I can't believe it is almost here, in less than a week the election will be history, and it will be historic. I know myself, I have never experienced anything like this in my lifetime, and many journalists are comparing it to the election of 1864, when the fate of the United States hung in the balance
That election was held during the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln wasn't expected to win re-election. His victory was due in large part to mail-in votes - from the Union soldiers. Sound familiar? The fate of our nation is hanging in the balance once again, figuratively if not literally. We are looking at a country torn asunder by a president who has spent four years fomenting discord, distrust, and outright hatred between his supporters and the rest of the country. He has taken over a once great political party, a party that produced the likes of Lincoln, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and he has laid it low.
This president has used the Justice Department like his private police force, directing them to investigate his rivals. He has cast doubt on, and tried to destroy the free press by calling them 'the enemy of the people', he is shredding our belief in the greatest institution of our democracy - the ballot box. And now he and his compatriots have packed a the Supreme Court, a once independent and equal Branch of government, to call an election in his favor, if need be. All this is reminiscent of Idi Amin, Victor Orban, and his much admired hero, Vladimir Putin.
It boggles the mind, the craziness of the past four years. The sheer level of financial corruption in the Trump Family is unimaginable in any other presidency. The hundreds of millions of dollars paid to them by foreign diplomats, and lobbyists and political PACs in this country, by way of monies paid to his hotels and golf club memberships, to gain the favor of the oval office. Secret foreign bank accounts, backdoor deals, payoffs to porn stars, and the total disregard to the office of the presidency, to the institutions Americans have held dear for over 250 years.
I ask myself why was the Republican Party so eager to give up the values that have been it's cornerstone since its inception; fiscal responsibility, free and open trade, conservative religious beliefs, and small government. For what in return; huge deficits, crushing tariffs, religious authoritarianism, and a government of cronies, crooks and felons. I long for the return of conservative patriotism, as paradoxical as it is to my social-democratic ideology, at least as it was sanely argued by the likes of Mitt Romney, and John McCain.
As incomprehensible as it may seem, there are those for whom this carnage still holds sway, perhaps it is the magnetic nature of demonic energy. Where the majority of us are controlled by the rules and regulations of a civilized world to curb our expressions of biases and prejudices, our president holds forth without such controls. And even though there is nothing remotely likeable about such behavior, there is something that compels some people to it. Evil is exciting, until you are the victim, and then it is too late.
On November 3rd we will be faced with a clear choice between evil and good, and as preposterous as that sounds I know of no other way to posit this election. Donald J. Trump is a compulsive liar who has contempt for the truth, a megalomaniac who is self-absorbed to a pathological degree, to the point of being unable to feel empathy for anyone but himself. He has no feeling of compassion or remorse for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died because of his ineptitude. He is the very essence of evil. There is nothing more ignominious than his smirk and his applauding for himself as he parades across the stage, tossing favors to the crowd of sycophants below.
By contrast, the president's opponent, Joe Biden, is boringly good - just an ordinary politician - plodding his course like a good democratic politician. He revers the institutions of government which have held this country together since it's founding. He has know great sorrow and abundant joy, and he can relate to those who are suffering and he can laugh with those who rejoice. He may not be the most charismatic president, but he will be a steadfast leader. I may not agree with all his policies, but I won't be ashamed to call him my president.
And so I have cast my vote already, I didn't want to take a chance of anything keeping me from that. And I will wait next Tuesday, like the rest of America, to see who will emerge victorious. I have faith in this country, yes, we stumbled four years ago but I have faith that we can right the wrong and once again be the beacon for the rest of the world. The world is waiting anxiously also. And won't it be nice to awake in the morning and not have to wonder what god-awful thing our president has said or done and tweeted about during the night.
I'm just sayin'
