Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

where i stand:

Keep it civil: Not standing up for those who were sitting in

Any reasonable American who watched the Democratic congressmen and -women taking over the well of the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening had to be somewhat sympathetic to their cause. After all, their level of frustration — which mimicked the overwhelming feelings of the American electorate — was understandable; the Republican-controlled House of Representatives refused to even entertain a vote on something so basic and logical as keeping people who are on the government’s terrorist watch list from buying a gun.

Nevadans will have an opportunity in November to act in their own interests by voting yes on Question 1, which will require everyone buying a gun at a gun show or in a parking lot out of the back of a truck to go through the same background check that most Americans currently undergo at a gun store or Wal-Mart! But, to keep a person suspected of being a terrorist from buying a gun, well, that’s a job for the Congress.

And Congress won’t do its job. Hence, the sit-in.

As much as I admire and respect civil rights pioneer and Congressman John Lewis, who is no stranger to civil disobedience, his idea of staging a sit-in at the House of Representatives may have done more harm than good.

The good, of course, was an action that brought the attention of the nation to the inability of the GOP-controlled Congress to loosen the strings of its puppet masters at the National Rifle Association long enough to make a simple statement — that terrorists shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns in this country.

The harm could have been worse. That’s because at a time when the very nature of our government institutions is under attack from someone as high up as the Republican presidential candidate, the diminishment of civil discourse at the highest level of government — the well of the House of Representatives — sends a message to Americans that there can be a free-for-all of anti-government activity. After all, if the people we elect to the highest offices in the land can act this way, then why should the rest of us act in a less-obstructive manner?

There is barely a day that goes by when our institutions of government aren’t attacked in such a way that any confidence the people must have in their government is fleeting, if not nonexistent. From a legislative body that is held in the lowest esteem of any branch of our government by the voters, it does democracy no favor to stage a civilly disobedient activity at the very place where we teach our kids that democracy must flourish.

Do I understand the frustration? Of course.

But frustration must not be used as an excuse to forgo decorum and provide a lesson of obstructionism to the very voters who are being challenged this year to shun the Trumped-up authoritarianism of the right. At a time when there is talk about reviving the House Un-American Activities Committee, which, as you all know, gave rise to some of the darkest times in our democracy, this is not the time to allow our frustrations to give way to anything that hints of anarchy.

People are afraid, they are concerned and, yes, they are mad about any number of things in their lives. For elected representatives to suggest that sit-ins in Congress are a way to resolve our differences and fix what appears unfixable is foolish.

We live in a democracy, and that means there is one sure-fire way to get what the people want. In this case, more than 80 percent of the people in this country want sensible gun laws that, at the very least, prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns. And that way runs right through the ballot box.

If the voters are upset with Congress, they can change it. If they are upset with Republicans who refuse to pass gun-safety laws out of fear of reprisals by the NRA, they can vote them out of office. And if they share the frustrations of those Democrats who took to sitting in when they should have been standing up to the inaction of a government in the hands of the few, they can show up in November and change it all.

And, if none of this matters, if people are happy with the way things are, if they think that common sense no longer has a place in American politics, then they can vote for the folks who have chosen to do nothing to make us feel safer in our schools, our night clubs, our movie theaters and other public places.

Congressman Lewis was there when the civil rights movement took to the streets under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King. He and so many others acted in a civilly disobedient manner to force this country to see the force of their argument and change two centuries of wrong-headed denial of civil rights to all Americans.

This week, it wasn’t ordinary citizens who were demanding their civil rights. These were elected representatives of the people. And, in that regard, I think they could have represented this democracy in a manner more respectful of the government they represent.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.

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