The Pretender
America has never had a pretender before. Pretenders were regular features of European monarchies. In monarchies the government, called the Crown, was the personal property of the king. It passed from father to son or, rarely, to his daughter.
In America, we have a Republic. The term “republic†derives from the Latin phrase “res publica.†The phrase means “public thing.†Our government is a public institution, not a piece of personal property. The people, not God, select our government.
The Founding Fathers choose a Republic over a monarchy because the historical evidence showed that people secure the blessings of liberty and prosperity better than kings. In kingdoms, the heirs often squabbled over the throne. The loser would act as a pretender, undermining the security and prosperity of the people.
The Founders didn’t have to look far into their own history to find a disruptive pretender. During the Eighteenth Century, the Jacobites provided a constant source of irritation to the English. These sore losers sought to restore the Stuarts to “their house.†The English Parliament had driven the Stuarts off the throne twice because of mismanagement.
America only experienced this type of “pretending†once in its history. In 1860 America voters elected Abraham Lincoln, a man hostile to slavery. Every state accepted that Lincoln won the Presidency. In response, however, a minority of sore losers decided to secede from the United States of America.
The Confederates invoked the favor of “Almighty God†and built a new government around the cornerstone of white supremacy. They might have succeeded at dividing the country, but they made a fateful error. They attacked the United States of America.
Every school child learns that America won. The costs, however, of that uncivil war was brutal. Six hundred thousand Americans died because one side lost an election. They betrayed our country’s values. They betrayed the Republic.
Today, some Republicans are begging their leader to accept his loss. Republicans in Georgia counted the votes THREE times. Joe Biden won every time. The Pretender cannot accept reality.
America has never had a Pretender before. Pretenders are dangerous. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperge begged his leader to “quell the violent rhetoric being born out of his continuing claims of winning the states where he obviously lost.†The pretender has not stopped pretending.
Sowing these seeds of violent division couldn’t come at a worst time. Nearly three thousand Americans are dying every day. A true American leader would rally everyone to save lives, not focus on himself.
What do you want written in the history books? Will you support the Republic or the Pretender? Reality or denial? Your choice will write the history of America. What will you do for your country?
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