Friday, November 11, 2016

Remembering Veterans & Accepting Election Results

Thank a veteran that you have a right to vote in a free election. Men and women have served our nation and fought from its inception to achieve and then preserve our rights to free speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, the right to peaceful assembly, and the freedom to protest. 

Many of the individuals that formed our imperfect republic were erudite scholars that had studied the classics in the original languages and were well informed as to the rise and fall of ancient civilizations. The Constitution was formed with a system of checks and balances to ensure representation of all citizens whether they were from a small state or a large state, urban or rural, northern or southern. There were virulent  disagreements and a multitude of compromises that many found distasteful; however, the founding fathers had fought a long war to win independence and rightly believed that a union of the states would be stronger than 13 individual colonies. The decision to create the senate with 2 representatives from each state gave smaller states an equal voice with larger states. The house of representatives was created with representation based upon population distribution which gave a greater voice to states that were more  populated. The framers of the Constitution enacted the electoral system for presidential elections because they didn’t trust pure democracy or believe the average voter would be informed sufficiently. Throughout our history there have been calls to eliminate the electoral system, which affords each state votes based upon its population.

But this is the system that has served our country well for more than 200 years. It is also the fairest and freest electoral process in the world. 

In the 2016 election many people did not so much cast a vote for Donald Trump as vote against Hillary Clinton and the establishment. Ms. Clinton, though arguably well qualified, suffered from insufferably hubris. Many find her untrustworthy, corrupt, and a hypocrite who espouses support of women yet vilified those who were abused, harassed, and victimized by her husband. Despite her scandal ridden history, many women were content to vote for her merely because of her sex. While I would be thrilled to see a women elected to the presidency, I could not cast my vote for Hillary. Her decades of self-serving dishonesty from Whitewater to the Rose Law Firm, to the email server debacle to her arrogant expectation of an electoral mandate have been offensive. However, if she had won the election, I would have accepted the outcome as I have accepted the results of numerous elections in the past when my candidate did not prevail. That is the American way. We are not a third world country that rejects the results of elections we do not like by burning cars.

Regretfully, President Elect Trump is not am artful or powerful orator. Cicero he is not. He has espoused ideas that many find offensive. But he spoke to a constituency that felt forgotten, voters that traditionally voted for democrats but felt betrayed by Washington and career politicos  who they believe abandoned them. Alternatively, “snowflakes” who were given participation trophies and have never been forced to accept a loss seem to want Xanax  or therapy or counseling to help them deal with such bitter disappointment. However, I’ve yet to spy the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse  on the horizon.

It is time to accept the outcome of the election and give Trump a chance. After all, the Republic survived James Buchanan, Chester A. Arthur and Warren G. Harding in the Oval Office. No doubt the USA will survive Donald J. Trump. Four years is a blip on the continuum of time. In 24 months the next election cycle will begin yet again. And who knows - perhaps a business person who knows how to fire those who are unproductive, who knows how to make things happen, can cut through red tape and bull-feathers and can run for president without his ex-wives trashing him in the National Enquirer might actually achieve something worthwhile. 


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