Threat to Democracy?
“Our country’s biggest threat to itself has been elected to the position best suited to destroying our democracy and turning us into a Banana Republic.” (Beth David, Fairhaven Neighborhood News, 11/07/2024).
Who does this apply to, Elected Conservatives or Liberal/ Progressives?
First, we live in a Constitutional Republic, guided by the United States Constitution, not a democracy.*
The Constitution’s Bill of Rights, were designed to keep the government in check and keep powers in the hands of the people and FNN runs the first and most important right on the cover with each issue.
Amendment I — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
People have the right of free expression. Listeners are responsible to process what they hear, do some research, and decide the facts for themselves.
The 2024 Presidential Election made many apprehensive due to hyperbolic campaign rhetoric. It is time to move beyond the campaign of fear and lies from both parties pushed in the over-long campaign. The President-elect proposed policies to improve things and get back to American values. The Harris campaign promoted fears of Naziism, misogyny and racism, pushing Democrat efforts to shred our Constitution and promote programs creating greater dependency on the Federal government. Which is the greater threat?
Consider also Amendment X — The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Here are only a few examples where local politicians impact our lives.
Massachusetts had a responsibility to act after Roe v Wade was overturned. State law now defines “women’s rights” relative to abortion. I’ve seen nothing from the President-elect that would change this. No Federal threat here.
Illegal immigration, promoted by the Massachusetts Governor when she was Attorney General, is a real threat. She has created a non-specific state of emergency giving her unlimited controls and bypassing the State Constitution because too many “migrants” are here! And spare me the excuse that they are legal because the complicit Federal government changed their status to “parolee.” If they broke the law to get here, they are illegal.
The Governor signed into law a gun grab bill violating the second amendment of the US Constitution, potentially making legal gun owner’s felons. Amendment II — A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
95,000 valid signatures have been obtained to overturn this onerous law in a future election.
The State Legislature is indifferent to the citizens of the Commonwealth yet they keep getting elected.
Beth is right. There is a treat to the citizenry but it is not all on the incoming President.
Marsby Warters, Fairhaven
Editor’s Note: The US is a democratic republic. This is not an oxymoron. Our system of goverment has characteristics of both. We are governed by repreesntatives who are elected by voters. They derive their power from the people so we are a democracy. It is only a recent contention that we are somehow not the democracy that we are, another myth spread since the 2020 election by election deniers. Get your hands on a grade school civics book to learn more, or…here’s a good read from a couple of years ago: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1122089076/is-america-a-democracy-or-a-republic-yes-it-is
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