The fatal weakness of democracy is that it only lasts as long as everybody agrees to the rules, many of which are just the unwritten rules of fair play. As soon as one side decides it will no longer honor those agreements, then the other side must do the same, or lose all power.
Up until roughly the 1990s, there was an acceptance, by Republicans and Democrats alike, that there were certain things you just didn’t do, and certain places you just didn’t go. Democrats abided by these agreements long after Republicans began abandoning them one by one.
Republicans got tired of being in the minority in Congress for most of the previous 60+ years and decided that “the rules” of fair play were not working for them. The rise of Gingrich, Limbaugh, et al, was the death knell for democracy in America.
When the Supreme Court said “screw states rights” and used Bush v. Gore in 2000 as a naked power grab, it was a clear signal that we had moved from democracy to pure power politics. But Democrats couldn’t meet the moment. They kept playing by the accepted rules.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
