Our fragile democracy and its future

The creation of the Magna Carta in 1215 was a turning point in world history. It took power from the elite few (King John of England, in this case) and granted broad powers and rights to the people.

The United States and many other nations followed the Magna Carta’s example, establishing democratic forms of government and enhancing liberties. But are we heading backward toward the consolidated, intolerable, and unrestrained rulers of old?

Losing our grip on democracy

I think most would agree that democratic-style governments depend on citizens who have useful information at hand, sound judgment, and hesitate to use violence to change leadership. A “government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” as President Abraham Lincoln would say.

No one knew more than Lincoln just how fragile the balance of power could be.

The United States has witnessed assassinations and attempted assassinations of presidents and other governmental figures. Likewise, the nation has plied its people and resources into countering threats from abroad.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and later the entire Soviet Union, it appeared that the battle was officially over, and democracy had won. However, averting a takeover by invasion from an enemy is one thing, but what about crumbling from within?

Plenty of governments have been undermined from within by failing to uphold core societal principles, morals, and ideals. We always tend to point to the godless, immoral, tyrannical communist governments as examples of anti-democratic behavior. Could the United States and Europe be heading in that direction?

The “Save Democracy” Party

If the Democrat Party did not have the mainstream media behind them, their elected official count would be decimated. The national media has pushed the Democrat propaganda forward and erased the errors.

Think about it. The Democrat propaganda said Donald Trump would start World War III, but it was all quiet. Biden enters as the “unity” guy and the world is on fire with his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently offering an international insurance policy to engage with Iran if they attack Israel (and the U.S. has a deficit of 45,000 recruits for the armed forces).

The U.S. Constitution currently allows for accountable governance and a peaceful transfer of power by the people without violent struggles. Many rising Democrats in Washington, D.C., consider the Constitution outdated.

Our nation has had its highs and lows. The country has endured slavery, civil war, depression, and political strife and survived them all.

I grin when young adults, nearly all Democrats, tell me how the nation was in jeopardy on January 6 when a crowd of unarmed retirees rioted on Capitol Hill (many walked inside the Capitol Building peacefully). I remind them that a group of Puerto Rican nationalists shot up the legislative floor with semiautomatic weapons in the early 1950s.

Numerous groups attempted to overthrow the government in the 1960s and 1970s, including Barack Obama’s confidant Bill Ayers, who, leading the Weather Underground, bombed the Capitol Building.

The media and Democrat leaders still push the lie that then-President Trump called neo-Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people.” The Hitler comparisons are so over the top that only those devoid of historical knowledge can believe them.

The Democrat “Save Democracy” Party stole the 2016 primaries from Senator Bernie Sanders. Then the Clinton campaign, along with Fusion GPS and law firm Perkins Coie, staged the bogus “Russiagate” collusion-hoax scandal to stage a soft coup of the Trump presidency.

It was confirmed that the Obama administration spied on the candidate Trump and his campaign, obtaining FISA warrants based on government-forged documentation.

In 2020, the DNC and the national media colluded to eliminate Joe Biden’s competition, leaving only Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren drawing the same voters and diluting the results.

The 2024 primaries were completely rigged for Biden, excluding all others. The Democrat “Save Democracy” Party was quite public about their deceit.

Of course, the media and Democrat leaders lied about Biden’s mental infirmity for several years and then recently crowned Kamala Harris, a former last-place finisher in the 2020 primaries and the current incapable vice president, the exclusive winner of the Democrat Party, forsaking Democrat voters and barring any other challengers.

These Democrat attempts to circumvent our democratic form of government are outrageous. It’s called “confession through projection,” meaning they are boldly doing whatever they accuse someone else of doing.

Is it different now?

Our nation is beginning to resemble George Orwell’s book “1984.” By resemble, I mean frighteningly close to the Marxist model that Orwell described.

The Covid disaster showed that the population could be forced into a herd mentality and led around against their own best interests. Mask-wearing outside, social distancing, sheltering in place, and forcing experimental vaccines were all part of a non-scientific show of power from the governmental bureaucracy.

If you spoke out against the abuses, the government and the tech oligarchs censored your comments. You could even be fired for your thoughts and resistance to the government’s dictates. People who were later found to be reliable sources of information had their careers ruined.

Of course, the draconian rules did not apply to the government elites, like D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who thrust them upon the citizens.

The worrisome point is the number of people who bought the lies and supported the injustice. In my last column, I spoke about people in our own community who believe forms of political discrimination or violence are acceptable (see https://thecitizen.com/2024/07/29/who-and-what-are-the-real-threats-to-democracy/).

The death of George Floyd was used by private activist groups, many affiliated with government agencies in one way or another, to create havoc across the nation. Arson, looting, and violence all occurred at the urging of the activist groups. Police were attacked, and entire city blocks were taken over.

The irony of them crying “systemic racism” while burning minority-owned businesses and grocery stores in minority neighborhoods was unbelievable.

The Democrat “Save Democracy” Party began the “defund the police” campaign, and crime rates jumped. State, county, and city governments were allowing violent criminals to walk the streets without bail after committing serious crimes.

Public statues were torn down throughout, and city and federal government buildings burned in Portland and Seattle. The Biden Department of Justice did not prosecute the offenders.

State governments used the pandemic as an excuse to loosen election laws and procedures during the 2020 election. One Democrat government after another landed in controversy, and some had courts rule against them later.

Recently, the Trump assassination attempt barely registered on the national media spectrum for more than a week and is almost tolerated.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle are predicting violent protests if Trump is elected. Antifa and related organizations use violence to force change.

Are we entering a phase where the information is closely controlled, domestic spying is allowed, and certain political violence will not be prosecuted? Has this type of behavior become acceptable to the younger generations? If it has, like nations before us, we will lose our democratic form of government.

[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.]