The Big Picture –
By Glynn Wilson –

Let’s say for the sake of fun and argument that Donald Trump is more like King Henry VIII than Adolph Hitler.

Google Trump and Hitler, Nazi, fascism, etc. and you can find many pundits and commenters comparing The Donald to Germany’s leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. That sounds like a party you might want to belong to, even if you are a Bernie Sanders supporter, right?

Although in reality, Hitler was anything but a socialist. He turned out to be horrible totalitarian dictator hell-bent on world domination by force and genocide.

But let’s consider for a moment that when elected, er crowned, president of the United States, Trump will not turn out like Hitler. The signs are that he will certainly turn out to be like Henry VIII, a mad hatter who demands total fealty.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that in spite of our national democratic republic form of government, a government “of, by and for” … “the people” — the exact opposite of a European Monarchy from the 16th century — that one third of Americans are still enthralled with monarchy and willing to go back in time to worship a king anointed with all power by god.

You don’t have to believe me. John Adams said it during the American Revolution. To paraphrase, he said one third of colonists were loyalists to the British Crown, one third were patriots devoted to the cause of freedom and self governance, and one third were either merchants doing business with both sides or simply sitting on the fence to see who would win the war. I say this is still basically true.

The mainstream or “lame stream” media in America is often filled with stories about this so-called great debate we’ve had in this county from the beginning, about the role of the federal government versus the states, about the “size of government.” That is not really the important question. But it serves the interests of the rich and powerful and fools even many of the little people into political compliance on most questions.

What we should be asking is, do you believe in freedom and self governance, or not?

If you have not seen the film with Noam Chomsky “Requiem for the American Dream,” you should watch it. It pretty much explains how the concept of self-government has been coopted by corporate “personhood.” There are a couple of flaws I could point out, but I won’t bother you with them today. Maybe later.

This is the question that never comes up in the America press, about the problem of our lingering fascination with monarchy and the role of religion in government. News outlets in print, on radio and television make far too much money promoting what’s left of monarchy in Europe, with special editions every time another prince or princess gets married or has a baby. They also make lots of money promoting religions.

Only about a third of people give a damn about such things, but that is still a huge audience corporate advertisers and Republican politicians love to exploit. Half the population or more is actually religious, and has either never learned or forgotten why many of our ancestors came to these shores in the first place: To escape religious persecution at the hands of the state.

If you don’t know much about European history, it is fairly easy to catch up on cable television or even Netflix. It’s a shallow version of history, but better than nothing. There are so many popular shows depicting the corruption of monarchies that you can’t miss them.

But like many things these days, the point is lost on the masses. Most people just watch for the entertainment value and marvel at the fantastic dresses worn by characters such as Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, on “The Tudors,” a Showtime original now available on Netflix.

Who cares about the dresses? Did you not see that she was beheaded largely for failing to have a son to carry on The Tudor line? Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

Check this out. In Season 3, Episode 2, Henry as played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers makes a truce with Catholic leaders of the north from York, who have amassed a popular army to march on London to stop the destruction of their abbeys. He has implemented the Protestant Reformation and is overthrowing the Catholic church because the pope refused to grant his divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

In those days anyone who wanted favor in court had to bow and kiss the king’s ring and promise total loyalty to the king above all, even god. Of course the kings claimed to derive all their power directly from god, like the pope himself.

Have you watched the news as every Republican politician in the country has lined up to kiss Trump’s ring as he has sewn up the party’s nomination for president this year? Have you ever seen a politician dance like a drummer such as the performance of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in sucking up to Trump? Followed in turn by Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Scott Walker, Newt Gingrich and now Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. They have all endorsed Trump now hoping to be rewarded with administration jobs when Trump is crowned. If my analysis is correct — and of course it is — many of them will be sadly disappointed if they think they will be invited to Trump’s court.

For the likely outcome, see what Henry VIII did to the leaders of the uprising from York. He promised them full pardons, restoration of their religious rights and abbeys. Once the uprising was over and the people’s army back home on their farms and quiet, he summoned all the opposition leaders to court — and had them hanged or beheaded.

Monarchs only promise reforms and jobs. They never deliver.

Of course you might say all American politicians make promises they can’t or don’t keep. Even if Bernie Sanders were elected, do you think he could implement national single-payer health care and a free college tuition for everybody all by himself? Of course not.

But for the sake of argument, just take a moment and ask yourself this. Be honest. Do you secretly watch the shows on the red carpet at the Academy Awards and marvel at the dresses? Do you watch every Diana special and pick up the tabloids in the grocery store check out line to read about the latest celebrity gossip? Do you share those kinds of links on Facebook?

Do you like the fact or not have a problem with the reality that many Americans now actually have to vote in churches?

Do you believe Alabama’s Judge Roy Moore when he says all of our laws derive from god, the church and the Ten Commandments? Never mind a long history of secular laws banning such things as murder and theft. And of course neither man’s laws or god’s law applies to kings, popes, governors, speakers of the House — or American presidents.

Just ask former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. They should have been tried for war crimes. But nooooo.

Ask Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Mike Hubbard, or Judge Roy Moore himself. I predict according to these precepts, in spite of what every Democrat in Alabama on Facebook seems to think, that Bentley will not be impeached and removed from office, Hubbard will not be found guilty, and when Moore is removed as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, again, he will just run for governor. This time he might well be elected.

Reality check. If you are okey with any of this you may be sympathetic to monarchy and oblivious to the corruption of church involvement in politics. You are not an American patriot. You are a Tory traitor. Yes, that includes you, members of the so-called tea party. You don’t get a word of what American freedom is all about.

What would be your punishment if I were king? I wouldn’t cut off your heads. I would offer you a free education so you could learn enough history to think for yourselves so we don’t have to go through another election cycle like this one.