Elected officials are sent to Washington to govern but not to rule. This may sound like a question of semantics or at best a fine distinction. But rulership isn't a legitimate part of democracy. When a governing class develops in a democratic society, it loses contact with the people who elect it. In many ways America is burdened with such a class, which has amassed power over the past fifty years, until it arrived at a place where its right to rule goes almost unchallenged. Who belongs to the ruling class? One might start with the wealthy lawyers who form an inordinate percentage of senators and congressmen, then move on to the corporations whose lobbyists write the very laws that are supposed to regulate corporations. Working hand in hand, these two blocs form a privileged class that feels free to ignore what the American people actually want. An unexpected benefit of the Bush years is that the ruling class may have gone too far. A culture of corruption binds Congress and lobbyists to an unheard of degree. Bill after bill, earmark after earmark, has blatantly served special interests. Both parties are guilty of kowtowing to money and the corporations that dispense it with shameless abandon -- the buying and selling of political favors has never been so outrageous. Influence peddling, once a crime, has become the norm. The ruling class also includes those who wield power without checks and balances. The disaster of the Iraq war can be traced in large part to a small cabal of neoconservatives surrounding the White House who decided to railroad Congress and the American people without consultation from anyone who failed to buy into their ideology. Under the cloak of national security, the advent of warrantless wiretapping, torture of captured enemies, secret prisons abroad, and a host of other infringements of the Constitution came about without discussion or advisement. A handful of self-styled rulers did what they wanted to because they could get away with it. Finally, the present ruling class imposes a narrow religious ideology that grossly oversteps its rights. Right-wing Christians, the so-called values voters, constitute roughly 25% of the electorate. As such, their minority rights are protected in a constitutional democracy. But that's a far cry from pretending to be a majority and forcing their values on to everyone else. Unknown to the average citizen, the religious right has infiltrated every department of the executive branch by the use of civil-service appointments. On a broader basis, conservatism has become a litmus test for federally appointed lawyers and judges as well. A good example is provided by the new laws that demand voters to show government ID before they can enter the polling booth. Previously, such IDs were not required (one only had to be listed on the voting rolls) and border on being unconstitutional. Yet a number of states have adopted such requirements, which seem on the surface to be a blatant form of intimidation, since blacks, Latinos, the poor and the uneducated would be the least likely to have IDs or to trust the government for demanding to see one. In every single case where such laws have been tested in federal court, Republican judges have supported these laws and Democratic judges opposed them. This rigid partisanship grew directly from the litmus-test standards imposed by conservatives and is shocking to long-time judicial observers. The days when a judge could change his philosophy over time or choose to align himself with liberals one day and conservatives the next, depending on the merits of the case at hand, seem to be forgotten. The betrayal of democracy hasn't escaped notice, and the Democrats have promised, once they gain the White House, to sweep away the distorted policies of the right wing. Yet we can only watch and wait. The end of neoconservatives won't end the war. Nor will it depose sitting judges or weaken lobbyists or bring in a new class of congressmen who aren't beholden to moneyed interests. The entire government has become entangled in the problem, and it will take an awakened electorate to undo the harm that has been done already. The key to an optimistic, progressive America -- the America that threatens to turn into a dream of the past -- lies in a renewed belief in an open society and trust in the principles of democracy. Do you want to be governed or ruled?
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