The Lynchpin
“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution.
That must be maintained, for it is the
Safeguard of our liberties”.
— Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Jefferson defined freedom in terms of three ordered expressions: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Inherent rights that formed the basis of the Declaration of Independence.
The significance of the order is that the promise of the first secures the promise of the second and third. The unalienable right to life (health) should mean the same to all of us today as it did to Jefferson 249 years ago. The unrestricted right of all to healthy lives. This human entitlement, therefore, secures that the promise of liberty and happiness can be thoroughly realized.
So valued is the freedom from restraint, that it is said to be worth dying for. So complicatedly divine are the rights of unabridged liberty, that for the purposes of this letter, brevity is required. Freedom of speech, assembly, religion, economic liberty and censorship to name a few, deserve constitutionally based descriptions worthy of more lengthy essays. Those freedoms, are at least, what we’ve aspired to be for nearly 250 years.
Leaving the most valued for last, Jefferson listed happiness. Insightfully understanding the imperfections of humankind and knowing that happiness is too personal and complicated to be achieved, he suggested that it be a promise that generations have protections to pursue. History has shown that the pursuit of happiness has been the motivation that has shaped and reshaped our society and made us the envy of the world.
Recently we have found ourselves in a peculiar but not unprecedented upheaval. Consider how Victor Orban of Hungry turned a strong democracy into his authoritarian playground. After seizing power through a military coup, he began systematically attacking the free press, rigging elections (gerrymandering), suppressing dissent, and stacking the courts. One of the president’s most valued confidants, he was recently welcomed to the White House as a celebrity. Orban is recognized as one of the world’s most ruthless authoritarian leaders. Curious? Want more details of how authoritarians throughout history have achieved power? It’s spelled out in Project 2025, the president’s playbook. Most political experts estimate that the president’s plan is already 48% implemented.
Remember Jefferson’s promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? “The lynchpin” of those guarantees and our nation’s lifeblood is healthcare. The fight to insure affordable (or free) healthcare for all, was dealt a severe blow this week with the signing of a continuing budget resolution.
Let there be no mistake: this Congress and this president will not approve of any proposal that at least improves the affordability of health care for most of us. The lynchpin has been loosened. The fight will continue. Politicians from both sides who yield to the president’s authoritarian desires must be called out and replaced.
Remember how the president and his congressional flunkies played politics as hungry children were left wanting and health insurance premiums doubled and more for millions. Remember how the president daily flaunts his lavish lifestyle while denying that we struggle with an economy that grows more unaffordable each day.
Continue to remember daily, who benefits, or, easier to identify, who doesn’t, from the trillions in permanent tax cuts, the “axed” programs that no longer provide us with a safety net when we need it, and how you want your future to look.
Thank your leaders that held out and warn them all of the consequences of not continuing the fight: unemployment!
*Inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America
Roy Neal
Linden
