Problems of American Democracy
Back in my high school many years ago, seniors could take a social studies course called "P.A.D." (Problems of American Democracy). Well, today we indeed have a problem. American democracy isn’t working the way it
should. Domestic terrorist mobs should
not be attacking the Capitol, attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of
power after a presidential election. But
it happened.
Even
Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy initially blamed Trump for inciting that Jan. 6 insurrection. Ultimately though, he backed off and ran to Mar-a-Lago to
pledge his loyalty. (Sort of like 'going to Canossa.’ See Note Below ) He
recognized that without the Trump loyalists at the extreme right of his party,
including those who aided and abetted the insurrection, the Republicans had no
party left. Most State and local Republican party organizations are in
the hands of Trump loyalists and this is what Trump might have thrown in
McCarthy's face, I suspect.
 |
| Mar-a-Lago, McCarthy's Canossa. |
There
is a parallel with what happened in Germany during the last century even though it has been
89 years since that country's conservatives shook hands with an extreme
right-wing rattlesnake, supposedly to defeat the left-wing parties. Soon after, when they realized what they had
done, it was too late. The snake’s fangs were embedded and the poisonous
venom released. Same goes for Neville Chamberlain, betraying
Czechoslovakia. Lesson: You cannot shake hands with rattlesnakes and
that is what today’s Republican Party has done.
The
slogan "Never Again" has meaning today. Some Jews and others
recognized what was happening in 1932 and got out of Germany in time.
Most did not. Some of today's right-wing extremists, often organized and
armed, mean business and are not just fooling around. The role of local
law enforcement, particularly in places which support the ex-president and still believe his lies about the election results, is uncertain and adds to the
problem.
A possible solution was added to the prior blog posting on January 29. Check it out below somewhere. It recommends prompt and severe sentencing of convicted domestic terrorists, making it clear that laws cannot be broken with impunity.
Florida Diseases
There are two diseases
prevalent in the State of Florida. One
is the Covid19 pandemic which we all hope will subside as more and more become
vaccinated.
The other disease is the
Republican Party. It is a cancer on most
of the citizens of the State, many of whom are too blind to realize it. It endeavors to promote State regulation
rather than local regulation where it can get away with it. It emasculates the concept of free public
education by encouraging and financing private, often religious, schools. It gerrymanders Congressional Districts so
that a disproportionate number of Republicans are elected. It fails to provide unemployment and Medicaid
programs which meet the needs of the State’s residents. It flirts with banning free speech. I have been living here
in retirement for twenty years and can tell you when this disease will be
remedied. Never! Floridians, for
a variety of reasons, are too stupid or gullible or bigoted to accomplish
that.
There are many wonderful
things about the State of Florida. They
include its benign climate, its beaches and recreational facilities, its boating and fishing opportunities, its golf
courses, its restaurants, some of its educational institutions, its museums and
its numerous entertainment venues. All
of these explain why so many choose to live here despite the State being
diseased by the Republican Party. It’s a
trade-off with which we manage to put up.
But the tipping point might be
the presence of Donald Trump in Florida and all the maggot-like creatures, like
a decaying body, he will attract. Then
the vast emigration of Floridians, who originally came here from other, colder,
places to other States (or countries) will begin.
JL
The people who lived in what
the future eventually recognized to have been historic times may not have recognized
the historic significance of what was happening around them at the time. There are many examples of what at the time
did not seem to have much significance turning out to be very important
historic landmarks.
A few examples: the crucifixion of Jesus, the invention of
the printing press, Martin Luther tacking his opinions on a church door; the
introduction of slavery to the ‘new world,’ the Boston Tea Party, the firing on
Fort Sumter, the Pearl Harbor attack, the 9/11 attacks. While all of these events marked real turning
points in world, and American, history, that was not evident for certain at the
time they took place.
We are living in such times
right now. Our country has survived
under its Constitution for 232 years. It
was tested by some of the events mentioned above, but it always survived. Conceivably, it might not have survived the
Civil War or the Second World War but it did, fueled by a strength from within
the nation. Today’s threat is different because it is based on belief in a
fictitious alternate reality which millions of Americans are sufficiently
gullible or ignorant enough to believe.
Those who have bought into an
alternate reality range from those who simply will not accept the 2020 presidential
election results to those who believe in wild conspiracy theories and who confuse
criminal behavior deserving punishment with heroism leading to martyrdom. Some of these invaded the Capitol on January
6. There are varying levels of alternate reality. Not all are the same. But once accepting one level, it is easier to
be convinced of others.
If we look at the numbers from
the 2020 presidential election, 81 million voters voted for President Biden and
74 million voted for Donald Trump. There is no question as to the veracity of
these numbers except in the minds of those who live in an alternate reality, and
those that go along with them for various reasons. Seventy-four million Americans who are
convinced that their alternate reality is the real thing cannot just be ignored or told to
leave. “Re-education,” as it is called
in China, on that scale is impossible in our democracy.
The only course of action is
to find and address the reasons why those who have accepted a fictitious
alternate reality have chosen to do so. These may be social, demographic or
economic in nature. That is what must be
done. It may sound overly simple, but
what we do will be viewed in the future as historic. It may not seem obvious to us today, but I
believe we live in historic times, times which will turn out to be as
significant to our nation as are 1492, 1619, 1776, 1789 and 1861.
JL
A few blog postings ago, a column dealing with the filibuster by the New York Times’ David Leonhardt was mentioned in which he briefly quoted Alexander Hamilton. I wrote that I would get back to that later in greater detail, which I am now doing.
In campaigning in New York State for the passage of the new nation’s Constitution back in 1788 and 1789, three of its advocates, James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, wrote pieces explaining why the State should approve it. They were all signed “Publius” and collectively form what is known as the “Federalist Papers.” Number 22 of the series, written by Hamilton, contained many ideas worthy of note today.
“Every
idea of proportional and every rule of fair representation conspire to condemn
a principle which gives to Rhode Island an equal weight in the scale of power
with Massachusetts or Connecticut or New York; and to Delaware an equal voice
in the national deliberations with Pennsylvania or Virginia or North Carolina.
Its operation contradicts the fundamental maxim of republican government which
requires that the sense of the majority should prevail.”
“To give
a minority a negative upon the majority is, in its tendency, to subject the
sense of the greater number to that of the lesser.”
“Its real
operation is to embarrass the administration, to destroy the energy of the
government, and to substitute the pleasure, caprice, or artifices of an
insignificant, turbulent or corrupt junto, to the regular deliberations of a
respectable majority.”
“Hence,
tedious delays, continual negotiations and intrigue; contemptible compromises
of the public good.”
“We are
apt to rest satisfied that all is safe, because nothing improper will be likely
to be done, but we forget how much good may be prevented … by the power of
hindering the doing what may be necessary.”
The writers of the
Constitution addressed Hamilton’s concern by having two separate legislatures,
the less democratic features he cited being permitted to continue in the Senate,
but to a far lesser extent in the House of Representatives.
Hamilton was also concerned
with the powers granted to the head of state and what to do to limit them. Let’s listen to him again:
“A
hereditary monarch has so great a personal interest in the government ... that
it is not easy for a foreign power to give him the equivalent for what he would
sacrifice by treachery.”
“In
republics, persons elevated from the mass of the community to stations of great
pre-eminence and power, may find compensations for betraying the trust.”
Obviously, Hamilton believed
in impeachment. And that was written
into the new Constitution. But a law
isn’t very much if it cannot be enforced;
therefore, he also bemoaned the lack of a judiciary power in the
Articles of Confederation and wanted a “Supreme Court.”
“Laws are
a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and
operation.”
“There
are endless diversities in the opinions of men.
We often see not only different courts but the judges of the same court
differing from each other … all nations have found it necessary to establish
one court paramount to the rest … authorized to settle and declare in the last
resort a uniform rule of civil justice.
Finally, Hamilton seems to
have wanted more government positions filled by popular vote rather than by
State legislatures. In that, he failed,
the prime example being the Electoral College, and until 1913, even the Senate. He concludes Federalist Paper Number 22 with
these mighty words (and the CAPS are Hamilton’s, not mine):
“It has
not a little contributed to the infirmities of the existing federal system that
it never had a ratification by the PEOPLE.
Resting on no better foundation than the consent of the several
legislatures, it has been exposed to frequent and intricate questions
concerning the validity of its powers … The fabric of American empire ought to
rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national
power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all
legitimate authority.
I believe that Hamilton, were
he alive today, would be a strong advocate of the direct election of the
president by national popular vote.
JL
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