A COMMITTMENT TO DEMOCRACY

Infirm, old as it may be, that is what the world is about to see on this November 5th, Americans’ committment to democracy. America has always been a place where the vote is in dispute, who should be able to vote.

It has been a long road to get the vote for many unreprepresented groups. Today the vote is subject to the politics of the moment. Voters are purged for not voting. Why? Because they can be. Anybody who shows up on November 5th, who is a citizen and over 18, should be able to vote.

Here, maybe 65% of the eligible voters vote. So 35% don’t for one reason or another, some their reasons, others because their access to the vote has been restricted by political forces.

There are a lot of democratic countries where a lot of people vote, maybe 90%. In autocratic regimes like Russia everybody votes for the same candidates. In banana republics, who people vote for doesn’t matter.

The election system is on the line this election, like the one in 1860. The established government, or not, that is the question. Biden is an old political player, a creature of Washington, the system, Trump is a rich kid who wants to rule as a despot.

6/9/24