Are we really going to sit back and let Mike Lee worm his way around his public rejection of majority rule in our country? Are we just fine with a senator who explains himself by saying, “democracy itself is not the goal. The goal is freedom, prosperity, and human flourishing.”
The condescension in that statement takes my breath away. Basically he’s saying, “Never mind the voice of the people. We with the power, we the aging white guys who have grown so comfortable with being in charge, we know what’s best for everyone, from every culture, background, and community, no matter how distant your lives are from our own. Leave us alone and we’ll enforce the kinds of freedoms and the forms of prosperity we’re most comfortable with. You all just don’t worry your pretty little heads about this.”
Thanks but no thanks, senator. I’ll take my chances with “of the people, by the people, for the people.” I want you out of the Senate, replaced by someone who acknowledges that majority rule is a core value worth fighting for, and that our institutions and processes need to be updated to enable our core values in contemporary reality. One of the principles Evan McMullin is running on is this: We support reforms that make our system more accessible, transparent, and competitive, oppose the intentional disenfranchisement of voters, and reject extremism.
Sen. Lee, no matter how much obfuscation you spew or how deftly you tap dance around the issue, the goal always has been, and should still be, majority rule with checks and balances to protect the minority. It’s the core of who we are and should keep striving to be. And we’ll never get there as long as Mike Lee and his ilk are running the country.
Hydee Clayton, Millcreek