The American experiment began 90,383 days ago with a bold statement meant to shake up the reality here in America as well as in Britain. After years of brutal tyranny and indifference being waged from half a world away, Americans made the decision to take up arms if necessary and put a stop to the abuse by looking around and stating the obvious.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

These 36 words in the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence were not a declaration of war on the Crown. It was a statement of the obvious about humanity, and that things were going to be different from now on. The Crown did not accept the obvious, and brought war. The Crown lost. These truths – life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, all men (and women) being created equal, and having unalienable rights have remained and have flourished over time…mostly…until now.

Self-evident was a carefully chosen phrase used by Thomas Jefferson. Although the bulk of the Declaration was penned by John Adams, a committee of five, including Jefferson, worked on the entire document, and the five tenets of self-evidence was a Jeffersonian rhetorical marvel. Self-evident means we shouldn’t have to put this down in writing, because some things just are. We all know them to be. It’s beyond debate. We all, regardless of ideology, know and believe these things to be true. It unites us, because it is a common understanding we all share. And despite the genius of Jefferson’s writing, it wasn’t even a novel concept to our founders. John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government in 1689 was very much a guide for Jefferson.

The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions: for men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent, and infinitely wise maker; all the servants of one sovereign master, sent into the world by his order, and about his business; they are his property, whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another’s pleasure:

We all have a plan or a purpose here, and it’s for each person to have the latitude to seek and develop that purpose for themselves without government interfering and deciding that purpose for them. Again, this is something that until recently was as plain as day following night. We didn’t really have to discuss it. And yet, 2023 may go down in history as the year that self-evidence as we’ve always known it died, and a new, revised self-evident doctrine took over in the United States.

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We used to all know instinctively that there were two genders – male and female. In 2023, universities are giving out “women’s” scholarships to male athletes who happen to be taking prescribed drugs to mask the fact that they’re male.

Before 2023, it was unthinkable that open anti-Semitism would be celebrated, defended, or abetted by elected members of Congress. We could all agree as a people, even if a small fringe under the cover of darkness quietly engaged in it, that it was heinous to openly call for genocide against a group of people based on their religious views or history. Never again, right? We all used to at least pay lip service to that promise after learning what happened in the Holocaust. Yet 119 out of 214 House Democrats, or a 56% majority of the conference, couldn’t or wouldn’t commit to supporting a measure to condemn anti-Semitism in America.

Before this generation, our society protected our young. Even in prisons, the most hardened criminals would isolate themselves from the child molesters, because in the hierarchy of evil, the ones that did bad things to kids were the absolute worst. Now, we have drag queen shows specifically designed for children. Kids are not allowed to drink alcohol, smoke, consent to sexual conduct, get a tattoo, vote, buy firearms, gamble, or enter into a binding financial contracts. These laws were always no-brainers. Now, we’re fighting over whether it’s appropriate for them to view graphically-illustrated same-sex pornography branded as educational reading material in public school libraries. And we’re preventing parents from having any say in what gender a child surgically chooses.

Before Tuesday, it was self-evident that you needed to be tried and convicted in order to be penalized for a crime. The Colorado Supreme Court threw that out the window by using a perverse interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

This of course was referring to how the Union was to handle the reabsorption of former Confederates into civic life post-Civil War. On a case by case basis, several former Confederates were able to reenter government. Some weren’t. All had one thing in common – due process.

We all know instinctively O.J. Simpson murdered his wife and that poor waiter at the restaurant. It’s self-evident. I remember watching the slow-speed chase in the white Bronco with the suicidal Simpson after committing the act, knowing he was about to be busted for it. The entire country knows he did it. We still had a trial, farcical as it turned out to be. O.J. had due process, because that’s what we’re supposed to do here. Apparently, Colorado has discovered and exploited the Trump exception to the Due Process clause.

The boss absolutely nailed it yesterday when reviewing the pith of the gist of the Dread Pirate 4-3 majority decision in Colorado.

In other words, a state court has found Trump guilty of a federal crime with which he's never even been charged, based on informal allegations of unlawful conduct that took place 2,000 miles from the court's jurisdiction.

This is patently absurd. https://t.co/TX9SY1CrEX

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) December 19, 2023

The United States Supreme Court ought to reverse this before Christmas. They won’t, but they ought to. The damage done to rule of law during the lag time is extraordinary. Many Never Trumpers and left-wing sites and legal scholars have even come out and said this move is way out of bounds. Yet Joe Biden took a moment to speak to the press without a staffer or a teleprompter anywhere to throw gasoline on the fire.

It’s self-evident that Trump’s an insurrectionist. Well, then, that settles it. Now we understand why Jack Smith never brought up federal charges for insurrection in his indictment package against the former President. He didn’t have to. He was just saving the taxpayers money. No need to convene a grand jury, subpoena witnesses, write up indictments, file them, seek a court date to try and convict, and hopefully imprison him for the grievous felony. It’s self-evident. We all know this happened, so what’s the big deal with the Colorado decision?

I believe it’s self-evident that Joe Biden is both unwilling and unable to discharge his duties as president. He’s too old, infirm, and recklessly endangering the country with his policy of allowing a porous Southern Border. It’s obvious. Everyone knows this to be true. We don’t need Congressional action, nor do we require the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment. Thanks to the four rogue Colorado Supreme Court justices, we also no longer have an issue of jurisdiction with which to be concerned. The Florida Supreme Court now has standing to nullify the Electoral Votes of California, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts, because they are fielding a candidate on the ballot that is patently unqualified to serve based on his immediate past performance. And for the good of democracy, they can enjoin the Electoral College from accepting the results of the election in each of those states. It’s obvious that they can. Some things, we just know. 70% of the country knows Biden can’t do the job anymore. Blue states know it. Progressives unhappy with Biden’s Israel stance know it.

The Congress has to ratify all treaties. That’s in the Constitution. John Kerry’s climate change exploits fly in the face of that, usurping clear Constitutional order, probably engaging in treasonous activity. Again, we don’t have to prove anything anymore. There’s no more presumption of innocence. Some things, we just know. They’re self-evident. Colorado Supreme Court rules now are the law of the land, unless the Supreme Court intervenes. Time for the Graybar Hotel for John Kerry. Not only will it be saving democracy, it’ll save the environment by keeping him from traveling all over the globe on airplanes.

I mentioned earlier the damage being caused to the rule of law and Constitutional order every moment the rogue Colorado Supreme Court decision stands. Let’s say I’m right and the United States Supreme Court tosses this out with prejudice. What will be the response from the left? Nice try? We’ll get him next time? Back to the drawing board? Dream on.

The left will accuse the Supreme Court of being illegitimate, politicized, packed with Trump justices, hopelessly partisan, and not an institution to be heeded or respected anymore. It will be the United States Supreme Court, not the Colorado pirates, charged with election interference.

Keep in mind that this Colorado Supreme Court is actively hearing a case by a transgender man who has filed suit against Jack Phillips, the Masterpiece Cakeshop baker who has been targeted by the anti-Christian legal left for decades. The United States Supreme Court has already ruled in Phillips’ favor in 2018, ruling that he cannot be compelled by the state to create a cake, which is an expression of his artistic speech, if the reason for it violates his religious beliefs. The Colorado Supreme Court, instead of respecting the ruling out of stare decisis, has decided to hear the exact same legal argument in a new case, replacing a same-sex couple with a transgender lawyer. The case itself is a clear thumb in the eye of the intent of the U.S. Supreme Court, so it’s no wonder that they’re weighing in on the Trump insurrection Disqualification Act, as the 14th Amendment has now come to be known.

The most dangerous moment in our political lifetime took place on November 15, 2022 with the announcement of Donald Trump that he would once again seek the presidency. To half the country, that represented the ultimate threat to democracy itself. It is self-evident to them. They just believe it to be so. No facts, no evidence, no amount of proof to the contrary are tolerated. And once you have half the population that genuinely believes that, that it’s self-evident that Trump is The threat to democracy itself, then the Constitution is no longer an operational governing document for this republic. It’s ancient history, because any end, and I mean any end to stop Trump, justifies the means of saving democracy.

If democracy has to be saved by suspending all rights, traditions, norms, and everything else we used to self-evidently unite under as truth, just imagine when the other half of the country, the one with guns and ammo, adopts the same mentality about the Marxists running government and academia and starts to decide who stays and who goes.

One of my favorite Westerns of all time was 1985’s Silverado. In the closing scene, Brian Dennehy, once the jig was up and walked out into the street for the final duel, said, “What a waste. This could have been such a sweet deal for us.”

I have to imagine that that’s the reaction Chief Justice John Roberts was having when he read the nonsensical ruling out of Denver. I sincerely hope we figure out as a nation how to run, not walk away from this cliff we’re headed for, Thelma and Louise-style. My fear is hope is not much of a strategy when both halves of the country believe self-evidently that the other half is responsible for an existential threat to democracy.