Biden, the Democratic Party and the Constitution

At a town hall meeting in Baltimore, Maryland last week, Anderson Cooper

asked President Biden whether he would entertain doing away with the Senate

filibuster in the matter of voting rights legislation. Biden responded “and maybe

more”.

Let’s understand something. Mr. Biden served 36 years (six terms) in the Senate

from Delaware. He has not been a member of that body since 2009 when he

was elected as Vice President on the ticket led by President Barack Obama. The

Vice President and the President are members of the Executive Branch of

government, not the Legislative branch (The third branch is the Judiciary-more

about that later) . These branches are specified in the Constitution and are a

fundamental part of our democracy which has endured for well over 200 years.

The separation of powers between the branches of government is non

negotiable. Cooper should never have asked Mr. Biden the question and the

President should have replied that the filibuster is a matter for the Senate to

decide. He has issued so many executive orders that he probably considers the

Legislative branch unnecessary and in any case just subordinate to his wishes.

Not yet, Joe. We still are a constitutional democracy, however inconvenient you

and your party may feel about it.

That brings up another issue, namely the independence of the Judicial branch of

government. In recent years, this branch has been politicized by the

appointment of District and Circuit Court Judges who have opinions consistent

with the party in power. Democrats pack the courts with their members and

Republicans do the same. The real problem arises with the politicization of the

Supreme Court. Many Democrats, angry at the replacement of the late liberal

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Justice Amy Coney Barrett have demanded that

Justice Stephen Breyer, age 82, retire so that he can be replaced by a younger

liberal Justice whom President Biden would nominate. Other proposals have

included packing the Supreme Court and establishing term limits for Justices.

All of these proposals would weaken, not strength our democracy and must be

opposed.

Let us recognize that Democrats will appoint Democrats and Republicans will

appoint Republicans. That is fine. But let us be vigilant and defend the

Constitution which remains the basis of our democracy. Neither extra

constitutional Executive encroachment on the other branches of government

nor expansion of such power should be tolerated. How many Constitutions have

endured as long as ours and still function and guarantee our freedom? In this

time of uncivil behavior and lack of civil discourse, the urgency of vigilance to

protect our basic freedoms has never been more urgent.

Garry S. Sklar

Las Vegas, NV

October 25, 2021