Douglas E. Schoen - America: Unite or Die: How to Save Our Democracy

America

Unite or Die

How to Save Our Democracy

Douglas E. Schoen & Carly Cooperman

with Keller Maloney

A merican democracythe defining characteristic that has made the United States a magnet for immigrants from around the globe, the leader of the free world, and a model for other nationsis under fire as never before and is threatened with possible extinction. This endangers the foundational rights and freedoms of every American under the Constitution, as well as our national security as we compete on the world stage with our authoritarian adversaries China and Russia.

Over the course of American history our democracy has been threatened from abroadfirst by the British Empire and later by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the Soviet Union and then Russia, and most recently Communist China and Islamist terrorism. In The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise, America in Retreat, published in 2020, one of us (Douglas Schoen) described the serious danger these two powers pose to America, to global human rights, and to the future of democracy.

Today, the most dangerous threat to our democracy comes not from a foreign adversary but from within, as the radical left gains strength in the Democratic Party and the radical right ascends in the Republican Party. These diametrically opposed forces, moving further and further apart, are threatening not just our democracy but our most fundamental institutions and values. We close our eyes to this grave danger at our peril. Democracy is not just a system of government. It is a system of liberty-affirming values that enshrine minority rights in addition to majority rule. It makes government the servant of the people and not the other way aroundunlike in many countries around the world. The Bill of Rights in the Constitution says that freedom of speech and of the press, the right to protest, freedom of religion, the rights of those accused of crimes, and other rights are fundamental to our democracy.

Yet extremists on the left and right are now more focused on reshaping America to conform to their own values than on preserving the traditional democratic values that affirm our freedoms and rights. They have no patience for hearing the other side. They are so convinced of the rightness of their own beliefs that they want to suppress whoever disagrees with them. If they had their way, they would put America on a path that could eventually replace democracy with authoritarianism.

Alarmingly, the United States is more divided and less united today than at any time since our nation split in two during the Civil War. We have forgotten the warning Benjamin Franklin gave the American colonies in 1754 when he published the first American political cartoon in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. The cartoon was a call for the British colonies to unite to fight as allies in the French and Indian War. It was later revived during the Revolutionary War calling on the new American states to unite to fight for independence from Great Britain. It pictured a snake cut into pieces, with a caption on the bottom stating JOIN, or DIE. Many people believed at the time that a snake cut into pieces could grow back to life if its parts were joined together before sunset. So Franklins message was clearthe colonies, which later became states, could not survive unless they united.

Founding Father and former Virginia governor Patrick Henry expressed a similar sentiment in his last public speech in 1799 when he said: United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs. One symbol of national unity was reflected in the way Americans referred to their nation. Before the Civil War they said the United States are but after the war they said the United States is, reflecting the view that the U.S. is a singular entity and not simply an alliance of separate states.

Fast-forward to February 2021, when a new Zogby Poll found that 46 percent of likely voters believe that another civil war will erupt in our country. There was not much difference between Republicans and Democrats on the question, with 49 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Democrats saying a second civil war is likely. Its quite astounding that nearly half of voters think we are headed for bloodshed! a news release announcing the poll says. Are we really close to citizens hurting each other on a large-scale basis? The violence that happened from both sides of the political spectrum the last year is significant. Violent protests in cities across the country during the summer, White supremacists, hate crimes on the rise, and tensions between two political parties have put the country on the brink.

America reunited in 1865 at the close of the Civil War, but right now we simply dont know whether we can reunite again after the bitter divisions fueled by both the far left and the far right during Donald Trumps presidency. Things have gotten so bad that many Republican officials wont criticize extremists on the right for fear of angering that faction of their party, while many Democratic officials wont criticize the far left for fear of angering their partys radical wing. The extremist tail is wagging the mainstream dog.

For example, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232197 on January 13, 2021, to impeach then-president Trump for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supportersafter he urged them to march on the Capitol and fight to overturn former vice president Joe Bidens election victoryonly 10 Republicans voted to impeach.

In another example, when the House voted 230199 on February 4, 2021, to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from congressional committees, only 11 Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure. Greene had endorsed the extremist QAnon movement; embraced wild conspiracy theories that were blatantly false, including some that were anti-Semitic and Islamophobic; liked a Facebook comment endorsing shooting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the head; and claimed school shootings were secretly staged by government actors. She disavowed some of these views shortly before the House vote, but not all of them. She continued sending fundraising emails almost daily saying Trump had actually won the presidential election and was fraudulently deprived of victory.

Crucially, Greene continued to have the support of Trump, who heaped praise on her. That clearly put her in the good graces of her House GOP colleagues and some Republican donors. In fact, Greene announced in early April 2021 that she raised an extraordinary $3.2 million in campaign donations in the first quarter of the yeara record amount for a House freshman in an off-year election quarterwith 98 percent of the donations coming in at less than $200. The astonishing cash haul was evidence of the level of extremism many Republicans have embraced. I have been the most attacked freshman member of Congress in history, Greene tweeted in announcing her fundraising success. The political ruling class fears the people because its the people that can take away what they love most. Power. Because its power that brings them everything else. I am one of the people and the people are with me, and I will always be with them. WE are just getting started!

It should have been obvious to every House Republican that Greene is a fringe figure who has no place in their party, but many feared voting against her would anger Trump and his millions of supporters. Brian Robinson, who advised Greenes primary opponent, John Cowan, said Greene is not representative of the national party but does represent a segment of the party. I would imagine though that next year in some competitive primaries, where candidates are seeking the support of the most conservative voters, that you will see some people trying to get her endorsement in the primary and then try to never mention it in the general.