Common Sense To Save Democracy

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my late parents, especially my father, whose military service and sacrifice as a B-17 navigator and prisoner of war in World War II was followed by a distinguished career as a small-town lawyer and Judge.

It is also dedicated to the memories of Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, whose patriotic service in Congress preserved democracy. They served as role models for their colleagues and successors.

Forward

A government of our own is our natural right, and…it is infinitely wiser and safer to form a constitution…in a cool and deliberate manner, while we have it in our power.

—Thomas Paine, Common Sense

In 1776, the colonists were still somewhat reluctant to make the sacrifices necessary to secure independence from British rule. At that time, Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense to encourage their efforts. Ultimately, they succeeded.

Since then, despite multiple domestic and international crises, democracy has managed to survive.

Today, however, more than at anytime since the Civil War, serious question exists whether the majority of the population and elected officials remain willing to make the required sacrifices and commitment to save democracy.

In Common Sense, Paine provided the colonists with a rationale to pursue independence from England. Now, 248 years later, no such British dominance constitutes a threat to our democracy. Rather, the challenge now comes from within and without a renewed collective effort to preserve it, democracy may not survive. It is currently jeopardized by a pervasive adversarial and selfish mindset exhibited by a large segment of the population and elected officials who subordinate the common good to their own self-interest.

This short series of essays modeled after Paine’s Common Sense, identifies several policy issues in need of common sense solutions. Success in resolving these problems will require