I believed that a two-party system of governance was essential in a democracy. In the past, under this system, the Democrats and Republicans would debate with reason and then present their compromising positions to the public. The public would decide and vote for the political candidate that had the general public’s priorities in mind. The candidate that won presented public opinion in the form of congressional bills to Congress and if passed, these bills became law. In this way, democracy prevailed because the laws were protected by nonpartisan Supreme Court justices that respected majority rule.
Within the last couple of years, I saw a glimmer of hope in Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s pretense of compromising and supporting the voting rights for all and the reproductive rights for women. I was hoping she would sway enough of her friends to support these objectives, but when it came down to the nitty gritty she voted right along with the opposition. She also voted for at least two of Trump’s choices of Justices, upsetting the balance of the Supreme Court by stacking it with six conservatives and only three liberals. This totalitarian gesture will cause chaos if the court overturns the laws implemented by the representatives of the majority.
It disappoints me that our two-party system is in great jeopardy, but wishing to save our fragile democracy I feel compelled to vote Democratic in the forthcoming elections and hope other concerned voters will do the same.
Floyd Peterson,
Hoonah
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