Just Joking

North Carolina's Democrat governor Beverly Purdue recently suggested that we should suspend elections so that Congress wouldn't have to worry about pressure from the voters and could actually give themselves to the task of solving the nation's problems. When her suggestion got out she was immediately pilloried by conservative media (if the liberal media found her suggestion offensive I didn't hear much about it from them). Her staff reacted to the criticism by saying she was just joking, but that's certainly not evident from the audio of her speech. It sounds to me like she was dead serious:

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air puts her comments in historical perspective:

We have had a number of depressions, including the Great Depression, in our history. We fought two world wars and a decades-long Cold War against an existential threat. During all of these times, the US held its normal Congressional elections. In 1862, Republicans lost 22 seats in the midterm elections, and in 1864, Lincoln faced a tough challenge to continue his role as Commander in Chief.

Both elections took place in the middle of the Civil War, while hundreds of thousands of Americans were dying on battlefields. Comparatively speaking, this is just a rough patch in the road.

We don’t put aside democracy in tough times. In fact, the tougher the times, the more accountability we need from our government, not less. As my friend and radio partner Mitch Berg wrote, “The dumb part? That a bunch of politicians, relieved of the pressure of having to justify their political existences to voters, would “solve” anything.”

Any politician arguing that our government needs less or no accountability to its constituents and citizens is a politician whose constituents should send into ignominious retirement at the first possible moment.

Ms Purdue's remark exemplifies the inclination toward the totalitarian solution that lurks in the hearts of many progressives. President Obama has himself said on occasion that he wishes he could simply bypass Congress and rule by fiat. It'd be easier to get things done.

Now, I'm not suggesting that either the governor or the president have any nefarious motivations for these comments. I'm sure they're just frustrated by the lack of progress in Washington, but what I do think is that among many progressives and liberals there's a feeling that separation of powers and the American constitution are seen as impediments to progress more than as welcome safeguards against tyranny.

This is a dangerous view even when held by good people. Bad views held by good people make it easier for evil people to impose tyrannical policies upon a nation.