Historians have an enormous advantage over the rest of us: they have the unique luxury of looking back through time and, with the power of hindsight, pinpointing the exact moment a new era began. Yet there are events that are so momentous, so crucial, and so obvious, that sometimes even those living in the moment can recognize their historic significance.
We are living through that moment.
Over the last several days, the turmoil surrounding the question of whether bureaucrats can unilaterally remove Donald Trump's name from a presidential campaign ballot has only intensified. Colorado and Maine have already taken this action and other states are mulling the same.
As observed in a previous essay by this author, these actions attack the very fabric of our representative form of government. The idea that without so much as due process unelected persons in an individual state can remove a potential presidential candidate is the stuff of nightmares for a democracy.
Even leading Democrats have voiced opposition to this latest con by "ballot bandits."
What this means, however, is that the future of our nation is now to the be in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
To their credit, they have recognized this threat and their need to consider the arguments as a matter of urgency for, make no mistake, this is an existential threat to our nation.
Historians and legal scholars will study their decision for generations to come because there can be no denying that their verdict will be a historic turning point in the life of America. They will either reaffirm the principles upon which our nation was founded or they will participate in the decline and fall of what Thomas Jefferson called "the world's best hope."
Legal experts believe that the Supreme Court has its work cut out for it. Professor Rick Hasen of UCLA School of Law told a reporter:
"It's something that involves complex, novel questions from a part of the Constitution that really was put in place after the Civil War and hasn't been used in recent times."
One can debate the complexity of what confronts the high court but Donald Trump's lawyers understand what is at stake. They are asking the justices to quickly address the issue and return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters.
Lawyers often say justice delayed is justice denied. President Donald Trump, and more importantly, American democracy, will now get its day in court. And not a moment too soon.
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
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