WILL THIS BE OUR LAST JULY 4th WITH A FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY?
We Democrats need to check our egos, and re-prioritize to put democracy first. Democrats need to welcome former Republicans as allies, and together use every tool we have to fight this ongoing coup.
Happy 4th of July weekend.
Our great democracy turns 246 on Monday. We are celebrating with concerts, fireworks, family gatherings, and public readings. I hope you have a great weekend planned, because whether we will be a democracy on our 250th birthday is, I fear, in doubt.
The fateful Declaration, whose passage we count as our founding date, is very clear. Jefferson wrote that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”
A few years later, in urging the adoption of the Constitution, Hamilton wrote “‘there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers.’ And it proves, in the last place, that liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have everything to fear from its union with either of the other departments.
It was a warning that democracy's enemies understood better than its friends. For much of my lifetime the secret funders of the Federalist Society bought their way into the far-right wing of the GOP and corrupted our Supreme Court. They built a powerful propaganda machine, and now many of our citizens are profoundly confused.
THE GOP’S CAPTIVE JUDICIARY
For fifty years, the GOP has put forward judges not because they would be independent but because they would not. Republicans made a captive judiciary a campaign promise. They told rally after rally that they would appoint justices who would do their bidding. In keeping that promise they put everything at risk. Now, a captive judiciary threatens our democracy and our liberty just as Hamilton knew it would.
There cannot be even the smallest doubt that this is so: from the very first moment this partisan Court had a majority they have ignored stare decisis and the weight of historical and current cultural norms to affect the radical agenda of a faction that could not otherwise impose its will through the political branches of government.
As the Declaration says, the legitimacy of a government requires the consent of the governed. We do not consent. Not to strip away long-established privacy rights. Not to the blurring of the boundary between Church and State. Not to the idolatry of guns. Not to the erosion of voting rights. Yet in case after case an empowered majority on the Court made radical and unpopular changes only because they could. Using power itself as the justification for action is usually called tyranny.
When you consider that many Americans would not even wear a mask to protect their family and their neighbors simply because they objected to being told they must do so, it will hardly come as a surprise that many Americans will not comply with orders that are far more personal and coercive.
THE THREAT TO FAIR ELECTIONS
The same right-wing group has taken over state legislatures and now is taking aim at voters and elections. They have posited a crazy theory that would allow those legislatures to determine electors, regardless of voters, and their allies on the Court have agreed to hear that theory in the next session. Experts see this as a democracy ending moment. One that goes further than their failed big strategy, and their clumsy attack on January 6th. Let us never forget that among King George’s crimes cited in the Declaration as justification for our new independence is this: ``He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us.” Donald Trump, his funders, and propaganda partners are clearly guilty on that count.
By alliance with this faction and elevating themselves above the people, the Supreme Court will now see its judgements ignored. Abortions will continue to happen. Already, prosecutors in several states say they will not pursue abortion related cases. New York has already passed new gun legislation. Others are considering similar steps. This is civil disobedience at the state level. Lacking the consent of the governed that would legitimize their decisions, a partisan Court has created a constitutional crisis where the rule of law itself is now in doubt.
Republicans alone are responsible for this crisis.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
As always, we citizens are the guardians of our democracy. And this fight is not partisan. We Democrats need to check our egos, and re-prioritize to put democracy first. Democrats need to welcome former Republicans as allies, and together use every tool we have to fight this ongoing coup. Here are some things to we can do:
Consider the forms of civil disobedience that may blunt the attack on democracy. Should cities like Chicago enact and enforce strong gun laws in defiance of decisions like Heller? Maybe.
Tell the truth to our fellow citizens even if they are resistant to hearing it. As the Jan 6th Committee has brilliantly done, those of us on the left must create platforms for conservatives like Liz Cheney to tell our story. They will be more effective. That debate I played for you earlier may not win her an election, but it will open some minds.
Defund propaganda networks like FOX. Drop your cable company if it requires you to purchase FOX. Join CheckMyAds to stem the flow of programmatic ad revenue that supports seditious websites. Join boycotts of companies that run ads on FOX and donate to election deniers.
While we still can, demand that Senator Durbin and the Senate Judiciary committee take action to reign in a corrupt Supreme Court. Let them add seats to the body so that there is a judge for each circuit. That is how the court was formerly organized. Let them also term-limit membership so that every presidential term coincides with an appointment to the Court. Do not vote for any Senators who prioritize the filibuster over democracy.
Most importantly, winning a larger Senate majority this cycle has to be the top priority of Democrats and of former Republicans who care about Democracy. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, are battlegrounds. Organize, campaign, donate, vote as if everything depends upon it, because it does.
There is no better way to honor this holiday than to recommit ourselves to the task of preserving our democracy and perfecting our union, and together in that fight, as the founders did 246 years ago to mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.