Senator Mike Lee Exposes the Left's Astonishing Ignorance About Government

Senator Mike Lee, the libertarian-leaning Republican from Utah, schooled the left about the meaning and purpose of the American government. He listed the sorts of things many of us learned in civics class in high school: that America isn’t a pure democracy, that government power is constrained by the Constitution, and that we are a republican form of government.

Any simple-minded senior in high school is able to absorb that and pass a test on it. It isn’t rocket science. It’s a no-brainer for people with even just a passing interest in the American government.

So Lee, watching the vice presidential debate, added a few of his thoughts on the process.

Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 8, 2020

Duh.

Writer David Harsanyi (whose Twitter account has been blocked) tweeted: “This should be the least controversial tweet of all time.”

What Lee got back on Twitter was an astonishing outpouring of ignorance—even from people well-practiced in saying ignorant things.

As Mike Lee makes the case against democracy on Twitter, Trump goes on television to demand the arrest of his political adversaries.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 8, 2020

Republican Senator blurts out that he hates democracy https://t.co/DA0SRCfYVT

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 8, 2020

This is seriously disturbing. Democracy is one reason why we’re free. https://t.co/oRIpWV7LgZ

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) October 8, 2020

Your @SenateGOP, ladies and gentleman. Completely coopted by Trumpism. https://t.co/8ZJUIxjSz0

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) October 8, 2020

Lee made a case against mob rule—the thing most feared by our founders and something that should deeply concern us, as a party that countenances property destruction in the name of “democracy” edges closer to power. We got a taste of “rank democracy” in Minneapolis, in Kenosha, and in cities around the country.

Lee continued to school the left anyway.

Salt Lake Tribune:

When Lee’s spokesperson, Conn Carroll, was asked if Lee could explain his thinking, Carroll simply pointed to a quote from James Madison in Federalist Papers No. 10, one in a collection of essays written to promote ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

It says, “… democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

Then Lee gave the coup de grâce:

The word “democracy” appears nowhere in the Constitution, perhaps because our form of government is not a democracy. It’s a constitutional republic. To me it matters. It should matter to anyone who worries about the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few.

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 8, 2020

Some of Lee’s constituents couldn’t help parading their ignorance for all to see.

The left’s fascination with the exercise of government power should frighten anyone who loves democracy—pure or otherwise. The encroachment on our freedoms in recent decades has become alarming. The fact that it’s accepted by many on the left is largely the result of ignorance. I doubt there are too many kids today reading The Federalist Papers or learning much about the Constitution. But the gimlet-eyed radicals on the left will be sure to take advantage of that ignorance when the time comes.

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