Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: Democracy

  • Feeling Politically Normal

    I read a substack called “The Liberal Patriot.” It’s basically the writings of middle-of-the road Democrats – I can’t say that I fully agree with what is written there – but I’m within reach of some of the messages. This morning, in an article titled “The Independent Era Is Coming,” they included some polling results:

    I figure that translates to 2/3 of people agree with me – disappointed with government, and 5/8 are frustrated by government. The thing is, largely I’m disappointed by my elected officials and generally frustrated by the professional bureaucracy. That isn’t a winning percentage for either side. The article shows this pie chart:

    75% want major reforms or a complete overhaul of the system – and the one-time head of the FBI has been indicted by a Virginia Grand Jury. Comey is an example of the problem and the dissatisfaction with our political bureaucracy – with a Virginia jury of his peers he is likely to walk free with a hung jury, but that will only emphasize the feeling of a need to change the system.

    The article ends with : “Be yourself and not a partisan. If you’re economically populist and socially conservative and don’t see this represented in the two-party system, be yourself and support independent candidates who back a pro-worker, pro-family, pro-America agenda. Alternatively, if you really care about a specific economic or social issue and don’t feel that either Democrats or Republicans equally care about the issue, then be yourself and support those who do back the issue regardless of their party label. Some of these candidates may be Republican, some Democratic, and others may be independent. Make them work for your vote! Don’t be a partisan and blindly accept every position and argument on one side and reject those on the other. Don’t write off outsiders without a party label. The beauty of political independence is that you no longer must toe anyone’s line or feel any pressure to conform to a specific party platform or candidate. Embrace the liberation from partisan insanity!”

    It would please me if my readers went to the Liberal Patriot and read the articles. I don’t agree with all of them, but their substack does a nice job of showing that middle-of-the-road liberals exist – and they can still communicate with the rest of us. Give the Liberal Patriot a read.

  • The Decline of Representation

    The past three Presidents – Obama, Trump and Biden – have each wound up governing by executive order. True, Obama managed to squeak a healthcare bill through Congress – but even with that, Trump was complaining that executive orders were no way to run a country, that we needed real leadership. Now Trump is also choosing the Executive order route – and the branch of government contesting his executive orders is the judiciary.

    I’ve watched the challenges of representative government from a school board – and much of what got accomplished was because three out of five board members were in agreement on that particular issue. It took a long time, and a lot of effort, to get a pay matrix for teacher contracts approved. It took even longer to get a classified pay scale voted into existence. The addition of the pre-school that started this Fall was first brought up in 2020. I’ve been taught how hard it is to get a representative democracy working with only five elected trustees and no political affiliations. How much worse it must be with 435 representatives narrowly split between two parties.

    I think I’m seeing Trump make the same decision that Obama made – “if I can’t get Congressional authorization, I’ll do it based on my own authority.” Montana’s laws do not give a schoolboard chair that power – by law the board chair chairs the meeting, and the board has only a collective power, utterly lacking individual power for the chair. Still, the board chair does have the (unlegislated) power of asking advice from the board association’s attorneys and setting the meeting agenda.

    So nationally, we’re seeing folks who disagree with Trump taking his decisions to judges who disagree with Trump – when the reality is that our House of Representatives are locked in a pattern of behavior where they can’t do their job. The problem isn’t the President or the Judges – a representative democracy fails to work when most of the representatives come from the extremes. As I was looking for a way to finish, I noticed this meme:

    It’s not quite what I wish it was – but I’ve been called both a Trumpkin and a Libtard. I have the feeling that it’s more a question of where the caller sits on the spectrum than where I am. It would be nice to have more folks from the middle in Congress.

  • Well Past Irish Democracy

    When government officials – in this case Texas Governor Abbott – begin calling for society’s passive resistance (heck, active resistance) to the conduct of the federal government and the President, things have gone past Irish Democracy.

    Irish Democracy – a situation where, with no coordination or discussion, the people ignore laws with which they disagree – has already led to legalization of marijuana.  But once politicians organized to pass laws decriminalizing weed, it had gone past Irish Democracy.   When federal pressure led Montana’s legislature to agree to a 55 mph speed limit with a five dollar fine the legislature was counting on Irish Democracy – and today  our speed limits are higher than the double nickel. 

    Is it Irish Democracy to do a job that the federal government is neglecting?  I’m a Montanan.  Historically, our legal system started at a funeral  in 1863 – and before they finished shoveling the dirt back into the grave, people attending William Bell’s funeral began organizing the Montana Vigilantes.  The Vigilantes formed just before Christmas, and by January 10, 1864, hanged the sheriff (and several of his associates).  The Vigilantes disbanded when formal law came to the goldfields.  In that case, government (i.e. Sheriff Henry Plummer) was the problem, and volunteers were the solution.  Still, it ceased to be Irish Democracy at the moment organization began – probably in a conversation between Confederate Paris Pfouts and Union Nathaniel Langford.  They found that they had more in common than the differences created by the war between the states . . . they moved from recognizing themselves as Illinoising or Texans to a higher level based on commonalities.

    Similarly, Ireland now has the Óglaigh na hÉireann – the country’s national defense force.  The group began as Irish Volunteers in 1913, and are remembered for their service in the Post Office in 1916.  Organized, the Irish Volunteers took care not to include John McBride, since he was under near constant surveillance from the British Army – his involvement was indeed spontaneous rather than planned.  Around 1919, the Irish Volunteers took the name Irish Republican Army. 

    Back to Texas – the argument is, at its simplest, barbed wire.  The Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Government has the authority and power to cut the barbed wire that the great state of Texas has put along in the southern boundary.  Texas continues to put in more barbed wire.  As an aggie, this seems like taking the old open range v barbed wire disagreement from personal to government . . . making it a states rights v federal authority.  Definitely not Irish Democracy.