Former Democratic party presidential candidate and National Chairman Howard Dean appeared today on Fox News Sunday. Advocating the use (or rather the abuse) of budget reconciliation to jam Obamacare through the Senate, he said:
"I don't think the American people care about the process. They care about the result."
Thus spoke Dean the demagogue. Demagogues have always urged democracies to ignore or run roughshod over mere "process" for the sake of "result." For centuries, the friends of democracy have understood that this is one of democracy's most dangerous temptations. For "process" is another word for the rule of law, and for an adherence to rules and regulations that can bind citizens together even when they have sharp policy disagreements. If Obama follows Dean's demagogic advice, those who resist will be able truthfully to present themselves not just as defenders of choice and quality in American health care, but as defenders of the "process" of American democracy against a demagogically reckless Obama administration.