I’m not worried about the supposed “bitter division” of American politics. The opposite is what we should dread: “bipartisanship”.
Have you ever noticed who praises “bipartisanship”? Establishment crony politicians, establishment crony activists and establishment crony activist journalists. Which are three very good reasons why bipartisanship is the last thing you’d want in a democracy. But the best reason is Democracy itself.
Democracy thrives when there’s a contest of ideas. “Bipartisanship” is the political class colluding — usually to screw over you.
We’re all winners when D.C. is mired in gridlock; not only is it the most accurate representation of the national electorate’s mood but it means the system is working.
Democrats have spent the past few years squeezing every globule of meaning from that word “democracy.” President Joe Biden delivered two historically divisive national prime-time speeches arguing that the only way to save democracy was to implement one-party rule.
That’s what “bipartisanship” gets you: establishment swamp monsters like Joe Biden, Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell, all circle-jerking each other in a marble bathroom and wiping up afterwards with thousand-dollar bills stolen from ordinary Americans.
If your version of “democracy” only exists if your party runs every institution, it wasn’t a good day. If you believe “democracy” means exploiting the narrowest of national majorities to lord over all the decisions of states and individuals, it’s going to be a tough couple of years for you. If you want to destroy the legislative filibuster to federalize elections or cram $5 trillion in generational mega “reforms” through Congress without any national consensus or input from half the country, condolences.
This is why the midterm results are much better than you’re being told, by either side. The left media are crowing that it was really a victory for Joe Biden. This is an obvious lie: even just the loss of the House nobbles the Biden presidency until it’s finally put out of its misery. Contrary to the media narrative, rather than a stunning repudiation of Donald Trump, some 90% of the candidates he endorsed were elected.
But the loss of a couple of high-profile candidates may be enough to convince Trump to finally walk away from politics — and leave Ron DeSantis, who romped home with a devastating win in Florida, a clear run for the White House. That’s the best result the Republicans could hope for: the Democrats, on the other hand, are clearly desperate for Trump to run again, so they can capitalise on Orange Man Bad. They’re going to sound just silly trying on the same gambit with DeSantis.
“Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties”
More to the point, though, the mid-term result has stopped either side from getting its way easily. As Elon Musk astutely pointed out, “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties”.
Musk is right. Not only is it an excellent outlook for the independent-minded American but it has been the reflex of the electorate — a healthy, real democratic inclination. The inability of one party to monopolize power will either compel both to compromise, or, in times of deep division, shut down Washington and incentivize governors to take care of their own business — which is how our federalist system was meant to work.
[…] as we learned during the Obama and Trump years, the less Congress meddles in our economic life the better it is for everyone.
As a left-leaning American friend of mine pointed out, the last president to balance the budget was Bill Clinton: “Because the Republicans controlled Congress and were able to stop him from spending all our money”.
Legislative gridlock does not mean Congress is powerless. The House, our most “democratic” institution, has a duty, as the left incessantly pointed out during the Trump years, of holding the executive branch accountable […]
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not contending that Republicans are saviors of “democracy” — though slowing the attacks on our institutions, from the Supreme Court to the Electoral College to the filibuster to the First and Second Amendments, is good news. Nor am I arguing that I wouldn’t rather have people who agree with me winning elections. I’m simply saying that people who confuse and conflate the word “democracy” with getting their way all the time are either frauds or fools.
Takimag
Keep the bastards fighting each other: then they’ll be too busy to gang up on the voters.
