For The People

 “The purity and strength of Americanism are always threatened by contamination from outside and betrayal from within. The narrative of Real America is white Christian nationalism.” George Packer, The Atlantic, “The Four Americas.”

We won’t miss our democracy until it’s gone, and it appears to me that we’re well on the way to that eventuality. When it happens, and the reality of what’s been lost sets in, it will seem as if it happened suddenly rather than gradually. To me it feels like we are watching a theft in progress, a steady drip, drip, drip of statements, legislation, polls, stunts (the Arizona recount, for instance) appointments to key posts in the state bureaucracies that operate our elections, and Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP. Blocking a bipartisan investigation of the January 6 insurrection attempt and the events that led up to it is one way to fashion truth from lies. Don’t dig. Don’t corroborate. Blame Antifa thugs masquerading as MAGA members for all the damage and death; those agitators from the godless coasts who rode into DC on the wings of giant black bats with twelve foot wingspans and fire shooting from their talons. In Q-World, nothing is too outlandish. 

Trump lost, but his Big Lie lives. The bloated con man from Florida may very well succeed in creating history completely from a stew of lies and crackpot theories concocted in mildewy basements then propagated across the Internet and echoed by the FOX News/Sinclair Broadcasting/OAN universe. People who are either gullible or otherwise starved of factual information make easier marks. Ignorance is a tough, persistent opponent that doesn’t go down easily. 

Joe Manchin of West Virginia has leverage over his fellow Democrats. He can sputter incoherently about his love of democracy and bipartisanship while blocking his party’s efforts to defang the filibuster and expand and protect voting rights. If Democrats push him too hard Joe might slide across the aisle and join the GOP, giving Mitch McConnell his majority again. Joe’s not up for reelection until 2024 and has little to fear from West Virginia voters even if he were to switch parties. It’s not like West Virginia is a safe haven for Democrats. Trump carried the state by a whopping margin. Manchin can enjoy this turn as a Big Time DC Power Broker with virtual impunity. 

For The People. Sounds nice. Sounds aspirational, even inspiring, just follow the wisdom of the common American, who can be counted on to be magnanimous, decent, fair, and just. Sure. If only it worked that way. The last thing the Gilded Class and its political babysitters want is more democracy; the fewer people that vote the better for them. Maintaining minority rule requires a lot of hubris and a fair amount of engineering. Control over who can cast a ballot is good; control over how votes are tabulated and certified is better.