JLF head John Hood offers up a critique of the Moral Monday movement. A highlight:
Democrats have never received a majority of votes for a legislative chamber and then, because of gerrymandering, won only a minority of seats. But that actually happened to Republicans in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Where were the liberal activists and special-interest groups when these abuses were going on? Did they attempt to obstruct the Democratic legislative majorities as illegitimate? No, because they generally liked the legislation that resulted.
To many liberal activists and Democratic pols participating in Moral Monday protests, these rhetorical and strategic considerations are irrelevant. They have no interest in trying to persuade conservative politicians to adopt different policies. They simply want to destroy them, politically and sometimes even personally, in order to regain power. I can think of many appropriate adjectives for this. “Moral” is not among them.
Conservatives should resist the temptation to ridicule or dismiss Moral Monday protesters. It makes those conservatives look small. And Republican politicians should learn to exercise their newly achieved power with grace, humility, and wisdom. Still, at its core, the Moral Monday movement is based on a self-defeating principle: that the only people deserving of respect are those who already agree with you.
