This is the last issue before the 60th presidential election. So I will write about it for the first and last time.
There are several reasons I don’t write about a topic that is constantly under discussion: First, the election is plenty covered in the news. Second, the Northside Sun is a local publication. Third, I don’t find it that interesting. Fourth, no matter what I write, I’m going to make someone mad.
I ran into Douglas Carswell recently and he asked for my thoughts about the election. I said, “It’s between the fascist and the commie.” See, I’ve already made everybody mad.
“That’s a really cynical perspective,” Douglas said. “Even for a journalist.”
In fact, I am not the least bit cynical. I am a hopeless optimist and think our country will continue to prevail. If we are humble and trust God.
George Washington detested political parties and I am sympathetic to his position. (Making more people mad.)
What is a political party? It’s an effort by a group of private citizens to join together and take over the government for their own power and gain.
The two party system is firmly entrenched in America. Political victories by independents are rare.
I do have a few good things to say about our two-party system. First, it’s way better than a one-party system. Second, it has been a factor in the remarkable stability and resiliency of the American government. It provides some element of choice.
The two-party system also reflects the great philosophical dichotomy pervading all governments over all time: equality versus freedom.
Without government intervention, there would be enormous inequality in our system. Life is not fair. Freedom is efficient and brutal. Democratic government intervenes on behalf of the majority to temper brutal efficiency with idealistic equality.
The Republican Party is the party of freedom and efficiency. The Democratic Party is the party of idealistic equality. Free market versus government regulation. Eat what you kill versus share the wealth. It’s a great yin and yang of life and government, adequately represented by the two-party system in the United States.
This great debate will go on forever. I understand it. I observe it. I am not outraged or shocked by it. So I don’t get too worked up over politics.
I have been in journalism a long time and have heard all the arguments and watched the government play out in the real world. There is nothing new under the sun.
The rise of the Internet, with its infinite sources of information, opened a new world of politics to many ordinary Americans. Over the past few decades, American voters have had access to information, a lot of it bad, that has heightened everyone’s interest in politics. People seem more excited about politics.
This is a stark contrast to the golden age of traditional media where information was vetted and controlled by professional journalists. Back in the day, a lot of fake news was stopped before it reached mass circulation. (And a lot of important news was hidden from the public as well.)
There’s an old saying about politics and sausage. You don’t really want to know how it’s made. Today, far more Americans know and it’s got them riled up.
We will adjust. People will calm down and digest these new insights and knowledge into a stable world view. It just takes time. We’re still in the middle of this information transformation.
Back in the day, we hired editors to filter all this information for us. Just like pumping our own gasoline, Americans have decided they want to be their own editors. Fine. Just realize this takes a huge amount of effort. Fake news is everywhere and it will get worse before it gets better.
There is so much not to like about Kamala Harris’ policies. And there is so much not to like about Donald Trump’s character (and a few of his policies as well.)
This has led me to Google “can you write in a vote for President.” According to usa.gov.com, which purports to be “the official website of the United States government,” you can indeed. So I am thinking about writing in “Ronald Reagan.” (Although, I’m pretty sure your write in must be still living.)
Reagan was polite, friendly, a gentleman, loved America, supported the free market, whipped inflation, reenergized the country and believed in limited government. He also defeated the scourge of communism without firing a single shot.
It’s hard for me to imagine two people more different than Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. I just can’t forgive Trump for January 6. His narcissism is so immense that he would threaten the stability of our nation before admitting that he was rejected by the American voters.
And that’s not even factoring in Trump’s bad public policies: his desire to initiate a global trade war, his complete unconcern for the federal deficit, his lack of support for the Ukraine in their battle for freedom and his apparent admiration for Putin and Xi Jinping.
Then there’s Kamala Harris’ whacky ideas: restructuring the Supreme Court, price controls on groceries, transgender operations for prisoners, high corporate taxes, support for abortion. And there’s the immigration disaster and horrible inflation of her last four years as part of the Biden administration.
Like I said, writing in Ronald Reagan is sounding better and better.
Political parties have one purpose: To win elections. With two dominant parties, each party will try to steal voters and issues from each other to achieve half the American votes plus one. Thus the old saying, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” There are lots of ideological inconsistencies among the platforms of both parties in their attempt to win.
Harris has been untested on a national electoral stage. That was a huge risk for the Democrats. She did not have to pass the trial by fire of the primary races. But Trump has, twice. This could be fatal.
The Trump political trials may have backfired for the Democrats, who thought the felony convictions would annihilate Trump’s chances. Instead, Trump, who is not very sympathetic, seemed suddenly to be a victim. Americans love to root for the victim. Trump successfully argued that his minor business transgressions paled in comparison to the Democrats “weapononizing the courts.”
For some, Trump’s narrow survival of an assassination attempt was divine providence.
I haven’t the least bit of real fear of Trump or Harris ruining our magnificent nation. Only God can do that. The bureaucracy really runs the country. (I think they call that the Deep State these days.) Life and the United States will carry on. We will continue to stumble, pick ourselves up again and push forward. In the process, we will get wiser, better and life will progress. A great future awaits us.
