Since the news has become so annoying and we are pretty much confined to being at home or at work, my wife and I have resorted to binge TV watching. Lately we have been watching “Victoria,” a mini-series about the early years of Queen Victoria. While much of this has been greatly modified for entertainment purposes, there is a lot of real history there.

Previously this mini-series told the story of “Robert Peel,” who was Prime Minister of England. He pushed to repeal the Corn laws, against wide-spread opposition from his own party. He did this because it was the right thing to do, even though he knew it would end his political career. That is the true definition of character and courage.

At the start of series three there is a new character, “Lord Palmerston.” I did some research, and he appears to be just as outrageous in real-life as in the TV series. He loved gambling, racing and women, not necessarily in that order. He was also vocally supportive of the revolutions occurring throughout Europe where kings and emperors were being violently removed from power.

Lord Palmerton arrives on the scene, shortly after the former King of France has been deposed and is now a guest of the British Royal Family. If one listened to Palmerton’s public support for revolution, one would have thought he was a threat to the Royal Family. But the opposite was true. He not only supported the Royal Family, he was determined to protect them. There is one scene where he bluntly tells Prince Albert exactly how he feels about things. The Prince is not amused, he is insulted. But it turns out that Palmerston was perhaps their most valuable advisor because he told them what they needed to know, not what they wanted to hear.

This is a reminder that there are no perfect people on this planet and some of the most necessary people are those who come with a lot of baggage. Lord Palmerston, by all accounts, was exactly that. No one would choose to have him as a friend or relative and he would be a guaranteed disruption to any social event. In many ways he was a role model for irresponsible behavior. But ultimately, he did love his country, he loved the British system of government and Britain was fortunate he was there.

There are obvious comparisons with Donald Trump. Trump loves this country and his decisions as President of the United States have been appropriate and responsible. However, it is also easy to see why so many people find it impossible to trust him.
After this election it was obvious to a lot of people that this election was stolen. Yet no one in a position to do anything was willing to admit that. No one in the DOJ, no court, no member of congress. Some of them would agree that an investigation was warranted, but they lacked the courage to challenge the results. What makes this worse is that this was done out of a false sense of responsibility. The most unethical decision possible would be to put an obviously unqualified person in the Oval Office as the result of fraudulent election.

Today, as we watch the tragedy of the Biden Administration, it is time to ask important questions. Who is responsible for this, the Democrats who did this in their lust for power, or the Republicans who lacked the courage and determination to stop this? Ted Cruz came close, because he did object to the electoral college vote, but there is no evidence he was willing to do more than make a political show he knew was destined to fail. We can and should blame Democrats, but at least they were honest about what they had in mind. But Republicans, who knew what was happening and lacked the courage to do whatever it took to stop it deserve most of the blame. I believe as some point the enormity of the fraud will be impossible to ignore. Unfortunately, that will be only after it is too late to change the outcome.

Donald Trump has more than a little baggage. But he warned everyone about this. Many did not want to hear this, particularly from him. But, as he often stated, is there was no one else willing to stand up for the President of the United States under these circumstances? No one? Certainly no one in a position of power was willing to do that.

Donald Trump is preparing to make his case before the entire Senate, during the impeachment trial. It may be too late for Democrats or Republicans to stop him from doing this. I doubt that the Senate will be listening, but millions of people across this country will be paying very close attention. No one should underestimate this.

History teaches us that there are no perfect people, but there are people who are perfectly necessary. It is easy to point out all the baggage that comes along with someone like Donald Trump. It is far more difficult to find anyone remotely capable of replacing him.

TDM