When voters don’t keep extremism in check

Extremism on either end of the political spectrum has been with us forever. However, it’s usually kept in check by voters. A Seattle Times editorial described what has become of the left in Seattle this week.

In Seattle, [Mayor Jenny] Durkan was targeted at home recently with homophobic and misogynistic messages by left-wing protesters. Individuals at earlier such protests called for her execution, according to the mayor’s office.

This is the inevitable outcome when groups pursue policies at any cost and abandon civility, norms and the usual political processes. There’s no doubt polarization is a problem in the country. But polarization has been commonplace at other times in this country and we’ve always had extremists in our midst. What’s happened in Seattle and other cities in the country goes far beyond this.

In the case of those on the extreme left and those on the extreme right, in spite of the labels, there’s usually not much difference to them. By way of example, the homophobic rants and threats of violence from the left-wing groups in Seattle are the sorts of things we also often hear from extreme right wing groups. At a broader level, my father made this point years ago in a speech:

[P]arties conventionally regarded as being on the extreme left and the extreme right have had much more in common than they have had points of difference. Supporters of communism and various versions of socialism on the one hand, and Nazism and Fascism on the other, all believed in controls, economic planning, dictatorial government and the supremacy of the state over the individual. Mussolini was by origin a fanatical Marxist and Nazism meant National Socialism.

The reason we should be especially concerned about the situation in Seattle is that usually these left- or right-wing extremists are fringe groups with little or no support. We can denounce them and ensure they remain isolated. However, what’s ominous and heartbreaking for those of us who love Seattle is that there’s been too little denunciation of these groups and far too much support, to the point that they’re in positions of power. Let’s not forget that it was an (extremist) elected city council member, Kshama Sawant, that marched the left-wing protesters to the mayor’s private (and generally secret) residence where the slurs and threats of violence have since taken place.

Unfortunately, while Sawant is the only open socialist on the council, she’s been joined on the council by others ideologically aligned to her or very supportive of her views. That was the tragedy of last year’s Seattle City Council election results. There was an opportunity to pull back from this extremism. The alternative candidates were still well to the left, but not far left. Instead, the city ended up with an even more extreme council and continues hurtling down its current path.

No one should be surprised about the attacks on the mayor, or news headlines such as “Man beheads Canadian goose in front of horrified families at Green Lake” or the surge in tents at kids playgrounds and in parks, or councilmember Lisa Herbold’s proposal this week that will green light crime by excusing all misdemeanors.

It’s important to note that the way Herbold is attempting to get her proposal through isn’t via the usual process of public consultation or by holding meetings. Rather, she’s slipped it into the municipal budgeting process.

All of these examples are the inevitable result of Seattleites voting in extremists again and again, rather than denouncing their positions and supporting more moderate candidates.

When I survey other cities across the country, I can think of others with extremist left leadership, such as San Francisco and Portland, both of which are not surprisingly struggling with similar problems to Seattle. I can’t think of any with extremist right leadership, which frankly is a good thing, because as I noted above, the extreme left and the extreme right are usually one and the same.

At a national level, polarization is definitely a problem. The extremes that worry me there are the sorts of things being done by Herbold in Seattle and others who pursue policy at any cost. We’re always going to have to live with extreme political rhetoric from our representatives (and Trump’s especially terrible in that regard), but what concerns me more is the abandonment of traditions, norms and well-established rules.

Examples would include: Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid using the nuclear option on federal judges, which Republicans warned him he’d regret; Republicans taking it up the inevitable notch to remove the filibuster for Supreme Court justice appointments; the way a major entitlement program (Obamacare) was pushed through in a way no such program had ever been passed and with no bipartisan votes (again, unprecedented); the rushed federal regulations under the Obama administration that skipped important procedural steps (and allowed Republicans under Trump to immediately undo dozens of them); the current threats to abandon the filibuster entirely and to pack the Supreme Court.

All of this is well beyond the norms and traditions that are there to prevent extremism. We should all be worried about this and insist they be respected. Extremism at a city level is bad enough. Woe betide us if we experience it at a national level.