Holding officials accountable for their decisions and actions

 

Americans are now faced with the probability that - unless some form of miracle occurs - we're about to be governed by a President who was not legitimately elected to office, but whose party machine stole that office in a barefaced raid on democracy.  Joe Biden is not, and never will be, the freely and fairly elected President of the United States.

That won't stop the authoritarian Establishment, the 'Deep State' as it's often called, from asserting its authority (threadbare and tattered though it may be) over ordinary Americans.  We've seen more than enough of that during the COVID-19 pandemic to know what's coming.  Increasingly, there will be attempts to rule by diktat;  to prescribe, to demand, to insist, and - above all else - to control.  In the end, that's what it's all about:  control, the ability to order people about like digits in a system.

Failure to cooperate will result in punishment, even though it won't be termed 'punishment' as such.  "Oh, you won't play ball with us?  Well, let's see how you get on without your unemployment benefits, or your Social Security check, or your Medicaid.  Sure, you're entitled to them, and you'll get them . . . when we see fit to make them available.  We're not depriving you at all!  How dare you suggest that?  It's just that your payments are somehow 'lost in the system' for a while.  You just have to be patient!  Oh - and to speed up their 'retrieval', perhaps you'd better shut up and play ball, rather than be so vocal in your opposition.  Hadn't you . . . citizen?"

The thing is, as we discussed last week, "all politics is local".  Decisions from higher up have to be implemented on the ground.  That means the officials, bureaucrats and administrators who are charged with actually carrying out official policy - as opposed to setting it - are going to be local, too.  Their names and faces and personal details will be known to at least some people in the areas where they work.  That means they can be held accountable for their actions, and their service to illegitimate 'authority'.

I'm not suggesting some form of vigilante 'justice'.  That's a two-edged sword that almost always backfires on those who use it.  Step outside the law like that, and one's opponents can (and usually will) do precisely the same in response.  No, I'm talking about holding people accountable in the communities where they live.  If a local bureaucrat becomes unbearably officious and domineering towards people, those same people can shun them;  refuse them service in shops and restaurants;  launch verbal attacks on them whenever they see them in public;  ostracize their families;  and so on.  Pretty soon their everyday lives will become intolerable.

I've seen that done in several countries (sadly, often involving physical attacks as well as non-violent opposition).  In particular, the families of law enforcement officers, prison guards and officials, and military personnel have been victimized as an expression of disapproval (to put it mildly) of their breadwinners.  That's tragic, and is indefensible in a democracy - but when democracy is stolen, and honored more in the breach than in the observance, the same thing happens to ethics and morality.  Again, I've seen that far too often to be in any doubt about it.

It's already happening in this country.  Ask police in cities like Portland, or Seattle, or Minneapolis, or anywhere else where cries of "Defund the police!" are being heard.  They're not just verbal.  Police have been physically attacked during riots, and even off-duty have to be very careful not to enter certain areas where they may be recognized, and in some cases have had to take their kids of school due to threats made against them.  Ask police officers who have not been convicted of any offence, but are regarded as guilty by certain segments of public opinion.  Despite their official blamelessness, they've lost their jobs, been hounded out of the communities in which they lived, and in some cases have lost their careers, because no other police force dares hire them for fear of the public backlash that would result.

The extreme left of US politics has embraced targeting individuals as a standard practice.  Very well - let's turn that back on them.  Start making your own lists, and sharing them with people in your area.  Elected and appointed officials who begin to behave like tinpot dictators (from Governors such as Newsom in California, Whitmer in Michigan, Brown in Oregon, Inslee in Washington, Cuomo in New York, etc. all the way down to local bureaucrats and administrators who implement their policies) should be "named and shamed".  If they prove untrustworthy in office, their names should be recorded, so that future opposition to their re-election or reappointment or promotion can be coordinated.

• If a local judge proves biased and politicized in his or her decisions from the bench, they should not be allowed to stand for election to a more senior judicial position without a fight.
• If a bureaucrat proves domineering and overbearing, make sure public criticism of his or her wrong actions and attitudes is overwhelming, making it more difficult to promote them.
• If a law enforcement officer or agency is over-zealous in enforcing unfair and illegitimate regulations, make sure their conduct is openly criticized and meets the pushback it deserves.
• If a local political party official expresses approval for dictatorial actions and decisions, make sure he or she is never selected to run for higher office.

There are many ways in which public pressure can be applied.  Our enemies are using them daily.  Let's learn from them, and use the same tactics in return.  If a wannabe tinpot dictator meets resistance right from the beginning, in positions of lesser authority, he or she is less likely to think they can get away with murder as they climb the promotion or political ladder to more senior positions.  Their seniors are also more likely to reconsider their support for them.  A 'hot potato' can become too hot to hold - so, rather than try to hold it, they're more likely to abandon it and look for someone less provocative, who'll provoke less public resistance.

There's also the issue of the reaction that undemocratic, dictatorial politicians and bureaucrats may provoke.  Try telling the average local cop in America that he or she is going to have to raid the houses of their neighbors and confiscate all weapons found.  The answer in many parts of the country will be, "Not just no, but HELL, NO!!!"  They know full well that the response to such unconstitutional tyranny will be physical rather than verbal, and they don't want to be the ones to endure it.  That applies even in Democratic Party-controlled states and regions, as evidenced by this news report from 2014 after the passage of more stringent gun control legislation in several states (where, as we noted recently, civil disobedience became a widespread response).

Lord Acton put it well, almost two centuries ago.  Here are a few of his aphorisms that are as true today as they were when he said them.

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.

Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.

Let us be on our guard against such evils;  and let's make a list of those who succumb to them, so that we can resist them.

Peter