Our government structure, rule of law works

There’s a famous quote, somewhat mangled, that deserves mention here: “In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” And its provenance is also mangled — attributed to Thomas Jefferson; to Alexis de Tocqueville, and to a number of other quote-thieves, including, of all people, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

I first saw the quote in Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, ’72.” So, for the moment, we’ll assume he said it, if not first, then eventually.

Hunter wrote in the middle of a crisis time for the U.S. and his prognosis was depressingly negative. For the United States, it was a time of great division: partisan, cultural, and social. The early 1970s were marked by the end of the long wars in Southeast Asia, economic hardship, and the political manipulation and corruption of then-President Richard Nixon.

Many, from both sides of the divide, bemoaned the end of the American republic. But we spoke too soon. The system righted itself. With the aid of reasoning and dedicated people from both the left and from the right, the Constitution took over, insanity was halted, and the Constitutional structure itself set things right.

Thompson wrote: “… what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers …  Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”

Last Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was indicted for the third time — this time by a Federal Grand Jury — for trying to overturn an honest election. He is accused of acting illegally, unconstitutionally and with the clear malicious knowledge of his own treachery. His first two indictments were for lying about documents he’d hoarded and for payoffs to silence an affair potentially embarrassing to his presidential campaign efforts. Both are currently in the courts but not yet at trial.

Those first two involve actions he tried to keep from the public eye but this last set of charges involve events we all lived through. I don’t need to detail the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the images of organized demonstrators, many believing they had been yanked into action by the sitting president, violently storming the Capitol to try to throw out the election. To void the vote of the people of the United States. To overthrow the government. People died.

As Peter Baker of the New York Times wrote, the central question raised by the current indictment is, can a sitting president "spread lies about an election and try to employ his government’s power to overturn the will of the voters without consequence?” The answer is an emphatic “no.”

That bill has come due – more than 1,000 who broke into the House and Senate offices that day were arrested and nearly 300 have received prison terms so far. They have been held accountable for what they did. Now, Mr. Trump faces the same process. He is innocent until proven otherwise. The system he is accused of trying to destabilize will weigh the evidence and determine his guilt or innocence.

While we do not know the outcome of legal proceedings, the critical item here is to recall, contrary to Thompson’s dire condemnation, what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country is.

As we continue to emerge from the angst of the past few years, we should, as always, remember this: For over 230 years, we have, as a people, worked to preserve, change, and enhance this republic – and we have gotten the government we deserve. The system works.

Bruce Anderson is the Dr. Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay Jr. Endowed Chair in American History, Government, and Civics and Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Florida Southern College.  He is also a columnist for The Ledger.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Our government structure, rule of law works