Posted on 11/06/2020 9:16:49 AM PST by Qiviut
Op-Ed by Larry Schweikart
Thomas Jefferson was a very smart guy. Maybe James Madison, when it came to politics, or Ben Franklin was his better in areas of science but overall, Jefferson was one of the most intelligent of our Founders. His concern over the dominance of elites is today well-confirmed.
But in other ways, Jefferson had some blind spots. For example, his deal with James Madison to relocate the nation’s capital to a federal district in Virginia—so that Virginia would have disproportionate control of government—has now completely backfired. As of today, the state of Virginia went for Joe Biden over Donald Trump by about the same margin it had in 2016, or about 400,000 votes. These are overwhelmingly and disproportionately voters from Northern Virginia, which contains numerous suburban communities of government employees. It was NOVA that overcame a large Trump lead in 2016 to hand Hillary Clinton a late-hour victory.
Both Jefferson and Madison believed that power was best focused at the local and state level. Hence Madison fought hard in the drafting of the Constitution for a federal system that incorporated important protections for state authority. At state levels, the legislatures were invested with power, usually at the expense of the governors. It was always assumed the state legislatures were the ultimate source of authority as an extension of the people.
How did that work out?
By the late 20th century, state legislatures were often too busy or too partisan to even handle their own redistricting as required by the Constitution. Today, some 21 states have redistricting commissions. In large part, this was so that the party in power didn’t look “mean” for seizing the very power given it by the electorate to advance its political views. And then, there’s the work aspect: redrawing the lines for the U.S. House districts is flat-out hard work. There are lots of compromises to be made, political capital to be expended that might be better used elsewhere. Why not just let a commission do it?
So the very voters who, say, elected Republicans in Arizona to protect their (Republican) majority wake up when the map is redrawn to find their elected representatives had foisted the job off on another body—which may have anything but the well-being of the majority voters of the state in mind.
Redistricting is the least of the legislatures’ failures. It’s one thing to look at California, whose legislators are fully in lock-step with the insane Gavin Newsome, but it’s quite another to witness the impotence of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin lawmakers in stopping or even slowing down their governors’ outrageous lock-downs and China Virus responses. Did a single lock down legislature impeach its governor? Did a single lock-down legislature get rid of mask mandates? You see the problem. The legislatures simply did not stand up for ordinary citizens and freedoms.
In the sphere of voting, however, the legislatures have failed miserably. Not only have most failed to require solid identification and tracking procedures, but California’s legislature has all but invited the population of Mexico to hop on over the wall and vote in America’s elections. Kentucky is an exception: The Bluegrass State has implemented a system of ensuring that dead people get removed from voter rolls upon their final ride to the netherworld. Other states have boxes that can be checked on voter registration forms that allow you to volunteer to have your name removed from the voter roll upon your death. (I’m not sure how the state knows you’re dead: Gary Busey, for example, might be removed by mistake in these states).
Where the state legislatures have failed miserably—and where federalism has failed in giving them this authority—is in managing their elections. You cannot blame George Soros or CNN or the Democrat Party for the problems with early voting, whereby we now have a literal “voting season” that is longer than some states’ deer hunting season. Voters today have weeks in some states to vote. There is absentee voting, vote-by-mail, walk-in early voting, and election day voting, all thanks to the desire on the part of legislators to appear to be “inclusive.” The result is election month. And the secondary result is more time for vote fraud. In the 2020 election, turning what had in the past been a largely ineffective exercise into an all-out Steal-the-Vote campaign. As of this writing, it remains to be seen if the Democrats get away with it. If they do, however, they were merely inept burglars walking into an unguarded house with diamonds and cash sitting on the table behind an open door with a sign saying, “Take me.”
State malfeasance involving the expansion of election day to the equivalent of a pregnancy will likely never be fixed by states themselves. Now, about the only way to rescue the actual election day is through a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting voting (other than under strict, specified guidelines for absentees) on any day but election day in federal elections. And getting that will be akin to Elon Musk putting a Tesla on Mars.
When it comes to policing actual election fraud, the states again are the culprits, not the crime fighters. One look at Pennsylvania and its mimeograph-vote-printing machinery and you understand that in this sense as well, federalism has failed.
Or we could look at the riots. President Trump, easily the most “federalist” president ever, yielded control of the cities to the governors and mayors. Ted Wheeler and Lori Lightfoot (“Beetlejuice!”) have shown the wisdom of that. If and when he wins a second term, President Trump will have to make a tough decision on whether to violate the posse comitatus act in order to protect innocent civilians in places such as Portland, Chicago, Seattle, and Minneapolis—because their local governments clearly can’t or won’t do it. Redeemer Reconstruction governments had nothing on our major urban areas for handing over helpless citizens to feral gangs. Meanwhile, the mayors and governors have closed churches, businesses, bars, restaurants, and health clubs (while leaving pot dispensaries and mosques open) in deference to the China Virus, once again demonstrating their utter contempt for the Bill of Rights.
So, the next time someone wants to sing Jefferson’s praises, or wax romantically about “local power,” remember 2020. Actually, how could you forget?
Larry Schweikart is the co-author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, A Patriot’s History of the United States, author of Reagan: the American President, and founder of the Wild World of History, a history curriculum website with full courses in US and World history including teacher’s guide, student workbooks, maps/graphs/charts, tests and answer keys, and video lessons accompanying every unit (www.wildworldofhistory.com).
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Philadelphia.
It all started there.
It ended there.
One look at Pennsylvania and its mimeograph-vote-printing machinery and you understand that in this sense as well, federalism has failed.
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Philadelphia Pennsylvania is once again the political capital of the country as it essentially determines who our president is. Yep, our system is broken.
Bingo! Nailed it.
Great post.
Honestly, I think we crossed that threshold somewhere in the 1960s. It is only now that it’s evident to anyone who is really paying attention.
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Agree. The 60’s was a watershed decade.
The system is not broke, The system has been destroyed.
Good article.
"The Democrats are the treason party and the Republicans are the stupid party."
Truer words were never spoken.
To any Republican in public office please take the time to read my note.
Elections are a social contract put in place to avoid conflict. This contract assumes a fair and open election. Without this assurance of integrity of process we surely will be bound to the consequences.
Republicans are in a position to either accept the outcome of this election conducted fraudulently from the onset or reject it and resort to a constitutional remedy.
For those timid Republicans this is not an opportunity to exploit what gains that may have been made for the next election. But it is rather the last opportunity for the Republican party to remain an viable political party.
The conventional wisdom may say we surely will gain position in two years but be assured the Trump wave that produced more votes then Obama landslides will no longer be Republican.
Disillusioned with weak Republican members constantly being cow towed by the fighters in the opposition your support will evaporate to sit and watch as the ship of state fails.
Do not misunderstand and clearly understand we expect hero’s from our party or we will abandon you in droves to never return as it is now.
Republicans have it in their power to accept or reject this election and we expect you to reject this election. The future of the country depends on it and the future of the Republican party depends on it.
Thank you. I was thinking the same thing.
Federalism didn’t fail. We failed Federalism. I remember saying basically the same thing when I was on the National Mall in 2010 with my Gadsden flags.
The Constitution has not failed us. We have failed the Constitution.
Yep, the Dems took a wrecking ball to it. And the GOP sat in the grandstands and watched it happen.
Federalism bump for later....
Our form of government was only going to work so long as we had an honorable, thoughtful and honest population. That’s all changed now. We’re a thoroughly corrupt kleptocracy.
Why didn’t any of this happen in Ohio?
If all of this stuff in the other States were legit, then why didn’t we see it also happen in Ohio, it’s virtually demographically the same.
When those first reports were coming out of Wuhan, the Democrats put their plan into place for mail-in voting.
And even when Covid goes away, mail-in voting won’t, it’s here to stay, and we’d better figure out how to deal with it.
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