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| Founding Fathers and the Constitution |
Back in 1789, when the
representatives of the thirteen former British colonies got together and
established the United States of America, based upon its newly written
Constitution, they represented the voters in their States. Directly or indirectly, that’s how they got
to Philadelphia. Let’s look at those
voters who sent them there. Generally, to be able to vote in those days, one
had to be a property owner or meet some other restrictive requirements.
As a result, it turned out
that those who did have the right to vote were more or less educated, they were
readers of newspapers and books, conversant with political and economic issues
and able to deal with their conflicts and disagreements in a rational, civil
manner. Hence, those who “elected” the writers of our Constitution, our Founding Fathers, were not the common working men nor farm laborers. The typical citizen of the new nation did not have the right to vote in 1789. But this somewhat elitist body
of voters soon changed.
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| Jackson |
By the time Andrew Jackson was
elected President in 1828, the right to vote had been expanded in almost all
States to include almost all adults (except women and slaves). This far broader electorate was generally
less educated and less familiar with the issues facing the nation than was the
more restricted electorate of earlier years. But politicians like it that way! Emotional appeal of candidates, campaigning and party loyalties became
more crucial in determining the result of elections than knowledge of the issues.
This was the price the country
paid for the expansion of democracy to more and more of its citizens.
If the Founding Fathers of
1789 had been sent to Philadelphia to write a Constitution by an electorate
made up of the kind of voters which existed forty years later, I do not think
we would have ended up with the same Constitution we have today, or perhaps
none at all. I suspect that we would
have gotten a government where the power of the President would have been much
greater that the Founders provided in 1789.
With the strength of a greatly expanded body of less sophisticated voters
backing them, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, and Abraham Lincoln, for example, all
stretched the powers which the Constitution gave to the President far beyond
that which the Founding Fathers contemplated.
This continued through some subsequent presidencies and continues today,
despite efforts by the Legislative branch, and occasionally, the Judicial
branch as well, to limit presidential power, which, particularly in times of
crisis, seems to know no limit.
But let us return to 2019, or
more specifically, to efforts to impeach the President and the 2020 elections.
The testimony and documentation presented in the House Intelligence
Committee’s hearings, based on factual testimony from neutral experts,
unequivocally make it clear that there is more than adequate unchallenged
evidence present to impeach the President of the United States.
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| The 45th President |
Those who oppose impeachment
hang their hats on discredited “fictions,” thoroughly investigated by and
proven wrong by our intelligence services.
In the face of logic and fact, they persist in insisting on the veracity
of what has been repeatedly proven to be wrong.
Stubbornly hanging on to this position, they will unsuccessfully fight
the inevitable Bill of Impeachment which the House will soon pass. They will be more successful in the Senate,
however, where the Republican majority cowers in fear of the losing the votes
of the President’s supporters, who believe any and all lies told in his
defense.
This is what the Founding
Fathers did not anticipate in 1789, that we would have an expanded,
misinformed, electorate which makes up its mind based on campaigning, emotional
appeal and party loyalties rather than knowledge of issues. Hence, the President will be let off by the
Senate. He will get away with his
malfeasance. As it developed during the
nineteenth century, this is the price the country paid, and continues to pay,
for the expansion of democracy to more and more of its citizens.
Yes, there are dangers to
unlimited democracy just as there are dangers to the elitism of the Founding
Fathers. The Constitution which they
devised works to deal with both of these dangers with its balancing act between the
three branches of government, even in the environment of an expanded electorate. We must have faith in it.
This dichotomy will persist in
the 2020 presidential election. One side
will have the facts and truth on its side.
The other will stand firm in denying facts and truth and their votes
will count just as much, even though they are based on a belief, often naïve or
honest, in lies, usually originating with the President.
Make sure your vote counts.
Jack Lippman
