The United States of America, one of the leading economic and political players on the world stage will, in four years, celebrate 250 years as an independent nation. Last week, the unprecedented search of the private residence of a former president took place, and the ensuing political ramifications might very well alter the preliminary preparations for that important milestone.
On Monday, 8th August, the FBI executed a search warrant on the Mar-a-Lago residence of former US president Donald Trump. The news was broken by Trump himself, who was in New York at the time, with the announcement, “My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
As the news spread like wildfire across America, members of the Republican Party (GOP) without any knowledge as to the reason for the raid, leapt to defend the 45th US president. Besides accusing the Democrats of weaponizing the legal system (an act Trump is more likely to be accused of) they immediately demanded the release of the search warrant. Their wish (which they are probably now regretting) was granted on Friday after the Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had applied to the Courts on Thursday for the unsealing of the warrant and the property receipt of the search, citing substantial public interest in the case.
The disclosure of the warrant and the receipt should have left even the staunchest of Trump’s supporters with a long list of harsh questions. It was revealed that federal agents removed 11 sets of classified information including some marked as top secret and considered among the nation’s most highly sensitive documents which very few persons (who previously underwent very thorough background checks) had access to. The DOJ is investigating Trump for possible violations of three federal laws: the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records. Under the Presidential Records Act (1978), the official records of presidents and vice-presidents are deemed public property, and their preservation is mandated. The law was enacted after president Richard Nixon tried to destroy records following his resignation in 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is responsible for their control and custody.
Trump and his Republican allies’ baseless cries of a witch hunt, the claim of the planting of evidence by the FBI and alluding to previous cooperation with NARA were in keeping with their modus operandi when confounded with damning evidence – deflect and avoid the matter at hand. Most disturbing was the behaviour of Republican members of Congress who ought to know better. Either out of fear (of Trump or for their political future) or just blind loyalty, they refused to accept the fact that highly classified information which should never have left the Oval Office, had been ‘de-classified’ by Trump and questioned the integrity of the FBI. The former president’s continuing irresponsible actions and the refusal of his extensive support base to accept reality have placed the USA at a rather divisive crossroad. The ensuing dire consequences of a previous division created deep-set wounds, which, more than 150 years later, have yet to heal.
On June 16, 1858, at the close of the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous ‘House divided’ speech which focused on slavery and the US Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs Sanford (1857).
“Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention
“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.
“We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.
“Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.
“In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed –
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.
“I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.
“I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
“It will become all one thing, or all the other.
“Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new-North as well as South.”
In 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the USA, the first member of the GOP to achieve the honour. His time in office was marred by the US Civil War of 1861 to 1865, which accounted for at least 650,000 casualties – (recent studies suggest that figure could be as high as 850,000) – more than the total combined American deaths in the two world wars and the Korean War. The highlight of Lincoln’s term in office was the passing of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, the abolition of slavery.
Today, the subject of the divide is rather simply the rule of law, where a former president, who based upon his ever expanding portfolio of legal woes, seems to function as though the country’s laws need not apply to him. Whether it is compromising the nation’s security, coercing state officials to tamper with election results, or encouraging an insurrection, nothing appears to be off limits for his personal agenda. Despite the presentation of convincing evidence of his misdeeds and pathological lying, Trump still, unbelievably commands a large gullible flock, which has demonstrated, as seen on January 6th, 2021, their willingness to do his bidding.
Lincoln’s words still resonate today, even more so, when placed in the context of the fall of the Roman Empire. Augustus Caesar, the man who played the leading role in disrupting Rome’s republic, which had existed for over 400 years, took advantage of the breaking down of the political norms and made himself the first emperor of Rome in 27 BCE. Realising that the population was traumatised by government dysfunction, political violence and land theft, he promised “the rule of law would return.” An autocratic ruler, Augustus rigged elections and assumed complete control over the government. Even as Rome hit a crisis it couldn’t resolve, many voters still subscribed to Augustus’ personality cult, agreeing to his absolute control.
The old adage, the people of a country get the government they deserve, is not without precedent. With the events of January 6th, 2021 still fresh in every one’s memory, the next presidential elections in two years might be the most important in America’s history, as it decides which direction it wishes to pursue: remain a true democracy, or become a country torn asunder by civil disputes and perpetual strife as instigated from the Oval Office in that challenging 2016-2020 term.
