Shout! Shout! Let it all out. These are the things I can do without. Come on…

 

In an era where some demand access to every nook and cranny of democracy, we risk railroading moderation and compromise. So quick, find me a chair! I want to climb up and applaud the Unicameral for keeping leadership votes secret. The courage of these legislators to act in the best long term interests of all Nebraskans is to be applauded.

Debate and compromise is why, historically, the American model of self-governance worked. And as we all know from our private and professional lives, sometimes privacy matters.

The American model of self-governance was designed to be slow, inefficient, and force compromise, especially in our institutions. While modern political parties push for winner-take-all outcomes, our system of checks and balances pits political ideas against each other to force debate. By engaging reasonable but opposing ideas, we learn about the needs and wants of fellow Americans. This process teaches that neither Democrats nor Republicans have a monopoly on good or bad ideas, and although there is no moral equivalency between the right and the left at this moment, all groups suffer from bad actors. Through compromise, we get better policies and moderation, that legitimizes the outcome and dignifies the opposition.

But there are those who want to muzzle our democracy. Whether it is by legislation or intimidation, wittingly or otherwise, some will stop at nothing to take away our sense of security and freedom by attacking our model of self-governance.

This is done by undermining voter trust and confidence in free and fair elections.

Without trust, voters question the legitimacy of those elected.

Republican Senator Romney pays $5,000 a day to ward off threats to his family. An assailant’s hammer blows to Speaker Pelosi’s husband in their home was an assault on him and on democracy. Reuters’ report, Campaign of Fear, details an increasing number of assaults and threats on American poll workers.  Last year, of those who left their job in Election Offices, 1 in 10 cited threat and intimidation as the cause. In the aftermath of electing a House Speaker, threats against elected officials, their spouses, and children, were ghastly and sexually perverted. As the January 6^th Committee documented, this barrage on American Democracy is orchestrated and intentional. Nothing justifies or excuses this behavior.

During the 20s & 30s Germany was reeling in the aftermath of WW1 and suffering an economic tailspin. Pastor Martin Niemoller was an early supporter of German right wing authoritarianism. But when Niemoller spoke out against Germany leadership in 1937, he was branded a political enemy and sent to a concentration camp. We are reminded of Reverend Niemoller’s words…

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Martin Luther King’s 1965 march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge demonstrated the importance of speaking out and voting. By voting we exercise our Constitutional right to choose, empower, and legitimize those who govern. As political parties move further to extremes, many increasingly vote AGAINST candidates, in favor of the “lesser of two evils.” As populism and extremism spread across Western Democracies, 2024 promises to be an inflection point in the Founding Father’s vision of America as a city on the hill and a beacon of democracy to the world. Let’s pray, or whatever you do, that the American voter understand exactly what they are voting on in November because it is so much more than a partisan nod to President Biden or Mr. Trump.

In these times, you shouldn't have to sell your soul. In black and white, they really, really ought to know.