11 Months and Counting

 We are now at less than 11 months until the 2024 elections. The polls indicate that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. President Biden by the polls consistently lags behind Trump and is blamed for the “poor economy”, the war in Gaza, and for being too old. Trump, indicted 91 times in multiple jurisdictions, meanwhile signals strongly that he will take on the mantle of a dictator if he is inaugurated in January 2025. He has vowed to install nothing but vetted loyalists to senior positions in a second administration; to fire thousands of civil servants so that he can do the same al lower levels in the Executive; to curb the media and anyone who criticizes him; and top take vengeance on those he hates personally (because he feels they have humiliated him). If that does not remind you of Germany in the 1930s, you failed history.


Robert Kagan’s essay in the 30 November New York Times was a bleak read. The fact that we already have a government of the minority and a flawed system for electing presidents (the Electoral College) only underlines the threat. There is no longer a Republican Party. There is a cult of personality and it has bullied and threatened any so-called moderate Republican who ought to be speaking out loudly and clearly that our 1933 moment seems to be advancing at increasing speed. The list of sycophants for Trump in Congress alone is huge. The Supreme Court is an ethical and moral morass; I doubt its willingness to protect the Founding Documents. Those of us who fear for democracy have a short time to try through the election process to stop the rot.


For those who feel compelled to vote for Donald Trump and his enablers, I ask you again, is this what you really want in the United States? Stop and think, please. For those who agree with me that we can do much better in the selection of elected officials and policies that support people (not corporations, not religions, not one race, not one gender), join me in working like hell to spread the truth, dispel disinformation, and get out the vote in less than 11 months. Your children and grandchildren are at stake.

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