We finally crossed the Rubicon.

While unstable societies regularly resort to political prosecution, stable societies understand intuitively that this crude power tactic must be avoided at all costs.  That's why, despite being a wildly unpopular decision, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon — to avoid any potential threat of prosecution.

Once the threat of political prosecution enters into the public psyche as a legitimate tool to solve conflicts of power at the highest level, all bets are off.  Society shifts from one in which ends are achieved through negotiation into one in which ends are achieved through raw power.  Our leaders quickly come to understand that the only rule that matters in politics is "might makes right."

What is a political prosecution?  You always know it because, unlike with other prosecutions, people support or oppose it along party lines.  The crimes are vague and difficult to explain.  The outcomes are predetermined.  The whole process appears steeped in ends-oriented justice.

There are many modern examples of powerful civilizations devolving into terror immediately following the normalization of political prosecution.  Political prosecution became the norm immediately following the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution.  When the Third Reich gained sufficient control over Germany's government, its leaders also initiated political prosecutions.

But the greatest example of a superpower falling and becoming an autocracy as a result of political prosecution is the Roman Republic.

Rome is often cited as an important example for a reason.  The government of the United States is based in large part on the government of the Roman Republic, with its Senate, its lower legislative branch (the Plebeian Assembly), and its Executive Branch, which comprised two consuls, elected for one-year terms.  The Roman Republic set the standard.

After serving his term as consul, Julius Caesar received an appointment to govern a province in northern Italy.  While there, based on the premise that Gallic tribes to the north had initiated conflict, Caesar engaged in a series of battles, now known as the Gallic Wars.  Throughout these years, Caesar wrote letters home to the Senate and to the people detailing the fascinating accounts of these wars.

As a result of his battles, Caesar only gained in popularity, and his great popularity became a threat to the Senate.  Some senators argued that his battles with the Gallic tribes were not sanctioned by the Senate and were therefore illegal.  Others agreed with Caesar that they were initiated for legitimate defensive reasons.

The controversy grew, and ultimately the Senate demanded that Caesar return to Rome.  But his return was under threat of prosecution for these "war crimes."

Caesar sought assurance that he would not be prosecuted, but the Senate refused to give it.  As a result, Caesar felt he had no choice but to enter Rome with his armies.

The Rubicon River, north of Rome, set a boundary over which armies were not allowed to cross.  It was illegal to bring an army into the city.  When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army, he kicked off a civil war that ultimately ended the Roman Republic and changed Western civilization forever.

"The die is cast," Caesar famously proclaimed upon crossing the river.  In other words, he threw the dice against the wall, and whatever will be will be.

Tragic how we can let a two-bit prosecutor in New York cast a die that could forever change the fate of this great nation.  One progressive district attorney should not be allowed to drag us across the Rubicon.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.