Has the U.S. Constitution Passed Its Useful Life?

Has the U.S. Constitution passed its useful life?  There are certainly signs that it no longer effectively routes political disorder through democratic channels:

• Political and economic polarization have reached extreme levels and are worsening.
• Political parties are weak and have lost the ability to moderate political differences.
• The President rules by executive order, undermines democratic institutions, like the press, demonizes the opposition and behaves as if he were above the law.
• Congress acquiesces to the President’s undemocratic tendencies.
• The Courts, which also have acquiesced to anti-democratic forces, are so politicized that they have lost much of their legitimacy.
• Mass disenfranchisement of voters of color has undermined the legitimacy of elections.
• Money interests dominate the political process.
• Significant minorities of some states support succession.

Evidence is growing that Trump and the Republican majority in Congress are too incompetent to threaten our constitutional democracy, but if there is anything progressives have learned from the last election is that we cannot be complacent.  The only way to tell whether democracy is imperiled is to see what happens next, and that depends on us.

In this community there is an upsurge of interest in “doing something” to combat Trump, but since all our locally elected officials already oppose Trump many would-be activists are left to wonder what they can do.  With this challenge in mind, the South Bay Labor Council is launching a new campaign, Call for A Change, that will enable local activists to devote their time and energy where it really counts: toward ending Republican control of the House of Representatives.

Fourteen Republican Congress Members come from California, and nine of them are particularly vulnerable to Democratic challenge:

• CA-10: Jeff Denham (R-Turlock)
• CA-21: David Valadao (R-Hanford)
• CA-22: Devin Nunes (R- Visalia)
• CA-25: Steve Knight (R-Palmdale)
• CA-39: Ed Royce (R-Fullerton)
• CA-45: Mimi Walters (R-Irvine)
• CA-48: Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa)
• CA-49: Darrell Issa (R-Vista)
• CA-50: Duncan Hunter (R- San Diego County)

Tomorrow, May 24^th, the South Bay Labor Council launches its Call for A Change campaign to engage voters in these critical districts. Volunteers will meet at 4 pm at the Labor Temple to participate in a Take Back Congress: Darrell Issa phone bank. Click here to learn more or participate in tomorrow’s event.

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