{"id":179291,"date":"2021-02-16T04:18:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T01:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/democrats-are-radicalizing-against-the-us-constitution\/"},"modified":"2021-02-16T04:18:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T01:18:49","slug":"democrats-are-radicalizing-against-the-us-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/democrats-are-radicalizing-against-the-us-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"#Democrats are radicalizing against the US Constitution\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Democrats are radicalizing against the US Constitution\u00a0<\/strong>”
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Republicans are \u201cradicalizing against democracy,\u201d because they rely on our constitutional process when governing. This is the \u00adessence of MSNBC host Chris Hayes\u2019 recent Atlantic magazine essay<\/a> contending that the GOP is descending into authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

Hayes notes, without a hint of self-awareness, that \u201cthe Constitution puts a wind at the backs of Republicans and makes them more competitive than they would be otherwise.\u201d What does \u201cotherwise\u201d 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?\u00a0\u00a0There is no \u201cotherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea that the Constitution allows \u201cminoritarian control\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 read: communities \u2014 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\u2019s not a bug; it\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n

To bolster his case, Hayes creates the impression that the overriding national consensus is being thwarted. \u201cDemocrats 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,\u201d he argues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s boorishness and self-destructive behavior, Republicans came somewhere within 45,000 to 90,000 votes of controlling all of Washington\u2019s 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 happ<\/a>en in the presidential election of 2024.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cwhether the United States will live up to the promise of democracy.\u201d And \u201cwe\u2019ve rarely been so divided\u201d on that crucial question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he doesn\u2019t really mean \u201cdemocracy,\u201d so much as he means \u201cthings I personally like.\u201d Rest assured, Hayes wasn\u2019t a fan of majoritarian \u201cdemocracy\u201d when the vast majority of Americans opposed gay marriage. He isn\u2019t really a fan of catchall \u201cdemocracy\u201d when it doesn\u2019t serve his philosophical interests.<\/p>\n

As for \u201cauthoritarianism\u201d \u2014 well, that also seems to depend upon whose ox is being gored. Where are Hayes\u2019 passionate objections to President Biden\u2019s 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\u2019s imploring the executive to strip<\/a> Congress of its power? Where was he when the Obama administration went after the conscience<\/a> rights of nuns?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clearly, for many left-wingers, \u201cdemocracy\u201d and \u201cauthoritarianism\u201d are wholly situational ideas. I won\u2019t be lectured by them any longer.<\/p>\n

To believe the \u201cBiden 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,\u201d one has to ignore reality \u2014 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 \u201cdifferent,\u201d but represented the core of the conservative argument.<\/p>\n

Well, I won\u2019t do either. I\u2019m for the rule of law \u2014 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\u2019m for all those things, because I reject authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Twitter<\/a>: @DavidHarsanyi<\/a><\/em>\n <\/div>\n