Surreal — thatap the word Merriam-Webster selected to be the dictionary company’s 2016 word of the year. Americans looked up “surreal,” defined as “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” far more often this year than in years past.
Much of this web search traffic was driven by — you guessed it — the presidential election. Itap like we had a weird dream. There were Russian hackers, CIA agents, a scorned Miss Universe, fake news outlets, talk of grabbing, ahem, Sarah Palin’s sparkle jacket, and red hats everywhere. Only it was real.
The strange dream gets stranger still. Last week, left-leaning comedian Joy Behar quoted the Federalist Papers on ABC’s “The View.” She defended the Electoral College’s role in preventing the election of a populist demagogue for president. And she’s not the only Democrat these days quoting the nation’s founders, invoking the words of the Constitution, and praising the freedom of conscience. Could the election of Donald Trump teach the left to be skeptical of government power?
The so-called Hamilton Electors were onto something. In their effort to convince electors to be “faithless” and select a different candidate than the one chosen by the states’ voters, these Democrats discovered the value of constitutional constraints on power.
One can imagine an election result so nightmarish that electors would have to be faithless to their states’ choice in order to be faithful to their country. An extreme circumstance would justify an extraordinary response. This was not that election, however. Concerns about Trump are justified, but he is no madman. Had the Hamilton Electors come closer to ousting the president-elect, they would have damaged the credibility of U.S. elections. Worse, they would have weaponized the Electoral College and encouraged future electors to attempt a post-election coup whenever they didn’t like the winner.
Thatap how safeguards become tactics. Remember when GOP activists used the recall provisions in the Colorado Constitution to remove legislators, not for misconduct, but for their votes? Democratic activists returned the favor by recalling Jefferson County school board members for their votes.
Fortunately there are other constitutional means to rein in political power, namely the separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches, and federalism — the separation of power between the federal government, the states and the people themselves. The founders created these divisions to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of a few. Their erosion over the past 80 years has created a behemoth federal administrative state that regulates nearly every facet of American life from business to education, health care to energy production, farming to transportation, and so on.
In less than a month, President Obama will hand over his pen and phone to President-elect Trump. Some Republicans will happily endorse the very same stimulus spending sprees, subsidies, cronyist tax deals, regulations, and expanded national debt limits they opposed under a Democratic administration. Republicans who support limited, constitutional government will likely be in the minority. They need Democrats to join them in reasserting limits on executive orders and regulation, ending Congress’ abuse of the Commerce Clause, and restricting judicial activism.
It would be refreshing to hear Democrats say, “We don’t need a federal law to do that.” “Thatap a state or local government prerogative.” “Let local schools decide.” “The market can handle that.” “No industry needs a subsidy.” “That regulation’s costs far outweigh the benefits.” “How do you plan to pay for that?” “Government is supposed to protect the rights of life, liberty and property, not stifle them.” “Americans can decide what to do for themselves.”
What if distrust of a Trump presidency led Democrats to seek limits on the exercise of government power? It might seem surreal, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented. Their opposition to increased federal surveillance powers, nation-building in the Middle East, and the war on drugs as well as recent support for elector independence show what is possible.
Krista Kafer (tokrista@msn.com) is co-host of “Kelley and Kafer,” which airs 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays on 710 KNUS.
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