On January 10, 49 BC, Julius Caesar, then just a regional governor, ordered the army under his control to cross the Rubicon River into northern Italy, signaling his attack against the Roman Republic. "The die is cast," he is purported to have said as his Legion XIII crossed the river.
Caesar won the civil war that ensued and appointed himself Dictator perpetuo -- dictator for life. That led, within a year, to his assassination on March 15, 44 BC.
On December 3, 2022, ex-President Donald Trump used his media platform Truth Social to repeat yet again his Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election should be thrown out due to "MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION." He has made that claim so many times that it's hardly worth noting.
This time, however, he went a step farther, adding, "A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great 'Founders' did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!"
In other words, Trump just made an unequivocal call to abrogate not just the 2020 election, but any laws he doesn ´t like, up to and including terminating the US Constitution. In the absence of those laws he would no doubt declare himself the "RIGHTFUL WINNER," and as such feel not just justified but entitled, like Caesar, to rule in perpetuity.
As we saw on January 6, Trump too has his legions, self-appointed "patriots" who take him at his word. They will hear this call as permission or even as an order to ignore any laws that stand in the way of elevating him to be President for life.
The die is cast. Trump has crossed the Rubicon.
In response to Trump's call to arms, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates correctly said, "Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned."
If, as their history to date suggests they will, Republican leaders hedge their bets, dodge the issue, and fail to condemn this call to tear up the Constitution and end the rule of law in the United States, it will be painfully clear what side they are taking in Trump ´s now explicit war against our republic.
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