He made me believe that the sum total of many factions against any particular one would always prevail. It saddens me to think that recent events may have proven him wrong.
(Published January 2001)
Madison had convinced me that a tyranny of the minority was not possible in America and that the sum total of many factions against any particular one would always prevail. It saddens me to think that recent events may have proven him wrong. The tyranny of the ultra Right minority has usurped democratic principles. With stealth, they did what they should not have been able to do, and they reached their goal under the bright light of a national political campaign.
One does not need a long memory to remember how the "Contract with America" came to a screeching halt once Americans realized that it infringed upon civil liberties, common decency, and was intolerant to any ideas save its own. Newt and his co-conspirators quickly moved back toward the majority, or became their casualties. Americans did not want a theocracy, and told them so. However, politicians and the power brokers that prop them up were not so easily deterred. If America did not want to elect members of the Radical Right, then the Radical Right would seize power another way. Though public discussion of birth control may be offensive to the far Right, some were not opposed to encasing themselves in a Trojan Horse…for a while, say 18 months or so before Election Day 2000.
More than six months ago, I was shouting from the rooftop and to anyone who would listen that G.W. Bush was not a moderate. I begged people to look at his horrendous record in Texas. I pleaded with reporters to make him answers questions, in detail, about his policies and plans. One only had to look at his biggest supporters to see his agenda was not about moderation. He was coy throughout the campaign. A sandbagger, I called him. I usually don't mind being right, but I wish were wrong this time.
The events of the last three months have shaken my belief in the power of a majority over the tyranny of a minority. We saw it in Florida. Every small-minded person that had any influence did everything in their power to stop the votes from being counted. Yet who would have imagined that the final nail in the coffin would be struck by the Rehnquist Five? Separation of powers and state's rights are just the tip of the argument for why this was a shocker, and unconstitutional.
It is now a few days since Bush took an oath, which a large number of Americans do not believe he had the right to take. It was an un-inauguration of a theocracy, not democracy, as Jesus was declared "our savior." Something just shy of a police state was enacted for the event, with tall barricades erected to block the view of protesters from both seeing and being seen by the rest of society, and areas formerly open to the public in previous inaugurations were closed. As far as the so-called liberal press, few reporters even bothered to cover the more than 20,000 protesters.
We now have an illegal regime in the White House. Tyrants who are determined to ignore the Will of the Majority of the People and to trample over democratic principles in order to have their way. Look at the facts:
We have witnessed anti-environmentalist being nominated and confirmed as heads of the EPA and Interior.
We are seeing a man who has been called more conservative than Strom Thurman likely becoming the next Attorney General. A man who has a record of being anti-civil and human rights and who is willing to discredit a decent man in order to advance his personal agenda. We are to believe such a man will "faithfully" uphold the current laws of the land?
Bush has given an executive order creating a White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, with the emphasis being on Christian faith. He will stop public monies from going to organizations that legally counsel women on family planning and will give public monies to churches!
He is insisting on vouchers that would use public monies for religious schools-which 70% of Americans do not want!
He is acting like a tyrant, because he is one. He certainly is not the legally elected President of the People of the United States of America!
It turns out Madison was wrong. Tyranny of a Minority has prevailed.
Yet I still believe, in the context of which he wrote his thesis, James Madison got most of it right. He wrote with the implied belief that factions would uphold at least some semblance of democratic belief, fair play, and common decency. He had no idea someone like Bush would ever be taken seriously as a candidate for president, let alone successfully steal the election. Mr. Madison perhaps did not consider the lengths a small faction made of ultra right sections of Christian, NRA, anti-environmentalist, white supremacist and neo-nazi groups would go to hold a nation hostage.
James Madison was from a generation that had risked their lives to ensure liberty and reject tyranny in all its forms. It is a scary thought, but perhaps this generation must live through tyrannical times to again appreciate freedom.