Inevitable

“It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.” Latin Proverb

The author of the above quote is unknown; given the behavior of the candidates from the two major parties, we certainly do not have anyone capable of ruling themselves. Dwight Eisenhower once said that “The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.” Given the history of these two contenders for America’s top leadership, integrity is not their strong point. Both Trump and Harris have a disturbing record of draconian autocracy.

To add to this sad situation, we have the slight-of-hand with Joe Biden “quitting” the race; while he explained his reasons a week later, it was not at all convincing especially because he swore many times that he would never quit. The power brokers in his party have been calling for Biden to step down ever since the debate a few weeks back; these are the same people who previously rejected every report of his cognitive decline as “fake news”. Biden did not resign, he was dumped; his party’s leaders feared that he would lose, and the threat of losing power is a stronger motivation for the elite than saving democracy.

It was inevitable that Biden was not going to be able to continue, and that Harris would take his place, which creates a unique problem for the DNC, i.e., either have a real convention for the nomination, or conduct a coronation; the former could make for more of a circus, the latter more of a coup. Regardless of which way it plays out it will serve to help Trump; if the Democratic Party either conducts another 1968 Chicago Convention or by-passes a democratic process to make Kamala their candidate, they will facture the party.

It is inevitable that democracy leads to the least common denominator, and so we are faced with a choice of Trump versus Harris; it is indisputable that a republic represents the best protection of liberty, yet here we are with Ben Franklin’s response to the question, what kind of government do we have, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Ben Franklin was being both humorous and ominous with that response; on the one hand the question was silly as it is for the people to protect the republic, yet on the other hand they have the ability to lose it.

Both major parties say they represent a revolution; what we need to be wary of is what happens with the revolution after this election; perhaps it is inevitable that, as George Orwell said, “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” We need to stop wasting our votes on these two major parties that have proven that their only objective is power; take the opportunity this election provides in voting for a third-party candidate that best represents your principles and remember that an unprincipled vote is the only wasted vote.