A Republic, if we can keep it.
At the end of the constitutional convention Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said to “Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel, a prominent society figure and the wife of Philadelphia Mayor Samuel Powel, asked Dr. Franklin: Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.”
Not a monarchy but a republic.
Even though the delegates were all men and aristocrats and in many instances slave owners, they agreed that the new form of government in the colonies would be one of, by and for the people with equal justice for all. Putting side the hypocrisy of slave owners committed to equal justice for all, as well as who comprised the “all” - landed gentry - in their minds, the point was that some monarch and associated sycophants would not be the embodiment of the law of the land. The people of the country would not be subject to agents and officers of the monarch seizing them and throwing them in prison or executing them without a trial with jury of their peers.
In short this new land would be governed by the rule of law, not the whims of the king or other nobility.
There would be rules, laws, to which everyone would be subjected, equally. That was and is the basic idea even though the idea, the goal, has not been reached in every instance.
From the time of deciding on a democratic republic until today, there is a sect within the U.S. that holds that the citizenry is not capable of self-rule. We are too stupid; we don’t understand that only through the administration of power can a society long endure.
In short, only a strong ruler can keep a civil society.
At the start of the 21st century, we are again confronted with a collection of very wealthy and powerful men, and a few women, who believe that they can achieve the goal of converting our democratic republic into an aristocracy with a titular head of the government controlled by a cabal of the wealthy. A goal that as been sought for at least 250 years.
Set aside the difficulty of controlling a dictator; for example a mega-narcissist sociopath, such as D. J. Trump.
As is the case with many dictators, Trump is telling us exactly what he would do if he were to become the dictator of U.S.A. He as shown that he as already tried to turn the Department of Justice, the FBI and the IRS into his tools to punish any who oppose his will. He has no concept of public service, only self service and aggrandizement. We the people would become Me and the peons. In place of the rule of law would be the Rule of his excellency the Trump. The sycophants should be particularly concerned of what an omnipotent ruler could do to them as history has shown time and again.
All of us need to be aware of this ongoing attack, back here on Earth 1, where there are such things as facts, truth and lies.