Is the word "all" the most important word in the Declaration of Independence?

 

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were interesting characters. Exactly the type of characters a novelist needs to carry a story. In writing Maelstrom, I had a scene where Lincoln addresses Congress after a recess. (As customary at the time, his address was read by a clerk.) Not much has happened during the recess. Eleven states had seceded from the Union, Fort Sumter had been bombarded and surrendered, a piece of Virginia had been occupied, and Lincoln had exceeded his executive powers to spend unauthorized money, build an army, and suspend habeas corpus among other things.

He desperately needed Congress to backfill behind him.

This was a crucial address. Important for Lincoln and the country. The address was not one of his well-known speeches, but I was struck by the clarity and simplicity of the explanation of why he took these actions.

Lincoln said it was a struggle for maintaining a form of government “whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race of life.”

On the cusp of war, Lincoln repeatedly used the word “all.” He had previously stated that this was the most important word in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence and had reputedly written that word over and over again on pieces of paper.

I cannot think of a loftier goal for government. Perhaps in this age of divisiveness, we should all write the word “all” over and over again.

America is Too Good for Democrats

 

Democrats dislike America. In their minds, it needs to radically change, so they’ve been trying to start a domestic war. Civil, Class, or identity group--it doesn’t matter. Until recently, this has been a cold war with a few hot spots. Democrats are disappointed because past campaigns did not go the way they wanted. Occupy Wall Street did not incite class warfare, Black Lives Matter did not start a race war, and Antifa did not expose a vast cadre of neo-Nazis lurking in the background.

What happened? Why hasn’t their ground game worked? Simple. Americans are not ignorant, selfish, and hateful. That would be projection. The left doesn’t understand their own country. America is too good for them. They remain in their bubbles and safe spaces and view the rest of us as caricatures. They see us as bad people. Democrats believe we’re a bunch of illiterate boobs who can be easily herded in any direction they desire. They’ve swallowed their own demonization narrative hook, line, and sinker.

Democrats had hoped to provoke bad behavior on the right.  With near-absolute control of the media, provocations on the left can be downplayed while any reaction from the right can be relentlessly condemned from rooftops, podiums, and studios. This is a mindless battle fought with self-doubt, fear, and loathing. The emotions of destruction. In their view, they must destroy our nation to save it. To make their quixotic vision a reality, the existing selfish system must be burned to the ground so society can be rebuilt based upon the principles of social justice.

Trump Derangement Syndrome infected the Left because he scrubbed the speed from their nefarious doings and executed an abrupt U-turn. Darn. They had been making such good progress. Trump had to be stopped. Even before inauguration, Democrats rejected Donald Trump as a lawfully elected president. They vowed to resist every policy, every action, and every statement that came from the White House. They spied on his campaign and his administration. The FBI Investigated him at least twice, a special prosecutor tried to find indictable offenses, and Congress did their darndest to find dirt.  Nothing. When the Russia hoax failed to oust him from office, they tried impeachment to no avail. So, they took to insurrection in the streets. Antifa and BLM violence increased until chaos engulfed the entire nation. Street thugs maimed and killed law enforcement officers, destroyed property, and beat on passersby. Under the pretense this was peaceful protest, rioters were loudly cheered on by Democrat office holders and their allies in the media and Hollywood.

Still no civil war. Where were those rednecks? The Left had no choice but to escalate. They brought in a pandemic and hammered fear into every waking moment. They used this fear to redefine how we vote so Democrats could send Trump to the showers. But … no questions, no alternative narratives. All opposition must be squashed, or their flimsy cover stories wouldn’t hold. The first steps were easy. They shut down wrong-thinking on social media, marginalized resistors, removed conservative media's ability to boost their content, and coerced power brokers of every ilk to turn a blind eye. Everyone marched in lockstep.

Not enough. Americans had shown that they could awaken in dire situations. They needed an event. Something so abhorrent that normal people would be thrown into confusion, doubt, and mourning. The right had already shown that they wouldn’t rise to mere taunts, so the only recourse was to lure them into a compromising position.

So Democrats stage-managed an insurrection. Trump demonstrators were invited into the capitol and guided to the inner sanctum. Despite the absence of weapons, little wear on the capitol, and the violence coming from provocateurs and the capitol police, Democrats painted a national picture of an insurrection that came within a hairbreadth of toppling the government. January 6th cemented the departure of Donald Trump. Any questions about the authenticity of the election were dissolved.

All that remained was righting the train and getting it back on track.

Then it all fell apart … again. They forgot President Obama’s warning. “Don't underestimate Joe's ability to (expletive) things up.”

A version of this column was first published on American Thinker