One of the first things I would say to my incoming Advanced Placement American Government & Politics students was the negative impact American Democracy would suffer should anyone successfully cast doubt on the integrity of our national election systems and their outcomes. I used this as a warning to indicate our democracy is always at some form of risk and in constant need of diligence to protect it from attacks, foreign and domestic. I also would remind them that elections do have consequences. I never thought though in 2020 a sitting president would be the one to attack our vaunted system solely so that he could swallow his loss like an adult. I also never figured an entire political party would cast aside its patriotism in favor of a one-man circus, yet, here we are. Unfortunately, when Russian dictator Nikita Khrushchev once warned that America would not be "taken down" from outside forces but from within, he certainly never imagined Donald Trump would be that agent. Vlad Putin must be so proud.
It's a good thing I am no longer teaching these days, because I would surely be terminated for pointing out the rampant hypocrisy expressed from Trump and his GOP MAGA supporters. Recent letters to the editor reveal how far they will go to support a failed president, all in lieu of the principles we were taught while growing up -that Democracy is a valuable asset that sets America apart from other countries. Our "Exceptionalism" is not due to our overall wealth in the form of money, but our wealth of freedoms, ideas and values that tie and bind us all. When a powerful bloc like the GOP ignores these values and a sitting president subjects them to his personal whims, then we can begin to sense that the United part of our nation is fractured. Unfortunately, for politicians like Rubio, Scott, DeSantis, McConnell, Cruz and Graham, those values are mere fantasies compared to the real power they wield. And that power is to dominate, not to empower the electorate.
Another concept I floated to all of my students, was that politicians enjoy perpetuating an uneducated electorate. That way, they could convince voters their underhanded efforts were actually "good" rather than the real wrongful manipulation cleverly designed to take advantage of their powers. George Washington himself warned us about efforts like these. He told us dangerous men with dangerous intent would try to deceive us instead of educate us. And here we are in 2020. The GOP endorses lies and corruption all in an effort to perpetuate power instead of democracy.
Unlike any other time in my life, I now believe the law must be used to prosecute all those engaged in efforts to destroy our collective faith in our elections. It's one thing to argue over a few thousand votes and claim the election was "too close", but it is certainly another matter when Joe Biden now has received over 81 Million votes, with margin over Trump in excess of Seven Million. You read that right, Biden's vote tally is enormous. Yet Trump and the GOP are still screaming about the 74 Million Trump voters being "disenfranchised" as if their votes are more important that the 81 Million that voted for Biden. It comes as no surprise that they actually believe this considering most MAGA's tag lines on social media reveal themselves as "Patriots" while obviously considering "other Americans" as being less so.
So for the 80 million plus like me that voted for Biden, let those MAGA's know, We are also Americans. If you don't like our democracy, then YOU might consider finding a better one. Until then, hands off our democracy (and forget about your pretended "monopoly" on patriotism.) As Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote, "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." Patriots protect our democracy, they don't use it for their personal gain. We have a lot to repair, but it can only start when the GOP and MAGA's realize Donald Trump was a mistake. I can only hope the next four years will lead to a healing our nation. Otherwise, I fear future elections will lead to our own demise. And we will have no one but ourselves to blame for it. Try to have a safe week!
It's a good thing I am no longer teaching these days, because I would surely be terminated for pointing out the rampant hypocrisy expressed from Trump and his GOP MAGA supporters. Recent letters to the editor reveal how far they will go to support a failed president, all in lieu of the principles we were taught while growing up -that Democracy is a valuable asset that sets America apart from other countries. Our "Exceptionalism" is not due to our overall wealth in the form of money, but our wealth of freedoms, ideas and values that tie and bind us all. When a powerful bloc like the GOP ignores these values and a sitting president subjects them to his personal whims, then we can begin to sense that the United part of our nation is fractured. Unfortunately, for politicians like Rubio, Scott, DeSantis, McConnell, Cruz and Graham, those values are mere fantasies compared to the real power they wield. And that power is to dominate, not to empower the electorate.
Another concept I floated to all of my students, was that politicians enjoy perpetuating an uneducated electorate. That way, they could convince voters their underhanded efforts were actually "good" rather than the real wrongful manipulation cleverly designed to take advantage of their powers. George Washington himself warned us about efforts like these. He told us dangerous men with dangerous intent would try to deceive us instead of educate us. And here we are in 2020. The GOP endorses lies and corruption all in an effort to perpetuate power instead of democracy.
Unlike any other time in my life, I now believe the law must be used to prosecute all those engaged in efforts to destroy our collective faith in our elections. It's one thing to argue over a few thousand votes and claim the election was "too close", but it is certainly another matter when Joe Biden now has received over 81 Million votes, with margin over Trump in excess of Seven Million. You read that right, Biden's vote tally is enormous. Yet Trump and the GOP are still screaming about the 74 Million Trump voters being "disenfranchised" as if their votes are more important that the 81 Million that voted for Biden. It comes as no surprise that they actually believe this considering most MAGA's tag lines on social media reveal themselves as "Patriots" while obviously considering "other Americans" as being less so.
So for the 80 million plus like me that voted for Biden, let those MAGA's know, We are also Americans. If you don't like our democracy, then YOU might consider finding a better one. Until then, hands off our democracy (and forget about your pretended "monopoly" on patriotism.) As Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote, "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." Patriots protect our democracy, they don't use it for their personal gain. We have a lot to repair, but it can only start when the GOP and MAGA's realize Donald Trump was a mistake. I can only hope the next four years will lead to a healing our nation. Otherwise, I fear future elections will lead to our own demise. And we will have no one but ourselves to blame for it. Try to have a safe week!
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