Democracy or Insurrection?

Let’s face facts. Democracy is a messy business, and competing stakeholders do not always get everything they want. Ours is a system of government designed to accommodate change – gradual or radical - through an orderly and prescribed process. We have elections; we have a balance of power shared between three branches of government; and we have a Constitutional amendment process. 

Although these structures are ensconced in Law, there are also unwritten courtesies, customs, and traditions that smooth the legislative process and keep governance a relatively civilized matter. Thomas Jefferson prescribed these rules of order in his Manual of Parliamentary Practice.

Pending bills originate in the House, move to Senate, are signed into law by the President, and - if highly controversial - are affirmed or overturned by the Supreme Court.  ObamaCare has passed all these benchmarks. Those who wish to modify, replace, or repeal ObamaCare must follow this path in accordance with democratic rules and procedures.

Frankly, the current impasse and government shutdown is NOT ABOUT OBAMACARE, or the Keystone Pipeline, or abortion, or contraception, or ANY OTHER PARTISAN CAUSE.  The government shutdown represents a despoliation of democracy by an unruly rabble.

Do we practice governance as prescribed by Law - according to time-honored traditions of parliamentary procedure - or do we conduct our affairs by ultimatum, blackmail, deception and demagoguery, defamation and vilification, fear mongering, extortion and hostage taking? Do we honor democracy, or do we conduct the nation’s business by insurrection?

Here is what the Constitution states:

The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned [Amendment 14, Section 4].

"Shall not be questioned"  ... how do these words confer a right to surrender the validity of public debt to negotiation? To blackmail? Extortion? Hostage taking?

All presidents have a statutory obligation to preserve and protect the constitution, as do all office holders in Congress. If this or any president capitulates, our traditions of governance will be dealt a mortal blow; and the nation will suffer a slow and painful decline.  All citizens of all persuasions share this responsibility - and an obligation to pass down these traditions of representative democracy intact to future generations.

As far as I am concerned, the GOP is no longer a partner in participatory democracy. As Hannah Arendt states:

“A disciplined minority of totalitarians can use the instruments of democratic government to undermine democracy itself.”

By this definition, I consider the government shutdown an act of sedition and treason.

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Monday morning update:  On September 30, 2013, in the stealth of night, behind closed doors and hidden from public scrutiny, House Republicans changed the rules of the house and stacked the deck:

"The Rules Committee, under the rules of the House, changed the standing rules of the House to take away the right of any member to move to vote to open the government, and gave that right exclusively to the Republican Leader," said Van Hollen. "Is that right?"

"The House adopted that resolution," replied Chaffetz.

"I make my motion, Mr. Speaker," said Van Hollen. "I renew my motion that under the regular standing rules of the House... that the house take up the Senate amendments and open the government now."

"Under section 2 of H.R. 368, that motion may be offered only by the majority leader or his designee," Chaffetz said.

"Mr. Speaker, why were the rules rigged to keep the government shut down?" Van Hollen asked.

"The gentleman will suspend," Chaffetz interjected.

"Democracy has been suspended, Mr. Speaker."

Video here:

Tea Party Republicanism = Totalitarianism

Government by brinksmanship, by blackmail, by obstruction, by hostage taking - the Republican Party is no longer a partner in representative democracy. More like a bad marriage to an abusive spouse, the GOP has been violating boundaries and abusing the public trust since the last government shutdown of 1996.

Like a bad marriage, Tea Party Republicans refuse to distinguish between YOURS, MINE, and OURS. The United States is not just THEIR country; it is also OUR country and MY country. It spends not just THEIR tax money; it spends OUR tax dollars and MY tax dollars too. Government should represent the values and priorities of the American people, not merely the demands of a rabble-rousing minority. Public policy debates without compromise and consensus are not my idea of “consent of the governed” when blackmail leaves a country held hostage and a majority of its voters disenfranchised.

This insurgent minority has:

• Employed covert and overt racism, deception, and defamation to delegitimize and undermine a twice-elected president;
• Tried and failed 44 times to overturn a healthcare reform bill passed by Congress, signed into law by the president, and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court;
• Presented a list of non-negotiable demands to gut environmental protection and financial reform, weaken the social safety net, hurt the working poor, and further undermine the middle class;
• Threatened default on the public debt in violation of Amendment 14, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution – thus risking a worldwide financial crisis.

Over the last four decades, the Republican Party has transformed from a loyal opposition into an insurrectionary party that flouts the law when it is in the majority and threatens disorder when it is the minority (John P. Judis).

[The Republican Party is] becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe (Mike Lofgren).

A disciplined minority of totalitarians can use the instruments of democratic government to undermine democracy itself (Hannah Arendt).

These actions by Tea Party Republicans, as reckless as they are, are examples of nascent totalitarianism. Let the backlash begin.