Back to Old Habits

Following the mid-term elections of last year, I swore off political blogging out of disgust.  I was unable to come to personal terms with the outcome of those contests and simply could not reconcile in my mind as to how the American public could make such decisions about our nation’s leadership.  Since that time, I have reflected on those issues and, though still uncertain about what anything means anyway, I am going to re-commence my writing re: politics…and some other topics as well.

 

I suppose that like all people, when I reach an impasse in my understanding of a particular event, I tend to rationalize it in an attempt to achieve clarity.  I am still unable to achieve a high degree of clarity about the outcome of those mid-terms; but I do believe I have somewhat satisfied myself as to why they played out as they did.  There was a lot of talk about the “Trump candidates” sabotaging the Republican chances of taking the Senate and the House with a larger majority.  No doubt, some of those folks did not help themselves or their party by the way they conducted their campaigns.  Kari Lake could very well have won her race against a very flawed Democrat had she simply focused on policy and left election-denial to Donald Trump.  Dr. Oz was never more than a celebrity candidate who was carpetbagging in Pennsylvania.  Herschel Walker was a marvelous football player, but clearly did not belong in the U.S. Senate.  His race against Warnock was the best example yet of a choice between the lesser of two bad options.  “Two out of three” of these races would have shifted the Senate to the Republicans.  How different would America be today had that happened?

 

But if you look across the country, the Democrats had their share of bad candidates also; and many of them lost.  I’m just not sure that one side had a disproportionately-larger share of bad candidates.  I am pretty certain that the Republicans had their bad candidates in the wrong places at the wrong time.  A bad candidate losing a race they had little chance of winning is really no great loss.  A bad candidate losing a very winnable race is a great loss indeed.  The Republican’s bad candidates lost some very winnable races to some of the Democrat’s very bad candidates (i.e., Hobbs, Fetterman, Warnock) and that made all the difference.

 

I think the second main factor in the somewhat unexpected results of the late mid-terms was the fact that under the cover of the covid epidemic, our nation’s election laws have been distorted, perverted, corrupted, and altered in such a way that fundamentally changes the nature of political contests.  We no longer have election days in America; we now have election weeks and months.  It is farcical to see large, populous states effectively and efficiently conducting their election responsibilities, reporting full and accurate results in time for news cycles on election day, while smaller states dither about with virtue-signaling election policies and create election soap operas that play out to the extreme last minute.  I never cease to be amazed at how many races end up being decided by a last-minute flush of mail-in ballots that just happen to be of sufficient quantity to swing a race one way or the other. 

 

The plain and simple fact is that the covid epidemic was, in many ways, a Trojan Horse that enabled the Democrat Party to shift the rules of the election game in their favor.  They introduced a new offensive strategy that the Republicans had no defense for and the scouting operation of the Republican Party was, and remains, a dismal failure.  In order to overcome this Democrat advantage, two things are going to be necessary.  First, Republicans must raise the level of their mail-in campaign operation so that it is far more competitive with that of the Democrats.  They simply cannot continue to get their ass kicked in this arena when so many critical races are being decided by such close margins.  Mail-in voting must be carefully examined and discussed.  Ballot harvesting is against the law and the spirit of free elections.  It should be exposed for what it is… corruption of a fundamental and essential American privilege. 

 

Next, Republicans must continue to promote and implement fair, defensible, and transparent election reform laws at the state level all across this nation.  Georgia’s recent election reforms have been tested through the legal system and have come out intact.  They were test-driven in the mid-terms and by all accounts, performed even beyond expectations.  Read about it here: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/survey-0-percent-of-black-georgia-voters-had-a-poor-voting-experience/ .  It serves BOTH national parties well to have a fair, balanced, transparent, and EFFICIENT election system in place at the state level so that voters can easily vote as they desire, be readily informed of those voting results, and most importantly of all…TRUST the results of those proceedings. 

 

The institutions of our government have become so politicized and discredited by their corruptive behavior over the last few decades that it is no surprise the public has little faith in their integrity.  I would like to think that problem will, over time, correct itself and recover sufficiently to a point of balance between the two warring national parties.  These are dark times for our government; but the Constitution is an incredible blueprint and if we can simply manage to honor and defend it, our course will be corrected.  But if we ever lose complete confidence in our national elections, then what are we?  If corrupted governments are permitted to administer corrupted elections, they are no better than China, or Russia, or Venezuela, or Iran.

 

At some juncture soon, the Republicans and the Democrats are going to have to come to terms with each other and agree to state-level election reforms that create some trust and credibility for the selection process.  And while preserving the constitutional principles of federalism, we must achieve some level of uniformity as we conduct our state elections.  If our nation is to survive long term and continue the promise and prosperity that our founders envisioned, then we must restore integrity to our election process.

 

As I delve back into politics for blogging purposes, I will strive to make one critical adjustment to my posts.  It will be difficult and oftentimes impossible, but I will try my best not to focus on the specific instances of political, societal, and cultural madness that surround us.  Instead, I will attempt to focus on the broader implications of those particular events.  In this fashion, I would hope to come across to my few readers as being perhaps a bit less partisan and a bit more reflective.  It will be an effort to be more loyal to my political registration as an Independent and, simultaneously, an attempt to open up my mind to political principles that I have in the past been far too anxious to dismiss out of hand.  My success in this effort might not be impressive, but the effort will be made. 

 

I have always tried, in the main, to steer my readers (via links) to source documents that would provide them a far more professional product than I am capable of offering.  From time to time, I realize that I fall into that internet abyss that is so irresistible to so many people.  You know the one…the one that whispers in your ear that your thoughts and words and opinions are actually worth something and you might even be close to some sort of epiphany compared to others that are out there.  To put it in simpler terms…everyone is an expert on the internet.  I pledge to make a renewed effort to select both linked content and personal opinion in a way that limits unfounded faith in certitude.  And I will try to focus on themes that address broader and more expansive ideals and topics in a sense that is more philosophical than confrontational.  The meat may not be as red…because it will perhaps be better cooked.  Feeble though it may be…this will be my effort to tone down the political vitriol that is running amuck in our country today.