What Must Be Prioritized Above All Else

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin reported yesterday on a conversation she had with former Soviet dissident and world chess champion Garry Kasparov. He leads The Renew Democracy Initiative, which comprises dissidents from 28 countries who are working to defend and preserve American democracy. Kasparov has lived through what he’s talking about. He says that “the very existence of well-functioning liberal democracies threatens dictators’ legitimacy.” That’s why autocrats throughout the word will do everything to create chaos and divide our country. In a time of crisis, like the present one, those who wish to preserve democracy must prioritize working to do so above all else. That’s why it’s so absurd for people like Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema to prioritize preserving the filibuster rule over preserving and restoring voting rights and ensuing the integrity of electoral processes. It’s behavior akin to refusing to break the glass facing of a case to take out a fire extinguisher with which you can keep a building from burning down.