The danger is that we might nominate, even elect, someone with these qualifications
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
That is, someone like this
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| Trump |
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| Drump |
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| Neither |
My point is, as much as 21st Century Americans may still subliminally long to be governed by a Better Quality Lord or Lady Lickbottom, our Constitution plainly sets the qualification bar no higher than their own Everyman selves.
It can do that because no part of our constitutional republic is important unto itself - least of all a One as chief executive. Rather, our constitutional republic itself is the only important thing, as a system where the whole holds every single element within it in imminent check mate.
Or at least that's the theory.
Things break down, though, when the other elements of the system, beginning with the electorate, start deferring or outsourcing their responsibilities. When we, instead of being conservative (or, hell, liberal) ourselves, start looking, not for someone to legally implement our individual conservatism, but rather for someone to vicariously be conservative in our stead.
When our Legislative, in order to not risk looking bad in media, abrogates its responsibilities to the Executive.
Or when the Judicial, deferring to the Legislative, abrogates its own, separate responsibilities to maintain a constitutional separation of powers.
That's when Caesar becomes poised to take the stage, and the only thing worse than the other guy's Caesar is the one we yearn for ourselves.
So don't fear Trump becoming President, or Drump, or even me. Fear instead your own passive acquiescence into letting any one of us - or you - become a One.
How Drump manages to maintain the permanent Bert-from-Sesame-Street bed-head hairdo and why he'd want to are are complete mysteries to me.
ReplyDeleteHear hear.
ReplyDeleteIt seems far too many in this election cycle are demanding their own dictator, to counteract the dictator that the other team elected the last two times around. That's evident not only from the Trumpkins , but also the utter failure of Rick Perry's message that he wanted "to make Washington DC as inconsequential in your lives as possible" -- that and my $25 got him the first ticket out of the presidential race.
I fear for the Nation should either Trump or Hillary be elected. The result in either case would be a larger and more powerful central government.
PS: If you really want to get scared, read the comboxes on any Breitbart story that mentions Trump (or any other candidate, for that matter). Yikes.
Friends of mine who are moderate independents whose opinions I respect are using Trump's success in the polls to bash the entire GOP ("The GOP has lost its SOOOOOOOUL!!") It's unfair, obviously, but these people are the types who appreciate the reasoned and reasonable rhetoric of Marco Rubio or Carly Fiorina or Rand Paul. Even when they disagree.
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