What is *The Point* of American Democracy?

A few weeks ago — when Donald Trump said that, should he be indicted for mishandling classified documents, there would be big problems ... that he doesn’t think Americans would stand for it — I said that, indeed, I *would* stand for it. I’m persuaded that, if evidence supports an indictment, Americans will not only stand for it but will *insist* on him having his day in court, like any American.

A friend responded saying that he felt “more concerned about how the current administration is dismantling and destroying this country on their own, and throwing ‘trumpian danger’ out there to distract people from it.” … a concern I told him I think is counterfactual. “I think President Biden is doing extraordinary work in extraordinary circumstances." I said, and "I’ll be happy to enumerate my reasons for that if you wish.” My friend said be his guest and then life happened for a while, as it does: deadlines … Covid … rebound Covid … catching up from Covid … business travel … and blah, blah, blah.… Now, finally, I’m ready to enumerate some of the reasons I think President Biden is doing good work. Whether it will satisfy my friend, I don’t know, but here it is….

My first reason for supporting Joe Biden is simply that I agree with his governing philosophy. He believes, and in this he concurs with the founders and framers, that there is *a point* to democratic governance. 

That point, I think, is outlined in the 1776 Declaration of Independence ... explained in quite a bit of detail in the 1789 Constitution, which replaced the 1781 Articles of Confederation ... and refined in the 27 Amendments to the Constitution that began with a flurry of 10 Amendments in 1791.

Something all these legal concords have in common is a good faith attempt that splits the difference between anarchy and monarchy or oligarchy. 

Democracy prevents everyone from doing whatever the hell they want to whomever they want (if they can get away with it). And democracy keeps one person or family or cabal or faction from doing whatever they want to whomever they want (if they can get away with it).

Democracy says to monarchs mobs and mafias: You *can’t* get away with it. We declare ourselves mutually bound to ensure for each other a set of permanent rights that include the pursuit of life, liberty, and freedom from haplessness … and, by mutual consent, we form a new government built on those principles and organized and empowered to pursue safety and happiness for us all.

The Constitution and Amendments amplify and define the Declaration’s requirement that the government establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure liberty from each generation to the next … all in pursuit of a more perfect union.

President Biden’s philosophy of governance is shaped and guided by those principles and practices. So I’m already happier than I would be if he pursued authoritarianism on one hand or laissez-faire leadership on the other — neither of which has a good historical record of securing the blessings of liberty outlined in the paragraphs above.

In no particular order, I see evidence that President Biden:

• Follows through on commitments to support liberty of conscience and secure equal protection of the law for every American
• Advocates privacy in medical decisions, most famously in women's health care
• Supports and works at generating cultural, educational, and economic opportunity for every American
• Promotes individual, collective, and corporate responsibility under law
• Prefers a politics of invitation, persuasion, inclusion and sharing credit
• Generally resists the temptation to claim that opponents can't have good ideas
• Is more inclined to compare apples to apples — where differences exist — rather than comparing apples to oranges
• Frames economic wellbeing starting with people who work for wages … recognizing the thread that connects 1) job growth and increased wages for working people with, 2) the sustainable growth of corporations and capital with, 3) sales and property taxes that support local and state government-based services like education, healthcare, law enforcement and judicial services, infrastructure development and maintenance with, 4) federal taxes that support activities that must scale nationally in order to succeed: regional, interstate, and national infrastructure and resource management, interstate commerce, banking and contract law, postal services, law enforcement and judicial services, safe food, water and air standards and practices, healthcare standards and practices, worker safety standards and practices, international treaties, and national intelligence and defense. 

The Biden Administration is less than two years in office. So, lots more time to promote liberty, justice, and the general health, happiness, and fortunes of Americans. Meanwhile, in no particular order, here are a few early policies and laws that give me concrete reasons to back President Biden…

• Expanding the pool of Americans who can access high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services, and driving the law that enables bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals to control costs and cap the price of life-saving drugs to some of America’s most vulnerable citizens
• The overall proactive and sustained response to COVID-19, starting with effective vaccine distribution and continuing by collaborating with the legislative branch on devising and funding a remarkable economic recovery via the American Rescue Plan
• The landmark reduction in child poverty accomplished through the American Rescue Plan … and calls on Congress to renew funding to make elevating early childhood development a sustainable national priority
• The Executive Order on Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices on May 05, 2022
• Action on national and global tax policy and enforcement to close loopholes for wealthy corporate and individual free riders, and beginning the 10-year project of properly restaffing the IRS to provide necessary services
• Promoting and signing into law the first meaningful, common sense gun safety measures since the 90s
• Promoting and signing into law the first meaningful, common sense environmental protection measures since the 70s
• Ending and reversing federal sentences on marijuana convictions for simple possession and encouraging US states to follow suit
• Reestablishing clear and consistent diplomatic links with both allies and adversaries for a rules-based international order 
• Redefining international conflict and coalition-building by leading the international response to Russian aggression against Ukraine [See, for example, David Rothkopf on the work accomplished *before* the Russian invasion of Ukraine that set the stage for the international direct actions to frustrate Vladimir Putin’s aggression without going to war against Russia: https://www.thedailybeast.com/secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-on-russia-ukraine-and-natos-rebirth?ref=scroll]
• A clear call to preserve and extend democracy, liberty, and equal protection under law at a global scale
• Restoring professional competence and accountability standards in cabinet-level departments across the government — especially, in my view, Justice and State
• Declining to claim ongoing, blanket executive privilege for former presidents 
• Staying out of the work of the January 6 Congressional Committee and the Department of Justice
• Reemphasizing and taking action to revitalize the quality of US jobs across the real economy, and especially in research & development, high tech, chip manufacturing, energy, automotive, and durable goods manufacturing jobs geared for the future
• Working to reduce the trade deficit (beyond the baked-in reductions that occurred as Covid supports wound down for businesses and citizens)
• Believing and then proving that the federal government can work for the benefit of the American people

Circling back to the beginning, I suppose my answer could have begun with then *President-Elect* Biden’s remarks, on January 6, 2021, responding to the assault on the US Capitol. What Joe Biden said that afternoon — a few hours before the vote count of his election to the presidency was belatedly confirmed by the US Congress in joint session — strikes me as the right words, spoken in the right tone, at a time when it looked as if the sitting president might not say anything at all. In my opinion, Mr. Trump’s statement, released a little later that afternoon via Twitter, did not rise to the same heights. Here’s a link to Joe Biden’s message that day: https://www.c-span.org/video/?507742-1/president-elect-biden-at-hour-democracy-unprecedented-assault

What we’ve learned since January 6, 2021 — through sworn testimony, mostly by Republicans, before the Congressional Committee investigating the events on and leading up to January 6, and through court findings of fact regarding the likely commission of crimes to illegally obstruct official government proceedings and conspiracy to defraud the United States — amplifies those differences. See, for example, https://january6th.house.gov/news/watch-live and https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Dkt.%20372%2C%20Order%20Re%20Privilege%20of%20Remaining%20Documents.pdf

Do I think Joe Biden’s first 20 months in office were perfect? Of course not. 

Do I agree that the facts support my friend’s concern that, "the current administration is dismantling and destroying this country on their own, and throwing ‘trumpian danger’ out there to distract people from it”? On the facts, I do not.

This is a big deal to me in the midterm elections next week. 

The governing philosophy that underlies the Biden Administration promotes *equality.* On the other side, since MAGA Republicans’ control of the party is so overwhelming at present, no convincing resistance can be made from within the party to stop them doing whatever they want to whomever they want (if Democrats and Independents don’t stop them). In that light, I don’t think it’s too much to say that, practically speaking, a vote for a Republican in 2022 is a vote for hierarchy over equality. Just the sort of thing the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were meant to end.

To be fair, there was time when the governing philosophy and practices of Democrats and Republicans were reversed — in the lead-up to the American Civil War, Republicans promoted  equality and Democrats defended hierarchy. Not anymore.

The Boston College political historian, Heather Cox Richardson, helpfully notes that, "In reality, the parties have switched sides since the 1850s." Don’t be misguided by people trying to muddy the water. She continues: "Rather than focusing on party names, it makes more sense to follow two opposed strands of thought, equality and hierarchy, as the constants." See https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-29-2022

On balance, I’m persuaded that Joe Biden’s philosophy of governing based on equality is quintessentially American, and that philosophies of governing based on hierarchy are not … they are foreign to the spirit of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence. 

For the future, I like our chances with Democrats’ governing philosophy of equality way better than the governance by hierarchy philosophy on the other side.