The main concern of Edmund Burke’s political activity – as expressed in his speeches and writings – was the British Constitution – the idea of a constitution in the broad sense, not just a written document.
Now, in his defence of the British Constitution against revolution, it was claimed by his opponents that he was deplorably inconsistent. The argument went so:
- He vigorously defended the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689 – the deposing of Catholic James II and installing his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch Protestant husband William III on the British throne.
2. He was sympathetic to the American revolutionaries – see the American speeches, considered among his best.
2. He denounced the French Revolution as ‘methodising anarchy’ and waged a furious battle against those in the House who supported the French Revolutionaries.
Burke was dismissive in answering the charge of inconsistency. The revolution of 1688-1689 was ‘necessary’ in the highest moral sense because James II threatened to destroy the British Constitution. The same argument applies to the French Revolution. Such a revolution in Britain would have meant the decomposition of its political structure. He argued his position in detail in his masterpieces Reflections on the Revolution in France (1789) and An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs (1791).
His limited defence of the American revolutionaries was based on his claims that the British Government was denying the rights and liberties guaranteed to the British Americans in the British Constitution.
There was no inconsistency. One must see the Constitution in terms of a 360-degree circle with the Constitution in the middle. It can be attacked from all sides. Different means and different arguments are applied in each individual case.
What are the possible charges against President Donald Trump?
- As the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy, he has colluded with the dictator of Russia, thus seriously threatening the rules-based order that has protected the world’s democracies for eighty years against their enemies.
2. He has no mandate to reconcile America with the savage Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. It is beyond his duties as president.
3. In colluding with dictator Vladimir Putin, the leader of the West’s traditional enemy, he has committed treason.
4. In sabotaging the mechanisms of Western defence, he has committed treason.
5. In depicting Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, as a dictator and the originator of the war in Ukraine, he has spread blatant falsehoods that encourage the Russian elite to advance their publicly announced imperial ambitions against the West.
6. In depicting Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, as a dictator and the originator of the war in Ukraine, he has promoted Russian propaganda for the dictator Vladimir Putin.
In conclusion, President Donald Trump has betrayed Americans, America, and the West to its enemies. He undermined the Constitution of the Western World. He is guilty of high treason.
As in the Glorious Revolution, necessity of the highest moral order demands Trump’s removal from the office of president.
As in the Glorious Revolution, the Constitution’s elected representatives are obligated to hold an extraordinary gathering in which the removal is legally declared and a trustworthy replacement from the Republican Party appointed.
As in the Glorious Revolution, the necessary force is to be employed to make effective the legal declaration.