The creator of Netflix’s “House of Cards” series on Friday tweeted out a “Declaration of Resistance” against Donald Trump patterned after the Declaration of Independence that charges the president with “pursuing the establishment of an absolute Tyranny” and calling for his impeachment.
“DECLARATION OF RESISTANCE When in the course of American history it becomes necessary for the people to save our Nation from a Tyrant,” Beau Willimon began.
In the first four of his subsequent tweets, the screenwriter and playwright built up to a call for impeaching Mr. Trump: “To safeguard equality for all and their inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness from bigotry and corruption, To ensure that our Government continues derive its power from the consent of the governed rather than by autocracy, That whenever any President becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to make such demands upon their Congress: Immediate impeachment of the President for crimes committed, or removal from office by way of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.”
Mr. Willimon appears to be referring to the 4th section of the 25th Amendment, which provides a mechanism whereby the vice president and the Cabinet can declare a president to “be unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and temporarily invest the vice president with his powers as acting President of the United States.
“Donald J. Trump has conducted injuries and usurpations, pursuing the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States,” Mr. Willimon wrote. “To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world,” he added, listing 15 separate charges before moving to his conclusion.
“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,” Mr. Willimon complained. “We shall Resist until our Congress uses the mechanisms afforded to by the Constitution to remove this Tyrant from Power. And for the support of this Declaration we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Honor. Signed. The Resistance.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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