Day 17. The insurrection has ended. One final Blog about it before turning to other important issues.
There are, I submit, lessons to be learned from what we have been through.
The first is that our nation can no longer endure a divided government. With Republicans viewing compromise as defeat, there is no way a divided government can now function. You cannot talk to someone who doesn’t want to talk. This means Republicans either have to be in full control of the government or not at all.
The second lesson is that Republicans have proven they should not be in control. So long as they follow people who don’t believe in democracy, don’t care about the nation as a whole, don’t care what damage they do to get their way, and make up stuff that contradicts known facts, they should remain a minority party in our government.
Third, Senate filibuster rules should be reformed to allow the filibuster to remain a tool with limited power. Here is where Democrats need to show genuine leadership. Keep the filibuster, but change it to reduce the number needed to override it so we don’t need 60 votes to pass everything. Democrats will, of course, have to live with that change if Republicans ever become the majority again. But that is the way it should be. The Constitution calls for a majority vote to legislate. Senate rules should not be allowed to nullify what the Constitution says.
Finally, voters need to realize that elections matter. People who believe government does many good things cannot afford to allow those who hate government to decide the winners of elections again. Polls show the majority of Americans are moderate in their views. That majority needs to start voting, if they want to keep the country they have.
There are many other lessons to be learned from this assault on our democracy, but these seem to me to be among the obvious ones.
linnposts.com 
Both your country and mine need proportional systems of voting, so that elections actually reflect the way people vote. A system like that used in Germany, where half of the seats are chosen by simple majority, and the other half from regional voting lists, would fit the bill. “Equal votes for Equal People” – that would be a good slogan!
It would certainly work better than the one we have here in the US. I am afraid ours is broken beyond repair because on one side of the aisle we have children pretending to be adults.
Somehow we have to re-learn how to honor/respect the presidency and our elected officials. We elected them and now we are disappointed in them. Are there any statesman/women left for us to respect…really?
Excellent comment, Kay. And the question you ask gets to the core of the challenge we all face.
I submit…. Those elected to Congress and the House of Representatives need to have “skin in the game”. By this I mean:
1) Same healthcare as the Americans who voted them into office in the first place…. that includes Medicare … and the need for Supplemental Insurance
2) Same Social Security plan with COLA as those Americans who voted them into office.
3) Cap on salary increase as average Americans receive
4) No ‘salary for life’ after a single term in office…. no special perks for being a former public servant.
5) No more ‘re-districting’ … political speak for ‘fixing the odds’
we could go on… but at the end of the day….
SKIN IN THE GAME….. THEY NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY VOTE AND WHAT THEY VOTE ON EFFECTS THEM – JUST AS IT DOES “ORDINARY CITIZENS”…. after all, they are “public servants”
I agree with your lessons, Jan and all of the above comments/suggestions. I especially think high percentage voting is essential to assert the moderate stance of the majority. Also, the majority has to demand campaign finance reform! If the supreme court upholds a current suit before it (Mc Cutcheon I believe it is), allowing unfettered individual donations to candidates, it has been estimated that the 500 wealthiest individuals in the country will be choosing our “representatives”. The government fix we need must come from outside of it, US!
Nigel, “Equal votes for Equal People” should describe the purpose of any democratic election. Too bad it doesn’t!
Bob, you are right. Campaign reform is essential. My guess is the Supreme Court will make it even more of a need when it eliminates total limits for individual contributions in its current session.
The more backward the decisions of your country’s supreme court get to be, the more reform becomes necessary – and known to be necessary to more people. The Dred Scott case of 1857 illustrated this, as a citizens united (II) decision would.
You named the “demon,” Nigel. The Supreme Court’s recent decisions have undermined our form of government. Pending ones will probably do it in. I plan to write about it in future Blogs. Living across the pond gives you perspective most Americans don’t have. Thanks.