The Death of Democracy?

This is off my normal beat (about West Haven)...but it has implications for all of us.

I am sick at heart; and I fear for the future of this Country I love.

The proposed Health Care Reform law currently being debated in the Congress is an important issue, with far-reaching consequences for everyone: health care providers, private health care insurers, ourselves and our children, and our government. It most certainly needs a vigorous and intelligent debate – and the free exchange of ideas.

In this debate, it really doesn’t matter whether you are for or against the proposal. What does matter is that your fellow citizens – and, most importantly, your elected officials – get to hear your arguments and opinions. This is your right to free speech, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

However, with every right the Constitution provides, there is a corresponding obligation. This is the cost we must pay for our freedoms.

In this case, the obligation is to allow your fellow citizens their First Amendment rights: my right to speak my mind is not more important than yours. It is even more important to listen to what others have to say…even if they disagree with your point of view.

In many of the so-called “Town Hall” meetings, elected officials (and regular citizens,) who held views opposing those of a (very vocal) group were shouted down, interrupted, and heckled. This is not debate, nor is it American. Worse yet, in at least two instances, people brought handguns (and semiautomatic rifles!) to forums where the President was to speak. This is irresponsibility writ large: of all presidents assassinated, all but one were killed by handguns; the sole exception – John F. Kennedy – was killed by a rifle. What message was intended by these fools? And what message was in practical terms really delivered? The states (New Hampshire and Arizona) where these outrages were perpetrated would do well to seriously reconsider whether these individuals’ judgment are in each case sufficiently sound to permit them to have such weapons.

To bring weapons to these meetings – even if it is legal to do so - does not invite the sorely-needed debate; it stifles it. That, too, is not the American way of democratic republicanism. To demonize your opponents: to suggest they are Nazis or the like – is also un-American. It doesn’t matter which fringe – the loony far left or far right – commits these acts. BOTH ARE WRONG! And both are being un-American when they do this.

What is American – what makes our democracy and the Republic which protects us – is freely stating your questions and concerns about any issue at hand, then listening politely and respectfully as others get their turn to do the same. What is even more American is to seriously consider the other side’s points, questions and concerns, challenging your own with theirs, and deciding which truly has the stronger argument.

Unless we can get back to these American foundations, our country’s future will be in peril.