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Diego Gonzalez of Springvale served as an officer in the U. S. Navy.
Among the many memorable things Ben Franklin said or wrote is the line: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
John F. Kennedy, too, spoke and wrote notable statements like: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
Great words can outlive their authors. And they are great because they find the core of the matters at hand, even when we who only hear or read them are not yet aware of the true depth contained in their phrases.
Abraham Lincoln, too, on demanding occasions searched for and found words that viscerally captured moments: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
These words, these statements in three different moments in U.S. history each makes reference to the rare experiment we Americans have undertaken. Each is a reminder that when there is no dominating ruler of a people, every one of us has a role in forging the success of what we consider our nation. These famous words define — although from somewhat differing perspectives — the nature of a democratic republic.
Those of us living in the United States today have likely never experienced another system of government than our constitutional democratic form. On a daily basis, it is easy to forget that we (“the People”) are the power behind the government. Our pledge is to the republic, not to a ruler or party. In 1776 that was a unique notion in the world. And there were few roadmaps for the notion beyond an Athenian effort that had ended about 2,100 years before and a Roman one ending 1,799 years earlier. In 1776, however, representation of citizens through elected officials in a legislature was the underlying basic structure of governing.
We are once again in crisis. In the guise of democratic process, all loyalty in the Republican Party stems from the person now holding the national presidency. Republican politicians at every level must show themselves loyal to one person, Donald Trump. As such, their representation must be filtered through that test of fealty; this is much the same as in the period of the American Revolution when colonial governors from England represented King George III and not the colonists in America. A system in which one person calls all the shots is not the vision contained either in our Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States.
Today, I believe there is only one remaining recourse for this country as a democratic republic. The people must speak out. By protest, certainly. But also by standing behind those legislators brave enough to speak honestly for us. Rather than asking what our elected officials will do for us, we can let those officials know that we will stand with them. We can hang together to show the solidarity of those who take our roles as the power in democracy seriously. We can continue to believe in the dreams of our ancestors that as humans we are equally deserving of hope and justice.
The challenge is on the table: Will it be rule by one or rule by us all? Compromise or edict?
People ask “Why don’t Democrats do something?” As the minority party in Congress, Democrats are extraordinarily limited. More people than not want to keep the flame of democratic hope that has burned this past 250 years. Standing up, standing out, and uniting behind those representatives and voices holding the line in this struggle for a just, compassionate society is how we can honor Franklin, Kennedy, and Lincoln.
Fear can be contagious, but so can courage. United, we can ensure, as Lincoln said, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
