Cold War
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the United States, were poised to launch nuclear Armageddon. The theory that “kept the peace” was a concept called “Mutual Assured Destruction”. The idea was that, no matter how devastating the nuclear attack one nation might launch on the other, the opponent’s response would be equally as disastrous. Total destruction of both sides was “assured”. No wonder the acronym was “MAD”.
The organization of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, founded by Einstein, Oppenheimer and many others fresh from the Manhattan Project, really knew best what the outcome of “MAD” would be. To illustrate the point, they established the “Doomsday Clock” in 1947, representing how close the world was to manmade total devastation; “midnight”. The first “clock” was seven minutes to midnight. The farthest away from midnight was at the end of the Cold War in 1991, seventeen minutes to midnight. The closest it’s been to “midnight”, is right now, at 89 seconds.
Why so dangerous? The world today is incredibly unstable. Russia threatens nuclear response if the West intervenes “too much” in Ukraine. North Korea continues to build intercontinental ballistic missiles to carry their existing nuclear warheads. India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, are on the edge of conflict. China continues both political and military expansionism, including the ongoing threat to Taiwan. And the Middle East remains unstable, with Israel a known nuclear power, and Iran and perhaps others working to have their own “bomb”.
The Mutually Assured Destruction of the Cold War no longer holds nations in check. And the United States is totally distracted by its own internal conflict.
Democracy’s Clock
We are on a different kind of clock. This one ticks away the seconds of Democracy. What does “midnight” represent on this timepiece? The end of the US Constitutional “experiment”, started in 1788. The removal of the very rights that caused the American Revolution in 1776. And when will the “bell toll” for American Democracy? On November 3rd, 2026 and on January 4th, 2027, if the United States fails to have a free and fair election.
There is a “revolution” going on right now, one occurring under the “color” of law. The President is claiming extraordinary powers “under” the Constitution, and no other branch of government is standing up to his extra-legal actions. The Supreme Court already granted full immunity to the President himself. They look to Congressional powers to “check and balance” the Executive. But Congress continues to accede to every Presidential demand, and allows him full rein in his actions.
The Revolution
Does this look familiar?
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers (*extra-legal executive orders).
- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance (*ICE).
- He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures (*National Guard).
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power (*National Guard).
- For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: (*ICE and National Guard).
- For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: (*Tariffs).
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: (*Tariffs, Health Insurance increases).
- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: (*ICE detention).
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences (*ICE removal).
*Examples of Trump Administration actions
These are some of the actions that Thomas Jefferson noted in the Declaration of Independence. In 1776 these actions also were done “under the color of law”, the sovereign right of the monarch, King George III of Great Britain. Americans rejected these as violating the “self-evident rights” of all persons. Here we are again.
Standing for Democracy
The governors of some of the states are standing up against the “quartering of troops”. California, Oregon and Illinois are fighting in the lower courts to keep the Federalized National Guard from coming into their states without their consent. And the lower Courts are standing with the states, against the President. But that’s no guarantee; the right-wing cabal on the Supreme Court might still choose to support the “unitary executive” principle, much like the “sovereign right of kings” we fought against in the Revolution.
The President faced huge scrutiny for asking the Secretary of State of Georgia to find 11,780 votes for him to turn the 2020 election. But today, when the President demands of Republican state Governors that they create districts slanted to elect more Republican Congressmen, it’s all “business as usual”.
And when those same Republican states move to restrict voting, making it more difficult to maintain the right to vote, it goes almost unnoticed.
Due process and free speech rights were first denied to foreign students legally in the United States. Then those rights were denied to undocumented migrants whose sole crime was to be “without papers”. Now, the Attorney General of the United States declared that ICE should “crackdown”, not only on the undocumented, but on legitimate protests against ICE actions.
And the President is using the regulatory powers granted to his office by the Congress, to control the free speech of broadcasters and political opponents. Is that “legal”? It might be. But it is certainly Un-American, a clear violation of the intent of the First Amendment.
Midnight
The clock is ticking. The hands are growing closer to midnight. The America we thought was inevitable, the result of Manifest Destiny, Reagan’s “Shining city on the hill”, is not just at risk. It is slipping away, perhaps already gone. The last, best chance of saving America is a free and fair election in 2026, to replace the existing Congressional majority with one that will stand up for Congressional power, and the American people.
If we fail to achieve that goal, the clock will be at midnight. The destruction of our democracy will be assured. We need action to hold onto the vestiges of the Constitution, to maintain the last freedoms with have. Our last chance is to speak up with our words and our ballots. The American experiment is up for grabs.
Time is short.
