Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand:

Where is Mr. Smith when we need him?

This democracy is founded on a simple principle.

It starts with “We the people.”

What that means is that those ultimately responsible for how this government works, what this government does and how this government does it, are the citizens of the United States.

And we fulfill this weighty charge by showing up every two or four years to express our preferences for candidates who we believe will best represent our personal and societal interests.

It is called voting.

In between those elections the people speak through their representatives. And when the elected officials aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, they get yelled at and sometimes voted out of office at the next election.

But when they are making the effort to fulfill campaign promises made when they ran for office, it is incumbent upon their voters to support those efforts.

And that, my friends, is how democracy is supposed to work.

How are we doing today?

The latest example of how our democracy is not functioning properly is not coming from the Republicans for a change. No, the GOP has made it clear to all that participating in this democracy is antithetical to its cult-like, anarchistic tendencies so it has focused its efforts in a more dangerous direction.

What has been the saving grace for the world’s longest and best example of the idea embodied by “we the people” is the Democrats — in spite of themselves. But it is not a certainty that even that political party can long endure.

There is no greater need in any democracy than to allow an open and secure election process. That means every person eligible to vote should be allowed to do so — as easily and effortlessly as possible. And those votes should be counted without any hint of irregularity.

I say that because in today’s world, just getting to a polling place can be problematic for many people — especially minorities and people in rural parts of the country — and creating an environment for the counting of votes without partisan interference is also no longer a given.

If you paid any attention to President Joe Biden’s speech this past Tuesday in Georgia, you would have learned how much under threat our ability to vote — which many Americans have taken for granted for two centuries and some of us well, not so much — is tied to the whims of individual states and the political parties that control them.

So much so that the ability of the United States to lead on issues like climate change, worldwide economic upheaval, strategic military challenges and oh, yes, an unrelenting and world0complicating COVID pandemic, pale by comparison. Because if Americans of all shapes, sizes, colors and religions can’t confidently cast and competently count a vote, then this will no longer be the America we know and love.

Georgia, a center for civil rights and voting rights change in America, is exactly where the president should have given this important speech.

Biden’s address paid homage to earlier patriots who paid the price in blood and treasure to fight for all Americans to have equal access to the voting booth. And it centered this country’s focus on exactly the challenge to free and fair elections that is spreading across this country.

That is why it is inexplicable to me that some people, many of whom are the very people in Georgia who have fought and are fighting on the front lines against voter suppression and in favor of voting rights, did not give the president the respect to be there in person.

By the way, turning your back on the people who are trying to help is nothing new for Democrats. They have given new meaning to “divide and conquer “ by doing it to themselves. Always at the worst time. That is one reason why Republicans continue to win elections in areas where they shouldn’t have a chance.

I have always liked the filibuster rules of the U.S. Senate. They were ingrained in my psyche the first time I watched “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

But Jimmy Stewart (look him up, and while you are at it watch the movie) is gone and so is the Washington that was depicted in the movie. Today, the partisan divide has never been greater nor more difficult to cross. The inaction and dysfunction of Congress are palpable even to the most cloistered of citizens.

Biden says that to secure voting rights for all Americans it is necessary to change the impossible-to-get-anything-done filibuster rule that says 60 out of 100 votes are required for majority rule in America.

Do the math. Given the recalcitrance of the GOP, it is up to the Democrats to save this democracy. Every one of them.

That means no fits of pique, no yearning for yesteryear and no putting personal re-election plans ahead of America’s need to preserve and protect our democracy.

And that may just be too much to ask from very ordinary people.

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