beleive in taking people’s rights away. These are people’s rights to choose, people’s rights to privacy. They only beleive this to enforce their ideals, and so that they can incite and inspire further hatred. They only care about making people suffer. They beleive in the right to supress other people’s rights; that is so that they can enforce their ideals, and their ideology, upon the people of the United States. That is not freedom, and that is not democracy. They are not fighting for the Constitution, they are fighting against it.
There is no right in the Constitution of the United States of America to intimidate another person.
There is no right in the Constitution of the United States of America to tell another person that their voice is not equal, their vote is not equal (or invalid), and that they, as citizens of the United States, are not equal.
These people are not upholding the Constitution. These people do not know what the Constitution stands for.
In response to yesterday’s tragedy, I have seen calls to invoke the 25th Amendment. At this stage, I am unsure as to whether this is the right thing to do, both legally, and logically. Prima Facie, it seems the most logical step, as it reduces the power of “President” Trump to only be a ceremonial role, and gives Vice President Pence the power to make Presidential decisions, at least until the time that President-Elect Biden will be inaugorated. However, in the light of yesterday’s events, and analysing the political uncertainty and instability of the United States at present, I would be scared that invoking the 25th Amendment, and / or proceeding with impeachment proceedings against “President” Trump and the Senators and Representatives who challenged the certification of the election, as well as called for these protests, riots, and violence, will incite and inspire further acts of violence, and compromise our democracy further, as well as the lives of many citizens of the United States, regardless of who they are or what position they are in right now. We need peace. We need security. We need to uphold our democracy. In a perfect world, I would be calling for impeachment, and the 25th Amendment to be followed; in a perfect world, these events would not have happened, nor would I be scared of further violence erupting as a result. There is less than 2 weeks left until President-Elect Biden becomes President Biden. It will be a long and painful 2 weeks, but we need to pull through this and be strong. Yes, impeachment is ideal, and quite frankly, “President” Trump needs to be stripped of his title as well as imprisoned for his actions of yesterday alone (let alone the other offences which he may be responsible for), but right now we are not in an ideal situation, but an uncertain and fragile one. Our priority is safety, regardless of its cost.
The Autonomous Lawyer 