It doesn't matter who you support for president of the United States during the 2024 election.
Whether you stand with Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or a candidate who has to emerge from our time-tested democracy, the idea that a court in an individual state can arbitrarily rule a presidential candidate as ineligible to be on the ballot is a dagger thrust into the heart of our nation.
To be clear, the threat is so grave that, if allowed to stand, it could topple the very foundation of a "united" United States, where individual states would then determine whether they will participate in national elections based on four unelected individuals in black robes to determine for whom we can vote. The U.S. is not Iran, where voters are presented with a "sanitized" slate that has anyone who might disagree with the regime purged from appearing on it.
Even Trump's most vicious opponent, fellow Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, sees the move for what it is. Responding to the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to prevent Trump from being on the state's ballot, Christie says it must be the voters, not the courts, who should decide if Trump should return to the White House.
Unfortunately, the cancer on our democracy is growing. Now Maine's Secretary of State says he has the authority to prevent Trump's name from being on his state's primary ballot.
The encouraging news is that courts have ruled against similar efforts in the states of Arizona, Minnesota and Michigan, but at a time when our nation is facing both domestic and global challenges, the stakes are enormously high.
It will be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to act as a firewall that protects the future of our democracy, our country and our right to vote. But even on such an obvious and immediate threat, there are legal authorities who wonder if the high court won't "punt" when it comes to this critical issue.
It needs to be clear that we are on an abyss of change. Either the very foundation of America's representative form of government will be upheld and protected, or the end of America as we know is in sight. As they contemplate the coming test of their insight, wisdom and integrity, the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court need to consider their actions will judged not only by their fellow citizens but by history itself. The question will be: what kind of America will reflect on their decision?
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
D. J. Duncan