After President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Democrats are doing what they do best – panic! Contrary to the current media narrative, the Democrats biggest mistake wasn’t making an 80-year-old Biden; one of the most effective Presidents of the last 50 years, the party’s standard-bearer in 2024. No, their biggest mistake was not safeguarding and shoring up American Democracy after the 2020 Election.
Biden, like every Democratic President of the last 30 years, inherited a mess from his Republican predecessor. When Biden took office, the country was still in the midst of the COVID Pandemic, the economy had tanked resulting in record high unemployment, and Republican Insurrectionist had just tried to overthrow the U.S. government.
So, naturally, Biden and Congressional Democrats prioritized COVID relief and economic stimulus along with other campaign promises to end the war in Afghanistan, combat climate change, restore governmental norms, and fix the country’s ailing infrastructure, but all this came at the expense of strengthening American Democracy. Because the Democrats failed to expel the insurrectionist, restore the Voting Rights Act, and reform the Supreme Court during Biden’s first two-years in office when Democrats were in control of the White House, Senate, and House - America is now dangerously close to becoming a fascist country fueled by Christian Nationalism, racism, and cruelty.
With the signage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, America had taken a significant step in ensuring that all individuals would have a voice at the ballot box. Immediately after the law took effect, Black participation in elections and representation across all levels of government increased – culminating in the election of the nation’s first Black President in 2008. And despite being reauthorized numerous times by bi-partisan coalitions in congress – Republicans have always sought to weaken and even eliminate the law. They fulfilled this desire in 2013 when the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in their Shelby County v Holder decision allowing states to discriminate against and disenfranchise Black voters.
The Supreme Court and federal judiciary have only grown more radical since that decision. Republicans have successfully packed the federal courts with right-wing zealots who care more about power than equal justice under the law. Since weakening the Voting Rights Act, the radical Republican Court has taken away reproductive rights from women, stripped federal agencies of their authority, eliminated the separation of church and state, struck down Affirmative Action and diversity initiatives, sided with insurrectionist, criminalized homelessness, and shielded a criminal president from prosecution – even going as far as saying that the president is above the law.
Some Democrats will tell you that the party did try to restore the Voting Rights Act, but that Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema blocked the effort and that they did not have the votes to expel insurrectionist lawmakers or reform the Supreme Court. But change requires both knowledge and action, and Democrats failed to use the levers of power to properly educate and inform the public of the dangers we are facing as a country. Democrats could have held public hearings, filed impeached articles against biased, unethical judges, and used the bully pulpit of the presidency to frame the debate. Instead, they dithered and failed to implement any real structural changes, and now we find ourselves on the brink. Democrats must implement bold policy ideas that expand access to the ballot box, balance the power between the three branches of government, and ensure that all Americans regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual preference have an opportunity to live in a free society.
This isn’t to absolve the Republican Party from any responsibility to protect our democracy, but we must understand that they have chosen the path of autocracy. They would rather live in a society where they have power and control rather than a multi-racial, free, democratic society. So, it is up to the Democratic Party and yes, their 81-year-old Presidential nominee to stop and push back against American fascism. If they fail, the country will become a far worse place for those already struggling to survive.
Biden, like every Democratic President of the last 30 years, inherited a mess from his Republican predecessor. When Biden took office, the country was still in the midst of the COVID Pandemic, the economy had tanked resulting in record high unemployment, and Republican Insurrectionist had just tried to overthrow the U.S. government.
So, naturally, Biden and Congressional Democrats prioritized COVID relief and economic stimulus along with other campaign promises to end the war in Afghanistan, combat climate change, restore governmental norms, and fix the country’s ailing infrastructure, but all this came at the expense of strengthening American Democracy. Because the Democrats failed to expel the insurrectionist, restore the Voting Rights Act, and reform the Supreme Court during Biden’s first two-years in office when Democrats were in control of the White House, Senate, and House - America is now dangerously close to becoming a fascist country fueled by Christian Nationalism, racism, and cruelty.
With the signage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, America had taken a significant step in ensuring that all individuals would have a voice at the ballot box. Immediately after the law took effect, Black participation in elections and representation across all levels of government increased – culminating in the election of the nation’s first Black President in 2008. And despite being reauthorized numerous times by bi-partisan coalitions in congress – Republicans have always sought to weaken and even eliminate the law. They fulfilled this desire in 2013 when the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in their Shelby County v Holder decision allowing states to discriminate against and disenfranchise Black voters.
The Supreme Court and federal judiciary have only grown more radical since that decision. Republicans have successfully packed the federal courts with right-wing zealots who care more about power than equal justice under the law. Since weakening the Voting Rights Act, the radical Republican Court has taken away reproductive rights from women, stripped federal agencies of their authority, eliminated the separation of church and state, struck down Affirmative Action and diversity initiatives, sided with insurrectionist, criminalized homelessness, and shielded a criminal president from prosecution – even going as far as saying that the president is above the law.
Some Democrats will tell you that the party did try to restore the Voting Rights Act, but that Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema blocked the effort and that they did not have the votes to expel insurrectionist lawmakers or reform the Supreme Court. But change requires both knowledge and action, and Democrats failed to use the levers of power to properly educate and inform the public of the dangers we are facing as a country. Democrats could have held public hearings, filed impeached articles against biased, unethical judges, and used the bully pulpit of the presidency to frame the debate. Instead, they dithered and failed to implement any real structural changes, and now we find ourselves on the brink. Democrats must implement bold policy ideas that expand access to the ballot box, balance the power between the three branches of government, and ensure that all Americans regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual preference have an opportunity to live in a free society.
This isn’t to absolve the Republican Party from any responsibility to protect our democracy, but we must understand that they have chosen the path of autocracy. They would rather live in a society where they have power and control rather than a multi-racial, free, democratic society. So, it is up to the Democratic Party and yes, their 81-year-old Presidential nominee to stop and push back against American fascism. If they fail, the country will become a far worse place for those already struggling to survive.
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