By Nick Forster
In the summer of 1776, the Second Continental Congress agreed to draft a document that would announce the separation of the Colonies from Great Britain. After some discussion, the Committee of Five was established to produce a draft of what would become the Declaration of Independence. The committee was composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston (my 6X great-grandfather), and Roger Sherman.
Although Jefferson was asked to produce the bulk of the Declaration, the tight schedule (they were given less than a month) forced him to ask for the help of his committee. The Committee of Five collectively produced a first draft which was edited slightly and then signed. Every man who signed that document put his life on the line for his commitment to this new nation with the full knowledge that they would hang as traitors if England won the war.
We’re now at another historic juncture where our democracy is threatened, only this time it’s from within. Washington’s farewell address foretold this moment:
“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party, generally. …
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissention … is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty. …
“It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.”
We are now seeing these party passions wreak havoc on our civil society and the institutions of our democracy, especially in the inexplicable kowtowing to Putin’s Russia. We are at a dangerous crossroads, and one of our two political parties seems to be marching in lockstep over the cliff of authoritarianism.
What we need now is a new Committee of Five, five patriotic and brave Republican Senators who will honor their oath to the Constitution and break ranks with their party while preserving the democracy our ancestors fought so hard to create. Five Senators will be enough to ensure some form of collaboration across party lines to get the work of the government done, to honor the will of the people and to protect us from this chaotic and dangerous moment in our history.
This new Committee of Five will be risking their political future, perhaps even their safety, but they will be on the right side of history and will perhaps be no less remembered for their commitment than those five who drafted the Declaration of Independence so long ago.
Who are they? Where do they come from? Can they recognize that the threat of an Elon-funded primary against them is not as important or scary as the consolidation of power that’s happening right now? Time will tell if they have the strength of their convictions sufficient to endure the mob’s passions, but make no mistake; without them, we will risk what the Founding Fathers fought so hard to enshrine for future generations.
Nick Forster lives in Boulder.
