OPINION:
More than 750 historians have signed on to a public letter advocating for the impeachment and ultimately, removal of President Donald Trump.
What’s next — Janitors Against Trump? Students United For Impeachment?
Honestly, we’ve been down this road, group by group, for years now.
First came the partisans; the politicians. Then came the psychologists; the psychiatrists. Now? Now come the historians. Call it the attack of the intelligentsia. As shared by the nonprofit advocacy organization, Project Democracy.
“It is our considered judgment,” the scholarly types wrote in a letter posted by Protect Democracy and reported at The Hill, “that if President Trump’s misconduct does not rise to the level of impeachment, then virtually nothing does.”
Among the signers?
Jon Meacham, famed biographer of the presidents, and Douglas Brinkley, author and professor of history. Ken Burns, one of America’s leading filmmakers, also jotted his name along the dotted line.
“Trump’s numerous and flagrant abuses of power … Trump’s lawless obstruction of the House of Representatives,” they wrote — it’s all fitting of what Alexander Hamilton would describe as the behavior of an “unscrupulous demagogue.”
The letter comes on the heels of another Protect Democracy campaign just a few days ago that saw 500-plus law professors signing a similar petition. In that note, the lawyers argued there was “overwhelming evidence” of Trump’s betrayal of his oath of office, and that impeach, impeach, impeach was the only proper course of action.
Well and good.
Fine and dandy.
Scholars, lawyers, historians — psychologists and janitors, students and more — share the common denominator of possessing the very American right to express their opinions, to petition for grievances, to speak loudly and clearly both for and against the government.
But just one question: Wouldn’t it be better if the opinions stemmed from fact?
The clue of the skew here can be found in Project Democracy’s very name. America is a republic — a democratic republic, to be more specific. But never a democracy.
The founders hated democracies.
“The Founding Fathers Never Intended To Create a Direct Democracy,” HuffPost.com wrote in 2016.
“Why James Madison Hated Democracy,” Mises Wire wrote in 2017.
“Why the Founding Fathers Despised Democracy,” Townhall wrote in 2018.
You’d think historians would know that.
If they’re arguing for Trump’s impeachment, it seems odd to align with a group that at root is counter to America’s very governing system.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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