The Line That Divides

Either democracy is sacred, or it's not.

Here’s something I posted on Facebook in the wee hours that I thought would be worth sharing here.

This is the line that divides.

I can be your friend if you believe in many things with which I fundamentally disagree. We will always disagree about something, whether it’s the environment, abortion, Iran, taxation, health care, Russia, immigration, policing, tariffs, federalism, you name it. In fact, you are my friend because you can challenge me, not just agree with me.

But democracy is sacred to me, in part because it is the foundation for our friendship. What we just heard was a secular sacrilege. We count all the votes. We wait to give everyone a voice. We don’t cast doubt on the electoral process when your favored candidate is losing.

If you feel differently, we don’t occupy the same polity. Our compact for the resolution of disagreement between us is broken. All the work done so that we can have respectful arguments is wasted.

I dearly hope that we all agree on this fundamental point, and that we remain friends.

FILED UNDER: 2020 Election, Democracy, Environment, , , ,
Kingdaddy
About Kingdaddy
Kingdaddy is returning to political blogging after a long hiatus. For several years, he wrote about national security affairs at his blog, Arms and Influence, under the same pseudonym. He currently lives in Colorado, where he is still awestruck at all the natural beauty here. He has a Ph.D in political science that is oddly useful in his day job.

Comments

  1. mattbernius says:

    This. Very well written. If I was active on Facebook, I would definitely repost.

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  2. Not the IT Dept. says:

    Totally agree. Anything else is – to use a totally overworked and abused term – un-American.

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  3. Jay L Gischer says:

    I am a bit relieved and gratified to see the list of Republicans James posted that agreed with you and repudiated Trump.

    I am hopeful that his microphone will be turned off soon.

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  4. gVOR08 says:

    Five, perhaps six, Justices appear to disagree with that sentiment.

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  5. ImProPer says:

    “I can be your friend if you believe in many things with which I fundamentally disagree. We will always disagree about something, whether it’s the environment, abortion, Iran, taxation, health care, Russia, immigration, policing, tariffs, federalism, you name it. In fact, you are my friend because you can challenge me, not just agree with me.”

        Excellent post Kingdaddy, poetry in this  age of bad politics over family, friends, and community. I find the wisdom of Roger Williams’ call for the separation of church and state, to be influential in my secular life as well. The inherent corrupting influence of politics is all encompassing, and not just limited to religion. It is a sad world that finds politics, a greater good than the formentioned family, friends, and community.

    “We count all the votes. We wait to give everyone a voice.”

    Yes we do!

     

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  6. But democracy is sacred to me, in part because it is the foundation for our friendship. What we just heard was a secular sacrilege. We count all the votes.

    We aren’t a democracy. We are not about mob rules. We provide protections for the minority parties/voters.

    We should count all legally cast votes that were done within the rules of the game. If you vote past the legally set time, yours should not count. If you kick a field goal after the clock strikes zero, it doesn’t count.

    Nice to see OTB is still protecting Democrats while pretending to be right leaning.

  7. Jax says:

    @William Teach: Nobody’s still casting votes. These were all votes that were cast legally, within the rules of the game, and many of them long before yesterday, so there’s really nothing to bitch about.

    YAY!!!! I got a Click to Edit! I feel like I won the lottery, if not the Senate! 😉

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  8. ImProPer says:

    @William Teach:

    “We aren’t a democracy. We are not about mob rules. We provide protections for the minority parties/voters.”

    Thanks for the free political science post.
    I would point out though that our founders were English men and didn’t use the ancient Greek word “democracy” for our government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”
    You are right that minority parties and smaller states are protected from the majority by a constitution, and a limit of 2 Senators per state.
    If you are here for sincere discourse and from a conservative leaning, I for one would find it refreshing.

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