Conservatives Don’t Believe in Democracy

Posted by Desert Crone

A most serious problem in the United States, in my view, is that there is a subset of Americans who believe that government is illegitimate if their chosen leaders aren't elected. They simply don't believe in democracy. Voting is a ritual for them, something one does, like going to church. But it's expected that their preferred leaders will always win and their preferred agenda is the only one that will be enacted. (In one of the greatest ironies ever, they are undoubtedly the same people who stuck with George W. Bush to the bitter end --- the most illegitimate president ever.) They get very, very agitated and angry whenever they are not "in charge."

I watched it happen in the 90s in the unrelenting attacks and hearings on both of the Clintons. Obviously, Bush v Gore was successful in unseating the real President-elect. Candidate Reagan possibly negotiated with Iranians to undermine and unseat President Carter. We saw this obsession to unseat an elected president rise up almost immediately after President Obama was elected. The right wingers believe that they are "the people" in “We the People,” and Americans who disagree with them are either unworthy or irrelevant --- or they don't actually exist. And I’m not even discussing the hijacking of SCOTUS in this piece, which is also undermining our democracy.

While I do believe that racism motivates some of these right wingers, that is not the only impetus. The birth certificate issue, the communist grandparents, questioning of academic credentials, etc. are all methods used to delegitimize the President. Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between the racism and the typically perverse right wing trickery. And it really doesn’t matter, does it? The goal is always the same—delegitimize a democratically elected President if he is a Democrat.

The latest attempt to undermine Obama’s legitimacy is to disenfranchise and suppress voters who would most likely vote for him. States that have passed new “Jim Crow” voter qualification laws are targeting minorities, students, and the poor. One way or another the right wing will bring down this duly elected President.

A companion piece to the voter registration laws is the conservative Christian pledge signed by many conservatives, including Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. The pledge claims that slaves were actually better off than today’s African-Americans are under the leadership of Obama. Clearly, Americans have always been in denial about the atrocities of slavery, which Toni Morrison calls the “American holocaust,” but this pledge is beyond comprehension.

What is so insidious about this latest egregious attempt to divide President Obama from a segment of his base is the assumption African-Americans are so ignorant, illiterate, and apathetic that they would not know their own history. (As an aside, there are those on the Left making the same attempt to turn the African-American vote away from the President.) The idea behind the pledge is so evil in its absurdity, assumptions, and arrogance that it just leaves me breathless.

The Republicans remind me of one of those huge rollers used to level asphalt. They are rolling over us. We cannot and must not let President Obama fight this battle alone. The motto is “Yes We Can,” not “Yes I Can.” We must fight at the local, state, and national levels to stop this insidious assault on our democracy while we still have a shred of it left.

This Man Is Nuts

Listen to Beck play the communist card like a fiddle. Asked to elaborate on what groups make up One Nation, the supposed organization that will bring down the US, he answers, "the labor unions, communist organizations and the Green movement." Labor unions, that were created to stop employer abuses of its workers, AKA the Average American. The Green movement and their hateful ideas to protect our environment and develop a new revenue source of green jobs in the country to save energy and control waste. He lumps them in with "communist organizations" but doesn't mention any one specific group. Way to scare the rubes there, Glenn.  Of course, if you're intellectually lazy and don't bother looking it up for yourself, why not just take his word for it? Also, buy some overpriced gold coins while you're at it - Glenn wouldn't rip you off, would he?

Here's One Nation's summarized mission statement:

One Nation Working Together is a social movement of individuals and organizations committed to putting America back to work and pulling America back together. Coming from a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, beliefs and orientations, we are determined to build a more united country with good jobs, equal justice, and quality public education for all.

Good jobs, equal justice and quality public education... ooooh, those evil commie bastards!

Seems like everyone who does not agree with Beck is apparently a communist. It also seems like spreading democracy in the Middle East is a good thing when a Republican is in charge. Where was Beck when we were deposing dictators by force and propping up banana republics?

Oh, and by the way, Bill, it's "foment" not "forment."

Spreading "Democracy" Throughout The Middle East

de·moc·ra·cy (noun) - government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

We've finally gotten a definition of "democracy" from the Bush administration.

NY TIMES: Iraq’s negotiations with the United States on a security agreement governing America’s long-term involvement in the country are at an impasse because America’s demands infringe upon Iraq’s sovereignty, the country’s prime minister said Friday.

....In a meeting with newspaper editors in Jordan, Mr. [Nuri Kamal al-] Maliki said the current draft of the agreement was unacceptable. “The American version of the agreement infringes hugely on the sovereignty of Iraq and this is something that we cannot ever accept,” he said.

And what is it, pray tell, that Georgie Porgie Puddin' Pie is asking that's making Nuri al-Miliki cry? Well, he'll be happy to tell you himself:

Mr. Maliki said there were four areas in which proposed versions of the agreement failed to give sufficient deference to Iraqi sovereignty.

“Iraq rejects Washington’s insistence on granting their forces immunity from Iraqi laws and courts,” he said. “We reject Washington’s demand to have a free hand in undertaking military operations without cooperation with the Iraqi government.”

He added: “We cannot give permission to the American forces independent right to arrest Iraqis or execute operations against terrorism. We cannot allow them to use the Iraqi skies and waters at all times.”

And that, my friends, seems to be what a free and democratic society is to the twisted rat-bastards in the White House. For all of their hullabaloo about "spreading democracy throughout the Middle East", it is absolutely clear that it isn't the same definition of democracy that the rest of the world understands. But we already knew that.

Clinton on Voters: "A Part" of the Process

Oh, Jon Stewart - is there nothing that you can't make sense of?

How Hillary Can Win

It's not far-fetched.



... It could happen...

Debate Protesters at ABC Hand Out Flag Pins

This is great. DDay at Hullabaloo writes about the protest at Disney Studios on Friday as 60-70 people voiced their opinions of the "shoddy and despicable" handling of the latest Democratic debate. It shows you the strength of the internet and blogosphere when 70 people can organize within 24 hours without a single phone call being made.

Their main goal: bringing attention to the way moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused on the past Democratic gaffes of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, instead of issues like the war in Iraq and the American economy.

[Organizer Rick] Jacobs said he was offended that Obama was asked why he hasn't worn an American flag pin on his lapel.

"Patriotism isn't defined by a flag pin made in China," he said.

...[News reports] didn't note the most important part of the protest: our distribution of flag pins to employees as they left the ABC gates. Letting them know that they were getting "free patriotism on a stick" and telling them that "Charlie Gibson won't approve of you unless you wear one," we handed out about 300 pins. Most took them graciously and approvingly.

Yes... the pins were made in China.

What Democracy Is About

The Rude Pundit has another great post after listening to Dubya speak to the Fredericksberg Rotary Club in Stafford, VA on Monday.

Rude Pundit (graphic language): ...George W. Bush wouldn't know democracy if it bit him on his nutsack and jumped around while screaming, "I'm Democracy, motherfucker." The notion that democracy is "all about" tolerating words of dissent is patronizing and degrading, and it's like having a suggestion box in the coffee room of the local Wal-Mart: hey, drop a note in, Consuela, and maybe the assistant managers will look into giving you more regular bathroom breaks. But the second Consuela tries to unionize, you shut that down. The illusion of participation is more important than actually having a say. And that ain't democracy.

Hail Caesar?

Digby over at Hullabaloo brings up a group called Family Security Matters. ... Very scary... you should go to their website and peruse. Anyway, he's been getting emails about the group and how they've been scrubbing their articles. He copied one off the Google cache (because nothing ever goes away) and posted it to his site so we could all see how insane some people are.

Here are a couple of excerpts, but you should read the whole thing:

Excerpts from:
Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy
By Philip Atkinson

The inadequacy of Democracy, rule by the majority, is undeniable – for it demands adopting ideas because they are popular, rather than because they are wise...

The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead...

...By elevating popular fancy over truth, Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government. President Bush must overcome not just the situation in Iraq, but democratic government.

When the ancient Roman general Julius Caesar was struggling to conquer ancient Gaul, he not only had to defeat the Gauls, but he also had to defeat his political enemies in Rome who would destroy him the moment his tenure as consul (president) ended.

Caesar pacified Gaul by mass slaughter; he then used his successful army to crush all political opposition at home and establish himself as permanent ruler of ancient Rome...

...If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.

He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court...

This is the mentality that's out there. I suggest we all send Mr. Atkinson an e-mail or two responding to this article and others he may have written if you care to look up further lunatic rants.
Either he'll admit to writing it, or he'll deny it because it's no longer on the website, in which case you can call him a coward for not admitting to something he wrote. I haven't been able to find a direct e-mail, but I think you can get something to Mr. Atkinson here.

The Palestinian "Coup"

Ahmed Yousef is the political adviser to Ismail Haniya, who became the Palestinian prime minister last year.
He wrote this op-ed in the New York Times.

EXCERPT:
THE events in Gaza over the last few days have been described in the West as a coup. In essence, they have been the opposite. Eighteen months ago, our Hamas Party won the Palestinian parliamentary elections and entered office under Prime Minister Ismail Haniya but never received the handover of real power from Fatah, the losing party. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has now tried to replace the winning Hamas government with one of his own, returning Fatah to power while many of our elected members of Parliament languish in Israeli jails. That is the real coup.

...The streets of Gaza are now calm for the first time in a very long time. We have begun disarming some of the drug dealers and the armed gangs and we hope to restore a sense of security and safety to the citizens of Gaza. We want to get children back to school, get basic services functioning again, and provide long-term economic gains for our people.

Our stated aim when we won the election was to effect reform, end corruption and bring economic prosperity to our people. Our sole focus is Palestinian rights and good governance. We now hope to create a climate of peace and tranquillity within our community that will pave the way for an end to internal strife and bring about the release of the British journalist Alan Johnston, whose kidnapping in March by non-Hamas members is a stain on the reputation of the Palestinian people...

Any further attempts to marginalize us, starve our people into submission or attack us militarily will prove that the United States and Israeli governments are not genuinely interested in seeing an end to the violence. Dispassionate observers over the next few weeks will be able to make up their own minds as to each side’s true intentions.

Also read: Robert Fisk-Welcome to ‘Palestine’