Perhaps the Witch Hunts Were Necessary

I voted this morning,

It is forecast that the loud force which squelched opposition while in power with, "get out of the way until you can win an election", then obstructed the normal operation of the government after it lost power, will again ascend to power. The destructive policies that were pursued will be pursued again, after only two years to have forgotten or reassign blame for their damage.

The image that the work of the goverment has stopped due to the obstruction of the opposition is false and can be filed among the other images that are being kept alive; that our president is a foreign operative, and not legitimately elected, that the current government is fiscally irresponsible, that there is a threat of socialism in this country (if only). Those images are remembered while all of the progressive movement our country has made (if imperfect) has been forgotten.

We live in the ruins of a representative democracy. Peaceful periodic transfer of the power of government to representatives chosen by a vote of the citizens is the way that a diverse society can be governed in the interest of all the citizens. A direction is chosen, for a period of time, by the will of the majority. The will of the majority is reevaluated periodically, and the method of reevaluation is accepted by all as legitimate.

Bullying has undermined our representative democracy in that a bully (or bullying class) does not accept the social rule for decision making. A bully will force his will on others, and where his will does not prevail, obstructs the will of others until he can weaken the others' will and his can overcome it.

I know that I am disturbed by the lack of action of the current government in protecting the existing limits and balances on governmental power, and its actions to undermine standards of equality and justice. I am also horrified that the governmental crimes of the past have been declared off-limits to prosecute by the present government. Those "witch hunts" were necessary both to rectify a wrong, and perhaps more importantly, to push back against the bullying of our system of government. Fear of retribution as an aid to reformation, or at least to force a little introspection would help us all.