In the days since King Charles III’s visit to the United States, it’s been impossible to avoid comparisons between the finesse of the monarch and the bluster of a president. And that, in itself, requires us to pause and ponder just how far we have fallen as a nation and drifted from our standards of leadership.
There was something jarring about watching a monarch deliver what amounted to a primer on democratic governance. Not because the content was unfamiliar, but because of the source. When a king must articulate the principles of checks and balances, the separation of powers, and the rule of law with clarity and conviction, it forces a deeply unsettling question: how did we arrive at a moment when these ideas sound more novel at home than abroad?
Read the entire commentary on Substack In The Center Lane With Herb Paine →
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