Posted on 11/14/2014 7:22:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
If Bernie Sanders has his way, “Democracy Day” will be the crowning holiday of America’s dystopian future. Imagine: Everyone in slab-gray uni-gender tunics and biodegradable Crocs, all lined up in perfect uniformity to cast a legally mandated vote for the single party that remains. Democracy! Pharrell’s “Happy” will play over loudspeakers in the background. On loop.
To the country’s credit, a future in which Americans submit en masse to the shame of Crocs is unlikely. But Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is proposing, in the wake of November’s midterm-election turnout numbers, a new federal holiday: Election Day, or, as he would have it, “Democracy Day.”
Sanders has at least token support from Christopher Ingraham, writing at the Washington Post’s “Wonkblog,” who notes in panic that one out of every three registered voters who did not make it to the polls said they could not because of “schedule conflicts with work or school.” That, at least, is the finding of a recent report from the Pew Research Center, based on a sample of 181 registered voters. But while Ingraham cautions against interpreting too broadly this “smallish” sample, he is still exercised that Americans might encounter obstacles to joining in the political process — particularly at a time when Republicans are engaged in such nefarious “vote-suppression efforts.” Should not a responsible country be doing everything in its power to encourage civic participation?
But there are several obvious problems with turnout-raising schemes, the first being that low turnout as such is not necessarily a bad thing. As John Adams noted in his A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, the American electoral system does not take into account intensity; the vote cast by the guy who tattooed Mitt Romney’s logo to the side of his head counted for no more than the ballot submitted by a voter who checked Obama’s name because it was, like, way more fun to say. (Adams, for what it’s worth, contemplated a system that would allow votes to be “weighed,” as well as counted.) Low turnout might well indicate a small group of very interested people, and that might be a better indication of the country’s desires than truckloads of people completing a ballot because they felt obligated — or, worse, faced a penalty if they did not.
Furthermore, on the left, low turnout is a problem only when Democrats lose, because Democrats assume that the majority of those people who stayed home would have voted “D.” Indeed, this was the president’s rationale, expressed in his post-election press conference, for ignoring the obvious message of his midterm shellacking: “To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.” (N.B.: As a matter of logic, if one can cast a vote by not voting, the whole turnout problem would seem to be moot.)
The low-turnout lament is also belied by the fact that most states have early voting (something Ingraham oddly neglects to mention), which, unless your workday looks like Jack Bauer’s, probably provided ample occasions for would-be voters to cast a ballot — given that in several states early voting starts more than a month before Election Day. (In Chicago, you can probably still vote. Your dog, too.)
But let’s say that low turnout is a problem, and that Americans ought to be frolicking to voting booths in their local precincts on Election Day. Is the way to make that happen a holiday?
Consider the other federal holidays you already celebrate by ignoring them: Do you have your false teeth ready for Presidents’ Day? How did you pass Columbus Day — admiring a wall map and evangelizing the natives? Giving Americans federal license to lie in bed all day is probably not going to encourage robust political activism.
But of all the reasons not to support “Democracy Day,” perhaps the most obvious is that . . . it’s creepy. Not a few observers over the years have noted that “democracy” is a word that tends to be used in celebratory ways primarily in places that do not practice it: for instance, North Korea, a.k.a. the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Governments take to lauding democracy as a way of concealing the fact that it no longer exists.
What Sanders et al. want in “Democracy Day” is, indeed, a holiday — but in its original meaning: a “holy day.” They worship “democracy.” The very word is an enchantment against all forms of political evil. On “Democracy Day,” we would all do obeisance.
But “democracy” defined as five minutes’ work one Tuesday every even-numbered year is no democracy at all. Because democracy is not just about casting a vote. It is about the freedom to partake of the myriad roles available in the political process — or, if one so chooses, to not partake. “Democracy Day” would only diminish the concept, and habituate Americans to Sanders’ shriveled stand-in.
Whereas in a functioning democracy, every day is Democracy Day.
— Ian Tuttle is a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow at the National Review Institute
Americans have managed to vote during world wars and even in the middle of a civil war. People have voted during the days where you had to walk miles in the wilderness to get to a polling place.
But leave it up to these clowns to say we need a “holiday” and forced voting because it is so “unfair” that you only have ALL DAY, and even more than that in some places, to haul your butt a couple of blocks to spend a few minutes voting?
We all know that these people who do not bother to go to the polls want to vote for Democrats, that is clearly their intention. It is cruel and inhumane to subject them to the inconvenience and humiliation of actually voting. Since we are well aware of their intentions and desires, from this point forward, their votes should be counted for Democrats whether these people vote or not. It’s the only fair way.
They can't offer a shred of evidence of “voter-suppression efforts”, but when someone points out massive voter fraud, they scoff and call you a kook.
I am for getting rid of all federal holidays. The only ones off are government workers including schools. Most of the children have no clue what the day is commemorating and the adults just chalk it up as a day off and time for sales. Patriotism is at its lowest!
Only one problem with this Communist’s wet dream. Many Democrat voters don’t work. Will someone be hired by the federal government to drag the sleeping, the drunk, the felons, from their domiciles to the polls?
California has the largest population of any state in the US. California has one day for voting. Polls are “manned” by volunteers. There are always enough volunteers (Retired men and women) to managed the polling places. In fact all the Southwestern States are managed the same way. I have seen people ride their horses to the polling place in east Paso Robles. And polling is open from 6:30am to 7pm. And there is absentee voting, and drop off voting. If small states on the east can’t manage their polling places to allow everyone to vote maybe they don’t really want to vote. Or it’s a poor excuse, or they are whiners. A national holiday? Somebody is always working on a holiday. Child care, cooks, waitresses, police, fire, traffic controllers, road workers, utility workers, factories, etc. Holidays like this only pertain to government workers, and not all of them. Regular workers seldom enjoy all holidays. And for most this type of holiday will be unpaid. So the idea of instituting a national holiday for voting will fail
Bernie, Bernie, Bernie
We’re NOT a democracy, we are a republic. We have to change that to Republic Day!!
Dems have more dead voters than alive now. It takes longer to wake them all up and dress them to get them to the polls.
Prediction - the next time they have the opportunity the Dems will try and cram down an Austraila-style mandatory voting law.
Actually it is "Republicanism."
But you get it.
Definition: Republicanism is the ideology embraced by members of a republic -- a form of government in which leaders are elected for a specific period by the preponderance of the citizenry, and laws are passed by leaders for the benefit of the entire republic, rather than a select aristocracy. In an ideal republic, leaders are selected from among the working citizenry, serve the republic for a defined period, then return to their work, never to serve again.
Republicanism stresses several key concepts; notably, the importance of civic virtue, the benefits of universal political participation, the dangers of corruption, the need for separate powers and a healthy reverence for the rule of law.
Republicanism stresses several key concepts; notably, the importance of civic virtue, the benefits of universal political participation, the dangers of corruption, the need for separate powers and a healthy reverence for the rule of law.
From these concepts, one paramount value stands apart -- political liberty. For Republicans, political liberty entails not only freedom from government interference in private affairs, it also places great emphasis on self-discipline and self-reliance. Political liberty keeps government out of individuals' lives (unless to do this threatens the republic as a whole), it also prevents the government from becoming a guardian to its individuals. The role of government in a republic is to safeguard the collective republic.
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/glossaryterms/g/Republicanism.htm
In other words Republicanism is EVERYTHING the liberal and progressive wanna-be communists hate.
They (the communists) that have infested the "democrat" party and are currently infesting the "republican" party are engaged in destroying the Constitution as it locks this nation into Republicanism.
I believe the communists will ultimately fail miserably as we have seen a textbook example of that attempted usurpation fail in a spectacular fashion with President little bammy.
This is in addition to the track record of 100% failure of communism everywhere and every time it has been tried.
We do however, need to keep up the fight to preserve this nation.
Thanks for your time!
TLI
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