"Margaret Chase Smith said the 1950 Senate had become a 'rendezvous for vilification, for selfish political gain at the sacrifice of individual reputations and national unity.'

"She railed against the McCarthyite character assassination of the day, but also against the flight from substantive political dialogue.  

"Our time, of course, resembles hers. Political language has also been debased and corrupted today. The Fox News propaganda of MAGA politicians is steeped in character assassination, baldfaced lies, petty insults and round-the-clock disinformation. 

"This is the hollowing out of political language, which tracks the corruption of government and the disappearance of serious policy debate. These movements of thought are not just part of one politician’s campaign for power. They are in service of a ruling public philosophy, that treats the government as an instrument for class plunder and private self-enrichment, a get-even-filthier-rich-quick scheme for the president and his family and friends.  

"But for the battered American public philosophy which insists that the government should be an instrument for the common good of all and the defense of our freedoms and civil rights, the state of politics in the country is a debacle and a serious threat to the survival of democratic institutions and the possibility of democratic progress. This is why people attending Town Hall meetings all over America are furious and inflamed about the grotesque condition of our government and our politics. 

"The major programmatic and institutional achievements of American democracy, like Medicaid and Social Security and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are under sweeping attack while the Constitution and fundamental rights of the people are under daily siege. The professional federal workforce which serves us is being decimated, dehumanized and demoralized by ceaseless assault. Meantime, the president and his family have pocketed more than three billion dollars in the first six months of his administration in government-facilitated deals with foreign dictators, startling international crypto meme coin scams, foreign Emoluments Clause violations like a $400 million Jumbo-Jet grift-gift from the dictator of Qatar known colloquially as 'Bribe Force One,' and nonstop pay-to-play corruption for pardons, jobs and government contracts.  

"The essential work of democracy is being trashed by the rule-or-ruin politics of the MAGA party. The overarching crisis of our time—climate change—has been obliterated as a subject of public policy debate and action in Congress, while the climate crisis itself has been exacerbated by the dangerous actions of those in power. 

"When did we last have a serious debate in Congress about how to reduce the cost of health care and make health coverage accessible to all Americans? 

"When did we last have a serious bipartisan undertaking to strengthen the voting rights of the people and the political institutions of democracy?

"This is not a partisan exercise we are engaged in today to save and strengthen democracy in America. Donald Trump was a pro-choice Democrat long before he was an anti-choice Republican and he even flirted with taking over Ross Perot’s Reform Party to run for president before settling on the GOP as his vehicle for taking power and dismantling constitutional democracy in favor of an authoritarian oligarchical system. 

"MAGA and DOGE are engaged in a hostile takeover of all the political institutions and programmatic achievements of American democracy. 

"Trump’s adamant claim that he has a mandate to dismantle everything from Constitutional birthright citizenship to Due Process to Medicaid to the professional civil service to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is farcical. He campaigned on lowering the cost of eggs and electricity so if he has a slim mandate, that’s what it is. 

"Even if he had openly campaigned on dismantling birthright citizenship and destroying Due Process, it would make no difference at all as Executive Orders and statutes, much less campaign speeches, cannot override the Constitution of the United States. I could campaign for president on establishing a church but even if I won, it would make no difference at all as it would still be unconstitutional. Campaign rhetoric does not alter the Constitution. 

"Here in America we have a supreme Constitution, not a supreme leader. As Tom Paine said, while the King was law before, in America the Law will be king. 

"As we fight to recapture democratic power and initiative, we must recall something Tocqueville observed which is that in America, democracy is either shrinking or it is expanding. We have been in a contractionary mode with all of MAGA’s voter suppression and disenfranchisement tactics, violent insurrectionism and coup-plotting and constant online propaganda and disinformation. 

"It is time to get democracy back on the growth track. This means statehood admissions—not for Canada and Greenland or Panama, which are separate countries that have not sought admission, but Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, home to millions of disenfranchised U.S. citizens. 

"It means replacing our dysfunctional and plainly undemocratic electoral college system with a national popular vote for president. It means passing a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to vote so we are not constantly playing catch-up with state-based voter suppression schemes. 

"It means restoring the imperiled freedoms of the people. 

"John Dewey said that the only solution to the ills of democracy is more democracy, and what we are suffering from today is not democracy but all the impediments and obstacles to it—and all the attacks on it. 

"Democracy is not just a static collection of rules and practices. It is an unfinished project in motion, a constant work in progress. 

"And we must never forget that democracy is the political system in service of human freedom. To borrow Lincoln's metaphor, democracy is the beautiful silver frame upon which rests the golden apple of liberty."