"Ambition To Counteract Ambition”
Why it's better to have two political parties instead of only one.
By JOHN LEAKE
Throughout American history, partisan passions have always run strong. Think of the lethal duel between Alexander Hamilton (a Federalist) and Aaron Burr (a Republican). Or Preston Brooks (a pro-slavery Democrat) who beat Charles Sumner (an abolitionist Republican) almost to death with a heavy cane on the Senate floor.
Though such partisan passions often bring out the worst in people, it is hard to imagine a free republic without at least two political parties. If there were just one unified and disciplined party running the show, the lack of debate and counterbalance would likely result in tyranny. One-party states are almost invariably dictatorships.
James Madison understood this well and wrote extensively about it. As he put it, “ambition must be made to counteract ambition” as a way to limit the power of government. It’s easy to lose sight of this when we feel disgust and contempt, but if we are going to avoid civil war in this country, we’d better not let these emotions get the better of us.
This is one of the reasons why I wrote earlier today that even Republicans and dedicated Donald Trump supporters should welcome Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. Many commentators responded to my post by suggesting that the entire Democratic Party is so irredeemably corrupt as to warrant abolishing it altogether.
This strikes me as neither possible nor desirable. Far better would be for a reasonable and honorable patriot like RFK, Jr. to make a contribution to moderating the party—to talking candidly about its problems and leading it back to integrity and prudence. When the opposing candidates are both respectable and respectful, they can debate in good faith without producing all of the dreadfully hard feelings we witnessed in 2016 and 2020.
Dear Substack Readers, I (John Leake) thank you for your commentary, both negative and positive. Though my schedule doesn't all me to reply to all of the comments, I do read all of them and try to learn something from them. I was prompted to comment on this thread by the most recent post by Duane Hayes. I agree with Victor Davis Hansen that the Democrat Party was hijacked in 2020. This has prompted MANY to feel that the only solution to the problem is to abolish the party altogether. While I understand the sentiment, I don't see that this is possible or desirable. History shows that the revolutionary desire to annihilate corrupt institutions instead of reforming them rarely if ever yields a positive result, and often results in many negative, unintended consequences. It seems to me that what would be best for the Republic would be for the Democratic Party to be brought back to reason and moderation. What, precisely, is the practical alternative? I suspect that the madmen who currently control the Democratic Party would LIKE to provoke a civil war, and I believe it would be very unwise to rise to the bait. As for the Republicans: What have they done to restrain the crazy Democrats? Why have they allowed the inmates to run the asylum? As recently as 2019, the Republicans controlled the Senate, the House, and the White House. Why did they lose control of everything? Are they really just poor, hapless victims who are too naive to understand the dirty business of politics? I often talk with people who complain that the perfidious Dems stole the 2020 election from Trump. I predicted they would do this 2 years before the 2020 election. Why didn't the Republicans prepare for this obvious risk and take greater measures to prevent this? Where are the Republicans (aside from Ron Johnson) who made a vigorous stand against the federal government's tyrannical COVID-19 policies? Where are the Republicans (aside from Rand Paul) making an inquiry into the origins of SARS-CoV-2? Where are the Republicans protesting America's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine? Where are the high profile Republicans making a sustained and vigorous stand against the mutilation of children in the service of this gender madness? And as much as I have always supported President Trump (enduring endless abuse for doing so), why did he tolerate Dr. Fauci's innumerable acts of insolent insubordination, thereby allowing the unelected doctor to become the de facto executive during the pandemic? While President Trump tolerated Fauci looming over his left shoulder at the White House press briefings, RFK, Jr. has singlehandedly challenged Fauci and the entire vaccine syndicate. In return for his efforts to tell the truth about this public policy issue--the greatest domestic public policy issue of our time--RFK, Jr. has paid an enormous social, economic, and political price. To understand the threat he poses to the men and women who have hijacked the Democratic Party, just look at how these people and their media lackeys treat him. Thanks again for reading our Substack! Best regards, John Leake
Psssst - John, there is just one unified and disciplined party running the show. That's the side that's not shown in public. But is SOP behind the scene. When the curtain goes up and the spotlights go on the stage is when the party affiliation side is on display. What better than theater to keep the masses from warring with one another. And more importantly, keep the masses from warring with the powerful uniparty and its backers. It's all a show. In case you haven't been paying close enough attention. The public battles are just small turf wars over who gets what part of the legalized shakedown of the masses.
- Former lobbyist of two decades who's been backstage to know.