To the Editor:

I read the letter from William D. Wilday, chairman of the Constitution party of New York, in the Oct. 22 issue of The Altamont Enterprise. I feel it merits a response.

Chairman Wilday is expressing an idea that has recently become popular in conservative media outlets — that “democracy” is actually an evil thing, and that a “republic” is what we should be aspiring to. The difference between the two, according to Chairman Wilday, is that “in a democracy, the majority rules” whereas “in a republic, the government is limited by law.”

Where was Chairman Wilday when the United States Senate, under the Republican leadership of Mitch McConnell, chose to eliminate the filibuster rule when it comes to confirmation of Supreme Court nominees? That long-standing Senate rule, requiring a supermajority for actions of such consequence, was clearly a nod to favoring overwhelming consensus to simple majority.

Where was Chairman Wilday when the Senate Republicans, in an act of hypocrisy, decided to confirm a Supreme Court nomination less than two months before an election when, in 2016 they claimed to subscribe to a principle that Supreme Court nominations should not be taken up in the last year of a president’s term?

Chairman Wilday is a fraud. He claims to represent the “Constitution party of New York,” but he is no different than other members of the Republican party who are Trump acolytes. What he is saying is clearly opportunistic, not principled.

He sees the impending defeat of Donald Trump, and he fears that the consequent loss in political power and influence of the Republican party will negatively affect his personal political preferences. He makes a case based on principles — the kind our founders used to honestly debate — when, in fact, he has no such principled foundation.

My message to Chairman Wilday is this: Democracy and justice are not incompatible. We have a Bill of Rights. We have the ability to amend our Constitution, but only with an overwhelming majority from the states. We have protections in place to prevent a transient majority from disrupting the lives of those that are temporarily in a minority position.

What you are complaining about is that you fear that you may be passing into a phase where your view of the world is not vigorously represented in the White House. How do you think that a majority of Americans have been feeling for the past four years (check the popular vote from 2016)?

Get over it. Understand that our Constitutional system is working, even when your ideals are not winning the day. Get out there and lobby for what you believe is best and maybe you can change some minds. Stop your whining. Understand that a majority of this country has been feeling what you are now feeling for the past four years.

Doug Smith

Guilderland