I, the people

President Biden’s speech of this past Thursday evening with all the production trappings outside Independence Hall continues to resonate in my mind. I think the anti-Constitutional gist of it can be summed up in three words: I, the People. Biden’s 32 references to “democracy” reflect not so much a misunderstanding of, but rather a fundamental disagreement with, our constitutional set-up.

The constitutional set-up of course establishes a variety of roadblocks to the simple rule of the majority. As Hamilton put it in Federalist No. 9: “The regular distribution of power into distinct departments; the introduction of legislative balances and checks; the institution of courts composed of judges holding their offices during good behavior; the representation of the people in the legislature by deputies of their own election…are means, and powerful means, by which the excellences of republican government may be retained and its imperfections lessened or avoided.” Such were necessary to avoid “a state of perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy.” The object was liberty and the peace necessary for its enjoyment.

We can say this much for the speech. Biden let us feel the vibration. He sought to stigmatize his political opponents as enemies of the state. It’s a lowdown goal for such an purportedly high-minded speech. Take this passage, for example:

And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.

I should like to ask what he is talking about. When all was said and done, on the morning after he didn’t seem to know. I think it is I, the people.

Politico has registered the White House line on the speech in a story that is nauseating in its servility, stupidity and credulity. It takes three reporters to prepare and serve up the slop. They want us to know that the speech reflected the months-long forethought of the man with half a mind to be president.

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