Democracy in America

Everyone asks the same question, why can’t the Democrats demonstrate the same unity of purpose as their Retrumplican adversaries whose platform as Mitch McConnell has stated is simply to stop Democrats in their tracks even when it comes to approving a debt ceiling. President Biden’s popularity has fallen to new lows as he fails to unit moderates like Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema with the progressive side of the party led by Bernie Sanders in the Senate. But can’t the divisiveness of Democrats be looked at as a good thing. While most Republican legislators have been successfully pressured by the autocracy of Trumpism. Democrats live up to the root meaning of their name in “demos” or populace. A true democracy functions by constant give and take which occurs through the kind of negotiation that seeks to provide representation for the majority of Democratic voters. The long drawn out agon in which Joe Manchin continually holds his ground exemplifies “inalienable rights” in action, with the  constitution designed to protect the rights of any minority—a concept that appears to be totally inimical to the new populist right which now dominates the Republican party. It's said that the one trillion infrastructure and now 1.75 trillion social spending bills before congress are both litmus tests for the Biden presidency. In actuality the are a test for democratic ideals themselves. There's animated discussion on one side of the aisle while the other marches in goose step. The stakes have never been greater.

Read "MAGA and the Coronavirus" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

and listen to "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965) by James Brown