Commenter Wolla Dalbo writes:
I think that a lot of commenters here are basing their analysis on a false assumption, and that false assumption is that the Democrats care at all about the rule of law, parliamentary procedure, Democracy, our traditions of government, or the rules of the House or Senate. The far left ideologues in charge of the Congressional Democrats, and most rank and file Democrats in Congress too, from what I see, couldn’t care less about these things, and believe a la Bill Maher, that the American public is a collection of ill-educated, dumb, hicks, hillbillies, religious fanatics and bozos”“virtual sub-humans””bleating, stinking sheep who do not have the ability to comprehend where there best interests lie, and will, thus, have to be, in the immortal words of the French Revolution “forced to be Free,” as the Democrats define freedom.
Nothing must stand in the way of the Democrats “helping” us to be “Free,” and they are determined that nothing, certainly nothing so trivial as rules or law or procedures or Democracy, can be allowed to stop or delay their imperative errand of mercy, during which””not coincidentally”“they will gain tyrannical power, and loot the country to fill their pockets as well.
I would add that it is probably no accident that this has occurred as “progressives” have become more and more instrumental in our system of public education. The decline of teaching and knowledge about the Constitution, checks and balances, the rule of law, and American history among our young people that has gone on for decades have contributed mightily to the ability of our politicians to succeed—or at least come close—in this endeavor.
Here are some companion pieces to Wolla Dalbo’s observations. First, a retread of some quotes from Lenin:
A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
Democracy is indispensable to socialism.
Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.
One man with a gun can control 100 without one.
The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.
The goal of socialism is communism.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience.
No amount of political freedom will satisfy the hungry masses.
And now in closing, Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamazov. Yes, I’ve offered this one several times before, but it always seems to bear repeating; unfortunately, it never quite goes out of fashion. In this excerpt Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor is addressing Christ, who has returned to earth but been arrested and imprisoned again, this time by the Inquisition:
Oh, never, never can [people] feed themselves without us [the Inquisitors and controllers]! No science will give them bread so long as they remain free. In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet, and say to us, “Make us your slaves, but feed us.” They will understand themselves, at last, that freedom and bread enough for all are inconceivable together, for never, never will they be able to share between them! They will be convinced, too, that they can never be free, for they are weak, vicious, worthless, and rebellious. Thou didst promise them the bread of Heaven, but, I repeat again, can it compare with earthly bread in the eyes of the weak, ever sinful and ignoble race of man?
