A Closing Argument for Democracy

As a history nerd I often wonder whether every day Germans in the early 1930's realized they were losing their democracy or were they blinded to what was happening politically because like far too many Americans today they focused solely on making a living and running households, caring nothing for politics and/or failing to educate themselves of the approaching dictatorship.   Germany and the world paid a hellish price for this indifference and failure to put the big picture ahead of worries about prices and resentment over Germany's treeatment after WWI.   Part of me feels as if we are on the eve of seeing a similar disaster overtake America where citizen laziness and indifference - a piece at CNN looks at this indifference - will boost authoritarianism and the loss of rights and protections of and for racial and religious minorities and, not least LGBT Americans on whom Republicans have place a target/bullseye.  With young grandchildren I am deeply worried over the nightmare future that they may inherit politically and interms of global warming and all it brings with it.  A column in The Atlantic looks at this frightening possibility.  Here are excerpts:

Joe Biden asked Americans to remember that democracy is on the ballot next week. He seemed dispirited. I understand why.

Near the end of the 1972 movie version of the Broadway musical 1776, John Adams is by himself in the congressional chamber after all of the delegates, friend and foe, have walked out on him. He has refused to budge on abolishing slavery in the new Constitution, and now all is lost, or so it seems. Alone in the dark, Adams asks, “Is anybody there? Does anybody care?”

I thought of this scene while watching Joe Biden at Union Station last night pleading with his fellow citizens to not abandon our democratic institutions and norms.

He was making a closing argument for American democracy, and he seemed to be wondering if anybody is out there to hear the message—and whether anybody cares. I wonder too.

Biden’s aides claim that he had been thinking for some time after his “Soul of the Nation” speech last summer in Philadelphia about making another statement on threats to democracy, but the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband seems to have persuaded the president to speak out now.  . . . . the callous and disgusting reaction to it among some Republicans—marked a watershed moment.

[T]he president of the United States talked about how his friend had been put in the hospital by a man with a hammer, and then asked the rest of us to think about whether we can stop our system of government from descending into authoritarianism and violence. No matter who wins or loses next week, that is an astounding question, and it is the right one to ask.

The usual suspects in conservative media are, of course, dismissing Biden’s speech as just another partisan exercise. Their criticisms are partly a reflection of how denatured and corroded the American right has become . . .

Biden’s speech, however, sounded more like despair than partisanship. It’s not exactly shocking that a Democratic president would like to keep his congressional majority, but if that’s all Biden wanted, he could have made a better pitch for it. Instead, he ignored the economy, despite the polls showing that economic issues are at the top of voter concerns, and he took a direct swing at Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans,” which could alienate the last remaining moderate GOP voters.

More important, he nationalized the issue of democracy by warning about the election deniers in state and local contests using their victories to unravel our electoral processes, and he anticipated the trouble that is likely to come if those same extremists lose and refuse to accept the outcome: . . . . This is a path to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful, and it’s un-American.

Biden called on Americans to summon two of our most endangered virtues—patience and faith—on election night. He knows that there is likely to be dangerous mischief on November 8, not least because so many Republicans have essentially promised it and, in some cases, done their best to ensure it.

The president’s appeal to defend our democratic values will exasperate supposed pragmatists who believe that all people want to hear about is the price of cereal and bananas. Maybe the pragmatists are right, and voters don’t care about anything else. But a president betrays his oath to defend the Constitution if he allows his concerns about our democracy to be held hostage to the price of a gallon of gasoline.

At the moment, however, a slew of candidates across the nation are promising to ditch the Constitution and the rule of law; armed goons are positioning themselves near ballot boxes in Arizona; Republicans and their supporters are making sick jokes about an alleged attempt to kidnap and torture the speaker of the House. Only the most self-absorbed and selfish leader would refuse to speak out. We had enough of that with the last president.

This speech will soon be buried and forgotten in a blizzard of media cynicism and the buzz of impending election news. But the president of the United States told us something important last night. The only question is whether anyone cares.