"We" are currently engaged in a battle that focuses on the nature of "democracy," where neither side is willing to be honest about what is at stake, what their objectives are, and how they hope to achieve them.
The fundamental un-asked question is, what is the good of Democracy?
Democracy has been accurately described as organized mob rule. The Founders of the United States understood the real dangers of "democracy" because in the Constitution there is not a single significant matter (for the Federal Government) that is decided by popular vote. All major decisions, and all major policy choices are made by the Peoples' elected representatives, but the Founders would have been horrified at the thought of things like passage of legislation or a declaration of war being decided by a vote of The People.
The People, acting collectively, are often idiots.
But today's Democrats have, without saying it aloud, proposed a philosophical extension of "democracy."
Up until now, it was understood and accepted that NOT EVERY CITIZEN SHOULD BE VOTING. There are people who are ignorant, uninvolved, stupid, incompetent, illiterate, lazy, or distracted who basically have never voted in their lives, despite having the "right" to do so. Less than 62% of the eligible, voting age population voted in 2012 and 2016. That means that approximately 38% were in the categories highlighted above.
Without actually saying so, previous generations set up requirements for voters that sought to weed out these people. You had to register in advance to vote, and keep your voter registration up to date when you move, had a name change, etc. You had to come to the polls on Election Day and identify yourself, then sign a ballot, with the signature cross-matched with the signature on file from your original registration. In some states ,they had "Literacy Tests," which recently came into disfavor because they were being used to screen out Blacks and other undesirables, but note well that the Supreme Court NEVER SAID that literacy tests for voters were unconstitutional...only that they were impermissible when used for a nefarious purpose. So again, these very modest requirements were established to weed out the "38%" highlighted above who ought not to be voting.
But today's Democrats are seeking out the votes of these 38%-ers with reckless abandon, because they (the Democrats) know that these people are easily influenced by the "bright shiny objects" that they are offering - "free" college, "free" medical care, subsidized housing, reparations for slavery, $15 minimum wage, and so on. And indeed these are nothing but "bright shiny objects" because they will probably never come to be, at least in the form that they are promised.
In short, the Democrats are campaigning for the votes of people who should not be voting. They propose that the 38%-ers should not have to register in advance, that they should not need to get a photo-ID card, that they should not have their signatures checked when voting, and that they need not come to the polls on Election Day. Each and every one of these initiatives is an attempt to secure more votes from the 38%-ers.
And in the face of this, the Republicans are seeking to avoid having THIER votes watered down by not only the 38%-ers. but also millions and millions of people illegally in the country, whom Mr. Biden openly campaigns to supply with Voter ID cards!
As we all now see, any attempt by Republicans to restore the minimal protections that have long existed are portrayed not only by Democrats but by the entire non-Fox Media as "anti-democratic." Maybe they are. They are an attempt to avoid having our elections decided by the 38%-ers and illegals...who should not be voting in the first place.
The fundamental un-asked question is, what is the good of Democracy?
Democracy has been accurately described as organized mob rule. The Founders of the United States understood the real dangers of "democracy" because in the Constitution there is not a single significant matter (for the Federal Government) that is decided by popular vote. All major decisions, and all major policy choices are made by the Peoples' elected representatives, but the Founders would have been horrified at the thought of things like passage of legislation or a declaration of war being decided by a vote of The People.
The People, acting collectively, are often idiots.
But today's Democrats have, without saying it aloud, proposed a philosophical extension of "democracy."
Up until now, it was understood and accepted that NOT EVERY CITIZEN SHOULD BE VOTING. There are people who are ignorant, uninvolved, stupid, incompetent, illiterate, lazy, or distracted who basically have never voted in their lives, despite having the "right" to do so. Less than 62% of the eligible, voting age population voted in 2012 and 2016. That means that approximately 38% were in the categories highlighted above.
Without actually saying so, previous generations set up requirements for voters that sought to weed out these people. You had to register in advance to vote, and keep your voter registration up to date when you move, had a name change, etc. You had to come to the polls on Election Day and identify yourself, then sign a ballot, with the signature cross-matched with the signature on file from your original registration. In some states ,they had "Literacy Tests," which recently came into disfavor because they were being used to screen out Blacks and other undesirables, but note well that the Supreme Court NEVER SAID that literacy tests for voters were unconstitutional...only that they were impermissible when used for a nefarious purpose. So again, these very modest requirements were established to weed out the "38%" highlighted above who ought not to be voting.
But today's Democrats are seeking out the votes of these 38%-ers with reckless abandon, because they (the Democrats) know that these people are easily influenced by the "bright shiny objects" that they are offering - "free" college, "free" medical care, subsidized housing, reparations for slavery, $15 minimum wage, and so on. And indeed these are nothing but "bright shiny objects" because they will probably never come to be, at least in the form that they are promised.
In short, the Democrats are campaigning for the votes of people who should not be voting. They propose that the 38%-ers should not have to register in advance, that they should not need to get a photo-ID card, that they should not have their signatures checked when voting, and that they need not come to the polls on Election Day. Each and every one of these initiatives is an attempt to secure more votes from the 38%-ers.
And in the face of this, the Republicans are seeking to avoid having THIER votes watered down by not only the 38%-ers. but also millions and millions of people illegally in the country, whom Mr. Biden openly campaigns to supply with Voter ID cards!
As we all now see, any attempt by Republicans to restore the minimal protections that have long existed are portrayed not only by Democrats but by the entire non-Fox Media as "anti-democratic." Maybe they are. They are an attempt to avoid having our elections decided by the 38%-ers and illegals...who should not be voting in the first place.
