I wrote this commentary on the evening of January 6th, a day that left me feeling saddened, concerned and confused. I was drawn to the wise words of President Theodore Roosevelt, words I’ve often given thought to since Donald Trump entered the political arena nearly a decade ago.
In his address to Congress in 1903, Roosevelt said this: No man is above the law and no man is below it, nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. His words still ring true today.
It’s truly ironic that Roosevelt, our nation’s 26th president, died on January 6th, 1919—102 years to the day that Trump instigated a mob to attack the Capitol to overturn the free and fair election that ended his first term in office. I imagine, given Teddy’s attitude about the supremacy of law over us all—regardless of economic status or office—that he must have been spinning in his grave.
And, undoubtedly, his spinning doubled in speed when Congress certified Trump as the 47th president of the United States on January 6th, 2025.
As I said, that was a day of many emotions for me. As one who has studied and taught constitutional law, I am appalled that Congress ignored the explicit wording of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which bars anyone who has taken up arms against the government from ever serving in public office.
Sure, there are questions as to whether this rule applies to Trump. But there’s no question that Trump was impeached in 2021 for inciting an insurrection and indicted in 2023 for working to overturn the 2020 election results. Last year, a Colorado court found that Trump engaged in insurrection and that Section 3 applied to him.
From Republican Party leaders we got deafening silence—a far cry from the days after the January 6th insurrection, when so many of them spoke so eloquently and so passionately to condemn Trump and reject any future role for him in the party and national politics.
And now, those few Republicans able to muster enough moxie meekly suggest caution—or worse, their support—when Trump vows to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. In a brazen rejection of reality, Trump refers to the attack as fiction, to January 6th as “day of love” and to the convicted—who desecrated the Capitol and attacked police officers with flags and fists—as hostages.
Incredibly, it’s possible that some insurrectionists may be guests of Congressional Republicans at Trump’s inauguration—undoubtedly the same Trump toadies who cheered when Vice President and former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris— bravely and without bitterness—announced the results of the 2024 election.
How many of those Republicans gave any thought to how they fled for their lives on this day four years ago? How many wondered how they will explain their actions to generations to come—generations that may well never know a fully functioning democracy in this nation because of them?
Near my home in Schoharie County, one of my neighbors proudly displays a Trump 2024 flag with the subscript Save America Again. I wonder what that means to that family. How did Trump save our nation? The one crisis he faced – COVID – left over 300,000 dead. In propagating the myth that he actually won in 2020, he rejected the rule of law, his constitutional duties and his subservience to the will of the American people.
When he couldn’t convince the courts to buy his BS, he instigated a mob to intimidate—or hang in the case of Vice President Mike Pence— anyone in Congress who dared to do their duty. That’s who was certified as our next president. That’s who over 70 million Americans voted for on November 5th.
Some say that we should look forward and not dwell in the past. Others want to deny the past or remake it. I have always taken to heart this piece of wisdom: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Democracies die when citizens allow or encourage a despot to take power. Reelecting a man who violated his oath of office in his first term as president is the height of recklessness. I for one will not be able to stomach watching him take that oath again. Why would any of us? He didn’t mean it last time and he surely doesn’t mean it this time.
I end this commentary where I began, with President Roosevelt. In that same 1903 message to Congress, he wrote: Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor. We have every right to expect and demand that our leaders respect the Constitution and the rule of law.
Yet this right is endangered now more than at any time in our nation’s history. Once Trump is inaugurated, I hope Americans pay close attention to what the 47th president and his gang of billionaires and sycophants do.
For if they do what I believe they intend to do, God help our republic. God help us all.
Dr. Fred Kowal is President of the 35,000 member United University Professions, which represents faculty on 29 New York State Campuses. UUP is an affiliate of NYSUT, The American Federation of Teachers, The National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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