Spectacle. That’s the way the Democrats apparently view the legislative process. It’s a show that doesn’t matter. It will fade. People will forget. But the “work” will remain, the exercise in Nietzschean will shall persist. Power will endure where representation recedes.

It’s a hell of a thing to admit openly. But Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy did so without shame.

Why? What empowers an elected official to display such sheer flagrant hubris?

How did Minnesota Democrats think they could get away with allowing one of their senators, who was credibly charged with the first-degree burglary of her own mother with weeks left in the legislative session, to be the deciding vote in a 34-33 split senate? Why did they prioritize woke nonsense like a bastardized version of the “Equal Rights Amendment” which would have eliminated women as an objective category in law? Why did they allow another one of their senators to boycott his job on the second to last day of session in a successful effort to coerce a minimum wage for the independently contracted drivers who work for Uber and Lyft?

They were empowered to do these things for one reason – persistent single party control.

Our Founding Fathers wisely cautioned against the formation of political parties. They recognized that the checks and balances affected by the United States constitution would only function as designed if the interests among the branches and levels of government were uncoordinated. In Minnesota, the coordination between branches and levels of government has been calcified under persistent Democratic reign for decades. Every member of the Minnesota Supreme Court was appointed by a Democrat. Every statewide constitutional office is occupied by a Democrat and has been for decades on end. Both chambers of the legislature were this term controlled by Democrats. Every state agency, department, commission, council, and taskforce has been littered with radical left-wing activists. There simply are no checks and balances in Minnesota state government.

So, what should be done about it? In the short term, some degree of balance must be restored this November. The Minnesota House is the only body up for election this year and must be reclaimed by Republicans as a torniquet on the bleeding Democrats have inflicted. But that is not enough.

At minimum, the Minnesota Senate must also be reclaimed, past which point the two chambers can propose amendments to the state constitution which cannot be vetoed by a Democrat governor. We need to fundamentally restructure how government works with such amendments, ratifying a “taxpayer’s bill of rights” and otherwise limiting the ability of future legislatures to spend like drunken sailors and rule like unhinged tyrants.

The dilemma Minnesota faces serves as a cautionary tale for every state in the Union. Minnesota has become a contender for the most radical leftist state in the country, despite being surrounded by some of the reddest states. Democrats cannot be allowed to gain such a foothold for such a length of time, or all checks and balances will fail.