The Threat From The Left

“Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinking Rules!”

‘I’ll be honest with you; I didn’t tune into the debate for very long. There’s a lot I miss about having younger kids but bickering and name calling isn’t one of them. There may have been a time when presidential campaigns were about policy white papers and serious debates about domestic and foreign policy matters, but those days are behind us. I have better things to do than watch two adults lie, call each other names, and avoid answering the questions in a race to see who the public considers to be the least bad candidate for the leader of the free world. 

Still, in the time I did tune in, I heard one comment that I agreed with. During an otherwise predictable back and forth between the contestants (probably a better term than “candidate” these days), Trump argued that the defeat of Roe v. Wade returned the issue of abortion back to the states. I believe that this is an important point as the Tenth Amendment clearly states that:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of abortion, it is clear that regulating it is not delegated to the United States by the Constitution and thus it is reserved to the States. Why does this matter?

Many of you have probably seen this headline: 

When it first came to my attention it warranted little more from me than an eyeroll and a “here we go again” thought. I’ve seen it in my Twitter feed a few times since it first came up and the more, I saw it the more I felt a sense that I’d seen something like it before. Then it came to me, that this is not unlike the “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact” supported by Robert Reich. For those unfamiliar with it this compact, which I’ve written about in detail, is an effort to make the Electoral College irrelevant by getting states to agree to award all electoral votes to “whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.” It’s website even has a section detailing the “Myths about the U.S. Constitution.”

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I am not a legal scholar so cannot comment on the constitutionality of the effort, but I can say that this is another clear example of the Democrats attempting to end-run the rules. The Democrats have won the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 elections but have “only” won the election 5 times. Despite their efforts to frame this as an effort to make “every vote equal,” this is about power and little else.

Two examples don’t make a pattern however other examples reveal how little regard the left has for the rules, including:

• Attacks on free speech – whether it’s to combat “misinformation,” hate speech,” or just for our own safety, politicians on the left and their allies in the media have been increasing their efforts to undermine free speech. In late 2022, the "Twitter Files" revealed that prior to Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter had engaged in deplatforming conservative content and suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story just before the 2020 election. More recently, Mark Zuckerberg told the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that the Biden administration had pressured Meta to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic. 

• Modifying the Supreme Court – while being careful not to refer to proposed changes as “packing,” the proposals are poorly disguised efforts to reconfigure the Court so that it is more friendly to a progressive agenda. The Biden administration has floated efforts to address age-related issues by setting term limits. Given that the Democrats had no issues with the ages of the Supreme Court Justices when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the bench - she passed away on September 18^th, 2020, at 87 which would have made her 75 when Obama was first elected and 83 when he left office – Clarence Thomas, the oldest justice at 74, should not be a concern. The plan to establish 18-year term limits convenient avoids the question of whether it would only apply to new judges or if it would mean that Clarence Thomas (1991), John Roberts (2005), and Samuel Alito (2006) would be forced to retire enabling a democrat to add three left leaning justices.

• Lawfare – efforts to defeat opponents (Trump) in court rather than at the ballot box is a clear authoritarian move by the left. These include:

  • Civil Lawsuits: Trump has faced numerous civil lawsuits, some of which critics argue are more about harassment or political vendetta than genuine legal grievances. (ex. New York Attorney General Letitia James on allegations of business fraud, despite Trump's claims of full repayment to banks).

  • Criminal Indictments: Multiple criminal charges against Trump, including those related to his business practices, election interference, and handling of classified documents, are arguably politically motivated, aiming to delegitimize or incapacitate Trump politically rather than for legal accountability.

  • Election Challenges: Efforts to remove Trump from ballots, like in Colorado, citing the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause.

Several progressive goals also push the limits, if not exceed constitutional constraints including:

• Campaign Finance Restrictions - Progressives seek to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and impose stricter limits on campaign contributions, particularly from corporations and wealthy individuals, to reduce money’s influence in politics. As the Supreme Court has ruled that political spending is a form of protected free speech, attempts to limit or ban political expenditures would likely be seen as infringing on constitutional rights

• Gun Control Measures (Assault Weapons Ban and Mandatory Buybacks) – Efforts to implement stronger gun control measures, including banning assault weapons, imposing mandatory buybacks, and restricting high-capacity magazines continue to disregard the Second Amendment and frame “safety” as a more important than individual rights.

• Free College and Cancellation of Student Debt – Not only is this a goal of progressives but the Biden Administration has made multiple attempts to forgive student debt, utilizing various programs and executive actions, especially following the Supreme Court's decision to block his initial broad forgiveness plan. 

During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, many Democrat politicians attempted to cast their party as the party of freedom. However, they did so by defining freedom as it relates to abortion, public safety, and the economy. As vice presidential candidate Tim Walz himself said, “we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself.” However, to protect these “freedoms” the Left must first ensure they gain power and that the laws they pass are constitutional and lately it seems that to accomplish these goals they’re willing to destroy the Constitution, upend the Electoral College, and make a mockery of the Supreme Court. Things they shouldn’t be free to do. 

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.