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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Although the Founding Fathers did not envision two dominant political parties, they were obsessed with the harm which unchecked factions would do to the Republic (see Federalist Paper #10. Warning: Never believe anything which the Federalist Society writes about the Constitution.) Too bad Lord Acton had not written his observation that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” before 1776 rather than 100 years later. It succinctly states the Founding Fathers’ fears. To the extent that any faction gains power, it becomes a danger.
Let’s skip how the USA ended up with two polarized political parties and simply admit the obvious: each party is controlled by its extremist element. MAGA runs the GOP and Wokeism runs the Dems. MAGA and Wokeism want the same thing: POWER! They will say and do anything to get power.
When a society is polarized into a dichotomy where it is Good vs Evil, both sides believe that it is the good side, and the other is evil and needs to be vanquished. Politics becomes a holy war. Thus, the leaders of the extreme factions make their appeals to their parties’ most fanatic element where facts and reason play no role. Both sides lie and accuse the other of lying. In reality, Haitian immigrants are not eating our pet dogs and cats, and Trump did not threaten Liz Cheney with a firing squad nor did he say that there were fine people among the Nazis and White Supremacists at Charlottesville.
The Media as Foe
People naively think that a free press means an honest press. No, it does not, and there is no excuse for Americans not to realize that a Free Press will include lies, distortions, deceptions as well as attempts to destroy the Republic. One of the most significant developments in the lying, deceitful and bullying press was the advent of Cable, which made it possible to make millions upon millions of dollars with sensationalism based on lies. Previously, the three networks had to compete for the same audience in order to be profitable, i.e. the Center.
In yesteryear, if one of the three networks were to break new ground with shows like Harvest of Shame, it had to be 100 percent factually accurate. Due to the need to appeal to the Center in order to be financially viable, news shows had credibility. A show like Edward Murrow’s and the televised Congressional hearings of Sen. Joe McCarthy, a sincere question by attorney Joseph Welch to Sen. Joe McCarthy ended the Red Scare on Capitol Hill. “Have you no sense of decency.” See Atty Welch CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America.
When the news had to fight for market share of the entire nation, decency, honesty, and trust were highly valued. When a splintered market based on hate and lies could make more money than Centrism, the media ceased to be trustworthy. Rather, competing factions spewed up false memes so that obvious falsehoods became acceptable. Rather than admit that Sean Spicer, Trumps’ press secretary, had lied about the size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration, Kellyanne Conway invented the term “alternative facts.”
Now that the Center, much of the Left and all the Right see that it was the Woke left and its ersatz news shows which were gaslighting everyone with their extremist falsehoods, Leftist media is under attack. David Muir, ABC’s previously credible anchor, who was one of the moderators for the Trump Harris Debate, trashed his trustworthiness by using alternative facts to dispute Trump while allowing Harris’s false statements to unchallenged. After the election, the LA Times has ditched its deceitful Woke editorial staff, making it unlikely the owner’s far left, anti-Semitic daughter, Nika Soon-Shiong, will be returning.
Because lies and hate sell better than facts and reasonable analysis, the media’s greed has been a major factor in polarizing America. Will the media reform itself? That is unlikely. As soon as networks see what form of hate and fear they can most easily monetize, they will revert to their pre-November 5th ways. See Hate Money MSNBC’s and CNN’s rating crashed after the election as viewers realized that they had been gaslit. Not to worry, Fox and other right-wing media as well Trump himself will greatly overplay their hand. Trump cannot help it. As a Histrionic, he thinks in flamboyant terms, and as a Narcissist, he thinks everything he does is perfect.
While MAGA pretends it has a mandate to do all sorts of horrid things, the Wokers are convincing themselves that they did nothing wrong. Some Wokers claim that it was all the fault of White Supremacists, especially White female supremacists, who allowed Trump win.
America Has a Built-in Remedy, If We Chose to Use it
Americans have been misled to believe that (1) we are a democracy and (2) a democracy is a good thing. New citizens, members of Congress, the President, members of the judiciary, etc. take an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and almost immediately many violate that oath by calling the USA is a democracy. As everyone with a grade school education should know, when Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government the Constitutional convention had formed, Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Another thing everyone had to do in grade school was recite the pledge allegiance to “the flag of United States of America and the Republic for which it stands . . . “It specifies that we are a republic and not a democracy.
Why it Matters
In a republic the rule of law is supreme, but in a democracy, the transitory will of the masses is the supreme law. The Founding Fathers wrote a Constitution so that everyone would know that law and not the whim of voters was the supreme law of the law. (“Constitutional republic” is redundant while “constitutional democracy” is an oxymoron.)
Because America is based on the rule of law, Due Process is supreme. Most voters are unaware of Due Process as opposed to substantive law. Due Process protects our inalienable rights more than does substantive law. Without Due Process, the processes which the government must follow, the government could pass any law and then jail anyone without a trial based on an allegation that they violated the law, e.g., someone spoke ill of the President or denied the divinity of Jesus.
Without Due Process as part of the highest law of the land, i.e. the Constitution, Hillary would have been President since she received the majority of the popular votes in 2016. In a democracy, the supreme law is whatever voters decide, but the Due Process of the Republic has the Electoral College. If we wish to modify it, there is a constitutional way to do that, but we have chosen not to do so. Why won’t Matt Gaetz be our next Attorney General? Because Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Senators told Trump that they would faithfully follow their constitutional duty to advise and consent and reject Gaetz. In Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), the Supreme Court upheld the advise and consent clause (Art II, Sec 2, Clause 2). Many Republicans, however, disregard the Republic and insist that since Trump won the popular vote, in a democracy, he may appoint anyone he pleases and no one may object.
On November 20, 2024, Margot Cleveland, the Federalist’s senior legal correspondent, wrote:
. . “the only way to end the growing use of salacious lies (against Gaetz) as a political weapon is to condemn the information operation, prosecute those responsible. “
Cleveland ignored the US Senate’s constitutional right and duty to advise and consent in favor of prosecuting people who promoted what she called “lies.” At the same time, she decimated the First Amendment right to free speech. Really, when and by whom will this prosecution take place? In the basement of the Federalist Society with men wearing white hoods?
As explained on November 18, 2024, in “Polarization Begets Cowardice,” the Democrats are as ready to violate their Constitutional duties as exemplified in Pelosi’s power lust, which has dramatically backfired on her .
Because over 95% of the country falsely believes that America is a democracy, they readily trash Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Instead, all that matters is who gets the most votes and anyone who favors the constitution should “be prosecuted.”
(Richard Abrams is a regular contributor to citywatch.)
