When President Biden announced his trillion-dollar extravaganza that puts government into even more aspects of daily life, the LATimes called it “boosting democracy.” But what do progressives mean by “democracy”? They surely don’t use the word in the normal sense: the people rule. Far from it:

• Los Angeles County is the most populous in the US with 10 million residents. Like most counties, we elect our sheriff. We follow the American tradition that the people control law enforcement, not vice versa as in most nations. But the LATimes doesn’t like Sheriff Villanueva despite his Hispanic heritage. So they want the Board of Supervisors (as we call county commissioners) to appoint the sheriff, because he would be more “responsive.” Responsive to whom? The politicians. The sheriff is already responsive to the people, who can vote him out of office or even recall him. But that’s not progressive enough for progressives, who want to disempower the people.
• California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a recall election. The LATimes and letter writers claim this will damage democracy. There’s that word again. To us it still means the people rule. What could be better evidence of this than the people replacing their governor? But to progressives, the key word is not “democracy” but “governor.” If their guy is in office, it’s “undemocratic” to remove him. After all, he “governs.” And we obey. Got it?

Like all words, “democracy” means exactly what progressives say it means, neither more nor less. We think in words. When words lose their meaning, it becomes impossible to think clearly. People who don’t think clearly are easily ruled. And here we are.

•