A lot of people were very excited about Republican electoral victories in the November election, particularly in Virginia. But if your priority is liberty and the Constitution, it would be wise not to get too caught up in the red wave, or the blue wave for that matter.
When it comes to the Constitution, Democrats and Republicans are both awful. Granted, Republicans are better on some issues. But Democrats tend to be better on others. So instead of getting caught up in either the red or blue wave, I just try to ride whichever one is rolling at the time.
Over the last two years in Virginia, we saw a number of bills move through the legislature that Republicans would have blocked including a ban on government facial recognition, legislation limiting the militarization of police, a measure limiting no-knock warrants, and a bill legalizing marijuana.
With the Republicans retaking the Virginia governor’s office and flipping the legislature, there will almost certainly be constitutional issues we can push that Democrats would have blocked. But Republicans will undoubtedly throw up roadblocks on other issues.
That’s why I don’t get caught up in electoral politics. I can fight for liberty and the Constitution no matter which party is in control. I might have to shift my strategy and the issues I focus on somehwhate based on the party in power. But I don’t have to throw up my hands and quit when Democrats win elections – or vice versa.
I can ride either wave.
The Danger of Faction
The national focus on the Virginia gubernatorial race reveals how pretty much everything is now a federal issue. People look at state elections and a litmus test for the next federal election. Most people don’t really care who serves as governor of Virginia — particularly people who live outside the state. They’re excited about the Republican victory because they view it as a blow to the “Biden agenda.” But as I’ve said over and over, fighting for liberty through Washington D.C. is a failed strategy.
Sadly, American politics has been taken captive by factions. People are more interested in defeating the other team than they are about the Constitution or liberty. George Washington warned us about this in his farewell address.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”
It has played out exactly as Washington predicted. It’s all about defeating the other team — and then propping up your team — no matter what. Republicans loathed Obama but turned a blind eye to Trump’s violations of the Constitution. Democrats were terrified of Trump’s power, but they want to further empower Biden now that he holds the presidency. Republicans are enraged by Biden’s exercise of power, but they’ll certainly want to further empower the next Republican to hold office. We have an ever-escalating battle of power rooted in partisanship and centered on whoever sits in the Oval Office. And this will lead – if it hasn’t already – to a “permanent despotism”
More and more, people “seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual” — a president. It’s an all-or-nothing game for control of the White House. And at some point, as Washington warned, somebody will seize the reins of power and “turn this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”
We’re already far down this road.
I don’t care about the red wave or the blue wave. I care about the Constitution and liberty. I’m going to keep fighting for both — issue by issue — no matter what horrible politician is in office.
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