Unhappy with Democracy

A few events that have something in common:

• Bill Clinton was impeached for a relatively minor transgression.
• A lot of people said George Bush should have been impeached.
• Some people think Obama should be impeached.
• Many people say George Bush "stole" the election in 2000.
• Many people say George Bush "stole" the election in 2004 as well.
• Many Americans believe ACORN and Obama stole the election in 2008.
• Many people believe, despite the evidence, that Barack Obama was not born in the US.
• George Bush wrote an unprecedented number of signing statements indicating that he did not intend to enforce laws as written.
• Democratic senators during the Bush Administration filibustered so many judicial appointments that the Republicans talked about the "nuclear option" to stop them.
• Every single Republican in the Senate decided to filibuster against health care reform.
• Republicans have insisted that using reconciliation to pass health care reform is outrageous, even though they used it often when they were in power.
• Republicans have insisted that using a "deem and pass" procedure in the House of Representatives to pass health care reform is outrageous, even though they used it often when they were in power.
• Republicans across the country went to town hall meetings regarding health care last year with the intention of disrupting discussion.

And there are many more. What these events all have in common is that they are the results of people being unwilling to accept the results of majority rule. If the majority disagrees with me, they are so far off base that I cannot accept that their choice is legitimate, so I am left to question the legitimacy of their power, or to try to prevent them from exercising majority rule.

I understand. After the 2004 election, I was left dumbfounded as to how George Bush could possibly have been elected for a second time. It still shakes my faith in my country, in Democracy itself, and particularly in the intelligence and rationality of my fellow Americans.

What has brought us to the point that this type of hysterical reaction to democracy has become so commonplace for Americans across the political spectrum? I believe that the differences between the major political groups, conservative and liberal, have become so profound that we can no longer accept each other as legitimate. More on that later.