Tyranny of the Majority
Former NY Gov Mario Cuomo has warned of the "Tyranny of the majority" if Republicans succeed in reducing the ability to successfully filibuster. Cuomo echoes James Madison's language, and Madison's exact fears for the birth of the new expirament in Democracy of America.
The filibuster is indeed intended to be the last level of protection for the minority party in cases exactly like this: where a party has allowed up to 95% of everything else the majority party demands, simply because they can't succeed in preventing all of them. The minority party then has the tools to restrict at least those final 5%, in this case, judges, who are simply too far beyond what would be politically acceptible. These are long-term tools of protection.
Madison's fears, of course, were that a majority party would take control of all branches of government and slam through every aspect of their agenda without recompense, without consideration for the minority party, and moreso, for the population that party represents.
In contemporary American government, where the President, and indeed the GOP own only 2 or 3 points more political capital in a very narrowly divided population, while at the same time do possess control of all three branches, then this movement to ram-home every single nominee they desire can only be understood as this Tyranny of the Majority.
Somebody should give Cuomo an award for the most appropriate political channeling ever. A commemorative plate, or something.
The filibuster is indeed intended to be the last level of protection for the minority party in cases exactly like this: where a party has allowed up to 95% of everything else the majority party demands, simply because they can't succeed in preventing all of them. The minority party then has the tools to restrict at least those final 5%, in this case, judges, who are simply too far beyond what would be politically acceptible. These are long-term tools of protection.
Madison's fears, of course, were that a majority party would take control of all branches of government and slam through every aspect of their agenda without recompense, without consideration for the minority party, and moreso, for the population that party represents.
In contemporary American government, where the President, and indeed the GOP own only 2 or 3 points more political capital in a very narrowly divided population, while at the same time do possess control of all three branches, then this movement to ram-home every single nominee they desire can only be understood as this Tyranny of the Majority.
Somebody should give Cuomo an award for the most appropriate political channeling ever. A commemorative plate, or something.
posted by General Stan at 12:20 PM
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