America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ‘cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, “you want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.“
That defense of your rights comes from the film The American President. It’s at once an eloquent defense (advanced citizenship requires us to separate acts from words) and harsh reminder of these days, when protected rights are being re-defined by so-called liberals. Democrats might actually believe their opponent’s reckless rhetoric did “threaten our democracy” and one riot proved “sustained attacks from Republicans.” But what of their acts to render a political opponent un-electable and their inaction when like-minded corporations took down un-friendly social media (Parler)?
In 1971, Justice Hugo Black expressed the high court’s majority opinion that the first amendment “was to serve the governed, not the governors.” If leaking classified military documents while at war did not “threaten our democracy” under Nixon, spreading voter-fraud theories and marching on the Capitol did not “threaten our democracy” under lame-duck Trump. Personally, I resent the Stop The Steal rally, but that is the price of advanced citizenship, which I accept and defend.
The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henniger doesn’t believe Stacey Abrams (D-GA) is sincere about defending “our” democracy, after she wrote that GOP leaders support “white supremacy and hyper-nationalism.” Really? How is Tim Scott (R-SC) a white supremacist and Rand Paul (R-KY) a military expansionist? Abrams envisions “our” democracy with her in power. No harm there, but she’s no more “American patriot” than Josh Hawley (R-MO).
The greatest threat to “our” democracy is single-party dominion, as evidenced by suggestions from the winning 51.3% that 46.9% of the electorate requires “de-programming” to fit into their Brave New World. Actually, the last time Americans faced single-party (George III) dominion, they rebelled and replaced it with a constitutional republic preserved by three enlightened virtues:
- Encountering other opinions with tolerance
- Ceding power to the election winner with humility
- Confronting political rivals with constraint
These virtues are the foundation of advanced citizenship, and America is at a crossroads. I’ll grant you Donald Trump and his allies failed to cede power with humility. This is true, just like Democrats and legacy media failed to tolerate opinions about the election’s integrity from the losing side…just like Democrats in Congress failed to show constraint toward a gonzo rep from Georgia. When politicians (Abrams) supplant statesmen (Scott), our 50-50 republic is truly threatened.
Advanced citizenship requires Democrats to keep Trump in context and move on. So what if he won the alt-right vote and brought barstool politics to Washington? He left having exited regime-change wars and reduced black unemployment. Advanced citizenship obligates the in-party to respect the opinions of 74,000,000 whose party governs 32 states and 53,402 localities, because elections have consequences and 2022 is just around the corner.
If Democrats want to reduce threats to “our” democracy, they should look in the mirror.
- It’s backward citizenship to call native-born workers “deplorable” when they actually live in the job market where illegal immigrants actually depress wages. How an insult solves poverty is beyond me.
- It’s backward citizenship to either win or de-legitimize an election by enlisting Federal spies and cops to concoct an “insurance policy.” I’m still waiting for Pelosi to call out THAT “enemy within” our government.
- It’s backward citizenship to impose de minimis representation on citizens who elected Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). If being cuckoo on a committee threatens “our” democracy, get Ocasio-Cortez off Financial Services.
The hypocrisy says it all. Spies that spin Flynn’s phone call to Kislyak, but not Obama’s hot-mic words to Medvedev (“wait until after the election”). Senators that threaten justices by name (“you are going to pay the price”) and claim it’s figurative speech. Reps that urge summer rioting (“there needs to be unrest in the streets”) and bemoan the Capitol riots. That double standard threatens “our” democracy. Someone make it stop!
Where, you may ask, do we go from here? Toward bipartisan solutions, of course. Apolitical problems, such as rotten public schools in black school districts, need solutions that begin with collegiality. This requires Dems to take the first step. Hard to imagine under Pelosi, who’s recently taken to rude responses to nice reporters, such as Wolf Blitzer. If advanced citizenship is still an enigma to you, it’s how you wished Nancy Pelosi governed and Chuck Schumer spoke.