Ingraham: Democrats Whine, Democracy Shines

www.LauraIngraham.com ^ | August 13, 2003 | Laura Ingraham

[Choose Ye This Day]

Democrats Whine, Democracy Shines

By Laura Ingraham

"I think it insults democracy in this country. It's wrong." --John Kerry, on the California recall.

"This is an attack on the institutions of our government. That's what Republicans do." --Dick Gephardt, in the echo chamber.

Of course what John Kerry conveniently left out is that this "insult" to democracy is provided for by state law, and the one million plus Californians who signed the recall petition were pursuing their rights under that law. Ditto for the absurd "attack" on the government charge. What is "wrong" to an overwhelming majority of Californians is the fact that Gray "Skies" Davis has presided over a tanking of the state's economy, which has driven businesses out and pessimism in. Plus, why are senators and congressmen from other states suddenly authorities on the laws of California? Do Boxer and Pelosi make a point of lecturing Massachusetts on its local election law?

The "it's not fair!" complaint of the political, media, and legal elite lately relates to far more than just the recall. The Washington Post editorial page has similarly railed against the Texas state legislature's redistricting plan, and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is busy blasting the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines as too restrictive. (Justice Kennedy apparently didn't think he had demonstrated sufficient legal "evolution" in the Court's sodomy case.)

All this hand-wringing and whining by the elites is undoubtedly related to their frustration that they haven't had such good luck at the polls lately. Their views on everything from bilingual education to the death penalty aren't being embraced by a majority of Americans, so they figure it's easier to just circumvent those pesky voters altogether. How? By looking to activist federal courts and international institutions for aid and comfort. Judges and UN delegates are not accountable to American voters who still--gasp!--reject the notion that the U.S. should become more progressive, more like France.

Back to California, the hysteria on the left is all too predictable. The Los Angeles Times warns that "the recall is an unpredictable ballot gamble, a hand that shouldn't be played." Powerful reasoning. Of course politics itself is unpredictable, as is that small matter known as life. Given Davis's pathetic poll numbers, it's safe to say that Californians think a much riskier "ballot gamble" was voting for Davis in the first place.

Contrary to what the Gray Skies supporters are alleging, California will survive the recall. Democracy is not being thwarted, it's being pursued. There may be freaky people among the 200 folks on the ballot, but the recall effort itself is not a freak show-it's a legislative remedy designed to give the beleaguered populace an escape valve. The voters are trying to take control back from a system that failed them. What is more American than individuals banding together to rise up against what they consider to be an abysmally bad leader?

The Democrats in the running for the presidency are injecting themselves into an intra-state matter because they know their chances at the White House are kaput if California goes GOP. (Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman also unloaded a verbal assault on the recall.) If Californians were truly repulsed by the 1911 statute authorizing recall elections, they had 90+ years to repeal it. They didn't. So elites like Kerry want to repeal if for them after the fact and outside the legislative process.

Laws and voters can be so inconvenient.

By bemoaning the recall, Dem-elites are digging themselves into the mother of all sand traps. Californians have a right to determine their own political destiny without pols from outside the state interfering. Republicans and Democrats should see by now that there is a significant percentage of voters out there who feel like no one is listening. Sooner or later, as we saw in California, the people will stand up and say-no more. There is nothing more democratic than that.

EBlast Special Note-- Laura's new book Shut Up & Sing: How Elites in Hollywood, Politics and the UN are Subverting America (Regnery) is not out until September 15th, but you can pre-order it on the website www.lauraingraham.com. Check the book tour schedule for a stop near you. Remember, the new Laura Ingraham Show starts on September 1st--if you already haven't done so, call your local affiliate and urge the program director to carry the show. Same great substance, humor, guests, and ahead of the curve analysis of politics, the culture and the media. (Remember when I predicted the recall would happen in February and everyone laughed?!) New timeslot--9 to noon ET live, in some markets it will be tape-delayed.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Take back our courts, take back the power.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Laura Ingraham PING!

[the lone wolf]

A question for all who read this thread:

Ingraham seems to think that California may give its Electoral College votes to the GOP in 2004 if there is a GOP Governor. The DemocRATs think the whole recall is a political ploy to thwart the will of the people.

So, do you think the recall was thought up by the GOP leadership to help re-elect Bush II? Or is it simply a local matter that only incidentally has national implications?

[SAMWolf]

IMHO it's simply a local matter that only incidentally has national implications?

I wish the Republicans were smart enough to pull off things like this.

[Intolerant in NJ]

"I think it insults democracy in this country. It's wrong." --John Kerry, on the California recall...the real insult to democracy is that politicians like Davis think they can lie to the public, telling them before an election that the state deficit is "only" eight billion dollars, and not face the consequences when voters find after the election that the true deficit is really thirty-eight billion......

[vbmoneyspender]

It wasn't the GOP leadership that signed the recall petitions 1.6 million times. Californians know that if Davis stays in office for two more years, the damage to the environment (i.e. the business environment) will be so severe it will take at least a decade to unwind it.

[mcenedo]

I agree.

[lafroste]

telling them before an election that the state deficit is "only" eight billion dollars, and not face the consequences when voters find after the election that the true deficit is really thirty-eight billion......

Geez, all this fuss over ONE little word... so he wasn't heard when he said "thirty" in the pre-election campaign. I'm sure it was simply a faulty mic somewhere, a lowly technician's error, that's all.

I guess GW should be in 16 times as much trouble for his SotU speech!!! That was a whopping 16 words! All this is just, like SO unfair to Gov. Davis!!

< /sarcasm>

[BobbyK]

So, do you think the recall was thought up by the GOP leadership to help re-elect Bush II?

This has been the rallying cry for the demon-craps for how long now?

That's cool if you have just been enlightened to the craps talking points.

Best to Ya.

[The Electrician]

"This is an attack on the institutions of our government. That's what Republicans do." --Dick Gephardt, in the echo chamber.

When the Republican party gained the majority in the House of Representatives in the 1994 elections, thus displacing 40 years of Democrat one-party rule in the House, Gephardt compared it to a coup d'etat. In the minds of elitists and petty wanna-be tyrants like Gephardt, the will of the people as expressed through elections is wrong, unless it results in the "correct" outcome. That probably explains the past allegations of vote fraud in Gephardt's district - it was evidently necessary to assure the "correct" outcome no matter what the voters wished. After all, he deserves to be the leader of the ruling class, and he will not be denied his due. What a despicable example of the Demo/commie party 'leadership', but what a telling example of how they think...

[goldstategop]

The Democrats don't find democracy so great if they're on the losing end of it.

[MadeInOhio]

I assume Davis will win this recall until the votes prove otherwise. Considering that Californians twice endorsed this fellow in gubernatorial elections, it's difficult to believe that they'll simply turn around and boot him out now.

I would applaud that outcome, but, again, I'll believe it when I see it.

Let me also pre-empt any arguments that he had no serious competition for re-election. Simon may not have been the most graceful of candidates, but no one could argue that he was a step down after four years of Davis' record. Yet given the opportunity to exercise a "recall" in that vote, Californians narrowly stood by the incumbent.

[DuncanWaring]

"I think it insults democracy in this country. It's wrong."

Democracy is Greek for "Mob Rule".

Democracy in this country doesn't need to be insulted; it needs a stake driven through its heart.

[DryProng]

"New timeslot--9 to noon ET live, in some markets it will be tape-delayed"

Does anybody know if any station in Metro DC will be picking up her show. WTNT carried the evening show but hasn't indicated if it will be carrying her new one. They have the G-Man in that slot currently. WMAL has Dr. Laura which is extremely popular. These are the only two Talk stations.