Who’s a ‘threat to democracy’?

OPINION:

People of a certain age will recall a time when, after an election, the losing side would usually accept the results and initially give support to a new president during what was then called the “honeymoon” stage.

Richard Nixon conceded to John F. Kennedy in 1960, although he believed the election was “stolen” by Kennedy operatives in Cook County, Illinois. Al Gore conceded to George W. Bush in the razor-close 2000 election. Hillary Clinton conceded in 2016, despite strong evidence of election interference by Russia, while Donald Trump is still in denial that he lost in 2020 by more than 7 million votes.

The days of concession “for the good of the country” are gone. Not only is there no honeymoon, the “divorce” occurs first.

While claiming that Mr. Trump would be a “threat to democracy” should he win in November, Democrats and the left are plotting how to oppose his every policy, including his plan to deport millions of migrants. To Democrats, apparently, it doesn’t matter if President Biden’s margin of victory is small or large; they believe they have a standing and perpetual right to govern, even if a majority vote is different. Damn the voters.

One might arguably conclude that such behavior makes them the real threat to democracy.

A New York Times story reveals their strategy, including lawsuits to prevent deportations and Democratic governors who are stockpiling the abortion pill. What is it about Democrats and abortion?

Let me see if I have this right. If Mr. Trump wins, he will threaten our Constitution, the law, the environment and just about everything else. We are a constitutional republic, not a pure democracy, but since Democrats keep using the word, let’s look at its definition: “Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”

Are Democrats saying that if a majority of Americans vote for Mr. Trump, a majority of electoral votes go to the former president, or both, that is not democracy, but if Mr. Biden wins, that is democracy? Those are contradictions, aren’t they?

This is the arrogance of the left, which believes it has a divine right (if they believed in the divine) to rule perpetually regardless of the outcome of an election. Yes, we witnessed some of the same attitude demonstrated by Trump supporters in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Still, those people, many of whom were arrested and sentenced to prison, do not seem to be plotting lawsuits and other strategies to thwart a second Biden term.

In the not-too-distant past, the losing side in an election would lick their wounds, study what went wrong, and live to fight another day. Those days are over. It’s now year-round warfare. It is not good for the country, and it emboldens our adversaries.

From the Times article: “Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, denounced these efforts as a way to pre-empt Mr. Trump from being able to implement a legitimate policy agenda. ’It’s not surprising Biden and his cronies are working overtime to stymie the will of the American people after they vote to elect President Trump and his America First agenda,’ Mr. Cheung said.’ Their devious actions are a direct threat to democracy.’”

Whether one is pro- or anti-Trump, Mr. Cheung has a point. Elections can’t be legitimate only if your side wins and illegitimate if the other side is victorious. That attitude is the fastest way to undermine the United States into divided states and a perpetually divided people.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).