12-16-2020
This week the plot thickened. Republican representatives to the Electoral College in 7 states cast votes along with their Democratic rivals. Two slates of votes in seven states, headed for Congress. Historical.
According to the Epoch Times: ” Republican electors in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico cast alternative slates of votes for President Donald Trump on Dec. 14, as the certified Democrat electors in the same states cast votes for former Vice President Joe Biden. ” (Fmd: > https://www.theepochtimes.com/electors-in-7-states-cast-dueling-votes-for-trump_3620059.html )
The last time this happened was 1960. It was Hawaii then and Congress ultimately accepted the votes for JF Kennedy.
Not everyone understands the minutia involved in the Electoral College. I myself, your loyal pontificator of prudence, has learned more than I expected to. Still, despite the obvious, multiple avenues by which our election process was defrauded, reversing it now seems a long shot.
My son, an independent thinker in his own right, has said on more than one occasion, “Dad, the problem is the two party system.”
George Washington agreed. He said of a two party arrangement, “They are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” (prophetic eh?)
Nevertheless, during Washington’s administration two parties did evolve. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and John Adams became early leaders of the Federalist Party. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison began the Democratic-Republican Party. The Federalist Party was more popular in northeastern states, while the southern states and folks in the wilderness generally preferred the Democratic-Republican Party. You can do your own work if you need more info.
My answer to my son was the same every time, “OK. I’m not so fond of it either. But what else? How do you organize an election? We could have more parties….”
Yet the third party, as Ross Perot proved, only lends power to the group furthest from it’s own policy, enabling the weakest group of the three to succeed in the end. Not the right answer. Except for Clinton.
It seems to me that Washington called it. But how else to elect our representatives. What difference does it make now anyway? “Unprincipled men (and women)” are the problem. They have led us to the brink; and we have no easy way out of this conundrum.
A full 60% of the population believe our election was fraud ed in multiple ways. 40% say otherwise. Your networks are still proclaiming “no evidence” in spite of the fact that we now have hours and hours of testimony, thousands of sworn affidavits, and tens of computer and statistics experts who have stepped forward also. Our courts have shown zero courage or interest in the truth. They don’t even ask questions. It’s one technicality after another, showing us once again why we hate lawyers in general. At least I do.
In a more civil society than we have today, the liberal keeps the conservative in check and visa versa. An honest tug and pull results in compromise, the very thing our government requires in order to get anything done. We are predicated on an adversarial system, one that relies on cooler heads to prevail. It also works from an assumption that can no longer be taken for granted. Our entire system assumes that maintaining individual liberty is the most important aspect of governance. (a unique concept in world history)
As many have noted lately, the parties used to argue over how to achieve something – the goal was agreed upon. But now we are simply fighting over who should rule. The Republicans are split between America first and globalism. The deep state has them frozen with fear, bribes at the waiting. They cower to confrontation with whispered mealy mouth points, some of which should be shouted loudly. The democrats, barring few, are simply bullies who repeat talking points from George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. The deep state mentality is the Democratic Party, socialism equating to a complete takeover of economy and society. They are re-writing the past from their WOKE perspective as Picasso might throw paint at a wall. They’re reading from the manifesto while the Republicans hide in the shadows.
Oh, where are the patriots?
I read too much. This week I got hung up re checking my memory using web sites on page 1, google. AHHHH … what cursory, weak research. But I was just fact checking an old man’s memories.
While reading the saga of Aaron Burr dueling with and ultimately killing Alexander Hamilton, I was struck by the condemnation the author had for all of the founders. It was as if he was siting the duel as an example of what barbarians wrote the constitution and formed our government. So I looked on….
Another piece of fine educational material went even further to denigrate the 18th century intellectuals, liking Washington to a moron, Jefferson to an ignorant racist, and Ben Franklin as a womanizing playboy who like to travel on some one else’s dime. My blood pressure sent me to the couch.
Do they not teach context to master students? Does everyone evaluate the all of history by 2020 standards? I am desperately trying to be kind and hunting for a place where most of us can stand in agreement. I welcome debate of the principles and avoid the personalities. My only standard is NEVER COMMUNISM. Why are so many people locked into the single perspective THEY have as though it were holy ground, all else the terrain of infidels?
The very reason we cannot talk to one another is due to different perspectives. (I also blame brainwashing) And let me tell you as one who has dealt with the general public across the lower 48 states for 40 years: people all have different perspectives. Something else: In other countries, their perspective is even stranger! (to us) Moreso, read my lips …. throughout history, mankind has not thought and believed as we do today. That’s what the word CONTEXT is for!
When we say “he was a man of his times” I hope we are not inferring that he was Homer Simpson stupid. Have you ever wondered how impossibly difficult it must have been to invent the internal combustion engine at a time when there was no such thing? Or what about indoor plumbing? A simple hinge does not grow in the wild, so who thought that one up? What about gun powder? Ever wonder how many experiments had to be tried until they got the formula right? I could go on all day.
No sports fans, the people that came before us were probably much smarter than we are. They sure as hell worked harder. And the truth is, our two party system has been at war since the beginning, a dirty war. Unscrupulous people. Politics is ugly. That is why polite company refuses to discuss it. No one actually likes politics unless they are narcissistic. Being an egomaniac is a prerequisite to becoming a politician. God, I hope I never have to go through this again.
Likewise, in the 18th century honor actually meant something. It was, in today’s language, a person’s identity, wholly worth dying for. Speaking of dying, which we are terrified of; how one died was very important to the people of that time period. Not so today. We’re measuring quantity only now.
Our revolutionary forefathers were tough. For Pete sake, they took on the most powerful monarch of the time — KING FUCKING GEORGE. Think Hamilton was afraid of Burr? Does George Washington seem meek or hesitant? Think Andrew Jackson, (War of 1812, not a revolutionary) with a musket ball lodged in his lung for years of his life — was afraid to take a stand or push back? By our standards, we might perceive these people as animals. But they were convicted, devoted, and loyal to the cause for independence. They were human beings with great intelligence who understood morality, justice, good and evil. They were rarely motivated by money alone because there wasn’t much of it in the first place. Any floor that was not dirt was a good one.
Our history is littered with political dogfights, character assassination, real assassination, riots, screaming matches and debates not unlike the one we saw this year. These things are not always justified. Choosing the better of the worst is part of the game. Democracy is uphill. The whole idea of a “safe space” could only be conceived of by a society of ingrates and decadent cowards.
As far as the document signers, they were products of the age of enlightenment. They were fully vested in the Greek classics, as well as the philosophies of Francis Bacon , Descartes, Newton, Locke, Wollaston, and Berkeley. Can AOC quote Cicero? Does Joe Biden know the name of Alexander the Great’s father? Could Trump guess what year Budda lived? Could any of them name three English kings who ruled consecutively ? I have read portions of Ben Franklin’s autobiography and it is remarkable what he studied, how he went about it and what conclusions it lead him to. How could he not be a skeptic when he chided, “You have a republic now … if you can keep it.”
So the two party system is hard; and if we could find a better way to insure our liberty then I would vote for it. But a one party system equals tyranny. A 4 year dictator, voted in, would be better. All of this is to say that we need to keep fighting and try our best to keep it civil. I fear civility is gone by the wayside, however.
Here’s the rub. If we have no faith in our elections, if our constitution is worthless – we have nothing. We are a banana republic, falling the way of Rome or pigeon feed for the Chinese Communist Party. The stakes could not be higher. To drop one last name, Patrick Henry said it all, “Give me liberty or give me death.” I could not agree more. I volunteer to take a bullet when my time comes.
Another writer who is far more qualified than I, whom will remain anonymous, has written this week, concerning the election: “Anyone who takes a cursory look at the affidavits, the witness testimony, the statistical anomalies, and the forensic investigations can see what happened in this election. The Democrats can’t win this fight, and they know it. They are banking on election deadlines and weak-kneed Republicans to stand idle as they march to victory. Conservatives must continue to provide the fuel for GOP politicians unaccustomed to acting courageously — especially when facing the storm of the left’s vitriol.
He continues, “In an open letter to my state legislature, I expressed my concern that if this election stands, the violence to follow will make Antifa and BLM seem like child’s play. I believe that to be true.“
We can hope.