Tag Archives: Democracy

One Senator Sees the Extreme Danger

Posted on by

You could argue that the Southern states seceding from the union was the most serious attack on American democracy. But the slave states weren’t merely trying to change the way we govern ourselves. They were attacking the United States itself, trying to break it apart. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut is correct when he says: “Right now, the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of our of country is underway. Those who are pushing to make Dxxxx Txxxx President, no matter the outcome of the election, are engaged in a treachery against their nation.”

He spoke for 14 minutes on Friday and then later to Greg Sargent of The Washington Post.

Greg Sargent asks a good question:

How many other Democrats have you heard making this case in such stark terms?:

Yes, you regularly hear Democrats claiming that it’s time that Republicans accept that Txxxx lost. Or you hear them slamming Txxxx’s lawsuits as frivolous. Or you hear them suggesting that Republicans are spineless for not standing up to Txxxx, as if they harbor deeply held principles they’d adhere to if only Txxxx’s rage-tweets weren’t so frightening.

But you don’t often hear them saying what Murphy suggested here: that the Republican Party has morphed into a malignant and profoundly dangerous threat to the country and the long-term prospects for our democratic stability.

I followed up with Murphy to ask what prompted this speech.

“I have a very clear sense of the danger this all poses to the republic,” Murphy told me. “If this becomes at all normalized more broadly than it already is, they will steal an election two years from now or four years from now.”

“And then I’m not sure how we keep our democracy together,” Murphy continued.

. . . President-elect Joe Biden’s team — which has adopted the posture that much of what Republicans are doing is just a stunt — wants to reassure the country that the transition is proceeding smoothly, and might not want too much focus on this disruption. But that risks misleading the public about the tenuousness of the moment. . . .

. . . If large swaths of the Republican Party are morphing into a much more cancerous anti-democratic force, one that in some basic sense just isn’t functioning as an actor in a democracy, how should Democrats adapt, and communicate to the public about this? How can they compete in the information wars, given the massive media machine the GOP has at its disposal?

On another front, a much more robust agenda to broaden prosperity and combat inequality and flat wages might defuse some populist anger out there. But given that the prospects for a modest economic rescue package are dim — and given the likelihood of GOP Senate control — that seems like an uphill climb.

Murphy suggested that the starting point might be to “diagnose the problem,” which would require a real reorientation in posture.

“For much of the last four years, we thought the problem was that Republicans knew what the right thing was, but they just didn’t do it because Txxxx was so scary,” Murphy told me. “I think this moment is showing us that there are a whole lot of Republicans who believe this nonsense.”

“This isn’t just a party that’s trying to stay on the good side of an enemy of democracy,” Murphy continued. “This is a party that has a whole bunch of enemies of democracy inside its top ranks. That’s bone-chilling.”

Tyranny On The Docket

Posted on by

The Supreme Court should unanimously choose democracy over tyranny, possibly as soon as today. I use “should” in both of its senses: it is the right thing to do and they will do it. The only question is whether they dismiss Texas’s outrageous lawsuit with or without an explanation. Greg Sargent of The Washington Post argues that we need to consider what’s at stake: 

President Txxxx has once again demanded that the Supreme Court invalidate millions of votes in four states, nullifying the election and keeping him in power illegitimately.

Indeed, Txxxx was unintentionally explicit on this point: He predicted that Joe Biden’s presidency will be corrupt, and commanded the court to overturn the election results on that basis, in the process making this command with no legitimate legal or constitutional basis at all.

As early as Friday, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on this demand, which has taken the form of a lawsuit waged by the state of Texas, and backed by Txxxx and his propagandists, against four swing states that Biden won. The court will likely refuse to hear the case.

All of which is why the scorching reply brief that Pennsylvania has now filed is an extraordinarily important document. It frames the stakes with appropriate urgency, by essentially arguing that the Texas lawsuit and its supporters are, in effect, asking the court to arbitrarily and lawlessly impose the will of Txxxx supporters on that of the majority that rejected Txxxx — i.e., tyranny.

Even if the court does reject the lawsuit, it’s important for Americans to understand what Txxxx and his co-conspirators are attempting. Now that more than 100 House Republicans, more than 15 Republican state attorneys general and the two GOP senators running in the Georgia runoffs have endorsed this lawsuit, we should be clear on what large swaths of the GOP are really supporting.

The Texas lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the outcomes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia on the grounds that the voting in them was administered illegally, a claim that largely revolves around the dramatic expansion of vote-by-mail in them. That could clear the way for GOP-controlled state legislatures in all four to appoint pro-Txxxx electors.

The Pennsylvania brief attacks the core of Texas’s case . . . . Pennsylvania points out that numerous courts have already shot down the same irregularities alleged by Texas, including the falsehoods that verification standards weren’t followed and that poll-watchers weren’t allowed to witness counting. . . .

It’s in debunking the merit of Texas’s other claim — of harm done to it — that the bigger point is made.

As the Pennsylvania brief notes, intrastate disputes that the Supreme Court has heard generally involve alleged damage done by one state to another state’s “core sovereign interests.” This might involve, say, a dispute over a boundary or a body of water.

In this case, though, Texas is instead claiming that its voters have been harmed by the supposedly illegitimate pro-Biden outcome in the four other states.

Which Texas voters were harmed by this? Why, those who voted for Txxxx, of course, or at least didn’t vote for Biden. . . .

[The Pennsylvania] brief notes, what Texas is really demanding is this:

Far from trying to vindicate its own sovereign or quasi-sovereign interests, Texas is ultimately seeking redress for the political preferences of those of its citizens who voted for President Txxxx.

It adds:

Let us be clear. Texas invites this Court to overthrow the votes of the American people and choose the next President of the United States. That Faustian invitation must be firmly rejected.

. . . Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, emails me this:

Texas is basically asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election for no other reason than because it has suspicions no one has been able to prove about mischief in other states. It’s not just a borderline frivolous legal suit; it’s an invitation to the Justices to simply substitute the preferences of a minority of voters for those of the clear majority.

We spend a great deal of time debating whether Republican elected officials endorsing this effort genuinely support its goals or instead are trying to realize other instrumental purposes, such as energizing the base or keeping Txxxx happy so he will endorse GOP candidates.

But even if those are also operative motivations, . . . would these elected Republicans be fine with this effort actually succeeding? There is just no evident reason to give them the benefit of the doubt . . . 

Beyond Bizarre

Posted on by

In 1960, after we’d already been introduced to The Twilight Zone, DC Comics gave us Bizarro World. Wikipedia explains:

In the Bizarro world of “Htrae” [“Earth” spelled backward], society is ruled by the Bizarro Code, which states “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!” In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: “Guaranteed to lose money for you”. Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro No. 1 to investigate a crime, “Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together”. This is intended and taken as a great compliment.

Millions of Americans are  now living in Bizarro World, where up is down, left is right. From Oliver Darcy of CNN:

Here’s a transcript of a conversation [radio agitator] Rush Limbaugh had with a caller [on Tuesday]. It’s important to keep in mind that right-wing media has absolutely convinced a fairly significant portion of country the election was stolen. What that leads to, I’m not sure. But it is a dangerous lie:

CALLER: . . . I thank you for everything you’re doing. And my comment today is that the national news media and the Democratic Party are using the fear factor in order to control the people. This is right out of the Alinsky, communist playbook. [Presumably, the caller means that the media and Democrats are inappropriately warning about the pandemic.] It’s to divert people’s attention to the real facts of what they’re doing. It’s clearly a stolen election. We’ve seen the election results. We’ve seen the fraud that’s taken place. We need to have our place in court. We need to never stop fighting. We need a prayer chain and millions of people to get out in the street so that the national medicat ifnore the populace.

LIMBAUGH: Well, that’s gonna be a tough thing to pull off.

CALLER: I know that.

LIMBAUGH: The national media, in the first place, it isn’t media. You’re asking them to all of a sudden start reporting the news, when they don’t do that anymore. . . .

CALLER: If the streets are lined with truck drivers and the roads are lined with people and clog these cities up, it becomes a desperate action. But if they steal this election, they’ve stolen our libertry, they’ve stolen our freedom.

LIMBAUGH: Yeah, I know.

CALLER: We’re done.

LIMBAUGH: Not just that.

CALLER: That can’t happen.

LIMBAUGH: They have forever corrupted the Constitutuion. I mean, the stakes are quite serious.

CALLER: Well, we need to ever stop. The people have to stand up. There too many people too quiet sitting by the waywide, unfortunately.

LIMBAUGH: Why do you think they’re doing that?

CALLER: Well, if 40% of the people are still watching the propaganda — it’s not news, it’s the progranda media for the Democratic Party — anybody that refers to the national news as national news is a fool. They are the propaganda wing. They are the Democratic Party.

LIMBAUGH: Right, I know. Bur why are so may people just sitting by doing nothing?

CALLER: They are just in the phase that nothing can be done. What they don’t understand is Txxxx is Txxxx, and he is the major factor standing in the way of a revolution. This is a revolution. It’s the corporate world and politics mixing together to overthrow democracy and to put control on the people.

LIMBAUGH: Well, there’s one thing. Txxx does know that. Txxxx is very, very aware. He knows what’s at stake too. And that;’s why he’s not going away. It’s why he’s not conceded yet. That’s such an important thing. That has the left kind of discombbulated. They’re running around saying, “We told you, Txxxx will not participate in a peaceful transfer of power”. He’s not gonna concede yet because there go his legal optionns if he does. If he concedes, then it’s officially over. . . .

So Txxxx is not going to concede while all of these legal challenges play out. And it’s got the Demcorats just perplexed because they thought by now that they would have seen to it that the chances that Txxx has for vicctory here are so small, and so tiny, not even worth pursuing. But Txxxx doesn’t see it that way in any shape, manner or form.

Unquote.

Txxxx and his gang have lost over 50 lawsuits aimed at reversing the presidential election. There is zero chance the Republicans will succeed in any court in America, including the one in Washington that now has six Republicans and three Democrats. But it won’t matter. The Republican Party chose a demagogue to run for president, a foolish or rabid minority elected him, and we’ll continue suffering consequences after he leaves the White House.

83% of Republicans polled after the 2020 election said they didn’t believe Joe Biden won

Once you’re at home in Bizarro World, why go back to the real one?

Beyond Redemption

Posted on by

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Ca) points out a blatant example of corruption in Washington:

When I came to Congress, I knew I had a responsibility to pull back the curtain for the American people and expose corruption in real time. So, I’m filling you in on Senator McConnell’s attempts over the last 8 days to tank a *bipartisan* COVID relief bill.

You may have heard that Democrats and Republicans have agreed upon spending $900 billion to fund another round of small business loans, support hospitals and essential workers, and help the 10 million people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. 

Everyone at the negotiating table—including Senate Republicans—has agreed to a compromise. Except one. [Republican Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring it to the floor unless it wipes away all COVID-related lawsuits filed that “allege injury or death” due to corporate negligence. 

These lawsuits represent the worst of the worst examples of disregard for human life—cases filed on behalf of nursing home patients and grocery store workers who died because the company in charge of keeping them safe prioritized cutting costs over protecting them. 

The same McConnell who said that President Txxxx is “100% within his rights” to pursue baseless lawsuits alleging election fraud is now refusing to pass urgently-needed relief unless it strips those same rights from the most vulnerable among us. This must be exposed. 

From Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post:

President Txxxx’s legal team, cheered on by grossly irresponsible Republican officeholders and activists, vowed to fight on to the bitter end on Tuesday. That had extra significance because Tuesday was “safe harbor day,” after which any slate of electors certified by states must be considered valid by Congress and the courts, according to federal law. But Txxxx’s lawyers, who have lost more than 50 cases for absolute want of evidence, insist they will press on beyond the safe harbor date. Should we expect them to cease and desist even after the electors meet on Dec. 14 to cast their votes? Please.

Txxxx continues to put pressure on state officials, most recently the Republican House leader in Pennsylvania, to overturn the will of voters. . ..This is a coup attempt, plain and simple — however far-fetched. A lonely Republican, Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), who already announced he will not run for reelection, denounced such efforts. “It’s completely unacceptable and it’s not going to work and the president should give up trying to get legislatures to overturn the results of the elections in their respective states,” Toomey said.

Most Republicans remain mute, but at least one was champing at the bit to join in Txxxx’s preposterous abuse of the legal system. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) “volunteered” to argue before the Supreme Court on behalf of Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to throw out mail-in ballots. Kimberly Wehle at the Bulwark, . . . excoriated the Texan: “You got that right. Cruz — the strict constructionist — is eager to stand before the U.S. Supreme Court to argue that the Pennsylvania legislature had no power to allow universal mail-in voting, but does have the power to throw out every single vote cast in Pennsylvania and impose its own political will on the citizens of Pennsylvania, who chose Joe Biden for president by a nearly 82,000-vote margin over Dxxxx Txxxx.” Thank goodness, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal on Tuesday with no dissents.

Txxxx has no incentive to stop his efforts to overturn a valid election. To the contrary, with blowhards like Cruz available to provide a patina of respectability, and nearly all elected Republicans refusing to recognize the election results, he has every reason to hit up his fans for more donations and to continue insisting he is the rightful winner. When three Republican members of the inauguration committee refuse to recognize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, and when the Arizona Republican Party retweets a right-wing extremist’s declaration that he is “willing to give up my life for this fight,“ we see that far from being isolated, Txxxx is right at home in today’s deranged Republican Party.

The willingness to overturn the most sacred element in our democracy, a free and fair election, to engender favor with a losing president defines the pathetic state of the GOP. The actions from Republicans indicate that they stand for nothing but keeping power at all costs. They promote cynicism, inspire armed protesters (as we saw in Michigan), lend legitimacy to those threatening state officials (in Georgia, for instance) and set a new standard for every losing president . . .

My ongoing plea to level the Republican Party so that an authentic, pro-democracy party can emerge in its place has unfortunately been entirely vindicated. It is not only Txxxx who must leave office but all those aiding and abetting his unlawful attempts to retain power.

On Borrowed Time, Georgia On Our Minds⁠

Posted on by

From former National Security Adviser Susan Rice in The New York Times:

For now, our democracy has held. It’s dodged a bullet — or, more precisely, multiple concerted efforts by the president of the United States to torpedo its very foundations. . . 

Still, the lesson we must learn is not a reassuring one: A determined autocrat in the White House poses a grave threat to our democratic institutions and can severely undermine faith in our elections, particularly when backed by partisans in Congress.

Perhaps only when the stars are optimally aligned — when voters turn out in huge numbers, when the outcome is not close, when state and local officials and the courts adhere to the rule of law, when foreign interference is thwarted, when the media behaves responsibly and when people remain peaceful — can our democracy endure its greatest tests.

[This president] will leave office on Jan. 20, whether he acknowledges defeat or not. Yet, if his Republican enablers in Congress retain a Senate majority, they will not hesitate to reprise the politics of power at any cost, even by again subverting the democratic process.

So, bolstering our democracy depends in large part on the people of Georgia voting out their incumbent senators on Jan. 5. If the Senate flips to Democratic control, Congress will be able to apply the lessons of our democracy’s near-death experience.

It would enact the For the People Act to combat corruption, strengthen ethics rules and improve voter access as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the protections of the 1965 legislation. Congress would pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act to constrain the power of future presidents who deem themselves above the law and finally adopt long-stalled legislation to shore up our election infrastructure against adversaries, foreign or domestic.

Now is no time for self-congratulation or complacency. We must act with the unique urgency and courage of those who know they are living on borrowed time.