Democracy, as modern people understand it, is a system of government where “the people” chose their leaders.
Inherent in the definition is the participation of the citizens of a nation; a form of rule in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents through an unfettered electoral system.
The Democratic Party of the United States calls itself “democratic” and pretends to live by the standard definition of democracy. By the day, however, it looks more and more like a party that is democratic in name only.
It abides by democratic principles until it chooses to do otherwise, or when abiding by them will not advance the party’s chances of retaining power. This is a form of sometimes democracy or democracy not at all.
President Joseph Biden, whatever one thinks of him, his ideology, his policies, his one-time running mate, or his health condition, was elected this year by over 14 million primary voters in all the states to be his party’s nominee for reelection as president. He is also the sitting and duly elected president of the United States.
Having removed himself from the 2024 race, the question now before us is how he can remain the sitting president. If he is too old, sick, frail, and unable to campaign, then he should resign effective immediately. If something has interfered with his abilities to carry out a full second four-year term, with all the stress and hardship it implies, why should he remain in office now?
As things stand, he is both the president and the choice of the voters of his party to be president again. As he has not been removed by either of the legal constitutional means—impeachment or the 25th Amendment, Republicans should now willingly impeach him, or his vice president and cabinet can enact the amendment which would remove him because he is unable to serve. He has admitted as much himself.
It is unlikely that Biden will resign the presidency, although that would be the right thing to do. He no longer controls his delegates, and all the donor funds raised to date—approximately $270 million, of which $91 million was collected by him, should be returned to the people who gave it to him.
In 1783 during the so-called Newburgh conspiracy, some of General Washington’s troops were putting together a challenge but nothing came of it. Typically, such illegal and overt attempts are made by military organizations or factions or other government elites to unseat incumbent leadership.
Napoleon came to power by a coup, so did Lenin. Hugo Chavez used one to take power in Venezuela, as did Saddam Hussein in Iraq. But never in America have we routinized such practice. It was always considered un-American and undemocratic. Until now.
That an American political party, particularly one that calls itself Democratic, would stoop to such means to retain power, is a travesty. What does it augur for our Republic?
Is it democratic to try to remove a leader once elected or nominated because polls indicate that he may not be reelected. Polling as we all know, is fickle and unreliable, and the margin of error is at least 4 percent. Polls also swing from month to month erratically and are subject to unknown events or conditions. If one ran a company or any other institution on such a basis it would lead to uncertain performance, constant plotting, and a reign of terror and instability. That is what the Democrats have wrought for themselves and the country at large.
To an adversary or outright enemy of the United States, what just transpired might suggest that there is an opportunity for exploiting American weakness and lack of leadership.
There appear to be strong factions in the present Democratic Party that opposed President Biden. One group was centered around a person who belittled and castigated Biden for years, namely, Barack Obama and his cronies—including Obama’s strategist David Axelrod. Another element is a group of socialists who never wanted Biden as he was too centrist for their taste. They never really backed him or did so only to prevail in a hotly contested election.
The Clintons, we should remember, also did not want Biden. Oddly (or not) Hillary, always the opportunist, has said she would be a good replacement for old Joe. Her minions challenged him going all the way back to the 2016 contest when Joe was rejected by Obama as the nominee, even though he was then the sitting vice president. Today a few dozen congressional leaders, one of whom is Nancy Pelosi, worked to force Biden to leave before it was too late. Too late for what, one must ask.
Since the devastating CNN debate last month in which Biden roundly lost to Donald J. Trump, there has been a growing chorus of Democratic and media luminaries asking, then, strongly demanding, that Joe go. The numbers grew while Biden and his inner circle protested until the opposition became overwhelming.
The plotters wanted to see him resign but appeared willing to remove him from the race by any means necessary. They called for a new set of primaries, townhalls, or even an old-fashioned brokered convention where an elite would choose a new candidate in a smoke filled back room. All that may go away but the question remains can they, must they, pick Kamala Harris his running mate, who polls even worse than Biden.
Since there is little concern about decorum, legalities, or processes, let alone about democracy, and there was talk of bribing Joe to go, we should wait to see what he gets. As things stand, however, all Democratic candidates are polling behind Trump, who is surging after the RNC convention and demonstrating a robust unity in its wake.
All the actions of the last few days make for chaos and are likely to turn the voting public, especially independents, sour. Is politics just a game of power plays and corruption? Do voters even matter? Is this some intra-party squabble or a real coup?
“Democracy dies in darkness” to steal a line from the slogan of a self-important newspaper that lives in the D.C. swamp. That darkness now surrounds us more than ever.
Leave a Reply