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Constitutional defamation: Democrats, not democracy, are in danger this election

  

Category:  Op/Ed

Via:  gregtx  •  2 years ago  •  5 comments

By:   Jonathan Turley

Constitutional defamation: Democrats, not democracy, are in danger this election
The president's attacks do not appear to be gaining much traction.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Historian Michael Beschloss's warning on MSNBC — speculating that "our children will be arrested and conceivably killed" if Republicans win control of Congress — summed up the final pitch by President Biden and fellow Democrats ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

Apparently, it is not gas prices, the economy or crime that once again are the top polling issues for voters. Instead, it is democracy or death, gas or grandchildren — you choose.

Biden returned to this theme in what White House chief of staff Ron Klain called his "final warning" to voters. The president ominously cautioned voters who might be thinking of voting for Republicans that, "make no mistake, democracy is on the ballot for all of us." In other words, be afraid, be very afraid.

Biden was widely criticized for an earlier Philadelphia speech that denounced political opponents as fascists plotting to overthrow democracy. Yet he and others have returned to that theme as Democrats appear to be losing ground even in traditional blue states. Among others, Hillary Clinton warned that the GOP is trying to "steal" the election and that "they're going after democracy."

The president's attacks do not appear to be gaining much traction, with polls showing that most people view him as inciting political unrest. Nevertheless, on almost every network and cable news program, the mantra seems unrelenting: If the GOP prevails in the midterms, democracy could be lost.

Whereas the media once pushed a false Russia collusion claim in the 2016 election, this time it is pushing a claim that the GOP itself represents the threat to our liberties and very lives.

As Democratic alarm over a GOP win in both houses of Congress has increased with polling in the past two weeks, so has the alarming rhetoric. Beschloss, for instance, warned that not only may democracy have just a few days left but there may be no one allowed to record its fall: "Fifty years from now, if historians are allowed to write in this country and if there are still free publishing houses and a free press — which I'm not certain of, but if that is true — a historian will say what was at stake … was the fact whether we will be a democracy in the future, whether our children will be arrested and conceivably killed."

The Democratic campaign against GOP candidates as extremists and election deniers is breathtakingly dishonest. Democratic leaders like Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), have been accused of deceptive practices in spending tens of millions to support the most conservative candidates in Republican primaries. Those candidates — now denounced by Democrats as "extremists" — prevailed in their primaries with the Democrats' support and could now win in states like New Hampshire.

At the same time, Democrats and the House's Jan. 6 select committee are pursuing those who engaged in similarly inflammatory rhetoric leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot — just as the airways are filled with Trump-like warnings that the midterm elections are about to be "stolen." Likewise, just as some on the left claim there may be no more real history books after the midterms, others are campaigning to ban books by figures like Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the name of protecting free speech.

What leaders like President Biden seem to forget is that our Constitution not only was written for times like this, it was written in a time like this. Federalists and Jeffersonians actually — not just figuratively — tried to kill each other with the use of laws like the Alien and Sedition Acts.

But Founding Father James Madison crafted a Constitution for the worst of times — and the worst of leaders. He famously observed that we needed a system that did not depend on the good intentions or motivations of our rulers: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." So he created a system that contains a series of checks and balances to prevent the concentration — and the abuse — of power.

There has been a growing crisis of faith on the left as leaders and pundits have attacked our Constitution and its institutions, including the Supreme Court. These objections appear to be based not on the Constitution failing to resist extraconstitutional demands but on it failing to yield to such demands. These figures apparently are upset that the democratic process or the Supreme Court have not given them what they demand. Thus, the Constitution or the court must go.

Widespread references to Jan. 6 should inspire greater confidence in our constitutional system and dispel the doubts being voiced by President Biden and others. The Capitol riot was denounced by most Americans; Republican leaders like Vice President Pence and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) carried out their constitutional duties. Federal judges (including many appointed by then-President Trump) uniformly rejected challenges to the election; the Supreme Court, with six conservative justices, repeatedly ruled against Trump — including all three of his appointees.

The Constitution has weathered every storm in our history, including a Civil War and a "war" over civil rights. We've tackled everything from a depression to desegregation; we've faced periods of violence and vitriol that tore us apart. And yet, we remain.

The U.S. Constitution is not an elegant or poetic document, but it has one thing to commend it: It is designed to survive the worst of times and the worst of leaders, and it has done just that.

The Democrats' democracy-or-death mantra is not just demagoguery. It is defamation of a constitutional system that has proven itself, time and again, to be up to any challenge. Democrats indeed may be in danger in this midterm — but democracy is not.


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GregTx
PhD Guide
1  seeder  GregTx    2 years ago
The Constitution has weathered every storm in our history, including a Civil War and a "war" over civil rights. We've tackled everything from a depression to desegregation; we've faced periods of violence and vitriol that tore us apart. And yet, we remain.
 
 
 
Ed-NavDoc
Professor Quiet
2  Ed-NavDoc    2 years ago

Hard for Biden to get any traction when his presidency has been stuck in reverse since January of 2020!

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3  JohnRussell    2 years ago

Jonathan Turley is supposed to be a well respected lawyer, although I think the ship sailed on that conclusion a long time ago. 

The Democratic campaign against GOP candidates as extremists and election deniers is breathtakingly dishonest. Democratic leaders like Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), have been accused of deceptive practices in spending tens of millions to support the most conservative candidates in Republican primaries. Those candidates — now denounced by Democrats as "extremists" — prevailed in their primaries with the Democrats' support and could now win in states like New Hampshire.

This paragraph is preposterous and a good example of brainwashing and open dishonesty. Turley says calling GOP candidates "election deniers" is dishonest, not because they are not election deniers, but because the Democrats ran a few ads in the primaries intended to make certain candidates more visible. 

I really wonder how stupid Turley thinks Americans are, or whether he knows how stupid Republican voters are. There is not a single Republican candidate that is on the ballot because Democrats ran ads with their names in it.  They are on the ballot because Republican primary voters chose them in the GOP primaries. 

Turley has sunk as low as someone can sink. In just a few years he has gone from being a talking head known for somewhat bi partisan comments to becoming a blatant lackey for MAGA. 

 
 
 
Ronin2
Professor Quiet
3.1  Ronin2  replied to  JohnRussell @3    2 years ago
but because the Democrats ran a few ads in the primaries intended to make certain candidates more visible. 

It was more than just a few adds. Democrats dumped millions into backing candidates that they now deem "a threat to Democracy".

Democrats have spent nearly $19 million across eight states in primaries this year amplifying far-right Republican candidates who have questioned or denied the validity of the 2020 election , according to a Washington Post analysis, interfering in GOP contests to elevate rivals they see as easier to defeat in November, even as those candidates have promoted false or baseless claims.

Democrats are meddling in Republican primaries this year to an unusual degree, attempting to elevate extremist candidates who they think will be easy to defeat in midterms in the fall. Nowhere has that strategy been more divisive than in the election for a House seat in Michigan.

A national Democratic group is spending money in a Michigan Republican primary, the latest instance of the party's controversial moves to elevate far-right GOP candidates that Democrats believe would be easier to beat in the fall.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Monday released a new TV ad about John Gibbs, a Republican who's seeking to oust Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, one of just 10 GOP members of the House who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump following the Capitol insurrection. Trump has endorsed Gibbs.

The DCCC ad says Gibbs, who has has baselessly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, was "handpicked by Trump to run for Congress," adding that Gibbs is "too conservative for West Michigan."

On its face, then, the ad is framed as an attack, but its messaging on Trump would likely appeal to Republican primary voters. As Politico notes , the spot "will also raise Gibbs' name ID in the district, especially given Gibbs' campaign has not been able to air its own TV ads."

The DCCC, which is focused on holding on to its narrow majority in the House, declined to comment.

Meijer's Grand Rapids-based district, which tilted left as a result of redistricting, is considered a toss up by the Cook Political Report , so it's a top target for Democrats.

"The DCCC boosting John Gibbs is clear evidence of who [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi prefers in this race," Emily Taylor, Meijer's spokesperson, said in a statement. "We are confident that voters will see through Democrats' political games while Peter remains focused on the issues that matter most to the people he represents."

In Michigan Democrats got exactly what they wanted- far right pro Trump candidates. Meijer made a massive mistake- he tried to work with Fascist Democrats. He even voted to impeach Trump. He is not an election denier; but Democrats spent millions to make sure he was defeated. Should he decide to run for office again hopefully he will learn from his mistake- and treat Fascist Democrats the way they deserve. 

Want to get further into Fascist Democrats actions in Michigan? 

Concerns over the process

The Bureau of Elections report was sent to the Board of State Canvassers, which, during an eight-hour meeting on May 26, deadlocked on how to handle the affected campaigns for governor.

The two Democratic members of the board voted against allowing the candidates ballot access. The two Republican members voted the opposite way, taking issue with the practice of throwing out sheets of signatures turned in by suspected fraudsters rather than checking every petition sheet line-by-line.

The tie meant that the candidates were to be blocked from the primary ballot.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan group focused on upholding democracy, shared concerns over whether the process was rushed.

"This action is unprecedented, with challengers finding out about their alleged indiscretions just days before pleading their cases to the Board of Canvassers," Quentin Turner, Common Cause Michigan's policy director, said in a statement .

Also, if you knew Michigan law, Democrats can cross over an vote in Republican primaries. They have done so many times.

Take care of your own damn party; which is the real threat to the US.

 
 
 
dennissmith
Freshman Silent
4  dennissmith    2 years ago

The truth really hurts you doesn't it?

 
 

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