Today at Real Clear Politics there's a reprint of Dorothy Thompson's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 31, 1937. The famous journalist's testimony was in opposition to Franklin Roosevelt's famous court packing scheme. RCP provides some interesting background to testimony before presenting the transcript:
Thompson’s experiences [in Weimar Germany] had provided the inspiration for her husband Sinclair Lewis’ satirical novel “It Can’t Happen Here,” which is about a fascist demagogue who whips up popular resentment and takes over the United States. As she testified before senators on this date 83 years ago, a “modern coup d’état” was not just a dystopian conceit, it was her warning that it can happen here.
Thompson's full testimony is far too long to reproduce here. On the other hand, the relevance to present day politics of her reflections on the Dem court packing scheme should be immediately apparent. In fact, her testimony could be regarded as setting a sort of baseline for conservatism. While I would be the first to add that far more in the nature of philosophical substance is required to support and maintain such a baseline, Thompson's testimony is a useful reminder of the dangers that always face constitutional government such as ours, and rarely more so than today. It's notable that a consistent underlying theme of the Trump administration has been a return to constitutional rule. This is especially clear in Trump's handling of federal - state relations during this Covid19 pandemic.
I'll offer an excerpt that I hope will capture the spirit of the full testimony. Food for thought:
