The tyranny that our founding fathers feared, and the reasoning behind the well-ordered militia, had to do with fear of monarchy. At the time the constitution was drafted, after more than a decade of living under the Articles of Confederation, the possibilities existing for those who lived in the thirteen colonies that had just won their independence from Britain, to be returned to what they considered "tyrannical" rule, were very real. All of the other major powers who controlled land in North America were monarchies. Britain, France and Spain for the most part dominated the political scene and all of them were ruled by royal families. So each of the colonies had their militia which, when they weren't quarreling with each other, were put in place to fight European tyranny.
If there's still a fear of "tyranny" taking over in America, it would be reasonable for the term to be defined prior to making that determination. For right wingers, it means anything that is done any time the left is in control of the government. That's not real tyranny, since there isn't anything specific they can point to that comes close to the definition of the term but those who intend to use the term for their own political advantage don't let that little bump in the road slow them down. Looking at real tyranny, in its whole context, including what the founding fathers believed it was, and what it means now, debunks the right's perspective.
Timothy Snyder, in his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, and who is a leading expert on the subject, says, "The founding fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than Europeans who saw democracy yield to Fascism, Nazism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience."
What is Tyranny to the Extremists on the Right?
They keep talking about it like it's real.
Let's put this in perspective. First of all, making a comparison to twentieth century European totalitarianism requires having knowledge of exactly what that was. We know the names and where it came from, Fascism, which took root in Italy under Benito Mussolini, Nazism in Germany under Adolf Hitler and the Soviet-style communism under Lenin and Stalin. They were different economic and political systems, but they were all tyrannical in their demands of total loyalty to the state and total absence of personal liberty, individual rights and freedoms. Even those who were close to the dictators themselves, and who were loyal supporters did not have any liberty of conscience, and were never free to express any view that might have remotely been considered disloyal.
Perhaps that's why the use of the term "fascist" has been applied to Trumpism. There are multiple similarities in any political movement where individual conscience must be surrendered in exchange for loyalty to the leader.
So what kind of "tyranny" are right wingers in this country experiencing that can be compared with twentieth century European totalitarianism, which is how the word "tyranny" is currently defined?
Yes, that is the sound of crickets chirping in the dead silence that follows that question. That's because there is no tyranny, by definition, that is being experienced in America today. None. And as long as we have a representative democracy established by the constitution, there is no tyranny.
Losing an Election is not Tyranny
Holding free and fair elections is actually the primary means by which tyranny is defeated. In our constitutional democracy, political power comes from the people. And elections are the primary means by which the people exercise their power.
The stonewalling, grid-locked, uncompromising partisan stance that the Republican party has taken over the past thirty years is detrimental to the function of a democratic government. The GOP is controlled by extremists, pushed by propagandists like Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdock via Tucker Carlson, and Steve Bannon, who use their influence to threaten politicians that don't comply or support their agenda. There is a real threat of tyranny when those who control the wealth are able to use it as a means of subverting the will of the people. There is not any recognition, among those who push this political view, of the rights of "liberals" who don't share their perspective.
The closest America has come to tyranny since the Civil War occurred January 6th, 2021, when a mob organized by Trump tried to subvert legitimate election results to stay in power. Had that succeeded, we'd have had real tyranny. I believe our constitution is still strong enough, and the will of the people still powerful enough, in spite of Republican stonewalling, to have prevented that from ever being put in place, even if the disruptions had succeeded, because there are plenty of other safeguards in place to prevent that kind of subversive act from succeeding. The founding fathers wanted to make sure there was no turning back.
The 2020 election wasn't stolen. Not a single allegation of voter fraud has been proven by the accusers. In fact, what has actually happened, as a wave of "auditors" with no credentials descended on battleground states to look for fraud and waste millions of taxpayer dollars, is that the results of the election were confirmed. In some cases, these "auditors" were fronts for the Trump campaign, such as the "Cyber Ninjas" in Arizona, who claimed to be able to detect bamboo fragments in the paper of ballots alleged to have come from China, one of the crazier conspiracy theories of the Trumpies. Either no ballots with bamboo fragments were found, or they didn't have such equipment, but the few irregularities in the count that they did find were perpetrated by Trump supporters. Maybe that's why they quit. Ultimately, they quickly concluded, when the money ran out, that Biden really did carry Arizona.
In fact, all of the various "conspiracies" about how the election was stolen from Trump, some of them oldies but goodies that have been around for a long time, some of them new accusations related to mail-in ballots and technology, have been debunked. That doesn't change the minds of those who are convinced it happened, but when they keep insisting that they know, it is proof of their complete ignorance of the way elections are handled in this country. It means they have no clue about the way ballots are secured and counts are handled. I don't think anything I've ever seen has looked as pitifully stupid as all these Trumpies showing up where ballots were being counted, demanding to observe. Clearly, they didn't know that there were already people there on their side for that purpose.
Obviously, there's no restriction on gun ownership. More Americans now own guns than ever before, and all of the whining and griping about Obama, and then Biden, wanting to take away guns was just whining. Neither of them wanted to take anything away, all they want to do is enforce responsible gun ownership, which is something that we obviously do not have now. That's also something a clear majority of Americans favor, so not having it, in whatever form it takes, means that the will of the people is being thwarted.
Racial Equality and Social Justice is not tyranny. Free speech and freedom of conscience is constitutionally guaranteed, just as much as the right to bear arms. Being an American has nothing to do with being caucasian and speaking English. Being American is living up to a specific set of ideals and values, regardless of the language spoken or racial or ethnic background of the individual American. And that doesn't mean the cultural norms and values of the predominant racial group must be adopted in order for the minorities to be assimilated. People have a right to their social, political, ethnic and religious identity and it does not have to conform to the majority.
So Grow Up, You Damn Right Wing Snowflake!
Stop whining. The "liberals" being in change has not affected anyone's civil liberties, least of all the right to own as many weapons of a full variety of calibre of firepower, which is the second amendment interpretation that the far right has chosen to implement. It's certainly not my interpretation of the second amendment, so be grateful for the fact that if I were in charge, and had any say over gun ownership at all, I'd allow one hunting rifle, and one hand gun, provided a background check was passed, there was no prior criminal record, the owner had at least a high school diploma, and was at least 21 years of age and a six month waiting period had passed. There would have to be a valid reason, such as being a member of the national guard or providing security for public events and venues, to own anything more than that. President Obama and President Biden have been gracious and generous in what they have allowed.
The country does not have to be made over on anyone's terms. We endured four years of horrific incompetence under Trump, so the right wing can surely have the patience to endure government by the left, if that's really an accurate description of the Biden Administration. The voters have spoken, and they have the right to be heard. You still have the right to vote and have your vote count. And stop whining about voter fraud that can't be proven and which did not occur. That's a lie. Repeating it over and over again and acting like it's true makes snowflakes out of those who claim it. Stop being a damn, right wing snowflake, grow up and demonstrate a measure of maturity expected of an American. Learn about democracy and how it works. Grow up, for heaven's sake.
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