This past week, the state Republican Party of Texas adopted a resolution claiming that the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden was fraudulent.
Of course, those G.O.P. politicians did not claim that the Texas Republican Congressmen elected in that same election were fraudulently elected. And, yes, it is true that zero evidence has been made public by Donald Trump or the Republican Party of Texas that any of the “stolen election” hogwash has merit.
However, just the implication by a political party that fair elections can be deemed to be fraudulent is scary stuff because this policy position empowers politicians to “do something about it”, even when there is no real problem to resolve. For example, changing voting procedures to make sure this dadgum problem never surfaces again.
Like a Democrat winning an election.
This may seem like silly gamesmanship between political parties, but it is not. Instead, it is one more step in the process of de-legitimizing elections and making them irrelevant. These are calculated moves by people who crave power and enjoy wielding it. When someone in power can determine who wins elections, then elections become superfluous.
And when that happens, the governed become powerless. Ask the Chinese, the Russians, the North Koreans, etc.
Even though most Americans are “fed up” with what has become democracy in our country, We The People still retain the right, through elections, to replace power-hungry or totally-inept leaders. We’ve had that right all along in our Nation, so we just assume that we will always have it.
Not so.
If we allow politicians to determine the outcome of their own elections, then we have lost the ability to affect change when change is needed.
Consider for a moment the Social Security program. Every American worker knows that this benefit will be there when he or she retires after a long working career to help them survive when they get old. It is a very expensive government program, taking up about one-quarter of the Federal budget. Politicians of both parties would like to trim Social Security back so that they could spend the freed-up funds on pet projects, reward campaign contributors, and so forth. However, those politicians never cut Social Security funding.
Why? Because they would face the wrath of voters.
In non-democracies, those in power do what they please, how they please, and when they please while the citizens endure the outcome of those actions.
We citizens must never let ourselves forget that politicians don’t think like we do. We assume that our elected officials exist to identify and solve societal problems and improve our health, safety, and prosperity. Politics, on the other hand, is all about the acquisition and use of power. If we citizens can’t control which politicians are elected, then we cannot control their use of power and they will do whatever they wish. As British historian Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
No truer words were ever spoken.
The hearings going on in Washington D.C. lately are all about our sacred right to elect our leaders. The January 6th Capitol Riot which occasioned these hearings was an attempt to nullify the results of an election and to allow an incumbent to hold on to his governmental position despite losing said election.
American citizens need to be serious about this matter because power-hungry politicians are watching this drama very carefully.