On September 17,1787, Elizabeth Willin Powel asked Ben Franklin: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a  republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Our founding fathers had wisely set up a balance of power that while giving the Executive the power to defend the country, it also provided significant power to the Legislature and the Supreme Court.

Throughout history, there have been times when a President had to make critical decision regarding our very survival as a nation. Abraham Lincoln chose to fight to preserve the Union rather than just let Southern states walk away.

This reminds me of a time when I met Tip O’Neill. He had recently retired and was speaking at a small luncheon meeting in Boston. He had been Speaker of the House from January 4, 1977 to January 3, 1987. His tenure was the longest uninterrupted Speaker of the House in U.S. history. He was a strong Democrat who frequently clashed with President Ronald Reagan.  I was expecting a typical highly partisan performance. But then someone asked him about when Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada on October 25, 1983. This was known as Operation Urgent Fury and was successful in overthrowing the Marxist government of Maurice Bishop. He told about how Reagan invited him to the White House to tell him about the planned operation. O’Neil said he spent much of his career opposing Reagan, but on this occasion, privately, his only response to Reagan was “God Bless you Mr. President.”

This was a reminder that a President is the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces. That even the strongest political opponents most respect the awesome responsibility of the office of President of the United States. During times like this, the President represents all of us. Reagan wasn’t the Republican President of the United States, he was President of the United States. O’Neill did not necessarily agree with Reagan regarding the actions in Granada, but he absolutely realized the need for the nation to unite behind a President during times like this.

Sadly, there is little evidence that modern Democrats understand this basic principle. Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy Captain, told American military personnel it was not only ok but their duty to resist illegal orders. Fortunately, there is little evidence that any member of our military chose to do this. Now, Donald Trump, has ordered our military to attack Iran. The reason is very clear. It has been the stated policy of the United States, by both Republican and Democrat Presidents, that Iran could never be allowed to gain access to a nuclear weapon. They may have differed regarding how to achieve this, but there was no disagreement regarding the principle. This is easy to understand; Iran has been the number one state sponsor of terrorism for decades. Iran has repeated stated that it wants to destroy Israel. Virtually everyone agrees that if they got a nuclear weapon, and a missile capable of delivering it, that there was substantial risk they would attack Israel. It is hard to imagine a more serious threat, not only to this country, but to the entire world, than to have a country decide to use a nuclear weapon. It could set off a world war that would kill an unimaginable number of people.

Yet the modern Democrat Party has refused to unite behind Donald Trump. Instead, they are doing everything possible to undermine his decision. Minority leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries even publicly predicted that the Iran operation will result in failure for the U.S.

It is important to realize that the men and women fighting against Iran includes both Democrats and Republicans. They are fighting on behalf of the entire Country. During times like this we should all be united in supporting them and our commander in Chief, President Donald Trump. There really is no substitute for this. Political dispute must end at our nation’s borders.

I spent three tours in Vietnam flying on combat missions. I had to swear an oath to follow the orders of the President of the United States, who happened to be Lyndon B. Johnson at the time. I did not like Johnson and thought he was a terrible President, but I also realized he was President of the United States, and it was necessary to respect the office, even if it was extremely difficult to respect LBJ.

Regarding Iran, it is hard to imagine a greater threat to our national security than allowing the number one sponsor of terrorism worldwide to have access to a nuclear weapon. One may not like Donald Trump nor the way he is overseeing this, but the importance of the country succeeding is undeniable. It is too bad so many people in the Democrat Party and in the MSM fail to understand this important principle. During times like this, if a President fails, we are all at risk.

We need more Tip O’Neills, not Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumers.

TDM