Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Death of the Republic

ON DEMOCRACY:
RIGHTWING MYTHOLOGY

By Jack Random


THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES: DISSEMINATE FREELY


Those who pretend to care about democracy and are willing to send other people’s offspring to war defending it, ought to learn something about what democracy is. Those who believe, as our Supreme Court does, that democracy is protecting the rights of corporations to buy the will of our political leaders have sacrificed forever any claim to the democratic ideal.

Talk to the rightwing ideologues for any length of time and they will invariably narrow their eyes, raise the corner of their lips into a sarcastic snarl, and inform us that our system of government is not in fact a democracy; it is a republic – as if that title had any relationship to the party of the right.

What is a republic, we reply, if not a representative democracy?

Some will press on with their semi-idiotic argument but most will tighten their snarl and move on to their other favorite talking points.

The Democrats are the party of gay marriage and illegal immigrants.

What is a democracy, we reply, if not a sacred vow to protect and defend the rights of minorities and those who are unable to defend their own rights?

Most at this juncture, will abandon the democratic pretense and assert the overriding principles of biblical texts, placing them firmly in the camp of theocrats and therefore diametrically opposed to all things democratic.

They will turn to tortured Old Testament phrases to defend the rights of the unborn against the abomination of abortion.

We grow uncomfortable for we do not wish to defend the act of abortion – an act we would all prefer to become extinct – but we will not abandon the woman who confronts the most trying dilemma of her life. The choice to abort a fetus should be well informed by unbiased and competent professionals. The woman should fully understand the long-term difficulties of such a decision but once those requisites are met, the woman’s right to make a reasoned choice is as basic as the right to vote.

I would not deny any individual’s right to vote even if I believe in my heart of hearts that the power of the ballot may be used to ill effect, even to destroy nations and bring a reign of terror on an innocent world for generations to come.

To believe in democracy requires tolerance for opposing views and fighting to protect the right of opposing to views to free expression.

To believe in democracy is an agreement to be governed by the will of the majority as long as the majority respects the rights of the minority.

As our most enlightened founders forewarned, democracy can be a dangerous weapon. It can be the instrument of great wrong. We should never forget that Hitler’s Third Reich won control of the German government through democratic means. Neither should we forget that an elected government can betray the essence of the democratic ideal.

Whether our current government was duly elected is debatable if not dubious but we should have no doubt that it has employed anti-democratic means to achieve and preserve its grip on the reins of power.

They have placed on the Supreme Court individuals so cynical they have denied the fundamental right to vote (Bush V. Gore 2000).

They have worked tirelessly to defraud two elections with race-based disenfranchisement and digital manipulation of voting machines (Ohio 2004).

They have denied Habeas Corpus, the founding principle of modern law in western civilization (the case of Jose Padilla).

They have ignored mandates of Congress (the NSA Warrantless Eavesdropping Scandal) and refused to acknowledge Congressional oversight.

They have supported a military dictatorship (General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan) while condemning a thrice-elected democratic leader (Hugo Chavez of Venezuela) as a tyrant.

They have undermined and betrayed their own puppet government in Iraq by placing it under the authority of occupation forces and refusing to acknowledge any sovereign authority (the Blackwater USA Mercenary Killers case).

Against the expressed will of the peoples of the world, in the name of democracy, they have pushed the world to the brink of perpetual war.

In signing statements and assertions of executive privilege, they have claimed imperial powers that no president has dared claim in the post Civil War era.

In short, this is the most anti-democratic elected government since the Third Reich.

Some may decry this lament as partisan but it is hardly that for what this White House has accomplished for corporate governance could not have been achieved without the willful compliance of both parties.

When the Democrats gained control of Congress in the election of 2006, they became partners in every endeavor the executive branch is pursuing. Have they rolled back the tax cuts for the filthy rich? Have they shut down Guantanamo Bay? Have they decommissioned NAFTA, CAFTA and the “globalization” scheme to dismantle the rights of labor? Have they reasserted government regulation on oil, energy and pharmaceutical corporations? Have they started a Marshall Plan for New Orleans? Have they christened a new era of renewable energy? Have they prevented a single soldier from dying in Iraq or Afghanistan?

The Democratic betrayal of democracy rivals anything the Bush administration has done. They possess the authority and the mandate to stop the president on every front but they prefer to play games of protocol.

They have decided that the best course of action is none at all. They will pretend that their hands are tied, that the power of the purse does not extend to war or comprehensive health care or New Orleans or energy or foreign policy when in fact it extends to all policies, foreign and domestic.

If Congress continues on the course of assumed impotence, the responsibility falls to the people to find a third option that will rescue the democratic ideal from perpetual decay.

Every time we vote, every ballot we hold in our hands has an alternative to the major party candidates. Whether they call themselves Libertarians, Greens or Independents, we should think of them as the ultimate defenders of American democracy.

Until we exercise that third option in sufficient numbers, both Democrats and Republicans will be comfortable betraying us and our interests in deference to their corporate sponsors.

Wake up, America: In a democracy, the power resides in the people. Use it.

Jazz.


JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). THE CHRONICLES HAVE BEEN POSTED ON THE ALBION MONITOR, PACIFIC FREE PRESS, BUZZLE, COUNTERPUNCH AND DISSIDENT VOICE.

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