DAVID HARSANYI: Why The Left Hates It When You Point Out We’re ‘A Republic, Not A Democracy.’
When writers at The Atlantic, where [Anne] Applebaum is a contributor, talk about “The Democrats’ Last Chance to Save Democracy,” they aren’t lamenting Biden’s unprecedented executive abuse, but the “democratic deficits in the Senate and the Electoral College” — as if these institutions weren’t specifically instituted to diffuse centralized control. They know the difference.
Democrats who want to “expand” the Supreme Court for failing to follow democratic trends, don’t care about the “republic.” After all, many of the high court’s most historic decisions, including Dred Scott and Plessy, cut the legs out from under “democracy.”
Or take the so-called moderate Democrats who want to get rid of the filibuster or use the slimmest of fleeting majorities to shove through massive, generational federal “reforms” without any national consensus — Obamacare or The Deficit Reduction Act [sic]. They’re aware that “reforms” will overturn hundreds of state and local laws. They want local minorities subordinate to the whims and vagaries of national majorities.
Then again, the more “democracy” we have, the more demagoguery thrives. Of course they’re fans.
As it turns out, according to CNN a number of Trump supporters also understand the distinction even if they are unable to articulate it in poli-scientific terms.
Read the whole thing.
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