Appeasing Anti-Democracy Conservatives Will Not Save or Heal the Country

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
David Atkins
@DavidOAtkins
Manchin thinks he can save democracy by appeasing violent GOP extremists. But he can't. Appeasement never works.

The only way to save American democracy is by making elections fair, and incentivizing the GOP away from extremism.

My latest @monthly:
Joe Manchin
Appeasing Anti-Democracy Conservatives Will Not Save or Heal the Country
Joe Manchin is once again playing the role of the Grinch who stole the chance to save democracy. In a op-ed today in the Charleston Mail-Gazette, Manchin reiterated his position that he will not vote...
washingtonmonthly.com
11:26 AM · Jun 6, 2021

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/06/06/appeasing-anti-democracy-conservatives-will-not-save-or-heal-the-country/

*snip*

The problem is that this way of thinking about the politics of voting rights is deeply dangerous. It is the logic of appeasement, of caving to the demands of hostage takers and perpetrators of political violence. It literally legitimizes insurrectionists and gives credence to their platform in an effort to placate them.

The right to vote didn’t become “politicized” out of nowhere. Republicans politicized it because they are fundamentally opposed to democracy. There is no negotiating with that position. You cannot heal it by appeasing it.

Democrats aren’t immorally restricting the franchise to tilt the balance of power unjustly in the favor; Republicans are. Democrats aren’t telling lies about who won the last election; Republicans are. Liberal activists didn’t foment a violent insurrection against the United States to prevent the formal certification of an election; conservatives did. The left isn’t in the thrall of vile propaganda networks and social media cults accusing their opponents of intentionally unleashing a pandemic in cooperation with the Chinese, or of running a global Satanic pedophile cabal; the right is. There is no “both sides” to play here, and therefore no compromise to be had.

You can’t heal the problems that created the January 6th insurrection by caving to the demands of those who helped to enable it. In an alternate universe where Republicans were acting in good faith and serious about “securing” our elections, you might see a bipartisan voting rights bill that included anti-gerrymandering reforms and universal voter registration, plus a free national ID card for every citizen for voter verification and stricter transparency over electronic voting machines. But we don’t live in that universe, because Republicans don’t actually care about securing elections. They want to be able to continue to dominate policy and ensure that older white evangelical conservatives remain in total control despite being heavily outnumbered. They’re opposed to democracy itself.

*snip*

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I agree with David Atkins.

I wish there were a way to have Manchin respond to Atkins' points.

[onecaliberal]

3. The so called WHPC should be asking him those very questions.

It’s how we know there is no real journalism.

[elleng]

2. ' they are fundamentally opposed to democracy.'

[BSdetect]

4. There is no valid excuse for enabling anti vote repugnants.

[roamer65]

5. If we do not pass this voting rights legislation...

we will be in a status where we have states that have free and fair elections and others where we will have rigged, sham elections.

What will that bode for the republic, when there is no trust between the states?

Where will that take us as a nation?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

7. I fear the nation will be split in two

If unfair elections ruin the vote. These republicans need to be taken down HARD.

And I wanna kick the conservative Dems letting this shit the repugs are doing right in the ass HARD,too

[roamer65]

8. Think former Yugoslavia.

Times 20.

[nuxvomica]

6. Two words for Manchin "Neville Chamberlain"

Remember how that worked out?

[roamer65]

9. Neville Manchin.

[Nevilledog]

10. Can't we use someone not named Neville?

[nuxvomica]

11. LOL. I actually had to look him up

I thought I should post the name of the WWII PM who was a Nazi appeaser, as it was always synonymous with appeasement with bad-faith actors. But I couldn't remember his name!

[dalton99a]

12. Just use Manchin. Everyone knows what a Manchin is