If you’re a Mel Brooks fan, you know the title of today’s post comes from History of the World, Part I (1981) in which Brooks plays a series of historical figures from Moses to King Louis XVI of France.  In this last portrayal, Brooks is surrounded by a number of young, buxom courtiers who submit to the King’s advances.  Breaking the fourth wall, Brooks continuously turns to the camera and reminds us, “It’s good to be the King.”

The above title was actually my third choice.  This post was originally going to be called Citizen Trump with the message being any common citizen, having behaved as Donald Trump, would have become a social outcast, relieved of his professional responsibilities and possibly been awaiting trial.  Just imagine the CEO of any American electronics company offering to save a Chinese competitor (a la ZTE) which had been charged with previously stealing the firm’s intellectual property or engaged in espionage.  The response by the Board of Directors can be summed up in one word, “ADIOS.”  Or imagine that same CEO promised to reverse years of fiscal irresponsibility only to reduce revenues by billions of dollars and further leverage an already over-leveraged portfolio. A shareholder revolt would be the least violent response.  Or imagine the CEO using corporate legal counsel to  arrange payment to silence a porn star with whom he had a one-night stand.  I could go on, but you get the picture.

My second choice for the title was, “Hey, What About Me?”  The ME in this headline refers to the Declaration of Independence.  Much has been made over the past week about Trump’s lack of understanding of our Constitution, a theme which first emerged when Gold Star parent Khizr Khan, during a speech at the 2016 Democratic Convention, asked Trump if he had ever read the document.  Since then, many have been quick to point out the Constitution lays out the ideals on which our Nation was found.   Checks and balances.  The Bill of Rights.  I disagree.  It is a manual or playbook which describes the parameters by which we are supposed to operate.  Remember, the Constitution was adopted in 1789, a full 13 years after the colonists rebelled against the Crown.

The controlling document is the one signed on July 4, 1776.  All one has to do is read the grievances against George III contained in the Declaration to fully understand how much the current White House occupant is the antithesis of what the founding fathers expected of the leaders of this new nation.  The colonists’ revolt was not against George III as a person (despicable as he may have been), it was against a fallacy, the divine right of kings, the doctrine that kings derive their authority from God, not from their subjects.  From the Declaration, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”  Even if everyone has rights “endowed by their Creator,” the power to govern is not one of those divine rights.

Consider the following specific grievances (in italics) against “the present King of Great Britain” based on actual experience. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”  And as you read each outrage, simply substitute Trump for George III

• He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.  Take your choice.  Nepotism.  Violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.  Eroding guarantees embraced in the First Amendment.  Using public position for personal gain.
• He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.  Despite the call by John McCain and others to return to the “regular order of business,”  Trump with the consent of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan obfuscate long-held procedures for the consideration of legislation.
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. I see no need to pile on.  Jefferson said it all.
• He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws.  Russia, Russia, Russia.
• For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.  Breaking trade agreements and imposing tariffs by executive caveat.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us.  Welcome to the culture wars.
• AND FINALLY.  In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.  Those who disagree with our current King are labeled unpatriotic or falsely accused of dishonoring our military.  Ask any Philadelphia Eagle.

This is the soul and heartbeat of America.  And the colonists who signed the Declaration were as divided on many issues as much or more than the divisions within today’s American populace.  Yet, they put their differences aside to send a clear message to the Crown. It is time we do the same.  It is imperative we remind any of our leaders who think they are royalty that perhaps it may not be so good to be the King or Queen.

POSTSCRIPT

If you buy into the above, then perhaps you understand why I have always shared New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s opinion Bill Clinton should have resigned as president after disclosure of the Monica Lewinsky affair.  Substitute the term “intern” for “courtier” and Clinton becomes the 20th century reincarnation of Mel Brooks’ Louis XVI.  And just as I chose to suggest the consequences of Trump’s behavior should be no different than that of a private citizen running a public corporation, Clinton deserves the same comparison.  How long would the CEO of any major company survive if it was known he was partaking of oral sex from an intern, especially while talking on a phone about a issue which could determine the company’s future?  (Historical Footnote: Lewinsky told Special Counsel Kenneth Starr that on November 15, 1995, Clinton was on the phone conducting business with a congressman or senator while she pleasured him.)

Yes, that was almost 23 years ago.  But we should not need a #metoo movement to know it was as wrong then as it is now. As our founding fathers so articulated in 1776, “It is good to be the King” only to the extent the governed let him.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP