This Election is Everything

“Faith sees best in the dark.” ~Joe Biden

Joe Biden quoted Søren Kierkegaard in his convention speech. It was notable because it’s been so long since we’ve had a president who can speak thoughtfully, let alone quote a 19th-century existentialist philosopher.

Our next President, (I hope,) Joe Biden displayed all the characteristics any reasonable person would want in a leader: strength, intelligence, compassion, understanding of the job, and what this broken country needs in order to heal from four years of sociopathic chaos.

“I will be an ally of the light.” ~Joe Biden

Biden exudes warmth. Watching him, and learning the details of the tragedies he has endured in his lifetime and his prevailing benevolence made me happy. I was left with a hopefulness that I haven’t felt in four years. Although Joe Biden’s goodness was a blanket that smothered the vile haze of hatred Trump uses to rule over us, the optimism that lingered after the week of the Democratic National Convention was short-lived.

The pictures above are an example of the representatives from the 56 states and territories of the United States who nominated their party’s candidate during roll-call for both conventions. The Democratic representatives on the left show the diversity of our country. The representatives on the right are an example of Republican leadership. The stark difference between the Democratic and Republican parties was not disguised.

Trump is not running for re-election, he is running to stay out of jail. His past has caught up with him and his presidency is the only reason he is a free man.

Trump’s convention strategy was divisiveness, fear-mongering, and lies. Fact-checkers couldn’t keep up with him or his screaming speakers. Trump’s team played videos of the violence taking place in the streets today and warned us that a Biden presidency would make that our future. It is our present under Trump!

Trump’s speakers warned that Biden will abolish the police. He will not. They claimed Biden will end Social Security, but that is at the top of Trump’s “to-do list.” Trump wants to end Social Security. Biden has promised to strengthen it.

Trump has been trying to end protections of the Affordable Care Act for Americans with preexisting conditions, during the pandemic that he fueled.

Don Junior’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle warned that we’d find used syringe needles in parks if Biden wins. How that makes sense is unclear, but what was clear was that both Don Jr and Guilfoyle were under the influence of drugs when they spoke.

The arguments made by Trump and his team were nonsensical, but there are enough people ignorant of the reality in this country that Trump has been left riding a post-convention bump in polls. He has closed Bidens lead in Michigan and Wisconsin. National polls show Trump is now behind by only 5-6 points, as opposed to the 10-13% lead Biden had before the RNC.

Like 2016, Trump is getting help from Russia on Social media. We learned nothing from what happened in 2016 because the GOP has successfully changed the narrative of Russian interference in that election.

Facebook is inundated with propaganda, altered videos, and group pages organizing far-right group outings, urging Trump supporters to act as civilian police at peaceful protests and to bring their firearms. Trolls are urging young people to vote third party or to stay home on Election Day.

Portland is coming soon to a city near you. I’m not being an alarmist, I’m reading between the lines. Trump has a habit of letting his cards slip. We can see what he’s planning by reading his tweets or listening to his rhetoric. He projects his crimes and failures onto others just like he takes credit for other people’s work. He is planning to direct his thugs toward other democratic cities. This is another exercise in voter suppression and a violation of our first amendment right to peacefully assemble. He wants city dwellers to be so afraid that they won’t leave their homes to vote. He wants the rest of the country to see the chaos and believe that he alone can stop it. There are still people who believe him.

Law and order are not what Trump is asking for in this tweet. This tweet is a battle cry for his klansman. He is signaling his far-right followers to silence protesters. He is emboldening his base to take law into their own hands, encouraging violence.

If history has taught us anything, it is that the future is unpredictable. Donald Trump is unpredictable. Trump has ratcheted up his scheming, with the help of Mark Zuckerberg.

Russian trolls have used social media to orchestrate violence at protests since Putin installed Trump as president. Facebook could stop it, but won’t because Zuckerberg and Trump are both sociopaths. Zuckerberg looks the other way when fringe groups organize using his platform. He has “apologized” for not taking down the Facebook page that led the seventeen-year-old from Antioch Illinois to Kenosha Wisconsin, where he murdered two and shot the arm off of a third victim. Zuckerberg called it an “operational error.” Clearly, the “error” has not been rectified because other similar militia pages have not been taken down.

Trump represents the worst in us all, and Biden is the possibility of reform. What we can do now is vote- early, in person, or by mail. And we can talk to our friends and neighbors and try to make them understand the gravity of our situation. Ignorance, willful or not, has no place in this election.

Last week our most senior general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, told Congress the military will not help settle any election disputes that arise after November’s vote. When I read this I thought the General doomed us to authoritarian rule, because Trump will not leave office without force. Then I realized this is a warning to Trump that the military will not be his pawn. It will be the US marshal’s job, as well as that of the secret service to remove the squatter in Chief.

Early voting begins in September in some states.

Illinois: Sept. 24-Oct. 19

Minnesota: Sept. 18

New Jersey: Sept. 19

South Dakota: Sept. 18

Vermont: Sept. 19

Virginia: Sept. 19

“If we all vote there is nothing Facebook, Fox News, or Vladimir Putin can do to stop us.” ~ Julia Louis-Dreyfus, DNC 2020

Avoid the chaos planned for Election Day and vote as early as you can. You’ll have time to re-register if you find you’re registration has been purged. We have to vote in record numbers. Biden needs that double-digit lead he had a week ago, to counter the attacks on the USPS, voter registration purges, closures of polling stations in urban areas, and the disinformation campaigns flooding social media that are swaying young people to vote third party, or not to vote at all. This election is everything.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/at-the-dnc-joe-biden-wants-you-to-know-hes-not-fucking-around?ref=home

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/politics/milley-2020-election/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/tech/zuckerberg-kenosha-page/index.html