OPINION:
In a democracy, the simple act of drawing a cross on a ballot paper helps set the direction of a nation, but, in 2016, people across the United States and Great Britain learned that not all choices get treated equally.
Americans who put a cross next to the Republican candidate assumed that, having won a fair election, the rules of democracy would apply. So, too, did the Brits who voted convincingly to leave the EU, especially after the government pledged it would honour the result.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
The rules in a representative democracy are that after an election the winners govern for a set period. In the direct democracy of a referendum, the majority decision should be enacted.
In both cases, the losers have to accept the result and allow the transfer of power to take place.
And that brings us to 2016, when the Democrats couldn’t get over losing to President Trump and the British “Remain” establishment began blocking Brexit.
In spite of alleged efforts to prevent it, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, whereas the Brexit verdict is still stuck in the jobs-to-do list. Or is that the never-to-be-done list?
President Trump’s agenda has certainly been hampered by the barrage of impeachment calls and endless accusations of racism and treason. What has been alleged as a full-blown coup attempt by the deep state, would have stopped it altogether.
It is only because of his fortitude, his loyal “Deplorables” and probably being smarter than his opponents, that is he still living on Pennsylvania Avenue, with four more years likely coming his way.
Sadly, the Brexit referendum, which was won by 17.4 million “Leave” voters in the biggest turnout in British voting history, has so far yielded nothing. Well, almost nothing.
That is because the driving force behind Brexit, Nigel Farage, was a Westminster outsider. Although he brilliantly outmaneuvered Prime Minister David Cameron and forced him to allow a people’s referendum, Mr. Farage had no power to get it through Parliament.
The Conservatives sought to marginalize him by taking over the Brexit mantle, but this proved disastrous as most of them didn’t believe in it and they put a “Remainer,” Mrs. May, in charge.
Yet, even in its state of non-being, Brexit has caused a seismic change in British politics.
The MPs’ loyalties within the two biggest parties can no longer be relied upon, the Liberal Democrats have been rejuvenated by standing as the main “Remainer” party, and Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party has soared as the defenders of the 2016 referendum result.
The dominance of the Conservative and Labor parties may have been diminished by the debate over “Leave” and “Remain,” yet, the philosophical division over rule by the people or the state is still there.
Not that the left-of-center parties in the U.K., or the Democratic National Committee in the United States, would ever admit to not believing in democracy — even to themselves.
But, by continually trying to bring down the Trump presidency, Democrats daily seek to thwart the democratic will of the American people. Their primary legislative goal seems to have been to stop the Trump presidency lasting four years, let alone four more.
Likewise, their British soul mates have been busy blocking Brexit. Nothing exemplifies this more perfectly than the outrageous, official slogan adopted by the “Remain-again” Liberal Democrat Party of “Bollocks to Brexit.”
It’s a phrase that polite folks would never utter, yet their popularity has increased. Some anti-Brexit Conservative and Labor MPs have even joined them.
That vulgar wording not only shows contempt for the outcome of the referendum, but also for the 17.4 million who voted for Brexit, and for democracy itself with the Lib-Dems advocating to nullify the referendum result.
As for bad language, the left thrives on it. What passes for humor seems to be how many times comics can use the F-word in the same sentence as Brexit or Mr. Trump.
Jokes are used to show political allegiance, while belittling and intimidating their enemies. Jo Brand, an English comedienne, was defended by the BBC after broadcasting that she fantasizes about throwing car battery acid over Nigel Farage. No “hate crime” there apparently, just “pushing the boundaries.”
It is difficult to stand up for polices that the angry left disapproves of, so agreeing with them is always the safer path to follow. Who wants to be vilified in the way that Mr. Trump and Mr. Farage have been?
I once interviewed Margaret Thatcher and she said, “It has never been easy to get the voice of conservatism heard.” Her successors tried the easier path of consensus and compromise, but none of them enjoyed anywhere near the kind of majorities that she commanded. Is there a lesson there?
In the future, it seems Democracy itself will need such a staunch defender.
• Andrew Davies is a U.K.-based video producer and scriptwriter.
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