The notion of “consent by the governed” is derived from the Enlightenment Era, as Europe began to contemplate life without monarchies. While the development of the United States benefited from the lack of cultural baggage by being able to practice republicanism and democracy from its [formal] point of origin. For a country that was founded in a crisis, it’s not hard to believe the nation has returned to such a spot again.
More than ever, Americans are moving to communities that align firmly with their chosen political ideology. Leaving the districts of Obama’s first term much to be desired whether you’re a Democratic or Republican candidate. Such a dilemma will only make the 2024 presidential cycle more interesting than it already is.
In the most recent Frontline PBS documentary “Lies, Politics, and Democracy,” John Bolton rightfully argued in his extended interview that the American system and safeguards were heavily stressed in the 2020 election, yet they still held; the most important part. He also warned not to make the dilemma more than it seemed since misappropriation was still successfully deflected. The logic of consent of the governed reinforces President Joe Biden’s victory through over 7 million more votes and 74 more in the Electoral College, over his opponent to mandate his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. Just 14 days earlier Congress was attacked while in the process of confirming the electoral count. Former Vice President Mike Pence followed the Constitution in good faith, and the rest is breathing history. It’s worth noting that former Judge J. Michael Luttig was also interviewed extensively (who Pence looked to for the constitutionality of certification).
In just a month, Americans across the country will head back to the polls en masse after having the highest turnout, by percent- age (over 60 percent), since the 1968 presidential cycle. The 2018 midterm elections also had the highest percentage of voter turn- out since the 1960s for midterms. The question now remains of what the country wants this time around. American voters must be careful in putting forth the next set of potential enablers, the concept that has clearly spiraled out of control. Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said her constituency argued that the 2020 election
itself was unconstitutional and thus claimed that she can’t certify in election in “good conscience.”
Back in the Frontline documen- tary, former Congressman Mark Sanford says in both the final cut and extended interview that the biggest issue facing politicians, more so Republicans, is self-pres- ervation, a glaring explanation for why figures like Ted Cruz are still around in full relevance (re- member what happened to Cruz at the 2016 RNC).
The true notion of voting with conscience has dissolved for var- ious individuals, knowing how Donald Trump cultivated one of the most valuable voter bases in American history. Sanford described the moment he knew his career was finished when in a meeting on Trump’s impeachment (which he supported) that a group of caucus colleagues
fell to silence and couldn’t even look him in the eye, no matter how logical his thoughts were. Note that this caucus was the renowned Freedom Caucus, which Justin Amash would end up leaving as well. Sanford was defeated in his 2018 re-election campaign in just the primaries not long after.
If someone from the most Libertarian wing of the Republican Party in the House was able to decide and confirm that there was genuine circumstance in Trump’s impeachment, there’s little excuse for others not to be able to think the same way. However, it remained firmly clear that Trump’s base and its power dynamics are simply too seductive to allow individual thought patterns in the Republican Party.