RIP American Democracy

[DFW]

34. Recent history should serve as a wake-up call to the "lookit me!" egomaniacs of 2000-2024.

I don't pretend to know all of their real motives or all of their real backers, but I sure as hell know the effects of their actions. We all do.

From Ralph Nader to Jill Stein to Bernie Sanders to Nina Turner to Bobby Jr. to Cornell West to a dozen others, the fate of the country, the people who live in it, the fate of those who live elsewhere but are affected by us (and that's half the planet or more), these people have succeeded or came close to succeeding (i.e. in 2020) in disrupting--and negating--the will and preference of the majority of those who voted, as well as those who wanted to vote but were denied that right, due to actions of a SCOTUS resulting from the ego trips of the above-named non-Democrats. Al Gore and Hillary Clinton certainly never would have nominated the likes of Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh or Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Mitch McConnell and the Steves (Bannon and Miller) did. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I doubt that anyone on DU is under the illusion that Bush Jr. or Trump had the slightest idea of who their Supreme Court nominees should have been. Those two wouldn't know the difference between "Black's Law Dictionary" and "Black Beauty."

In the name of being "progressive," they have instead managed to aid and abet those who would throw the country that once led the world in technological innovation and social progress back into the 15th century, when death and disease were either just too bad or "God's will," education was controlled by the clergy, and rulers were absolute and not to be questioned, whether their new clothes were real or not.

Like it or not, the United States is not a parliamentary democracy. Parties garnering 15% of the vote do NOT get a voice in shaping governments. They DO play a role in who makes up governments by siphoning off votes from would-have-been majority winners, but once those elections are over, their role is zero. Ralph Nader was not invited to lend his input to the Cheney-Bush administration. They owed their existence to him, but other than being happy about it, no other gesture to Nader would be forthcoming. In Germany, where I live, a party getting 15% of the vote can be a kingmaker, being courted by larger parties offering concessions to join a coalition and make them the ruling government. It gets predictably messy, and isn't necessarily better than our way. But I have no knowledge of any country allowing an ideological judiciary to decide that only its supporters should have an unrestricted right to vote or even a fair trial, or that its adherents are protected from having to answer for wrongdoing. Sam Alito's role model is not John Marshall, but Roland Freisler. Worse yet, he's proud of it.

While the right to free speech and expression should remain absolute, the unenforceable moral obligation to consider the long range effects of those words and actions should never be ignored. They should also figure into anyone's decision to mount a peripheral political movement that could alter the results of a vital election. An action is not noble if its ultimate effect is to bring on misery. That is a notion I would love to bring to the attention of people like Bobby, Jr. and Cornell West, but, as with all their predecessors from Ralph Nader onward, I know it will fall of deaf ears.


**I am well aware that there are staunch defenders of the one or the other of the (in my opinion) tragic disruptors, past and present. I don't disagree with your motives any more than you can disagree with the aftermath of what your champions have wrought. Well, I should temper that with that fact that they always say, "it wasn't [fill in the blank]'s fault!" Anyone who says that, well, I'm not going to change their minds. By the same token, they aren't going to change mine when I say, "yes, it was." No one wants an imperfect hero, but they all are.

I'm ready for the usual attacks by the usual people who will vehemently disagree. But don't expect me to spend a lot of time getting upset about them. This is one of those rare times when I can relax, enjoy the presence of my two daughters and all four of our grandchildren, and watch the sun set over the water for a few weeks. The nearest town is a small gay mecca with great people, food, art, music and a lot of peaceful days and evenings. No Paris, Zürich, Brussels, whatever. In three weeks, my wife and I get to celebrate the anniversary of one of the most improbable things that ever happened to us. No one can take that away. The grind will start up again soon enough.