There have always been
modestly informed adults who forgot some of the civics they were taught in
school and fell for the idea that the Electoral College was “undemocratic” and
therefore somehow bad; better to elect
presidents by popular vote we’re told.
This nonsense never led anywhere because our leaders knew better.
But today, the ascendancy of progressives
and their do-gooder allies is bringing the exceptional American system of
government under threat and even ridicule.
Otherwise intelligent people are beginning to listen to such
drivel. My grandson is persuaded that
the Constitution of the United States of America is document out of date. Apparently my younger grandchildren aren’t
even taught civics anymore. More and
more fools are not only attacking the Electoral College, now they find it “unfair”
or “undemocratic” that small states have as many Senators as large ones.
Consider this lengthy opinion
piece from the front page of the
New York Times written by the lefty Adam Liptak. This guy has a wide audience; he teaches at several of our elite lefty colleges
and writes for influential lefty magazines.
Smaller
States Find Outsize Clout Growing in Senate
By
Adam Liptak
NYT,
3/11/13
The Founders were above all else
concerned that that America would never again be under the thumb of a
dictator. And in the pursuit of this
objective, their bedrock priority was individual liberty which they ingeniously
sought to protect from both government and “the tyranny of the majority”. They never believed in “pure” democracy and
neither should we.
“Populism” is dangerous –
think Hitler, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot and so many others – do you really believe
that German, Russian or Chinese people were bad or dumb? Collectively, people are often spectacularly dumb
in any given moment. Individually we are
always self interested and worse. People
are flawed and the Founder’s exceptional form of government protects us from
ourselves better than any other system on the planet.
The Founder’s strongly
advised against political Parties and today we can see their wisdom better than
ever. Federal government dysfunction is
widely seen and hotly detested at the moment but it’s not the Founder’s system of
government that’s broken. Far from it,
the Founder’s system is arguably protecting us from getting worse faster. Checks and balances are a good thing. Deliberation is at least of help, even for
idiots.
What’s broken is our
political system. We’ve allowed the
major political Parties to become the most powerful, entrenched and destructive
two lobbies in the nation. Our primary
system allows the candidates for office to be selected for Party loyalty above
the good of the community. By the time
the nation votes, radical political monopolies have eliminated the suitable
candidates. Once in place, legislators more
and more work for their Party and some vaguely defined and incredibly malleable
“principles” over the simple good of the nation. If fact, the Party system has degraded the caliber
of our legislators and at the same time shifted from offering solutions to
problems to the perpetual demonization of the opposition.
And we fall for it. We have taken sides with one or the other
tribe of morons and opportunists. Can
you believe that Rush Limbaugh has 22 million listeners? Do you think that the likes of Michele
Bachman, Herman Cain or Rick Santorum are of legislative caliber, let alone
Presidential? Do progressives and
climate crazies represent the will of America?
They say they do.
Sandra Day O’Conner – former Supreme
Court Justice – is so appalled at the ignorance of our citizens about our
system of government that she has started iCivics. It’s a 50 state effort to begin teaching
civics in our schools again. More power
to her because kids can’t even name the three branches of government let alone understand
and defend the objectives in the Federalist papers.
Ask yourself these questions
for a start:
1.
Is government by
referendum – i.e. “pure” democracy – a better idea than representative
government?
2.
Would the nation
be better off if we did everything the way New York City, California or perhaps
Texas says we should? How about the
Detroit way or the Arizona way?
3.
Do we approve of
Presidents invading sovereign nations or should Congress declare war first? If Congress passes a law, does the President
have to implement it or can he modify it with signing letters?
4.
Have you thought
about a third political Party as a possible way to break the
Democrat/Republican monopoly? If so, how
do you think we should resolve a 34/33/33 popular vote result in a Presidential
election?
5.
Can you move from
a densely populated city to Fargo North Dakota?
Can you do the reverse?
6.
Should government
buy companies?
7.
Should government
design stuff such as cars, light bulbs or toilets?
8.
Do you like the
war on drugs? Farm subsidies? How about the Defense of Marriage Act?
You get the idea, I
hope. Progressives are in ascendance at
the moment and with the excellent support of Republicans, we can expect that they’ll
accumulate even more power. Perhaps you
like that but remember, someday it could be the Tea Party or the Ku Klux Klan
or PETA or any group. What do you think
about facing these challenges after we eliminate the Senate and let the House
make all the laws?