Sanders: Republicans are a ‘threat to American democracy’

The Vermont senator blasted the GOP on Monday when he said, “For many Republican leaders, ‘democracy’ means billionaires buying elections and poor and working people being disenfranchised.” He went on to add, “Too many Americans have fought and died to defend American democracy. The Republican anti-democratic vision is not a future we will allow to happen.”

But, there is an important distinction here that Sanders did not make.

Contrary to popular belief, America is not governed as a pure democracy. In a democracy, an individual and minorities have no protection against the unlimited power of the majority. It is described as “majority over man.” A Republic, which is how our country is governed, has a written constitution of basic rights that protect the minority from being completely unrepresented or overridden by the majority. In our Republic, sovereignty is held by the people, not a majority much like the Democratic Party claims it should be.

Sanders then tried to argue that a GOP-controlled government will make it harder for Americans to vote. He said, “We must do everything we can to make it easier for people to participate in the political process, not harder, Republicans will likely move aggressively to expand their current voter suppression efforts.”

I don’t think there is a more straightforward way to vote in our country. You register, show up on election day (or on early voting days), validate your eligibility by showing your I.D., then choose the nominee you want to vote for. I’m not sure if Sanders grasps the fact that in many other countries, the people are thrown in jail when they try to put in their two cents about the government. Under Fidel Castro’s rule in Cuba, Colin Kaepernick would have been prosecuted before he got three words out during his protest.

So, it is only right for me to come to the conclusion that when Bernie Sanders stated Republicans are a threat to American democracy, he meant the opposite.