Left seeks to deny American people the agenda they voted for

OPINION:

The people who claim they want to “save democracy” have a funny reaction when things don’t go their way. Leftists in California, the Pentagon and in Washington are working feverishly behind the scenes to dream up schemes to ensure the people do not get what they just voted for.

Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, is engaging in what the left for the past four years has been telling us is unacceptable conduct. “Our Commonwealth ran a free and fair election, and we are still waiting on the final results,” he said Monday, refusing to concede the race.

He’s behind by 35,063 votes. There aren’t enough uncounted ballots left to turn the tide in his favor, which is why the Associated Press called the race for Republican Dave McCormick on Friday. 

Just two years ago, Mr. Casey wrote on X that, “our democracy is facing serious threats from within. From election deniers running for office to the former President’s insistence on total devotion, it’s never been more important for each of us to stand up and speak out against hate.” By his own standard, he’s the election denier threatening democracy.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also a denier, but in a different sense of the term. He accepts the result, but not what it signifies. Mr. Newsom is fueling his presidential ambition by leading the movement to thwart the agenda the electorate just endorsed. He responded to President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 victory by scheduling a special session of the state legislature “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.”

While Mr. Trump didn’t carry the Golden State, he did improve his 2020 performance by an impressive 10 points. That was only possible because California’s voters are starting to have second thoughts about leftist policies. In deep-blue Los Angeles, for example, the George Soros-funded District Attorney George Gascon was tossed out of office in favor of Nathan Hochman by 20 points. Mr. Hochman had previously run for state attorney general as a Republican.

Mr. Newsom doesn’t care about his state’s ideological realignment. He will do what it takes to protect his state’s soft-on-crime and sanctuary city policies, regardless of what the pesky plebeians think. But at least he is an elected leader, and Californians are free to recall him at any time.

The same is not true of the insubordinate, unelected federal officials actively plotting against the incoming administration. Rumors are circulating about generals meeting behind closed doors to decide what to do if, for instance, Mr. Trump orders them to assist efforts to remove individuals present in the United States illegally. Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he would refuse to go away if President Trump asks for him to step down. 

Fortunately, some feds are beginning to acknowledge the magnitude of Mr. Trump’s victory. As this newspaper’s own Kerry Picket has reported, the “shell shocked” FBI leadership appears to have dropped the idea of mounting another resistance effort. Instead, they’re scrambling for the exits, trying to line up lucrative positions in the private sector.

Mr. Trump’s former top OMB lawyer, Mark Paoletta, said of the Justice Department that, “career employees are required to implement the President’s plan” and those that engage in resistance activity “would be subject to disciplinary measures, including termination.”

That’s as it should be. Public employees who no longer serve the public must resign their positions. To do any less is an attack on democracy.