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> there is simply no coming back from the fact that it's been laid bare how quickly and easily vast swaths of our political leadership would sell out to complet
by kergonath 5mo ago
> there is simply no coming back from the fact that it's been laid bare how quickly and easily vast swaths of our political leadership would sell out to completely destroy our Constitutional principles.
I think you are right. At the same time it’s also an opportunity to get rid of an outdated constitution and have another go, with the benefit of 250 more years of experience. Just don’t fall into complacency: this government was voted in, partly because of a toxic and polarised culture that sees compromise and consensus as weaknesses (and gerrymandering, and the electoral college, and disenfranchisement, fair enough), but also partly because a lot of people did not bother showing up. Republicans have had a grassroots strategy for decades, where they seized everything they could get, even very modest positions. That’s how they progressively ended up redrawing maps and steering politics at the state or county level. You need a long term plan and a good strategy to counter this. So don’t give up (I beg you, from the other side of the Atlantic). Even if things are bad now, they can get better tomorrow.
- randcraw 5mo agoI think you would most certainly NOT prefer any Constitution, nor especially any Bill of Rights, that was rewritten by today's version of "We the People".
- shevy-java 5mo agoI don't think they can get rid of the constitution. It would require a near total control of all judges right now and I don't think they have that. What they will instead do is continually test the boundaries and shift them. They will also put in loyalists. Aka corruption. This already happened in the army by the way. It's fascinating to see how a democracy is turned into a dictatorship.
- auggierose 5mo agoHappened before, for example in Germany. Not sure "fascinating" is the word I'd choose.
- Pay08 5mo agoGodwin's law.
- roenxi 5mo ago> At the same time it’s also an opportunity to get rid of an outdated constitution and have another go, with the benefit of 250 more years of experience. Which experiences? The US constitution was written with approximately 2,500 years of experience in democracies and the last 250 years has been mostly repeats of things that have happened before. It isn't obvious that anything has happened that the US constitution writers were unaware of. There have been a few innovations in public choice theory but it nothing leaps to mind as something so fundamental it would be part of the constitution.