Dear Bill Kristol, we're not a democracy

We never were.

We never will be.

The United States of America is a constitutional republic. It is a confederation of 50 states, including the former republics of California, Hawaii, Texas, and Vermont. (The latter was a republic for 14 years, the longest of the 4.)

Occasionally we all slip and call America a democracy, but the Constitution is a bulwark designed to protect our freedom from the encroachment of the government and of the people.

Lately, the bulwark is in disrepair. The people we put in charge to keep it in good repair blew the maintenance budget on social justice and equity. The courts have created laws out of thin air. 

As this ostensibly is one of those dreadful open letters in response to Bill Kristol's dreadful "An Open Letter in Defense of Democracy," I suppose I am obligated to address him directly even though we have never met or corresponded.

So here goes.

Bill, you wrote, "We need to join together to defend liberal democracy.

"Because liberal democracy itself is in serious danger. Liberal democracy depends on free and fair elections, respect for the rights of others, the rule of law, a commitment to truth and tolerance in our public discourse. All of these are now in serious danger."

As I pointed out, ours is not a democracy -- liberal or otherwise.

But the nation is in serious danger because our elections no longer are free and fair. The polling place where Democrats and Republicans keep an eye on one another to thwart any monkey business is gone in five states which have replaced the ballot box with the mailbox. Democrats used the pandemic to spread the mailed-in, unsecured, not notarized ballots.

This has led to what we euphemistically call ballot harvesting, but what is in reality casting ballots in the name of others. Entire nursing homes voted for Biden.

Turnout in 2020 shot up from 56% in 2016 -- which is in the middle of the pack for presidential elections -- soared to 67% in 2020.

That was the highest turnout since 1900 when 73% of the eligible voters (this was pre-19th Amendment) showed up for a rematch between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan.

Part of the election process is to accept the final results.

In 2016 neither you nor the Democrat Party accepted Donald John Trump's victory.

Obama rallied federal workers to stage a resistance. He had the FBI spy on The Donald during the campaign, and instead of being investigated and held accountable by YOU and the rest of this "liberal democracy" crowd, you went after the victim, President Trump.

That was the real insurrection. That was the real coup. And the damage done includes the unleashing of a virus, the locking down of citizens, and the arrest and confinement of hundreds of protesters by an increasingly Stalinist government.

You end your rant -- signed by titled people who believe they are entitled to run the country -- "We urge the Democrat-controlled Congress to pass effective, national legislation to protect the vote and our elections, and if necessary to override the Senate filibuster rule.

"And we urge all responsible citizens who care about democracy—public officials, journalists, educators, activists, ordinary citizens—to make the defense of democracy an urgent priority now.

"Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic."

Democrats may control Congress, but they are not the majority. 

Yes, there are a few more Democrat members than Republicans in the House. But there are 50 Republican senators and only 48 Democrats. Angus King and Bernie Sanders are independents.

Having a vice president cast the tie-breaking vote is undemocratic.

Which is fine with me because I don't live in a democracy.

I live in a constitutional republic. Your attempt to turn America into a Democratic Republic along the lines of East Germany, North Korea, and Yemen repulses me.

Most of my readers believe you are a grifter who just says what your donors want you to say. I have highly intelligent readers.