New Beacon of Democracy, New Shining City Upon a Hill

One nation has already more than earned those titles

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Since January 20, 2025, the United States of America has proven that it is no longer the standard bearer for democratic rule, no longer a nation of laws, and no longer the “shining city upon a hill.”

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American President Donald Trump has stated many times and in many different settings that he has no love or use for the U. S. Constitution. He has also made it clear that he has no use for the U.S. courts and believes he does not have to obey their rulings. In his mind he is above the law and is in fact, a law unto himself. Put simply, whatever Donald Trump says or does is now the law, and therefore, legal. In this regard the United States Supreme Court seems to agree with him. Their July 1, 2024 ruling on presidential immunity gave Trump and all subsequent American presidents virtually unlimited power while in office, powers that are common among kings, czars, emperors and other dictators, but not in an American president.

Until now.

Donald Trump and his cult of criminal sycophants that masquerade as his cabinet and senior administration officials have nothing but contempt for the U.S. Constitution, the American people, the rule of law and democratic principles generally. They are truly members of a brainwashed cult that have traded whatever honorable careers they had in the past for a life of treason, criminality, and utter moral and ethical bankruptcy. There seems to be nothing they will not do or say in service to their cult leader, no matter how personally debasing, illegal, immoral, embarrassing, or in any other way, loathsome or inhuman. Donald Trump took the Republican Party from a party that had previously (at least superficially) supported democratic principles, the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, civil and human rights, strong international alliances, and the defense of democracy, both domestically and abroad, and transformed it into MAGA, a lawless party that believes in nothing but the erratic and ever changing commands of Dear Leader, their messiah appointed by God as their prophet here on earth, Donald John Trump.

As a result, MAGA has shocked the world by abandoning America’s decades old role as a champion of democracy and supporter of oppressed peoples across the globe. Since at least 1945, emerging democracies and other struggling nations could almost always look to America for aid coping with a myriad of issues ranging from poverty to election fraud, political violence, poor access to adequate health care, food and clean drinking water, technology development, banking infrastructure, and many others. Through both its government and non-government organizations (NGOs), the United States was the number one source of assistance to democracies and emerging democracies throughout the world.

That all came to a screeching halt at noon on January 20, 2025, and for the next 100+ days thereafter.

With a blizzard of executive orders, newly sworn-in President Trump either totally disbanded, totally defunded, or severely defunded the majority of U.S. foreign aid agencies providing critical assistance to the world’s emerging democracies, especially those located in Africa and undemocratic Asian nations. Trump defunded and tried to eliminate the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Liberty, a decades old source of news and information that tens of millions depended on to give them vital information not filtered through government propaganda machines in their own countries. He also launched an unprecedented attack on our closest allies and trading partners, such as Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and NATO. He alienated the previously friendly nations of Denmark, Canada and Panama by threatening to invade their countries to seize territory Trump felt rightfully belonged to America.

And that was just the start.

Predictably, Trump praised Vladimir Putin, publicly called the government of Ukraine insulting names (including a now infamous scene in the Oval Office), threatened to withhold weapons, ammunition and intelligence unless Kyiv capitulated to all of the demands made by Vladimir Putin. Unpredictably and astoundingly, the United States, for the first time in history, voted against Ukraine and with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and Iran on a U.N. resolution denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for a cease fire. This action, perhaps more than any other single event, was the inflection point which signaled to the world that America had turned its back on its former allies and trading partners and was now a rogue nation out for itself and whatever it could get through threats and intimidation, just like any other authoritarian power like Russia, China or Iran. It had turned the page on its past and transformed itself into a new and very dark power reminiscent of the great powers of the 19^th century. Trump, Putin and Xi would now decide how they would carve up the world into their own spheres of influence as had been the norm 150-200 years ago. Trump had with warp speed turned back the international clock and erased two centuries of human progress.

So where does that leave us?

It leaves us with a stark choice:

Does the Western world simply roll over and play dead to the likes of dictators Trump/Putin/Xi, or do we regroup, rearm, and fight back with renewed vigor and everything we have?

To me the answer is simple. The West needs to immediately select a new leader who has proven that not only can he successfully lead his own emerging democracy against overwhelming odds, but he also possesses the morals, ethics, bravery, leadership skills, and integrity to lead other democracies against the growing scourge of international authoritarianism and anti-democracy forces that threaten the very existence of a democratic West. Obviously, that leader is Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. President “I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition” Zelensky has shown the entire world time and time again that he has the skills necessary to take over the reins of Western leadership abandoned by the United States under Donald Trump. His bona fides are rock solid, and he needs no more testing. What he needs is the authority to lead the West to do what he knows must be done to confront and defeat Russia. The Ukrainian people have also proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they, not the American people, are the exceptional population. Their bravery, ingenuity, compassion, and defense of their homeland and democracy have proclaimed Ukraine and Ukrainians as the new beacon of democracy, the new shining city on a hill.

It's past time the Western world (NATO and the EU) acknowledged that fact and give both President Zelensky the new and formal authority to pursue this war until final victory over Russia, and also give the Ukrainian people their due as the new and well-earned torch bearers for Western democracy.

David DeBatto