The history told here is meant to illuminate the difficulty of ridding a democracy of a militant demagogue—not to recommend the method adopted by the Roman Senate in 439 BCE
This is a story that has a lot do with the world we live in today. Although the demagogue is not the same, and we can not appoint a dictator in the United States to deal with it, the moral still stands; an example must be made. We must do as they did and make sure that there is a strong example for future generations. A strong example of a demagogue and how he/she was dealt with.
Because a friend told me that I should do more to clarify my categorical nonviolent beliefs about demagogues and democracy, I changed the last paragraph of this piece from:
"In our own more peaceful and domesticated times, we hope that the constitutional rule of law—in New York, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.—will serve the same purpose in the case of Donald J. Trump, the first full-blown demagogue in our history to ascend to Oval Office."
To:
"Today in the United States, we deplore political violence of any and all kinds. We live by the rule of law—pure and simple. In our peaceful and domesticated times, we hope that the rule of law—in New York, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.—will serve the purpose of sparing our democracy further insult and injury by Donald J. Trump, the first full-blown demagogue in our history to ascend to Oval Office."
Wow - just insanity. Scary that you would write such a thing. It speaks to an irrational obsession based on emotional outrage and ignores logic or justice. This violent rhetoric has been the meat of the Left for years (aka Mao, Stalin, Chavez, Castro, et al) but I'd hoped for better from Americans. I guess I was wrong.
This is a story that has a lot do with the world we live in today. Although the demagogue is not the same, and we can not appoint a dictator in the United States to deal with it, the moral still stands; an example must be made. We must do as they did and make sure that there is a strong example for future generations. A strong example of a demagogue and how he/she was dealt with.
Because a friend told me that I should do more to clarify my categorical nonviolent beliefs about demagogues and democracy, I changed the last paragraph of this piece from:
"In our own more peaceful and domesticated times, we hope that the constitutional rule of law—in New York, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.—will serve the same purpose in the case of Donald J. Trump, the first full-blown demagogue in our history to ascend to Oval Office."
To:
"Today in the United States, we deplore political violence of any and all kinds. We live by the rule of law—pure and simple. In our peaceful and domesticated times, we hope that the rule of law—in New York, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.—will serve the purpose of sparing our democracy further insult and injury by Donald J. Trump, the first full-blown demagogue in our history to ascend to Oval Office."
Wow - just insanity. Scary that you would write such a thing. It speaks to an irrational obsession based on emotional outrage and ignores logic or justice. This violent rhetoric has been the meat of the Left for years (aka Mao, Stalin, Chavez, Castro, et al) but I'd hoped for better from Americans. I guess I was wrong.