tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010559333082508395.post2453439884984968455..comments2024-03-19T08:23:24.309-07:00Comments on Tom Cochrun /Light Breezes: Blues-Views-NewsTom Cochrunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046822056852446079noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010559333082508395.post-59526479149031742092022-01-25T08:59:18.832-08:002022-01-25T08:59:18.832-08:00"... reported the 48 Senators who voted to re..."... reported the 48 Senators who voted to reform the filibuster represent 182 million Americans, that is 55% of the population. The 52 Senators who upheld the filibuster represent 148 million Americans, only 45% of the US population."<br /><br />Anti-democratic? Uh, yeah. The whole point of the Constitution's brilliant checking and balancing structure is to PREVENT majoritarian rule and, more importantly, to secure the rights of the minority -- any minority -- which is suddenly stinging the very progressives who have (fortunately) benefitted from these protections for so long. <br /> As the research you cited points out, the country has gone off the deep end being driven by FEELINGS, abandoning 100 years of being driven by REASON. I suggest to you that this fact alone should make you more careful than EVER about embracing populist majoritarian rule of ANY variety. The political forces on the ignorant left and the ignorant right are eager to exert authoritarian majority rule. <br /> The Constitution was designed to make it very difficult for hot-blooded majorities to have their way. Thus, only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government, the House of Representatives, was designed to reflect the instant FEELINGS of the citizenry (and less than 1/2 of THAT given the extent of the franchise). The direct election of Senators eroded that protection and big money in politics post the Citizens United case has further eroded it. Nomination of presidential candidates by stupidity-inducing primaries has further eroded the Constitutional protection of minority sentiment. None of this is good. <br /> And as a substantive aside ... the propaganda (including the President's embarrassing address in Atlanta) promoting the so-called Voting Rights Act is obscenely hypocritical. Half of the 13 states with 100% Democrat control have voting rules (called "restricitions" when it suits them) that are more restrictive than the ones they have incited protest and endless wailing and gnashing of teeth over. A good test of whether an issue is really a matter of principle is the extent to which the supposed principle is embraced at home. Turns out, not so much, leading to much deserved skepticism. <br /> Take a breath. And be thankful we have a constitution that keeps government from having the power that presently tempts you. For on another day and at another time -- perhaps armed with the technology to which you refer -- "they" may come for you. <br /><br />ML1050https://www.blogger.com/profile/17591868550406323787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010559333082508395.post-75319328807111523932022-01-22T17:10:56.926-08:002022-01-22T17:10:56.926-08:00In one of Arthur C. Clarke's short stories, a ...In one of Arthur C. Clarke's short stories, a religion called "Chrislam" swept across the world. The combination of the two great Abrahamic religions broke apart, and into violence, when an argument over what to expect in the afterlife broke out. Frankly, I'd hate to think The Handmaid's Tale is a blueprint of the future.Jagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15854309313920685901noreply@blogger.com