Liberty or Tyranny: Our Choices on the 249th Anniversary of Our Independence

In the Declaration of Independence these words stand out. “A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

I cannot think of an American President who these were more pertinent to, then Donald Trump. He is the man who Alexander Hamilton warned us in his words and in the Federalist Papers.

“Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.”

From the beginning of his campaign in 2015 the President has been nothing more than a demagogue, charlatan, and compulsive liar. Additionally, he has shown contempt for the Constitution, the laws, and the institutions of this country in such a myriad of ways it is hard to list them all here. During his hiatus of power following his defeat in 2020 and his attempted coup on 6 January 2021, Trump remained a demagogue, charlatan, and compulsive liar. He has remained since his reelection and inauguration, but he has become a tyrant of the worst kind, exactly as Hamilton said.

When I retired from the military in December 2020, during which time I was an Assistant Professor at the Joint Forces Staff College of the National Defense University where I taught Ethics and led the Gettysburg Staff Ride, I started teaching high school history. That is a good thing because I spend time dealing with Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. By teaching I have relearned all the things that I learned about these documents that I learned decades ago, and with each passing year have been able to impress their importance to my students. Since the inauguration my urgency teaching became much greater. The discussion of Articles 1-3 of the Constitution, which are now obliterated, and the Bill of Rights which are rapidly disappearing.

Frederick Douglass understood the importance of the Declaration even as white Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line crafted compromises that left blacks in slavery, and gave unfettered access for slave owners to go to Free States to recover their human property. In 1852 he wrote:

“I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”

It is that ring bolt and it must be understood in its universal application and people in the United States and in countries which have embraces some portions of the concept and fight for it, otherwise it could be lost. Harry Truman noted this danger in 1952 when he said:

“We find it hard to believe that liberty could ever be lost in this country. But it can be lost, and it will be, if the time ever comes when these documents are regarded not as the supreme expression of our profound belief, but merely as curiosities in glass cases.”

Conservative commentator George Will rightly understood in 2019 that the situation was tenuous.

“The equilibrium of James Madison’s constitutional architecture is currently in disarray, with congressional anemia enabling presidential imperiousness, the architecture was designed to “secure” — the crucial verb in the Declaration’s second paragraph — the natural rights the Declaration affirms.”

That architecture has gone from disarray to destroyed, as aided by the Supreme Court Trump has become a dictator, something he promised to be after his election in 2024. Between the power hungry MAGA/GOP Congress which craves the approval of Trump more than their oaths to the Constitution, and the lives of the people that they represent, and the Supreme Court which as in Trump v. United States and Trump v. CASA has effectively placed Trump above the law. Between Congress and the Court they have given Trump the power to make his word, his command, his order, the law. It is what I described in my first article today, the Führerprinzip.

Madison noted: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

That is the case this Independence Day. We are now called not to completely lose faith in the American experiment, but to fight for the founding principles and the Constitutional protections and rights against a tyrant. Jefferson noted that “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” While in no way do I suggest that we resort to violence, but we need to use every other method of resistance, even if it means that Trump’s Gestapo uses violence against us.

We cannot forget the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in his last public speech before his assassination.

“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like any man, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Today I proclaim, let freedom ring even when we are surrounded by the violence of the rich, even as tyrants try to crush freedom, even when the lawless proclaim their leader’s words the law. If liberty still lives in our hearts we must fight for it. As Samuel Adams told the people unwilling to rise up against the tyranny of King George III in 1776, I say to those too cowardly to resist:

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom - go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

Until tomorrow. Remember what liberty is, remember freedom, and remember the cost that was paid by Americans from 1776 on to secure and expand it.