Drawn on March 3, 2024 | Published from Miami |
“If once elected, and at a second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government, be supported by the states voting for him, especially if they are the central ones lying in a compact body themselves and separating their opponents: and they will be aided by one nation of Europe, while the majority are aided by another."
— Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Maddison, December 20, 1787
(Interesting. Last I checked, Russia is loosely considered "one nation of Europe." )
French and American history converges rather frequently. In 1785, Thomas Jefferson, co-author of the 1789 Declarations of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, assumed the role of United States ambassador to France. This was a pivotal 4-year tenure when diplomatic relations between America and Europe were critical to supporting the ambitions of the fledgling United States and France's eventual abolishment of the Bourbon monarchy. Reflecting on his diplomatic experiences, Jefferson's insights, as expressed in his letter to James Madison, provide a compelling framework through which challenges to contemporary democracy can be examined.
Be abundantly warned America. Were one to piggy back on Jefferson's comments and, through an 18th Century lens, explore the denouement to his hypothesis in modern day America, the mural depicting such a climax may suffer from liberal over-saturations of red.
Last time a death cult took control of France's very first democracy, their "incorruptible" leader, the egomaniacal theocrat Maximilien Robespierre, reluctantly donated his head to the guillotine to satiate the wailing crowd's hunger for retribution against his fascist Reign of Terror (1793 to 1794). This gruesome conclusion came after his unsuccessful attempt at suicide, driven by the fear of humiliation from this same zealous mob. In what could be joked as the most extreme case against never letting your fans meet their hero — whether it be Robespierre, Hussein, or Kadhafi — there is a moral to the story: Revolutions spare not their martyrs.
Vive la... Well, you get the idea.