WASHINGTON –î Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter – who passed away May 8 – once said the fall of the Roman Empire was partially due to the authoritarian Augustus. The ruler took sole control of the country, vowing to “Make Rome Great Again” (now, does that sound familiar?). Souter went on to say that “public ignorance of the Constitution could lead to the rise of an autocrat and the death of democracy.”

Now let us look at the “world of President Donald Trump.” His declaration about “Liberation Day” was when he announced a trade war with the world – the first ever.

He also expressed a desire for the U.S. to take over other countries in some form – Panama (to gain control of the canal), Canada, Greenland, and Gaza.

He would allow foreign people to “buy” their way into America as a form of an immigration policy via his “Gold Visa.” And is he outwardly seeking more white people to enter America as refugees (South Africans per Elon Musk’s request).

He is also holding ransoms. He is taking away billions of dollars from elite universities and security clearance privileges from law firms in exchange for government control over their proceedings, or at least restrictions on their freedom of speech.

He is insisting on ending inclusion in America. Guess Trump feels that Black people have too many “advantages” and are abusing white people? Go figure.

During World War II the first country attacked by Germany was neighboring Poland. Trump started his trade war in similar fashion targeting our neighbors, Mexico and Canada.

Meanwhile, America is producing more people in need of public assistance and shelter than good paying jobs.

Trump is telling America that we may have to endure economic short-term pain, and we must learn to do with less. Where was that sentiment expressed during his campaign? If it had been expressed, he would be in the private sector doing business deals today.

On his current trip to the Middle East, he banned traditional members of the press from accompanying him as is normal – the Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg. One reason for this is that AP will not conform to Trump’s wish of renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. So AP is paying a price in its inability to cover the president. There is no freedom of the press in Trump World.

The Roman Empire had the Huns. The United States has China lurking at its door. And China made Trump reverse his tariff plans for now.

It must be nice being Trump. It is like being the kid in the “Home Alone” film – you have no one in the big house to prevent you from doing anything you want for a period of time. Your mother (Congress) and your father (the Supreme Court) are both AWOL (or on a plane to Europe).

You immediately allow your friend to stay in your house so the two of you can talk about electric cars (among other things) and you allow your friend to roam the house, going any and everywhere unchecked. You also allow him to get rid of anything he wants. Oh, wait… that did not happen in the movie, my bad – unfortunately, however, it happened in real life.

You can play the game Monopoly or throw things (ideas) against the wall to see what sticks. You never have to think about cleaning up the mess you will be leaving behind.

It is like having to go to one’s father to hear the father state the obvious, “Son, you cannot beat the hell out of your brother. That’s wrong” – and then getting a bewildered response from the son saying, “Really?”

Here are some of his own words: If you are born in America, you are not necessarily an American (that defies the constitution); “I am interested in a third term in office,” he said, after serving less than 100 days into his second term (that really defies the constitution); “I would be stupid to turn down a $400 million plane as a gift from a foreign nation” (that defies the constitution).

There are other Trump beliefs that are more subjective, but still would evoke humor, but if not challenged? Well, you get it. Trump wins. Here are three examples:

1.Civil rights laws were established to help “White people” receive fairness; 2. A recession is not a bad thing; 3. Down is really up and up is really down (in reference to the stock market). These are all seemingly “true” in Trump World.

Also, in Trump’s world we would not have inclusion or integration. Instead, we would have exclusion and segregation, seemingly in accord with the following: Harvard, and other elite schools should resemble the University of Alabama like when Governor George Wallace was in control, as he too wanted to prevent Black people from attending white colleges.

Or like Georgia Governor Lester Maddox who also was not inclusive. He chased Black people out of his restaurant with an axe.

Or like South Carolina Governor Storm Thurmond who did not want Black people to serve in our military unless they slept in separate quarters.

Or like Bob Jones University that refused to allow inclusion/integration, prohibiting a Black and a white person from holding hands on campus.

But as CIA Director John Ratcliffe told folks recently, and the elite military academies told the Supreme Court, not having a diverse workforce will harm America as it will impair their ability to protect America.

But in Trump World that is just fine. Stopping Black people from getting an elite education and job in the government trumps that sentiment.

In the spirit of Thurmond, Maddox, and Wallace – there are Black jobs and those jobs that “Blacks need not apply” for. All are fond memories for some descendants of former slaveowners and apparently for the Trump administration.

Justice Souter, a Rhodes Scholar, a quiet man in life, may be remembered in death as possibly the most prophetic statesman in U.S. history, unless good Americans muster the courage to prove him wrong. Godspeed.

——

Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org