Gary Varvel: The 'threat to democracy' claims are ludicrous

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ARCHIVE - Jan. 2023 cartoon: Despite the GOP’s infighting, they are better than the progressives.

ARE REPUBLICANS A THREAT?

I wrote this column for my hometown newspaper answering the question: ‘Is the modern Republican Party, led by Donald Trump, a threat to American democracy? Why or why not?’ 

My response:

After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Maryland delegate James McHenry wrote that Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Franklin said, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

The United States government is not a democracy, it is a Constitutional Republic. The difference is our elected officials represent us as directed by and restrained by our Constitution. Under a pure democracy the majority rules with no constitutional constraint. 

Now to answer the question, the Republicans, led by Trump are NOT a threat to our Constitutional Republic. The proof of this was Trump’s four years in the Oval Office.