The end of American democracy
An unbelievably important thing happened yesterday, August 4, 2010. It may well be a date students are required to memorize in future American history classes. Yesterday we learned that the United States is no longer a democracy.
In November, 2008, the voters of California passed Proposition 8. There were 7,001,084 of the people that democracy tells us are the ones with the power to determine the direction of our government, who voted Proposition 8 into law. Yesterday, one federal judge–not elected by the people–decided with a stroke of his pen that the will of the people didn’t matter; the law was going to be what he thought it ought to be.
There is much that could be said about the issue in question; the legality of same-sex marriage. But for the moment I invite us all to forget that completely, because there’s an even bigger issue at stake. The most fundamental concept of United States government is the rule of the people, and by demonstrating that that’s not true, Judge Vaughn has shown us that American democracy is dead. One federal judge has the ability to wield the power of an absolute dictator to override the desires of the people.
The U.S. is a republic; a coalition of states voluntarily joining together. But we have just seen a dramatic indication that the states no longer have the right to set their own standards. This is an issue of sufficient importance, that I would not be surprised–in fact I would be delighted–if state governments began discussing seceding from the republic. Surely there are lines that the federal government cannot be allowed to cross.
It is traditional to fly the U.S. flag at half staff to mourn national losses. I hope people everywhere will fly their flags at half staff for the next few days, because we should be mourning a great death; the death of the days when the will of the people mattered.
