Republicans' attack on democracy

1.  Our particular type of democracy is government by the people, where the majority opinion must be tempered to protect the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of the minority.   That is, the majority rules except where the majority would take away rights of the minority. 

2.  Republicans continue to attack this basic rule.   One of the fundamental rights is the right to vote.  They have been obstructing voter access by passing state laws that make it difficult, if not possible for some people, to exercise their right to vote.   

     a.  They do this by restrictive voter photo ID laws, reducing open polls times, etc.   And then they cynically defend these moves by saying they are "protecting the sanctity of the vote" -- which is a bald-faced lie, given that there is virtually zero problem with voter ID fraud.
     
     b.  Another tactic is a refusal to carry out their constitutional duty to "Advise and Consent" to the president's nominations, both to the executive and judicial branches of government (cabinet officers, regulatory officers, and judges).   The frequency of the use of the filibuster or the anonymous hold on nominations has been unprecedented.   In the entire history of this country, half of the filibusters against such presidential nominees have occurred in the past 5 years -- yes, since Obama became president.

    c.   Republicans also attack this president in other ways,  attempting to delegitimize his presidency by the relentless, completely bogus claims about whether he was born in the United States.   

     They simply refuse to accept that President Obama won the 2008 election and was then re-elected in 2012.   This gives him the right and the responsibility to run the Executive Branch and to carry out his duties as President of the United States.    They have tried everything possible to delegitimize him -- from challenges to his birth certification to obstruction of his appointments.

     d.  According to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Republicans' obstructionism in Congress is nothing short of an attempt "to nullify the laws of the land."  That is what justifies the Democrats' changing the rules on the filibuster in the Senate.   In the past, people have filibustered nominees that were unqualified, or so far out of the mainstream in ideology;  but this crowd filibusters highly qualified, reasonable, left-of-center nominees simply to defeat the president or to obstruct the functioning of a program they don't like.   That's why the Democrats had to change the rules, in order to give our government a chance to work.

     This is indeed a very low period for democracy in this land.

Ralph

PS:    The extreme tactics that Republicans are using to try to keep Obamacare from working is another example of their trying to nullify the law of the land.