OPINION: Threat to democracy

Democracy is where a society is ruled by the people. It was understood by our founders that a pure democracy is an unstable form of government because as soon as the majority appreciates that they can vote for the seizure of wealth and property from the minority, revolution and chaos are only a matter of time. Our Founders’ solution was to give us a republic in which the people vote for their elected officials to represent them and then the officials pass laws to govern society.  

The democratic component of a republican form of government depends on the integrity of the voting system: one man, one vote. It is essential this democracy not be polluted with illegitimate votes or voters and that the tabulation of votes is accurate and auditable. It is vital that candidates for office are unfettered by prosecution for political motives and that justice and politics remain in their separate camps. 

Democrats accuse Republicans of being against democracy, but what is the truth? Who really is the enemy of democracy?

Internationally the Democrats universally support the war in Ukraine claiming that it is essential to preserve democracy, yet in Ukraine president Zelenskyy has suspended elections, outlawed or assassinated political opposition and banned an orthodox Christian faith. Giving Ukraine billions of dollars is degrading democracy. Not protecting it.

Nationally, consider the Democrats and their allies in the media have been consistently pushing a narrative with the objective of “Hitlerizing” Donald Trump. They are essentially engaged in mass brainwashing of millions of people into believing that Trump is an existential threat to democracy.

Even Joe Biden has repeatedly and directly pushed the narrative. At a recent speech he said “Let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy,” a claim so absurd that even the liberal fact check organization Snopes called it out as False. Biden has since said “We cannot let him win” indicating he doesn’t think the voters will be deciding.

What we are witnessing is a slow motion assassination attempt. Most people agree that it would have been justifiable to kill Hitler to prevent him from coming to power. Democrats are trying to convince millions of people that Trump is effectively the next Hitler, and there is a near certainty that one of those millions will act on their belief. 

This is too prevalent to be an accident. Democrat legislator Daniel Goldman even spoke the quiet part out loud when he said that former President Trump must be eliminated. He later retracted his words but you don’t say things like that unless you are thinking them, and the Democrats are obviously thinking those thoughts. 

Democrats have also weaponized elements of the justice system against their political opponents. There is now sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that Jan. 6 was an operation designed to entrap Trump and Trump supporters. The fallacy that it was an attempted takeover of the government by unarmed citizens sauntering through the nation’s capital (a public space) and then characterizing that fallacy as an “insurrection” is pushed by Democrats and their allies to this day. 

When presented with evidence that Obama was a naturalized, not a natural born U.S. citizen, Democrats chanted “Let the voters decide!” and indeed we did. But now the Democrats have engineered dozens of politically motivated indictments against Trump to thwart the people’s ability to decide. 

Attempting to assassinate and ensnarling your political opponent in endless politically motivated litigation is a tactic typical of third world banana republics and not the free world’s flagship of the democratic processes. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are laughing at the hypocrisy of the Democrats.

Democrats like to talk democracy but in practice they consistently fall short. For example, we are about to have our Presidential Caucus or Primary, during which delegates will be selected to attend the party’s national convention. At the Republican Convention all 2,469 delegates have an equal vote on who will be the next Republican Party nominee for president.

The Democrat convention has delegates elected from the grassroots but they also have Super Delegates who are party bosses and officials that are not pledged to any particular candidate. There are enough Super Delegates to control the outcome of any convention vote. Just ask Bernie Sanders. Oh, and if you have ever expressed support for a candidate from another party you cannot be a Super Delegate. 

In reality the Democrat Convention is nothing more than an arena sized smoke-filled room where party bosses, not the grassroots, select their next candidate. It is all Kabuki Theater and any resemblance to one man one vote democracy is coincidental. 

Democrats are not concerned with the integrity of the vote either. They chant “Count every vote” notably not “Count every legitimate vote” and indeed they promote election rules that invite cheating. Mail in voting, automatic voter registration, no ID voting, non-citizen voting, ballot harvesting, and unmonitored ballot collection boxes are all ripe for voter fraud. Vote early and vote often seems to be the Democrat motto. 

Following the idea that if you can’t win under the rules, change the rules, the Democrats are pushing for Jungle Primaries and Ranked Choice voting. This initiative will destroy your right to associate with friends of similar views and obliterate the one man one vote bedrock principle of democracy. 

Democrats say they want a world safe for democracy but their actions tell us they are only using “democracy” as a facade to camouflage an unbridled quest for power and control.

It’s just common sense.

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Brent Regan is chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.