The End of the American Experiment is Nigh

It is fundamental to every democracy that its participants express their views of how we should be governed by casting a single vote, counting those votes and deciding upon the form of government based upon how the majority of voters have cast their votes. If any democracy is to survive it is paramount that that very basic principle be applied and honored. If it is not so honored and so applied, notions of a democractic government can no longer apply. In its place is anarchy and those in control anarchists. Such has become the government of the United States. While I expect that we will eventually find our way through this current debacle, the paradigm has so shifted as a result of the conduct of the Republican party that I fear we will never return to the pure form of governance that was so essential to the American experience. It is no longer beyond the realm of possibility that the outcome of elections will no longer be honored by the loser and if that becomes the norm surely all is lost. To be clear, whether it is the ACA or the President that the Republican party refuses to accept, both were the product of a democractic process by which the majority of the voting populace expressed their opinions about how they wished to be governed. The ACA, in its current form, in fact, reflects the will of the people as expressed through the actions of all three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial, the last coming by way of the a Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the law. To be clear, again, it is the law of the land. The time to debate ended years ago. A Presidential election, in large part, was fought over the question of whether or not the people wanted the ACA to be the law of the land and, by an overwhelming majority made clear their preference that those among us who are without health insurance should have the opportunity for a healthier and safer life. It is no longer open to debate and it is the fact that the Republican party refuses to accept that outcome that poses the greatest threat to our democracy for if they are incapable of accepting the will of the people, as expressed through the vote of elected officials and through the vote of the supreme court of the land, then there is no reason to expect that the party of Lincoln will ever be counted upon again to accept the results of any vote with which they do not agree. If that be the case then we have truly stepped through the looking glass with no way home and to an uncertain future that may very well alter for the worse the very principles upon which we so long ago chose to govern.