Political Thoughts of Timothy A. Raty

  The many violations of individual rights and attacks against the U.S. Constitution by the second Trump administration, compounded recently by the blatant murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have led many in “the Resistance” to question whether the time to transition from peaceful protests to violence is now justified.  It is not. Not yet. A common formal framework to structure the moral justification for revolution can be found in the words of America’s Declaration of Independence: “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [protecting inalienable rights], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience h...

  I had originally considered entitling this article “The Death of Liberalism”, but it would be in bad taste while the patient is still technically alive on its deathbed. It did not take long for it to be sent there from its pinnacle at the end of the Cold War some thirty-four years ago. Ironically, this was partly caused by remnants of 20 th century collectivist ideologies ( e.g. , Islamic fundamentalism and communism) or variations thereof ( e.g. , Putin’s and Trump’s nationalism bear striking resemblances to those of the Axis Powers of the 1930s); ideologies which liberalism had mostly defeated by 1992. Even Nazism, which should have been dead and buried after instigating the bloodiest conflict in human history, has made a comeback.  Liberal democracies are under a threat no less existential than those of World War II, but now are in a more precarious position. Unlike then, the British Empire no longer exists (and several of the key nations composing it, such as Egypt an...

 The 22 nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states the following:  “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice . . .” (emphasis added) This provision seemingly prohibits President Donald Trump from being elected to the office of President again. From selling 2028 campaign merchandise, to restructuring the White House to his personal preferences, to open mulling, to consolidating Federal power in himself, it is clear that he has every intention of staying in office past his current term. The key term (and weakness) in the 22 nd Amendment is the term “elected”. Speculation has been raised as to ways he could stay in office past 2029 without being elected. The most popular theory on the internet is to run some lackey ( e.g. , Vice President J.D. Vance [R] or Donald Trump, Jr.) as the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2028 with President Trump as his runningmate. Once they are inaugurated, the lackey will promptly resign and Trump will a...

This article was originally intended to be a continuation of my “Autopsy” series on last year’s Presidential election, in which I would outline ways for the Democratic Party to win the midterm elections in 2026. Painfully I must conclude that the Republican’s brazen and unmitigated destruction of the U.S. Constitution (see “ The Day of Coronation ”, which is eerily prophetic) has led me to conclude that the 2024 Presidential election was the last truly free one under the U.S. Constitutional form of government.  It is highly likely at this stage that, if the Republicans do lose at the ballot box next year, President Trump will again claim that the results were “rigged” in the closest races necessary to tip the balance of scale back in favor of the Republicans. He may then instruct his increasingly docile “Department of War” to seize the voting apparatus and/or ballots in these races to, allegedly, perform an “independent audit.”  If this occurs, he has several choices. He m...

It is unquestionable that the agenda of President Donald J. Trump (R) is to vest all fundamental government powers in the office of the President. It is also unquestionable that he is using such power to dictate the actions of others, whether they be universities, law firms, media companies, state and local governments, or foreign governments. As the magnanimous felon famously stated, “ I run the country and the world. ” His efforts have largely been successful and there is a lesson therein which should be learned by the Left. In America, for well over a century (since at least the beginning of the Progressive Era in the 1890s), the Left (with the cooperation of the moderates) have pushed for the expansion of government influence into nearly all aspects of life: education, healthcare, social welfare, business and labor, agriculture, manufacturing, banking, transportation, etc. This expansion fell well short of the pure socialism of annihilating the concept of private property, as ...

The following article appeared in the " DP International Newsletter " (Vol. 1, Issue 1; 2 June 2025) . It is re-published here (with minor edits) because, while it focuses on Luxembourgish politics, the underlying message is applicable to all democratically-based societies. More accurately, why should anyone be involved in politics? What is the purpose and is the purpose motivation enough? Most people will make the case that the premise of the prime purpose is a duty that is owed to someone else (for example, “it is your civic duty”). I wish to make the case purely from a selfish perspective, leaving aside arguments from duty and focusing exclusively on why politics is of value to you, the individual. Chances are extremely high that if you are reading this, you live in a country. A country is comprised of individuals who interact with each other on a daily basis in a wide variety of activities which, ideally, are based on mutually agreeable terms. We buy and sell goods and se...