XPost: mn.politics, alt.madonna.is.a.whore, soc.culture.israel   
   XPost: alt.politics.gossip   
   From: fuck-obama-too@nytimes.com   
      
   Republicans are “radicalizing against democracy,” because they   
   rely on our constitutional process when governing. This is the   
   ­essence of MSNBC host Chris Hayes’ recent Atlantic magazine   
   essay contending that the GOP is descending into   
   authoritarianism.   
      
   Hayes notes, without a hint of self-awareness, that “the   
   Constitution puts a wind at the backs of Republicans and makes   
   them more competitive than they would be otherwise.” What does   
   “otherwise” mean here, exactly? A return to the British Empire?   
   Or does it mean functioning as the centralized direct democracy   
   that progressives covet but that has never existed in this   
   country?  There is no “otherwise.”   
      
   The idea that the Constitution allows “minoritarian control”   
   might be popular in certain quarters, but it remains a faulty   
   way of looking at our system. The US republic is democratic,   
   yes, but it also protects the rights of the individual, the   
   power of the states and the dignity of the minority, and it does   
   so openly and deliberately.   
      
   Federalism, far from representing a modern plot, has existed   
   from the start as a means to diffuse power and prevent the   
   subordination of smaller states — read: communities — by bigger   
   ones. There is nothing preventing California from passing   
   whatever laws it wishes at the state level. There are provisions   
   making it hard for California to pass whatever laws it wishes in   
   West Virginia. That’s not a bug; it’s the point.   
      
   To bolster his case, Hayes creates the impression that the   
   overriding national consensus is being thwarted. “Democrats have   
   established a narrow but surprisingly durable electoral   
   majority, holding control of the House, winning back the Senate   
   and taking the presidency by 7 million votes,” he argues.   
      
   This is wishful thinking. Voters are fickle, public sentiment   
   mercurial. Four years ago, Republicans controlled everything,   
   too. What has changed? Not much, really. Amid a once-in-a-   
   century pandemic and downturn, and despite President Donald   
   Trump’s boorishness and self-destructive behavior, Republicans   
   came somewhere within 45,000 to 90,000 votes of controlling all   
   of Washington’s institutions again. There is a good chance that   
   the GOP will take back the House in 2022; the Senate is tied;   
   and nobody has a clue what will happen in the presidential   
   election of 2024.   
      
   Perhaps the most dangerous thing about anti-constitutionalists   
   such as Hayes is their inability to comprehend their own   
   authoritarianism. Hayes asserts that, in the future, the   
   national fight will revolve around “whether the United States   
   will live up to the promise of democracy.” And “we’ve rarely   
   been so divided” on that crucial question.   
      
   But he doesn’t really mean “democracy,” so much as he means   
   “things I personally like.” Rest assured, Hayes wasn’t a fan of   
   majoritarian “democracy” when the vast majority of Americans   
   opposed gay marriage. He isn’t really a fan of catchall   
   “democracy” when it doesn’t serve his philosophical interests.   
      
   As for “authoritarianism” — well, that also seems to depend upon   
   whose ox is being gored. Where are Hayes’ passionate objections   
   to President Biden’s having signed a slew of acutely   
   undemocratic executive orders, including international   
   agreements, without the consent of the legislative branch? How   
   loud has he been in criticism of Chuck Schumer’s imploring the   
   executive to strip Congress of its power? Where was he when the   
   Obama administration went after the conscience rights of nuns?   
      
   Clearly, for many left-wingers, “democracy” and   
   “authoritarianism” are wholly situational ideas. I won’t be   
   lectured by them any longer.   
      
   To believe the “Biden era of American politics is shaping up as   
   a contest between the growing ideological hegemony of   
   liberalism, and the intensifying opposition of a political   
   minority that has proved willing to engage in violence in order   
   to hold on to power,” one has to ignore reality — starting with   
   the endless supply of leftist riots that broke out across the   
   country last summer to unfailingly rave reviews. One also has to   
   pretend that the Capitol rioters were not only magically   
   “different,” but represented the core of the conservative   
   argument.   
      
   Well, I won’t do either. I’m for the rule of law — as it   
   actually exists, not how others would like it to exist. I am for   
   the Constitution. I am for both houses of Congress. I am for the   
   states. I am for the Bill of Rights. I’m for all those things,   
   because I reject authoritarianism.   
      
    Twitter: @DavidHarsanyi   
      
   https://nypost.com/2021/02/15/democrats-are-radicalizing-against-   
   the-us-constitution/   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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