First it was said to have been a joke. Then, when that didn’t work, it was said to have been hyperbole. Now we’ve moved on to sarcasm and “out of context”. It’s a magical, transforming statement, it is.

 ”My point was one of sarcasm,” Perdue told reporters in Thomasville. “We really just need to encourage our leaders who are elected to work together and solve America’s problems.”

She added: “It was taken out of context from my perspective. But honest to goodness, who would think something like that would be said seriously. It’s ridiculous to have this kind of discussion about it.”

The quote that was “taken out of context” was actually captured on audio, which you can hear at the first link, by the Raleigh News and Observer. You can hear what she said for yourself. You’ll notice the Democratic governor was being dead serious about her proposition. She didn’t stop for a laugh, or indicate hyperbole, or sound sarcastic in the least. It was delivered dead seriously as part of a speech and then she continued.

Besides, in which “context” would it be acceptable for a governor to even suggest suspending federal elections? Federal elections are mandated by the United States Constitution. So she’s not only talking about suspending elections but the Constitution, too. In which “context” is that acceptable for a governor to suggest — jokingly or otherwise?

Of course, she wasn’t taken out of context. You can read her full speech and you’ll still come to the same conclusion: She was dead serious about her proposal.

Perdue let the collectivist left’s mask slip and now her folks are doing their best to put on a happy face and pretend it was all good fun. Well it wasn’t.

Peter Orszag, Obama’s first budget director, also recently suggested reducing democracy in the United States, also in order to get stuff done. And Thomas Friedman of the New York Times has long admired the ability of the Chinese government to get things done — because democracy doesn’t exist there. House Democrat James Clyburn recently told Obama to ignore Congress and start issuing executive orders to get stuff done.

This is a scary trend on the left side of the aisle. Perdue was just the latest lefty to suggest the reduction or suspension of democracy. To get stuff done, of course. By which they mean things that the government could never get away with in the current system of accountability to voters. It’s not just wrong — it’s anti-American in the truest sense.