More than one post-election recap reported that far too many voters lacked specific knowledge about the candidates. Too often they conflated Kamala Harris’ positions with those of Donald Trump, and Trump’s with hers. There were voters who didn’t realize Joe Biden was not running for reelection.
In short, too many voters were just plain ignorant of the facts. They knew they were unhappy, which translated into “throw the bums out,” meaning anyone would be better than another Democrat in the White House.
It’s an imperfect nation we live in. We cannot legislate a qualifying test to secure a right-to-vote card, but we could, through the Department of Education, strongly pressure each state to require students pass a mandatory civics class before high school graduation.
Immigrants must pass an American history test before earning U. S. citizenship. I wonder, how many of our teenagers would pass such a test? Whom am I kidding—how many adults would pass? A written test must be passed to secure a driver’s license. Shouldn’t we require civics knowledge before we send graduating high schoolers off to work, to the military or to higher education?
As The Washington Post noted in a recent article, “The preponderance of voters who get no news whatsoever suggests the very notion of an “informed electorate” might become a thing of the past.”
Normalizing Trump: The rationalization of a Trump presidency has begun. Pam Bondi is no Matt Gaetz. Our judicial process under Bondi as attorney general is safe, the anti-Trump public reasons, no longer at risk of being placed in the hands of a pedophile drug user.
Only, Bondi bought into Trump’s false claims the 2020 election was stolen from him, so how professionally responsible can she be? She also opposes Obamacare and LGBTQ rights.
Almost all Republican U. S. senators and representatives are true-Trump believers, so Bondi will not have difficulty gaining acceptance from the party elite. She doesn’t look like Mephistopheles reincarnate, as Gaetz does. Yes, she is no Matt Gaetz, but she did reject joining a lawsuit alleging Trump University fraud shenanigans after her re-election campaign for Florida attorney general received a $25,000 contribution from a Trump family foundation.
She obviously has bought into Trump’s infallibility. And the culpability of Trump’s enemies. She has accused Joe Biden and his son Hunter of corrupt actions while the elder Biden was a private citizen. Surprise would not be in order if she orders a new investigation into the Biden family (unless, of course, President Biden follows my advice and issues pre-emptive pardons to himself, his family, and a host of others Trump has targeted for retribution).
Normalizing Trump is not happening just inside the Washington Beltway. Viewers of cable news are said to be switching in droves from left-leaning sites like MSNBC to Fox News and other conservative outlets. If I worried about readership numbers I’d be concerned.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is getting credit for challenging medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and food production orthodoxies. He advocates more personal choice on vaccines and consumption of unpasteurized milk; he believes consumers would be healthier if fewer chemicals were used in farming and if Americans ate fewer processed foods. Personal choice is good if it doesn’t harm or expose others to communicable diseases. Minimizing chemicals while consuming more naturally produced foods sounds like sound ideas. Doubtful, though, RFK Jr. will be able to convince his boss to alter his fast-food diet.
The Trump cabinet reflects ideologues not to my liking, but, I have a different take on Barry Goldwater’s 1964 signature statement, “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Extreme actions by a Trump administration may well be the only means of awakening the public to the ill-conceived plans of Trumpism. Will the public accept: higher prices for goods because of Trump tariffs?; higher food prices when immigrant labor is not there to farm the land, process meat and poultry?; housing options are limited because immigrants are not present to build affordable homes?; higher medical costs because Obamacare has been scaled back or eliminated?
We’ll see. For now, Republicans—let’s call them Trumpcans from now on as they surely do not possess the same ideals and mores as Republicans of the past—hold majorities in the House and Senate to enact Trump’s wishes.
The fight “in pursuit of justice” should not be in moderation, but neither should it be without reason.
As for my patriotic contribution, as I did during Trump’s first term and subsequently, I intend to never publish two consecutive words containing his elected title and name.