The Mills of Electoral Change Grind Slowly, But Exceedingly Small

Hey, I want the cowardly waste of oxygen out of office, too, but unfortunately incompetence is not an impeachable offense. An election got him into office and next year's election will get him out.

Gov. Steve Beshear is among more than two dozen governors who have received letters from an anti-government group demanding that they resign or be removed.

Kentucky State Police Lt. David Jude said Friday that Beshear had received one of the letters and that security has been increased around the governor as a result.

As of Wednesday more than 30 governors — Republicans as well as Democrats — had received similar letters from the anti-government group Guardians of the free Republics, according to an internal intelligence note by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, which was obtained by the AP.

Investigators do not see threats of violence in the group's message, but they fear the broad call for removing top state officials could inspire others to act violently.

Beshear spokeswoman Jill Midkiff declined comment on the letter, saying the administration does not discuss issues regarding the governor's security.

But the letters prompted Attorney General Jack Conway to call Friday for political leaders to stop trying to “whip people into a frenzy” over the health care reform package passed last month by Congress.

As Tom Hilton wrote at No More Mister Nice Blog on Wednesday:

Here's How It Works, People:

You get to vote in elections (or not vote, but that's your choice). Elections can go either way. Sometimes your candidates win, and sometimes they lose. When your candidates lose, that doesn't mean the results are illegitimate.

The people who do win these elections are then authorized to make decisions on your behalf, even if you didn't vote for them. That authorization continues until they leave office.

Sometimes the winners do things you don't like. The fact that you don't like them doesn't mean those things were done without your consent or representation. You gave your consent when you voted in an election, and you are represented by whoever wins. Unless you didn't vote. In which case, you gave your consent by default.

When this happens, it isn't an abuse of power, or unconstitutional, or tyranny. It's the political system working in an entirely legitimate way. A way you might happen not to like, but the way it was meant to work.

Oh, and by the way? The people do not directly vote on legislation. An opinion poll is not a plebiscite. When Congress passes a bill that a majority of poll respondents oppose, that isn't un-democratic; it's just a different decision about what should be done, by the people whose job it is to make those decisions.

When you claim that any given result of the legislative process is illegitimate just because you don't like it, you de-legitimize the process as a whole. Which you're perfectly free to do, because it's a free country, and people can say stupid things if they want to. But if you do try to de-legitimize the legislative process, you don't get to pretend that the people who designed the process are on your side.

Got it?

No, they don't got it, Tom, but thanks for saying it so clearly. Pass the word: elections have consequences.