I'm angry and frustrated by the authoritarian predicament we're in as a country--on the edge of losing its democracy. There are a lot of reasons for it staring with with 40 years of neoliberlism started under Ronald Reagan. But what I am focusing most of my blame on these days are the inherit structural flaws of the constitutional framework set up by our founding fathers. Namely, they are things like the electoral college and the senate. Both are inherently anti democratic because they allow minorities to rule over majorities.
Democrats have won seven out of the last eight popular votes in national elections, the 50 Dems in the senate represent 40 million more people than the 50 Republicans in the senate etc. Dems keep winning majorities but barely have jack to show for it, look at the reactionary 6-3 conservative majority on the supreme court McConnell engineered. It is nowhere close to being in step with most Americans by a long shot. Just in the last 20 years two Republicans got elected President despite losing the popular vote.
Each time the minority Republicans got power from the antidemocratic electoral college or aggressively gerrymandered districts, they extended it to the Supreme court to make it partisan, and to pass voter suppression laws on the state level and to the elevation of state's rights over the federal government and juridical review.
We are where we are I would argue because of the systemic flaws of the constitution and its electoral college that allows minorities and candidates with the fewest votes to take power over majorities. It is repugnant to any notion of democracy. Yes there were some reforms and voting rights measures but they got reversed by conservative courts. It wasn't enough. Look where we are now. The seeds of the democratic experiment's own destruction were sown into it from the beginning by the founding fathers.
You state that you feel “that faith has to be part of any successful pro-democracy movement in America”. Is that something you have found to be a historical precedent in your research, or a personal view?
This isn’t the first time we’ve had clergymen in Congress. Think about Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest from Massachusetts, who served from 1971 to 1982, and John Cornell, a priest from Wisconsin. Both resigned at Pope john Paul’s request. Both were Democrats.
And this new movement of the radical right to which Mr. Cobb refers is pushing this country increasingly toward civil war. According to Dr. Barbara Walter, UC San Diego, the US is no longer considered, by CIA metrics, to be the gold-standard of democracy in the world. It is now an anocracy, a blend of dictatorship and democracy. Dr. Walter has a new book on the threat of civil war coming out in January, 2022.
I'm a great admirer of Mr. Cobb's body of work, thank you for the interview. I hope that future historians, perhaps in democracies that remain post-2024, will find a way to explain the passivity of Democratic party leaders as this movement grew...in plain sight, for 5 years. FBI Director Wray decided that ignoring the terrifying reality was more politically expedient than facing the complex issues required to define domestic terrorism and prosecute domestic extremists. The GOP base is so blinded by their twisted form of 'political faith' that they're risking hospitalization and death for their cause, while Democratic leadership gives cover to our feckless FBI leadership by pretending that the stakes aren't as high as they are. I feel as though we're on the cusp of widespread vigilante assassinations and no one is taking a step to change the course. Perhaps I'm alone in what I see in the abyss...I hope so, but my deepest fears have manifested for 5 long years.
https://fb.watch/aC3YNeAAPr/
I'm angry and frustrated by the authoritarian predicament we're in as a country--on the edge of losing its democracy. There are a lot of reasons for it staring with with 40 years of neoliberlism started under Ronald Reagan. But what I am focusing most of my blame on these days are the inherit structural flaws of the constitutional framework set up by our founding fathers. Namely, they are things like the electoral college and the senate. Both are inherently anti democratic because they allow minorities to rule over majorities.
Democrats have won seven out of the last eight popular votes in national elections, the 50 Dems in the senate represent 40 million more people than the 50 Republicans in the senate etc. Dems keep winning majorities but barely have jack to show for it, look at the reactionary 6-3 conservative majority on the supreme court McConnell engineered. It is nowhere close to being in step with most Americans by a long shot. Just in the last 20 years two Republicans got elected President despite losing the popular vote.
Each time the minority Republicans got power from the antidemocratic electoral college or aggressively gerrymandered districts, they extended it to the Supreme court to make it partisan, and to pass voter suppression laws on the state level and to the elevation of state's rights over the federal government and juridical review.
We are where we are I would argue because of the systemic flaws of the constitution and its electoral college that allows minorities and candidates with the fewest votes to take power over majorities. It is repugnant to any notion of democracy. Yes there were some reforms and voting rights measures but they got reversed by conservative courts. It wasn't enough. Look where we are now. The seeds of the democratic experiment's own destruction were sown into it from the beginning by the founding fathers.
You state that you feel “that faith has to be part of any successful pro-democracy movement in America”. Is that something you have found to be a historical precedent in your research, or a personal view?
This isn’t the first time we’ve had clergymen in Congress. Think about Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest from Massachusetts, who served from 1971 to 1982, and John Cornell, a priest from Wisconsin. Both resigned at Pope john Paul’s request. Both were Democrats.
And this new movement of the radical right to which Mr. Cobb refers is pushing this country increasingly toward civil war. According to Dr. Barbara Walter, UC San Diego, the US is no longer considered, by CIA metrics, to be the gold-standard of democracy in the world. It is now an anocracy, a blend of dictatorship and democracy. Dr. Walter has a new book on the threat of civil war coming out in January, 2022.
LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Civil-Wars-Start-Stop/dp/0593137787/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O0V7HY38QZ2E&keywords=barbara+f+walter&qid=1640025566&s=books&sprefix=barbara+f+walter%2Cstripbooks%2C130&sr=1-1
I'm a great admirer of Mr. Cobb's body of work, thank you for the interview. I hope that future historians, perhaps in democracies that remain post-2024, will find a way to explain the passivity of Democratic party leaders as this movement grew...in plain sight, for 5 years. FBI Director Wray decided that ignoring the terrifying reality was more politically expedient than facing the complex issues required to define domestic terrorism and prosecute domestic extremists. The GOP base is so blinded by their twisted form of 'political faith' that they're risking hospitalization and death for their cause, while Democratic leadership gives cover to our feckless FBI leadership by pretending that the stakes aren't as high as they are. I feel as though we're on the cusp of widespread vigilante assassinations and no one is taking a step to change the course. Perhaps I'm alone in what I see in the abyss...I hope so, but my deepest fears have manifested for 5 long years.