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Home » An overview: “our democracy” is like a tram

An overview: “our democracy” is like a tram

The New Neo Posted on by

When a party goes leftist and captures all the cultural organs too, as has happened in the US with the Democrats, what results is a constant indoctrination session, plus voting rules that make a comeback from the other party well-nigh impossible. What is it that Erdogan of Turkey said? Ah, yes:

Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.

That’s the way tyrants use democracy – as a tool to hegemony. Democracy is a drawbridge across a moat, a bridge to enter a fortified castle (remember “fortifying” the election of 2020?). Then the left can pull the drawbridge up after themselves. All very legal. Out constitution has enormous safeguards to stop it from happening, but once all cultural organs are controlled by the left and the election mechanism is controlled too (that’s why they were so eager to pass HR1 to insitute their “election reforms” on a national level), then the tram has reached the end of the station and it’s time to get off.

Are we there yet? I think we’re perilously close, if not there.

Conservatives believe in democracy/republicanism as a process that is not just a means to an end but a good in and of itself. But that’s only true if both sides believe it and play by the rules. For much of its history, most of America (not every city or every state, but most) played by those rules and agreed on and respected those rules. That is no longer the case, I’m afraid.

Comments

An overview: “our democracy” is like a tram — 34 Comments

  1. That is a great quote from Erdogan and it sums up leftist thought nicely (I realize he is not a leftist, but it’s apt for Islamists as well). Democratic processes are a means to the end of leftist hegemony. For the last century, the American left has operated effectively within democratic and constitutional norms. Yes, there was (and is) a hard left operating outside those norms, but mainstream leftists have been very effective at slowly but surely using the democratic process to shift the Overton window ever leftward, inch by inch. As the long march through the institutions is almost complete, as the left is now 85% of the way towards social/cultural/political hegemony, the traditional Democratic processes and constitutional safeguards are less and less necessary for them. Thus, the mask slips off further; or perhaps the mask itself is no longer necessary and is being willingly removed.

    It’s looking fairly likely the GOP will indeed win a narrow majority in the House. While the left would prefer otherwise, I’m guessing many leftists are shrugging. Such a narrow majority is of little to no threat to them. Perhaps it will slow their advancement to hegemony by a couple years. Perhaps. So what? It won’t stop it. Not a chance

  2. As ever, the Democrats control the terms of the discourse and thus the manner in which any debate can be conducted (“threat to democracy” or “election deniers” or “insurrectionists’ or “white supremacists” or whichever is the currently fashionable term of abuse). Only the “indoctrination session” which is now our K-12 and our universities can explain why the young voted overwhelmingly for the party of corporate and governmental Covidians, the party which stripped them of their freedom and endangered their economic future while possibly leading them to a nuclear conflict. Few youngsters indeed seem “to question authority”, in the words of the old phrase.

  3. Ackler:

    The left is happy the red wave didn’t materialize. But the red wave would only have slowed them down a little, also. As long as one house of Congress isn’t theirs, it helps slow things down a bit, which buys some time for the right to regroup. It certainly needs to regroup and come up with a more effective strategy.

    I don’t agree with this giving up business – “all is lost, there’s nothing we can do.” That has long been a tendency on the right. One of the reasons the left is in such a position now is that it never gave up. It took the long view, and that paid off.

  4. Maybe there is no final destination, so you have to keep getting on and off the tram. I guess Erdogan doesn’t see it that way. Also, you get off the tram where you as an individual want. You are also free to not get on the tram. Politics is different.

    I was taken by Pelosi’s comment about praying that God’s will be done. For Democrats, their side winning is God’s will being done, or whatever the secular equivalent is.

    Also outgoing Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s comment that the election showed that voters didn’t want extremism. It seemed as though he was defining “extremism” as anything that he disagreed with or that seriously challenged him. There were some very bad GOP candidates this time, but wouldn’t anybody who seriously challenged the hierarchy and the orthodoxy be labeled kooky and extreme?

    Finally, this from Harvard professor Adrian Vermeule:

    It’s funny to see GOP types debating which candidates or issues would have made a difference, when the simplest hypothesis is that there is a critical mass of voters who will support left-liberalism on essentially theological grounds, regardless of the conditions it produces.

  5. “…like a tram…”

    “As is our sense of honesty, decency, morality, justice, what have you.”

    This particular distraction should be lots of fun! ENJOY!!!
    “US launches investigation into death of Shireen Abu Aqleh;
    “US informs Israel it is conducting its own investigation into death of Al Jazeera journalist 2 months after findings of IDF investigation.”
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/362796

    File under: Congratulations on your victory, Mr. Netanyahu….

  6. We can fix things in the states we control, including the blue-dominated cities in the state we control. The Federal government does not run everything, and won’t if conservatives keep their states strong and robust. (When the DOJ tried to install election observers in Florida, they were told Florida law did not allow them, and they left when they were told to go.)

  7. Been through many books on the Russian Revolution through the Stalinism.
    We are going through by baby steps reliving it. Ever get a totalitarian like Lenin and not just a puppet like Sundowner we will be doomed to a iron fist.

  8. “…when the simplest hypothesis is that there is a critical mass of voters who will support left-liberalism on essentially theological grounds, regardless of the conditions it produces.”

    While it may be true that “there is a critical mass of voters who will support left-liberalism on essentially theological grounds, regardless of the conditions it produces”, it is MOST CERTAINLY NOT TRUE that THAT is “the simplest hypothesis”.

    OTOH, it may well be THE MOST SIMPLISTIC hypothesis for someone, perhaps like the good professor, who’d rather NOT go in certain “simple” and obvious directions…

  9. Another point, our entire media is just the Democrats Propaganda Ministry, every proven lie in the entire Trump era was spouted like it was gospel
    Russian collusion, 2 impeachment, all covering Sundowner and Hunter raking in tens of millions from China and Ukraine

  10. well lenin dissolved the menshevik assembly and many like john reed agreed it was the right thing, well he was the ali velshi of the russian revolution (mostly peaceful!!)

  11. “…like a tram…” (continued)…

    Related (from Melanie Phillips, in Sept.):
    “Tearing up the rules of engagement between Israel and America;
    “The deepening row over the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh has exposed the excruciating error of Israeli strategy towards the Biden administration.”—
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/359594

  13. “There were some very bad GOP candidates this time…”– Abraxas

    Compared to who? Compared to John Fetterman they were Rhodes scholars!

  14. One problem with the Left’s definition of “democracy” is the implied obligation … that the individual must submit to the “majority will” as embodied in the elected leaders and their “expert” advisers … right, wrong. or in between.

    That is technocracy at best, secular theocracy at worst. Both effectively disconnect the vast majority of distributed insight from problem-solving, in the demand for submission to elected/established authority.

    The value of unalienable rights is in their primacy, even over a majority vote. That keeps individuals free to work around stuck-on-stupid authorities, and find the solutions that work best for THEM, whether or not they conform to the preferences of authority or majority.

    But authority – who is all-in invested in their elite status – resents such devaluation of their “wisdom” and moral calculus. But the greater problem is the presence of a majority who has been led to not value life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable, and will elect authority that reflects that in return for its promises to solve our problems FOR us.

  15. Sorry, I’ve been off-line for about a week and am just now catching up on the election. I’ve only scratched the surface, so my current sense of the results may be way off, but I have a question about the XVIIth Amendment.

    28 states have Republican governors. Does anyone have a guess what the Senate makeup would likely be currently if we did not have the XVIIth Amendment and state legislatures still appointed Senators? My guess is it would still be a 50/50 or 49/51 situation, but maybe not?

  17. Barry Meislin,

    Regarding the Harvard professor’s quote:

    Isn’t he correct? What side is one’s bread buttered on and who is slathering on the butter?

    I’ve read unmarried women broke D by 37 points. “The Democrat Party is the husband of last resort for unmarried women,” as someone wrote.
    Add government employees, union members, folks cashing disability checks…

    Democrats butter a lot of bread.

  18. Rufus T. Firefly: “Does anyone have a guess what the Senate makeup would likely be currently if we did not have the XVIIth Amendment and state legislatures still appointed Senators? My guess is it would still be a 50/50 or 49/51 situation, but maybe not?”

    Currently the Republicans control 30 state legislatures, the Democrats control 17, and three are split. Presumably that would mean the Senate would be 63-37 in favor of the Republicans, or thereabouts.

  19. Neo’s post begs the question, if the ‘tram’ does reach ‘the end of the station’ and we are all forced ‘to get off the tram… what then?

    Our choices will be simple; go quietly into the night. Participate in armed revolt or briefly speak out before beng silenced.

  20. Account to the non-partisan Cook Political Report millions more people voted for Republicans than democrat.

    The numbers for the House are (currently):

    democrat Republican
    47,555,675 52,369,627

  21. One problem with the Left’s definition of “democracy” is the implied obligation … that the individual must submit to the “majority will” as embodied in the elected leaders and their “expert” advisers … right, wrong. or in between.

    Egad, yes. That’s an idea I’ve been struggling towards, and there it is straight up. All that you are obligated to submit to is the idea that that particular guy is permitted to take up those particular levers of limited power for a limited time.

  22. @ Jester > “that the individual must submit to the “majority will” as embodied in the elected leaders and their “expert” advisers … right, wrong. or in between.”

    Gosh that sounds a lot like the old populist-patriot jingoistic slogan “My country right or wrong.”
    That’s what the Democrats called it, anyway, when they were complaining about being oppressed by the moral majority.

  23. Monica Showalter points out some interesting developments in the media reports, now that it’s safe to come out of the basement of the DNC.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/11/guilty_consciences_democrats_suddenly_put_on_a_republican_skin_suit.html

    Suddenly, the bellwethers on the Left are admitting that there just might be something to conservative complaints after all.

    Less than a week after Democrats “won” most of the midterm election, something pretty weird is going on in various Democrat power centers, in a curiously counterintuitive pattern of acts and weather balloons:

    Joe Biden forced his wokester Customs and Border Protection commissioner, Chris Magus, a man of open borders with no shame, to resign, in a tussle of sorts over whether he was to resign or be fired. … That was strange stuff, given that Joe Biden has issued incentive after incentive to would-be illegal border crossers to come on over, while his Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has put a ribbon and bow on it for voters with “the border is under control.” Suddenly, Biden wants to get rid of his appointee who left the barn door open? Obviously, something is going on there.

    Meanwhile, New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, suddenly claimed that Democrats need to start “caring” about voters’ priorities — crime, inflation, the economy. His implication, of course, was that they didn’t, and with Democrat machine pol Kathy Hochul “winning” the governor’s chair in a sudden turn of “luck” at the last minute after some extended counting, it was hard to argue with him. … As for Adams, he did win his office in New York based on being pro-police, but he hasn’t done much of anything among the Democrats and New York’s crime has gotten uglier. That means his words ring hollow, as far as the prospect of expecting results goes, but it seems significant that he did say it, as if going back to his old campaign mode dating from the time when voters actually believed him.

    Then just a couple days ago, Democrat fixture Larry Summers came out and called for increasing energy production, running absolutely counter to the Democrat party line.
    …

    In all three instances, we see Democrats starting to act like Republicans, adopting the Republican line, which is strange stuff, given that they insist they “won” the election in what they claimed was a voter mandate for their current style of governance — despite poll after poll confirming Joe Biden’s unpopularity and voters convinced that America is on the wrong track.
    …
    It almost sounds like they’ve got a guilty conscience, knowing very well that they stole the election, the voters are angry, and they want the power to remain in their hands with the voters pacified through lip service to what voters really want?

    Either way, it’s not a victory dance, it’s Democrats putting on a Republican skin suit, as if in a capitulation by lip service to keep the protests at bay. Perhaps they are just a little afraid of the voters.

    What it highlights is that the current election wasn’t a normal affair. It was a dirty, filthy, rigged affair and the voters know it and they know the voters know it. That might explain the olive branches. There isn’t much else to explain this odd response after their loud celebration claiming a mandate for all they’ve done so far.

    For those unfamiliar with the analogy coined by Iowahawk aka David Burge:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ab3944504d21c2c25ac60adf6184368aeab192136e2a45eb7f33556a7aa9c933.png

    I will add two more data points:

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/11/14/in-shocking-unexpected-twist-january-6th-conspiracy-theory-turns-out-to-be-true-n659068
    The Proud Boys included 8 FBI “glowies” which I am sure surprises exactly no one.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/11/the-times-has-second-thoughts.php
    …about the advisability of drugging, castrating and mutilating children who are caught up in the transgender fad.

  25. The only democracy left is “Irish Democracy” – resistance, absolute minimal compliance, when unavoidable, going Galt. Give them nothing.

  26. Stolen, stolen, stolen. It’s that simple. The Dem/Libs/Progressives have known how to steal elections for decades and they are now in our face about it.

    Which begs the question why would anyone support the current completely corrupt uniparty RINOs in charge such as McCarthy and McConnell? They are bought and sold and refuse to do anything to address this blatant vote corruption by the Democrats. They all know what is going on but refuse to do anything about it. F*&%k them. F*&% them all.

    Republicans in congress delenda est. Salt the earth with their destruction. We need a cleansing of the stench of this uniparty corruption

  27. Heh….
    “Election machines reported more votes than actual number of ballots in two Va. precincts…;
    “The two precincts were in Virginia’s 7th and 10th Congressional Districts.”—
    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-machines-reported-more-votes-actual-number-ballots-two-va

    (But is it Memorex???)
    If it IS true…well then…
    Hey! Guess who won! (Jus’ kiddin’).

    Oh well, guess the Democrats really screwed up on this one…but hey, it’s a mistake anyone could make. (Still, they really shoulda’ been more careful—idjits…)

    In any event, there’s really nothing to do but blame TRUMP!! (Which, of course, I do, goes without sayin’…)

  28. That hilarious Virginia race (cont.)…
    Here’s WAPO:
    “How Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger pulled off another thriller victory”—
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/12/spanberger-reelection-victory-democrats/
    Yep, another thrilla’!
    And NPR:
    “After winning her tough reelection in Virginia, Rep. Abigail Spanberger looks to the future”—
    https://www.npr.org/2022/11/12/1136267830/after-winning-her-tough-reelection-in-virginia-rep-abigail-spanberger-looks-to-t
    I’m sure she does…I’m sure she does…

    And the hype goes on…in this, our latest episode of “Honest, Fair, Secure Elections”…

  29. Pingback:Current Events 11-15-2022 – HUCKSWORLD.com

  30. And it looks like Texas is piling on.
    ‘Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for investigation of Harris County over election irregularities;
    ‘ “I’m calling on the Secretary of State, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Texas Rangers to initiate investigations into allegations of improprieties in the way that the 2022 elections were conducted in Harris County.” ‘
    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/texas-gov-greg-abbott-calls-investigation-harris-county-over-election

    Hmmm, maybe it’s the latest fad…
    (But is it fair? I ask you…. I mean we’re talking about our country’s ELECTIONS here, dammit. Don’t they have no respeck??)

  31. After Obama’s election, commenter Michael Barone said that Obama was bringing Chicago thug politics to Washington. We now see it nationwide.

  33. I’m looking forward to that recount in AZ, that is, if it happens:
    Actually, I’m looking forward to a recount of PA, too, along with EVERY OTHER RACE.

    No doubt the Democrats will agree enthusiastically in the name of “transparency” and “ensuring our democracy”, etc.

    (Actually, I’m not sure they have a choice in AZ:
    “Arizona gov election: Katie Hobbs defeats GOP challenger Kari Lake, race may now go to recount under state law”—
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/arizona-governor-hobbs-lake-recount-state-law

    …but no doubt they’re all gung-ho for it!…)

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