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BS ‘n’ About…
Mandates
Every so often We, the Voters go to the polls and give a Presidential candidate and the agenda he represents our mandate. Then we put aside our differences and get out of the way in the hope of forging a stronger America.
Mandate Presidencies usually occur during times of crisis and bring about sweeping change. We gave FDR our mandate and he gave us the New Deal and an America strong enough to withstand World War II. We gave Reagan our mandate and he gave us Reaganomics and a victory in the Cold War. Both administrations used our support to bypass partisan politics and change the very rules by which we play the game. …to change the very essence of America as originally conceived by our Founding Fathers.
Administrations without mandate have historically played by different rules, using compromise to steer the ship of state in the same general direction it was headed when they took the helm. They built upon the vision of America in ways that respected the division among the electorate and the sanctity of the Constitution.
When an administration without mandate uses every means at its disposal to impose its agenda and values on all of us, quashing opposition, disregarding precedent, and disrespecting the sanctity of the Constitution, the foundation of our democracy is threatened. Due to the very nature of our election process, no administration can claim to represent more than a small fraction of us. America is the most diverse nation on earth. We are a land of many voices. …many faiths …many colors. When we go to the polls, we vote with the belief that whomever is elected will be working for us all and fighting to defend those freedoms passed down by our forefathers.
Present day America is an apathetic, distracted, yet fiercely divided nation governed by an administration with as single-minded a purpose as any in our history. It shoots first and asks questions later, if it asks them at all. When confronted with opposition it changes the rules of democracy, respecting the Constitution only for its loopholes.
Do we really want to do away with the filibuster and give the minority party no option but to rubber stamp the dominant party’s appointments and legislation? Do we want Congress telling the Federal Courts to get involved in affairs the Constitution says are State Court business? Do we want to be the guys who torture the prisoners? …start the wars? …destroy the environment? Do we want America to be a place where you can be thrown in jail and have your constitutional rights suspended in the interests of ‘Homeland Security’? Do we want to be a country where you can’t afford healthcare, your retirement is uncertain, and you can’t put aside enough to educate the kids? Do we want to live in a place where the government tells us how to raise our family, and what constitutes that family in the first place?
At issue here isn’t the issues. At issue is the precedents, both those being set and those being broken. When constitutional safeguards are threatened, we risk losing the Freedom of Speech. When matters of faith become openly central to policy issues, we risk losing the Freedom of Religion. When constitutional rights are suspended, we become the kind of nation people start leaving to find freedom. When hard work no longer results in quality healthcare, secure retirements, and a better life for the kids, the Statue of Liberty has lost its meaning.
Democracy isn’t the kind of government where we can quit paying attention. The greatest threat to our Constitution is that it can be amended into any type of government we so choose. The democratic process lawfully elected Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, and the greatest of the Greek despots.
It is the issues which tug at our heartstrings come election time, but it is the precedents being set which will build the world we leave for our grandkids. We need to quit being dazzled by the issues and start paying more attention to the process: the rights we are giving away, the powers we are bestowing, and the changes we are allowing.
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