The inauguration of our next President, Number 46 in the continued test of American Democracy, takes place this coming week. Instead of pomp and circumstance, troops will watch on amongst few people–a strange welcoming for the new administration in the COVID-19 era. How did we arrive here? Four years ago, the underdog won, despite months of polling in one direction and one-side news coverage, and off the world went in a torrent chasing news cycles. Controversy from crowd size on the Capital Mall. Sharpie gate and hurricane paths.
With recent events, these seem trivial. A speck of straw flying amidst the debris inside a raging storm. Considering riots in most major cities spread around the world, a global pandemic killed millions, and a violent attempt to disrupt an inconsequential certification inside our Nation’s Capital, quaint might be the more appropriate term. The old Obama birther conspiracy feels like child’s play as our online platforms struggle with the Pandora’s Box they have unleashed on the public. Some say, The path to hell is paved with good intentions. New norms and communication mechanisms. Real change often takes decades. In 2020, decades happened weekly.
In quaint election years, we vote. There is a winner. Despite the sting of losing still lingering, the other candidate rises above the fold and concedes–an American tradition. Instead of bullets we have ballots. Even with the election coming down to 500 votes in Florida in 2000, I can’t recall thinking about an electoral certification as the event typically only shows up on late hour C-SPAN reruns. It’s a non-event. When folks question security lapses and lack of a presence at Congress this past week, well, there is a reason.
Who protests a mostly irrelevant exercise?
The easy answer is a man wearing a Viking hat, but I like to think the universe is more complicated creating a quagmire of events leading to scorn and destruction. Chalk this up to elevating math and science in the classroom, demoting civics in the process, and the unfathomable consequence of a close election through the eyes of partisan propaganda. No … this year’s vote wasn’t narrow historically. Romney performed better in some states in 2012. The same with Kerry in 2004. Maybe, if you take out the votes for one candidate in certain counties between the times of ten and noon, maybe one could tout a historic victory, but that is a slap in the face of the 10,000+ precincts and thousands of officials who work hard and make little to nothing defending democracy. One hundred fifty million votes. Counted. Checked multiple times. Rechecked. Multiple court filings, only a handful have merit and none changes the outcome. The hard working poll workers deserve our thanks, not groaning and bellyaching from those who did not get their way.
But where does the blame lie?
A straightforward logic leap, it would not be difficult to lay the finger upon party leadership–the bully pulpit and ego. One of my favorite and underappreciated movies is Tomorrowland. A film filled with vision and hope where dreamers build the perfect utopia using science and invention. But their greatest achievement peered into the future, designed to save the world, and turns out to be the great magnifier. The visions revealed is based on our words. Our thoughts control our destiny. They do matter. If hateful rhetoric pushes itself into the public square, people believe. It’s a harbinger of destruction.
And when a man unprincipled in private life, according to the raging headlines of the day, desperate to maintain the appearance of fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable oratory talents leveraging a circular communication style—known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is seen to mount the hobbyhorse of popularity by appealing to the mob—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take the opportunity of embarrassing the national government, state government, and other established institutions bringing all under suspicion and chaos—to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots and despots of the tyrants of the world—it may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may “ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.”
What was the end goal?
To stay in power? Remain relevant? The audacity of the foolish game is so ridiculous; I hope one didn’t think the ruse would work? I mean, what was the plan?
Perhaps, someone wanted to be an agent of chaos and drive our discourse to with senseless name-calling. Little Marco. Crazy Nancy. Lyin’ Ted. Low-energy Jeb. Low IQ (Insert politician of choice). Crooked Hillary. Shifty Schiff. The Squad. Some laughed at the time, and, alas, many still do. But we should have said enough is enough ages ago. Leadership is above third-grade theatrics, and our children laugh now because they’ve been taught to recognize this behavior for what it is. They know a bully. As parents, we are behind the times.
Despite our best high-minded thinking, all transformative governments have had their despots. Rome had both Cato and Caesar. The former held an iron-fist the latter flattered the follies of the people. Yet, the former perished with the Republic while the latter destroyed it. As Alexis de Tocqueville said, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” And after a revolt on the capital grounds and cities boarded up and hollowed out, checks were sent to the masses to perhaps help ease the pain and look the other way.
Yes, America has enemies from afar, no question. Russia. China. And a host of others wanting to be the kingmaker on a global stage. But no popular government was ever without charlatans, con artists, and caesars. These are the real enemies of America.
But take heart. A distributed system, filled with checks and balances, held. County election officials told the most powerful person on the planet that’s not how this works. I wonder if our higher elected officials, blinded by partisanship, feel shame today. Why would we want to change this tradition, yet we are trying.
And, now, similar to all election cycles, we move on.
The hypocrisy and distrust of our different parties will continue. One side appears to believe a serious plot to overturn the government exists and continues to rush to judgement without a full picture of events. We must act! The other side firmly believes that there is a serious plot to overturn the government and, upon its ruins, replace it with a socialistic society. We must act! “Both sides may be equally wrong and the mutual jealousies may be materially causes of the appearances which mutually disturb them, and sharpen them against one another.”
Hard to say, We’ve been here before as the confederate flag breached the hallowed grounds of Congress. Lee never took Washington. Now, here we are.
“The greatness of our America, or any nation, lies not in being more enlightened than another, but in the ability to repair the fissures and faults in your own logic.” That Tocqueville guy believed in America. I pray for a day when we talk like this again. Debate policy. Embrace facts. Move our society forward together. And let’s hope those who have been watching from afar in our country in recent memory find the courage to enter the arena, call truth to the fringe lurking in the shadows and help them find a path, and most of all lead in these strange times. Has America ever not risen to the occasion? I believe we can.
Here is to hope.
Other Notes:
- Most of this article is paraphrased from an Alexander Hamilton’s Enclosure regarding Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration. If you’ve seen the play Hamilton, there is a song with the lyrics, “Why do you write like you’re running out of time?” Nobody talks about government and systems with this much passion these days so stole liberally, my sincere apologies. If I wrote with quill and paper, I wonder if I would write as feverishly? To avoid those who cherry-pick certain quotes, most of the article in question was about central banking. The full enclosure can be found here.
- I used a couple of quotes from Tocqueville. The full work Democracy in America, downloadable for free at Project Gutenberg, can be found here.
- The picture is from the Lincoln Memorial, I took this while walking the grounds at night in 2006 using an older Sony camera. While touring the mall, I had an elderly woman ask me to rub a name off the wall at the Vietnam Memorial. After I finished, she mentioned that it was her son. I’ll always carry that with me.
