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| Elections matter too much: Glenn Reynolds |
| 2017-01-24 |
| One of the most striking things about Donald Trump’s accession to the presidency has been the over-the-top reaction of his opponents. One would need a heart of stone not to laugh at some of the expressions of dismay exhibited by Democrats, such as the now-famous protester who simply screamed "Noooo!" as the oath was taken, or Madonna saying she "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." But in fact, this reaction to an election loss -- by anyone, to any candidate -- is not entirely irrational. Elections matter, after all. In fact, these days they matter too much. In the wake of the 2008 election, writer Jerry Pournelle observed: "We have always known that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. It's worse now, because capture of government is so much more important than it once was. There was a time when there was enough freedom that it hardly mattered which brand of crooks ran government. That has not been true for a long time -- not during most of your lifetimes, and for much of mine -- and it will probably never be true again." In other words, if Americans increasingly find it intolerable that their political opponents control the government, that’s because government controls too much. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |