Don Surber

...says governments do not get amnesty

Comment:

With regards to the Atlantic piece about covid amnesty, Surber has an interesting point to make. These folks are asking for forgiveness for what the government did, but will not give amnesty for what the public may have done elsewhere. If there is to be any amnesty, it will happen in the voting booth.

He says it in terms of a government's FUNCTION. It is not the government's FUNCTION to give itself amnesties for its own foul-ups. Surber didn't say it that way, but that's how I'll interpret it. Also, that the function of the "democracy" is to hold governments accountable for their acts while in power. If they are found to have been in substantial error ( this case, that is putting it rather mildly), then they should be held accountable at the ballot box. Asking for forgiveness is just not cricket.

If they feel that they did the right thing, then let them defend that. But if they can't, they don't get to say "oopsie, sorry about that". In that case, nobody in government ever makes mistakes, and even if they do, they should never have to answer for it. How then, is that a democracy? That's what happens in totalitarian regimes. They can do whatever they damn well please, and the public be damned.

Surber is right then. Of course he is. The public has every right to be angry, and they should not feel restrained at all in throwing the bums out. It happens every election year. It ought to happen a lot more than it does. Some 90% of the incumbents are returned to office. What reason do they have to pay attention to what the public wants?

It should be what a popularly elected government should be about, but isn't happening often enough. If it doesn't happen this cycle, we may not get another chance. If there was anything to hold the government accountable for, it is for these last two to three years.