Subtitle: What Would the Romans do? Foremost among the reasons I despise the democrat party is its destructive nature. It builds nothing; it exists to destroy. In the name of social justice, it corrupts and soils every previously noble institution it comes to dominate. ‘Divide and conquer’ is a tactic as old as warfare, and one which the democrat party puts to skilled use for its nefarious goals. Together with their fellow travelers in the media, they exploit every possible Alinsky distinction in race, wealth, education, gender, and sexual orientation. Keep society back on its heels. Keep various factions at each other’s throats, all the while lying when they profess to bring the nation together.
An objective observer must conclude the purpose of the democrat party is the destruction of the civil society on which republics depend. Do democrats praise public virtue, talent, and patriotism, or do they regard them as mortal sins against social justice? Such is their lust for power, the democrat party would rather oversee an America in decline than be bystanders in a united, prosperous, and happy republic. Their globalist candidate lost, and they are gunning to not only stymie President Trump’s efforts, they intend to remove him from office. As their thinking goes, once President Trump and the GOP are disgraced, the democrat nominee, no matter who he or she is, will stroll into office in 2020. Jimmy Carter wasn’t elected in 1976 because of his presidential qualities; he was elected because he wasn’t a Republican.
As Rush recently related, Leftist outrage over an imaginary Russian ‘hack’ gathered steam right after the election Hillary was supposed to win. Their straightforward purpose is to delegitimize the election of President Trump and cast doubt on his honesty and fitness for office. Again, the democrats’ perceived path to political supremacy is the destruction of all that is good, and since candidate Trump promised to do away with harmful agencies and programs to make America great again, he must be destroyed.
Nothing better illustrates democratic corruption than much of the modern media. The usual newspapers and cable news networks amplified a whisper campaign to undermine President-elect Trump. Through unnamed sources, reliable Left media informed the public that Trump and Putin are close associates and that Trump worked with the Russians to release the John Podesta emails which exposed Hillary’s criminality. For five months, the innuendos festered until FBI chief James Comey testified to congress on March 20th that there was nothing to the spurious allegations . . . but the FBI investigation would continue!
My question: “Should the 1st Amendment protect a whisper campaign designed to topple our republic?” Should freedom of the press supersede national survival? The purpose of shouting about a non-existent fire in a crowded theater isn’t to inform people of danger; it is to cause panic and injury. Not only is this not protected speech, it is a felony. Similarly, shouldn’t the press be held responsible for enabling democrat party whisper campaigns of unsourced accusations? What are the lessons of history?
Republican Rome dealt harshly with those who deceived the public through whisper campaigns intended to stoke popular passions and unrest. In his Discourses on Livy, Niccolo’ Machiavelli relates how the hero of the 390 BC defense of Rome against the Gauls, former consul Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, grew envious of the praise and glory heaped on Furius Camillus. In 386 BC, Camillus led the relief column that, along with some ransom in gold, lifted the siege and saved Rome.
To knock Camillus off his high perch in public esteem, Capitolinus began a whisper campaign. He planted sinister rumors among the plebeians that a portion of the gold ransom was not given to the Gauls. Tensions and taxes were already high in a ruined city with a depleted treasury, and rumors of betrayal and corruption by a member of the senatorial class found fertile ground in the plebeians. As meetings among them grew into disturbances, the senate recognized the dangerous situation and appointed a dictator (Aulus Cornelius Cossus) to investigate. In little time, Cossus identified Capitolinus as the source.
As Capitolinus stood with a threatening group of plebeians, and Cossus was amongst a group of nobles, Cossus confronted him. “Who holds the gold?” he demanded. Capitolinus didn’t respond in detail and stammered instead that everyone knew Camillus was corrupt. The senate determined Capitolinus conspired to overthrow the republic and establish a monarchy. He was condemned to death in 385 BC, and was thrown from the Tarpeian Rock one year later.
Niccolo’ Machiavelli wrote, “Men are publicly indicted before the magistrates, the people and the councils; they are falsely accused in the public squares and under the porticoes.” He drew a couple of lessons that would serve America well today. First, false accusations in free societies, where all citizens are equal before the law, are detestable and horribly corrosive. Second, the flurry of unsourced rumors and accusations fomented by the democrat/media complex against the Trump administration reflect weak institutions incapable of protecting the civil society that republics stand upon. Machiavelli perceived that well-organized republics “allow charges to be made against any citizen . . . without fear and without respect to the individual’s position. After the charge has been made and thoroughly examined, (society) must severely punish those who make false accusations.”
The Trump/Russian hack rumors should have been immediately referred to a Grand Jury. Instead of trusting a corrupt DOJ/FBI dominated by the destructive democrat operatives, or a hapless congressional committee, turn the matter over to fellow citizens. The Grand Jury goes back to medieval times, and is the preferred, standing institution of which Machiavelli spoke. Our survival depends on outing and punishing the instigators of whisper campaigns, the deep democrat moles in government and their media allies.
We are the many; our oppressors are the few. Now, it is our turn. Be proactive. Be a Re-Founder. Join Convention of States. Sign our COS Petition.
Reference: Machiavelli, N. (2008). Discourses on Livy, Translated by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press.