The Mindlessness of the Left

Herewith a series of propositions and observations that all add us to the same conclusion—the left is utterly unprincipled, and will change their views on a dime when it suits their drive for power.

As recently as 2009, Democrats had 60 U.S. Senators. You will search in vain to find a Democrat who complained then that the Senate was “undemocratic,” favored small states “unfairly,” or that we needed to add two new (Democrat) states to make it “fair.” Instead of wondering why Democrats can’t compete in states where they often used to compete effectively (and quite recently), they want to change the rules.

Ditto for the House of Representatives. Democrats enjoyed the fruits of gerrymandering for decades. Suddenly, when Republicans started getting good at it, it became an affront to democracy. (The effects of gerrymandering are exaggerated and overestimated; it is the cast of mind among the left that is the decisive factor here. Oh, and have Democrats stopped gerrymandering Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York yet?)

California appears to be headed for its second recall election in 20 years of an unpopular Democrat governor. Last time there were over 130 candidates to replace Gray Davis. This time, there is talk behind closed doors in Sacramento that the Secretary of State may impose much stricter ballot access rules that will limit the field—possibly down to almost no one. (So far this possibility is attracting virtually no media attention. I almost hope they do it, so we can recall Gavin Gruesom and leave the governorship vacant.)

In Colorado, where several recent recalls have succeeded in removing Democratic legislators from office, guess what? Democrats want to change the rules to make it harder to recall anyone.

“This is a big, disruptive force in our democratic process. I think it’s important that voters have, maybe not the full picture, but at least a sentence from both sides,” said Sen. Majority Leader Steve Fenburg, one of the bill’s sponsors. “It’s really just to make sure the information is out there, in that these recall efforts are being used for legitimate purposes and not for purely routine political attacks.”

In addition to those more substantive changes, the bill systematizes various recall procedures, generally bringing them in line with the rest of Colorado election law. It requires recall campaigns to only use paid signature gatherers who are licensed by the Secretary of State’s office, as is already the policy for other candidate and ballot issue campaigns. And it would ensure that clerks conduct a risk-limiting audit of recall results, as they do for other elections.

In re: court packing. I don’t recall liberals wanting to pack the Supreme Court back in the days when the judiciary was largely doing the bidding of the left, such as during the rampages of the Warren Court. The difference between right and left on this point is instructive: whereas the left wants to pack the Court with its own people when the Court “goes wrong,” the right wanted to impeach Chief Justice Warren and Justice William O. Douglas, which is the better remedy for justices who distort the Constitution.

Conclusion: for the left, it is only “democracy” when Democrats win. And of course pointing this out is racist.

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