It Happened Here

Sinclair Lewis warned us...

It Happened Here

When I started writing yesterday, it looked like Biden’s win would be certified after a pathetic demonstration by faithless members of Congress who betrayed their oaths of office. It also looked like both Senate races in Georgia would be won by Democrats, giving them control. I, thus, wrote, “What a glorious day…”

That didn’t age well.

In 2016, dumbfounded and appalled by the election results, I read Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here.

Published in 1935 as Fascism was on the rise in Europe, the novel describes the rise of a demagogue who eventually becomes President. With a platform of fear mongering and false promises of free money and economic growth, he touts a return to a time of patriotism and traditional values. 

Once in power, he becomes an authoritarian ruler with the support of a citizen paramilitary force who terrorize the populace and enforce the corporatist principles of his Corpos party. He eliminates women’s and minority’s rights. He limits the power of Congress. He abolishes states. 

The majority of Americans approve of the abuse of power, believing it’s a necessary step to make America a great nation (again?). Eventually, as the promised economic prosperity does not appear, there are two bloody coups. The second installs a leader who invades Mexico in an attempt to drum up patriotism. When he goes too far, conscripting supporters into the army to further his unjustified war, the people finally recognize the evil of the Corpos party and rebel.

The novel ends with the country in civil war.

Frightening, eh?

And now, it has happened here. Almost.

If we want to prevent another coup attempt, we must repair our nation. There is much work to be done to deal with the pandemic, the economy, the climate, race relations, income disparity… and the acceptance of a common reality. We must also end the institutionalization of minority rule and the over dependence people place on the words of our Founding Fathers.

Don’t get me wrong - those were brilliant men who created an incredible system of government. But they were fallible. And they knew they could not foresee the future so what they created might need to change. 

The time to make those changes is now.

Republicans often claim the radical left is taking over the country. Yet Democrats have never attempted a coup to stop the peaceful transfer of power despite two presidential candidates winning the popular vote and losing the election. I’d be willing to bet that the electoral college would be long gone if the results of the 2016 election had been reversed. 

Ignore the pundits who tell you how evenly split the country is. Yes, a large number of people sadly supported Trump in 2020, but before that, the Democratic presidential candidate won more votes in seven of the last eight elections. That’s a pretty clear indication of the governance the American people want. 

Oh, but the Senate is split 50/50? Technically. But in the last Congress, the Republicans who voted against impeachment represented 153 million people while the senators who voted in favor represented 168 million people. So did the Senate actually act in accordance with the will of the American people? No.

And don’t get me started on the gerrymandered House districts. 

People praised Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas for rejecting his traitorous colleagues' attempts to subvert the election yesterday. But here’s what he said (emphasis and parenthetical comments mine):

I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail. [This is a bald face lie spread intentionally to  undermine the public’s faith in the system. He was no better than his colleagues and should not have been surprised by the insurrection yesterday.]I also share their disappointment with the election results. [If you support Trump, have too much in common with the insurrectionists, the KKK and Neo-nazis to be worthy of a seat in Congress.] I therefore support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections. [This was clearly meant to promote voter suppression particularly of urban voters.] And after Republicans win in Georgia, the Senate should also hold more hearings on these matters. [Thank God and thank Georgia for the Democratic wins!!] All Americans deserve to have confidence in the elections that undergird our free government.

Nevertheless, the Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states—not Congress.They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College—not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts—not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states.

If Congress purported to overturn the results of the Electoral College, it would not only exceed that power, but also establish unwise precedents. First, Congress would take away the power to choose the president from the people, which would essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress. Second, Congress would imperil the Electoral College, which gives small states like Arkansas a voice in presidential elections. 

As History.com explains: 

Political scientist George Edwards III of Texas A&M University points out, California hosts about 68 times more people than Wyoming, yet they have the same number of votes in the Senate. “The founders never imagined … the great differences in the population of states that exist today,” says Edwards. “If you happen to live in a low-population state you get a disproportionately bigger say in American government.”

Someone explain to me why people in Arkansas deserve a disproportionately larger say in government than people in California or New York based solely on where they live. 

Surely each citizen of this country deserves an equal voice. One person, one vote. 

So after he argued that he was all for voter suppression and the disenfranchisement of those who live in larger states and the KKK-loving Trump, I didn’t really much care what else Tom Cotton had to say. 

Every time I hear it argued otherwise - “oh, urban areas and coasts have different needs than we do and our voice won’t be heard” - I wonder how they can’t see that this is true, except the way the system is right now, they are silencing the voices of those many people in the urban and coastal areas. 

They believe that we cannot question the Founding Fathers. I think that when 14 of 21 Founding Fathers owned slaves - and their support for slave ownership influenced decisions like the electoral college - it’s our duty to reexamine their systems. 

I also believe that we must think of their intent, not necessarily their words. Does anyone believe those who stormed the Capitol with weapons yesterday were part of a well-regulated militia? Would the Founding Fathers have approved of citizens owning guns with high capacity magazines? For what purpose? For whose safety? 

When our fidelity to the Founding Fathers supports undemocratic and dangerously oppressive minority rule, it’s time to make changes. 

Goodbye electoral college. See ya, Second Amendment. 

We must stop Trump supporters and their Republican apologists from winning the PR and false equivalence battles. We must not allow them to act like their positions are noble and patriotic while those who oppose them are radical extremists hell-bent on destroying America.

We know who the radical extremists are now.

All I want is what the Founders promised me: a more perfect union. It can only be created through change. 

May that change begin in 13 days.