A version of this appeared in the Winter Park Times 9 27 19 https://winterparktimes.com/opinion/columnists/constitution-week-a-partisan-event/
Update 9 23 2019: Column version post Constitution Week event: The goals of last week’s Constitution Week in Grand Lake, Colorado sound noble, to understand how the American form of democracy came to be and to be educated about it. It was about patriotism, flag-waving, parades, and fireworks, but if you were looking for a balanced understanding of the Constitution and the various applications of it, this was not it. This was a highly partisan event. The organizers used Constitution Week, just as it has in the past, to advance a political and ideological agenda.
For this year’s event, the leaders stated the
focus of the Grand Lake Constitution Week was the evil of socialism. Not so coincidentally in 2020 the Republican
Party strategy is to brand all Democrats as socialists. In recent years
featured speakers touted was fear of certain races and the evils of a certain
religion. Each of those programs not so coincidentally supported a political
agenda of the GOP or of Donald Trump’s
that year whether it was the President attempting to institute a Muslim
ban or his dog whistles from the rally podium to fear and loathe brown and
black people and “build the wall”. If
there was any connection with the Constitution, it was not one the event
organizers may have had in mind, because the Constitution provides protection
of minorities from discrimination, protects freedom of religion, and does not establish
a preferred economic system, but a political one.
Trump’s 2017 agenda was to ban Muslim immigrants
and the event speaker touted the horrors of Sharia law. Trump’s original initiative
was rejected by the courts because it violated the Constitution's protection of
the freedom of religion. We often forget
the First Amendment to the Constitution bans the establishment of a state
religion. When Donald Trump fired up
racial tensions and “build the wall’, that year’s event featured a very
controversial speaker, medal bedecked Sheriff David Clarke, whose racist
remarks became so overt even Fox News fired him as a commentator. This week Constitution Week organizers
presented a panel of three women who were immigrants from China, Cuba, and
Sweden, providing their views about the evils of socialism. The original
definition of socialism has long been perverted and nuanced. No one on the
presidential candidate debate stage or the incumbent in the United States is
advocating either Cuban communism or anything that resembles China’s central
control of the economy and extermination of dissidents. Socialism did not cause
those oppressive regimes, but the lack of strong democratic institutions helped
their rise. Those systems were imposed by force by a bloody revolution and
followed regimes that were corrupt, autocratic, and governed a population with
extreme income disparities. Democratic
Sweden’s system was voted in by its citizens. It may not be our choice, but it
was their people’s will. A 2019 worldwide poll ranked Sweden in the top ten
happiest countries in the world. (USA was 19th). Conservative columnist George
Will has opined that Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is no more than a democrat
seeking to expand New Deal programs. Even Donald Trump has pledged to protect
Social Security and Medicare.
The best defense against oppression by
dictators is supporting the original intent of the Constitution’s central
theme, to prevent the rise of a a tyrant with checks and balances and the
rule of law If there is a threat to the
Constitution, it is a wannabe autocrat
of a president who is determined to see
how much of the Constitution he can stonewall, ignore or workaround to give
himself and his office more
"executive" power without interference from legislative or judicial
oversight. Raising exaggerated fears of
“others” is his strategy to gain support to trample these guardrails of
American democracy.
_________________________________________________________________________________ In the meantime, pro Russian Ukranians are hyping I Love America as a way to give support to Donald Trump. Waiving the Flag is a great exercise in democracy, but when it is hyped by a foreign government's active measures, be aware you may be falling for some scary stuff. https://popular.info/p/massive-i-love-america-facebook-page?fbclid=IwAR3w2fQ0nVbran5mcdoubpyKOCNnY7XRZVWxo64ELsGPKNTGXoXs3qAmA _____________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________ In the meantime, pro Russian Ukranians are hyping I Love America as a way to give support to Donald Trump. Waiving the Flag is a great exercise in democracy, but when it is hyped by a foreign government's active measures, be aware you may be falling for some scary stuff. https://popular.info/p/massive-i-love-america-facebook-page?fbclid=IwAR3w2fQ0nVbran5mcdoubpyKOCNnY7XRZVWxo64ELsGPKNTGXoXs3qAmA _____________________________________________________________________________
Original post:
The goals of September’s Constitution Week in Grand Lake, Colorado sound noble, to understand how the American form of democracy came to be and to be educated about it. That is not the main agenda this year. Grand Lake organizers of Constitution Week are focusing on educating those who attend about the evils of socialism, featuring speakers to testify how socialism was bad in their own countries. It appears they want to scare us into thinking that we, too, will become Sweden, Cuba, or China, or as others have charged end up like Venezuela or being governed by a Pol Pot. They want you to believe socialism will result in killing fields, lack of freedom, and dictatorial rule. If you are confused about what this agenda has to do with the Constitution, the answer lies in partisan politics. The strategy of the GOP in 2020 is to paint all Democrats as dangerous socialists and try to make their case that the Constitution is threatened. by the scare word “ socialism” as they define it. Socialism has many definitions and many degrees of application. A one-sided ideological presentation may be an interesting intellectual exercise, but it is irrelevant to the choices we face. No one on the presidential candidate debate stage or the incumbent in the United States is advocating either the pure form of socialism or laissez-faire capitalism of the 1800s or Cuban socialism or anything that resembles China’s central control of the economy and extermination of dissidents or even becoming Sweden. Even conservative columnist George Will thinks Bernie Sander’s democratic socialism is no more than expanded New Deal type programs. The feared Venezuela or Cuba dictatorships and Chinese communism arose from reactions to preceding despots, extreme economic disparities, and corruption. That is not our history. We in the US are building on 250 years of democratic practices as defined and shaped by our Constitution.
Let’s face it.
We already have a blending of elements of socialism within a free enterprise
system. It was the result of the 1930’s depression when unfettered capitalism
failed and when free enterprise in more modern times also failed to provide
affordable healthcare to so many. We
have a social safety net of health care and nutrition for the very poor. All
came into being through our democratic process of representative government.
The question is do we expand these to cover all or more people and add other programs.
Politicians who advocate removal or reduce the New Deal policy of social security
(funded by payroll deductions and employers), graduated income tax, and
Medicare which is a single-payer health system for seniors and disabled find
themselves in deep trouble. Taking away Obamacare subsidies for the lower
middle-class and affordable coverage of pre-existing conditions for everyone was
the main issue in 2018 which changed the House from red to blue.
The best
defense against extremism is strengthening democracy, not subverting it. The more relevant and fundamental choice we
will make in 2020 will be between our kind of democracy outlined in the Constitution
and a further slide into autocracy, practiced and advocated by Donald Trump. The US Constitution
established a political system, not an economic or a religious one, but it was
designed with checks and balances and the rule of law to keep wannabe despots
from abusing democracy for their own political power and economic gain. The
President is attempting a direct assault on our Constitutional democracy. He is determined to see how much of the
Constitution he can stonewall, ignore or workaround to give himself more
"executive" power, without interference from legislative or judicial
oversight. We know wannabe strong men
and despots in countries with once
democratic and constitutional traditions
try every way they can to seize power by destroying an independent
judiciary by stacking courts with those who will rule on law the way the ruler
wants, destroying or degrading a whistleblowing free press, and controlling the legislature by threats and fear to keep it from standing in his/her
way. We are seeing that unfold now in
the US. Often a despot gets to power by scaring their citizen to go along with
the destruction of the guardrails of
democracy by convincing them that some evil force is at work and assigns blame for their sorrows to a religious
or ethnic group or some extremist
political system that is advocated by very few. Declaring questionable
national emergencies based on hyped-up fears of unwelcome "invaders"
to ignore legislation and to rule by edict (executive order) is a time-tested
technique used by wannabe despots to gather more power. There are those who lin their own pockets
by virtue of their positions as they welcome the support of their private endeavors
and interference from foreigners to help them gain and maintain power and
wealth. Those fears of foreign influence were shared by the writers of the
Constitution and forbidden in that document.
Such issues need to be included in any discussion of the Constitution,
but that is not this year’s focus in Constitution Week.
By the
way, European countries are also a hybrid of capitalism and socialism, but the
proportions are different than ours. They have not slid down a slippery slope
to autocracy and despotism of Cuban and Chinese communism. Some believe Europeans are miserable with
their socialism. There are always the disgruntled, and with any system, faults
can be found, but citizens in European democracies with more equal elements of
socialism/capitalism mixtures than us, poll happier than we in the United
States. The US happiness measure of its population ranks 19th, well behind
other Western-style democracies with their more hybrid economic systems, per
the annual World Happiness Report, 2019.
FYI, Sweden ranks among top ten happiest countries in the World. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/happiest-countries-world-2019-winner-finland-bhutan-denmark-norway-iceland-a8831576.html
This is not the first-time organizers of Grand
Lake’s Constitution Week have used the event to promote a political party’s
strategy. http://www.skyhinews.com/news/controversial-speaker-during-constitution-week-talks-islam-sharia-law/In 2017 they featured fear of Muslims who would
impose Sharia law on us and provided Islamophobic speakers in order to scare
those who attended in supporting Trump’s Muslim ban. Muslims have 1% of the US
population and a Constitution that forbids the government from having a state
religion. These scare tactics which originated with right-wing think tanks were
amplified by Russian Facebook ads in 2016. As part of Russian active measures
to influence the elections on behalf of the election of Donald Trump.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-releases-all-3000-plus-facebook-ads-bought-by-russian(
Further thoughts:
The purpose of Constitution Week is noble, but the founders of it in Grand Lake have over the years turned it into an opportunity to support partisan efforts to enhance a partisan strategy of one political party and a certain ideology. It is a flag-waving event and should be in support of the Constitution and I applaud that,. I have no problem with the presentation of political views with which I disagree.. but it should not be the promotion of an off-topic opportunity to promote a one-sided ideological and political agenda without balancing it with other viewpoints or not discussing the pro and con implications for the Constitution.
The event has a history of hyping fear of Muslims supporting the Trump Muslim ban and an attempt to scare voters by painting all Democrats as "socialists"...a polled scare word.. without presenting speakers with a different or nuanced view. It is in lockstep of the Trump agenda and strategy they have publicly announced to paint all Democrats as socialists so therefore partisan. Courts found the Muslim ban was unconstitutional in violation of the Constitution's freedom of religion clause, and the Trump administration revised it successfully when it became a ban of those from both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. All that glitters has also been controversial. In an event in an earlier year, organizers had a very medal bedecked Trump advocate controversial sheriff David Clarke to hype his racist agenda. Later, even Fox News fired him as a commentator for his racism.
The purpose of Constitution Week was never intended to be a partisan or ideological rally and the annual national celebration was established as an initiative of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is an excellent site that provides a balanced celebration at constitution.org with an agenda permitting both sides of any controversy to present. Instead of promoting the Constitution as the great document it is, Grand Lake Constitution Week has turned into an advocacy of a onesided ideological and partisan group. The implication is that those with opposing views on race and economic systems that differ from theirs are not patriotic and somehow do not support the Constitution.
After complaints emerged three years ago about its presentation by speakers with an ideological agenda, they have continued to make this event an advocacy opportunity for a particular ideological agenda, coinciding with a particular partisan agenda du jour. They continue doubling down on it by featuring speakers off the topic of the Constitution and unrelated to the purpose of the national event. Instead of supporting the intent of the national celebration, it has become an unbalanced advocacy event which was not the intent of the DAR founders. What has hating Muslims as a religious group, racist views, and economic systems of Chinese, Cuban and Swedish socialism have to do with a lauding of a political structure that shaped our country? The question remains: What do these Grand Lake Constitution Week featured speakers have to do with the Constitution? There may be a connection, but not the one the sponsors of Constitution Week had in mind. The Constitution does not establish a particular economic system and it protects the right to practice religion freely and protects racial and religious minorities from discrimination.
For views of both liberal and conservatives of Constitutional issues as well as a non partisan presentation of the Constitution, go to https://www.constitution.org/
Recommended discussion on the definition and nuanced practices of socialism:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/05/what-is-socialism
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-releases-all-3000-plus-facebook-ads-bought-by-russian(
Further thoughts:
The purpose of Constitution Week is noble, but the founders of it in Grand Lake have over the years turned it into an opportunity to support partisan efforts to enhance a partisan strategy of one political party and a certain ideology. It is a flag-waving event and should be in support of the Constitution and I applaud that,. I have no problem with the presentation of political views with which I disagree.. but it should not be the promotion of an off-topic opportunity to promote a one-sided ideological and political agenda without balancing it with other viewpoints or not discussing the pro and con implications for the Constitution.
The event has a history of hyping fear of Muslims supporting the Trump Muslim ban and an attempt to scare voters by painting all Democrats as "socialists"...a polled scare word.. without presenting speakers with a different or nuanced view. It is in lockstep of the Trump agenda and strategy they have publicly announced to paint all Democrats as socialists so therefore partisan. Courts found the Muslim ban was unconstitutional in violation of the Constitution's freedom of religion clause, and the Trump administration revised it successfully when it became a ban of those from both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. All that glitters has also been controversial. In an event in an earlier year, organizers had a very medal bedecked Trump advocate controversial sheriff David Clarke to hype his racist agenda. Later, even Fox News fired him as a commentator for his racism.
The purpose of Constitution Week was never intended to be a partisan or ideological rally and the annual national celebration was established as an initiative of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is an excellent site that provides a balanced celebration at constitution.org with an agenda permitting both sides of any controversy to present. Instead of promoting the Constitution as the great document it is, Grand Lake Constitution Week has turned into an advocacy of a onesided ideological and partisan group. The implication is that those with opposing views on race and economic systems that differ from theirs are not patriotic and somehow do not support the Constitution.
After complaints emerged three years ago about its presentation by speakers with an ideological agenda, they have continued to make this event an advocacy opportunity for a particular ideological agenda, coinciding with a particular partisan agenda du jour. They continue doubling down on it by featuring speakers off the topic of the Constitution and unrelated to the purpose of the national event. Instead of supporting the intent of the national celebration, it has become an unbalanced advocacy event which was not the intent of the DAR founders. What has hating Muslims as a religious group, racist views, and economic systems of Chinese, Cuban and Swedish socialism have to do with a lauding of a political structure that shaped our country? The question remains: What do these Grand Lake Constitution Week featured speakers have to do with the Constitution? There may be a connection, but not the one the sponsors of Constitution Week had in mind. The Constitution does not establish a particular economic system and it protects the right to practice religion freely and protects racial and religious minorities from discrimination.
For views of both liberal and conservatives of Constitutional issues as well as a non partisan presentation of the Constitution, go to https://www.constitution.org/
Recommended discussion on the definition and nuanced practices of socialism:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/05/what-is-socialism
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/george-will/2015/06/05/will-bernie-sanders-neither-socialist-independent/28496461/
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/immigrants-praise-us-constitution-bash-socialism-at-constitution-week/?fbclid=IwAR0Xd8QAKX7eAU2Ow1xf9kdOwzHgw1FHVP64-7eWZ6tWrrHRd-AzXBu1RBk
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/immigrants-praise-us-constitution-bash-socialism-at-constitution-week/?fbclid=IwAR0Xd8QAKX7eAU2Ow1xf9kdOwzHgw1FHVP64-7eWZ6tWrrHRd-AzXBu1RBk
$1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years, which would be achieved by moving payouts to block grants; an $845 billion reduction to Medicare spending over the next decade that targets a decrease in wasteful spending via lower prescription drug costs; and -- surprise -- a roughly $26 billion decrease in Social Security spending over the next 10 years.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-outlines-significant-social-security-102100661.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=fb Question: benefits, no cuts?
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