Tag Archives: Washington Post survey

Time To Raise The Bar

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

The qualifications for becoming a U.S. senator are:

  • Must be at least 30 years of age
  • Must be a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years
  • Must reside in the state he/she would represent

The qualifications for becoming a U.S. representative are:

  • Must be at least 25 years of age
  • Must be a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years
  • Must reside in the state he/she would represent

You will notice there are no educational requirements, no IQ requirements, no need to prove competency or fitness for office.  Founding Father James Madison of Virginia wrote that …

“Under these reasonable limitations, the door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.”

Perhaps, knowing what we know today, we would write that a bit differently …

“Under these skimpy limitations, the door of this part of the federal government is open to every man or woman with or without intellect, with or without conscience, and with sufficient wealth to live in a manner far above those people he represents such that he or she will never understand their needs.”

Today, there are 249 Republicans in Congress, and of those, only 26 … barely 10% … are willing to acknowledge the proven fact that Joe Biden won the November election.  On Wednesday, Trump posted a 46-minute video Wednesday evening in which he wrongly claimed he had defeated Biden and leveled wild and unsubstantiated allegations of “corrupt forces” who stole the outcome from the sitting president.  The next day, The Washington Post surveyed all 249 Republicans in the House and Senate, and here are the results …

WaPo-chart

Click here for a full listing of how each senator or representative responded.

The silence is deafening, don’t you think?  The two who claim that Donald Trump actually won the election are Mo Brooks  from Alabama and Louie Gohmert  from Texas, both of whom have been on my radar in the past for their abominable actions as representatives in Congress.

In 1787, when the requirements for office were first written, few people had college educations, few had experience in government, so it made sense to set a low bar for those seeking office.  The goal was to elect people who cared about the country, who would work to make our government one that was “by the people, of the people, and for the people.”  But times have changed … dramatically!  The goal is still the same, but the means of achieving the goal have become far more complex than they were 233 years ago.  We have failed to keep up with the times in many ways, and today the requirements for office in both the executive and legislative branches are pitifully inadequate.

That so few members of the Republican Party are willing to put the best interests of the country ahead of their own is simply unconscionable and in my book is grounds for impeachment.  They certainly have the right to their own personal beliefs, but they have an obligation to uphold their oath of office, which they have long since abandoned.

The damage that is being done to our country by their refusal to accept the results of this election will last for decades.  In essence, they are saying that our election process is null and void, that you cannot trust it, and that our votes do not matter.  WHY are they doing this?  For their own self-interest.  Except for the nutcases like Brooks and Gohmert – both of whom should have been impeached long ago – the majority of those who are silent on the outcome of the election are afraid … afraid of Donald Trump.

Only a handful support Trump’s goal of overturning the election results, of silencing our voices, but the silence of the 200+ who refuse to admit Biden’s victory are complicit by their silence.  I’ve heard people say that the Democrats refused to accept Trump’s election in 2016, but the morning after media outlets called Trump the winner, Hillary Clinton conceded and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer spoke by phone with Trump. Schumer issued a statement shortly thereafter congratulating the president-elect and calling for Americans to “come together.”  A stark contrast to the GOP response today!

Largely because of the refusal to publicly acknowledge the election results, some 77% of the republican voters now believe that the election was ‘rigged’, was ‘stolen’ from Donald Trump, and that Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner.  We don’t know yet what results this will have on our society, but an intelligent person can guess.  Violence in the streets?  A refusal to abide by anything Biden says?  Increased racial violence?  Or worse?

ryan-mcconnellThere will be no dearth of long-term effects, as well.  The people of this nation, led by the assholes in Congress, are destroying themselves.  When asked about the election results, if he accepted Joe Biden as the President-elect, Mitch McConnell replied …

“The future will take care of itself.”

How profound … NOT!  McConnell is only the lead jackass, and the rest of the braying donkeys are following his lead.  Where they are leading this nation is not a good place.  Government exists for the people … all the people.  The majority of the people spoke loud and clear on November 3rd … we are tired of an autocrat calling the shots, disregarding our very lives, and we want a return to a government that works for us … ALL of us, not only those who are wealthy or powerful.  We expect our elected senators and representatives to REPRESENT us, not to disregard our voices and pander to a madman who is destroying this nation.

I plan to write a letter to the major newspapers in my state to voice my objection to the lack of conscience being exhibited by my elected officials.  I don’t know if it will do any good, but I have to try.  Meanwhile, I think it is time to revise the eligibility requirements for members of Congress, and while we’re at it, for the president … it’s time we raise the bar, for right now the bar is lying on the ground.

Worst Idea Ever …

Posted on by under Political commentary

The headline in The Washington Post:

In A New Poll, Half Of Republicans Say They Would Support Postponing The 2020 Election If Trump Proposed It

Noooooooo.jpgThus far, Trump has not proposed such a move, but if he gets wind that half of his party would support it, I would not be surprised to see him begin thinking along those lines.

It started over Trump’s claim that there was widespread voting fraud last year that ultimately cost him the popular vote.  That really seems to eat at him, even though he is the one sitting in the Oval Office … or, rather, on a golf course in New Jersey at the moment. The claim has been proven to be a lie, there was no widespread voter fraud, and Trump actually lost the election despite Putin’s best efforts.  But … perhaps more importantly, a substantial number of republicans believe Trump, even though his claim has been disproven multiple times.

With that in mind, The Washington Post performed a survey of 1,325 Americans from June 5th through June 20th. Granted, this is too small a sample to be considered representative, but nonetheless, it is chilling. The questions asked were whether Trump won the popular vote, whether millions of illegal immigrants voted, and how often voter fraud occurs. Then they were asked two additional questions:

  • If Donald Trump were to say that the 2020 presidential election should be postponed until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote, would you support or oppose postponing the election?
  • What if both Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress were to say that the 2020 presidential election should be postponed until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote? Would you support or oppose postponing the election?

And the results are that nearly half of Republicans surveyed (47%) believe that Trump won the popular vote. Larger fractions believe that millions of illegal immigrants voted (68%) and that voter fraud happens somewhat or very often (73%). 52% said that they would support postponing the 2020 election, and 56% said they would do so if both Trump and Republicans in Congress were behind this.

As the Post cautions, “Of course, our survey is only measuring reactions to a hypothetical situation. Were Trump to seriously propose postponing the election, there would be a torrent of opposition, which would most likely include prominent Republicans. Financial markets would presumably react negatively to the potential for political instability. And this is to say nothing of the various legal and constitutional complications that would immediately become clear.”

Do I think it likely to happen?  No, not under the current circumstances.  Then why do I even bring it up?  Because, while I do not think it likely, or even possible, under the current circumstances, I can see circumstances altering, if Trump remains in office until 2020, that may change that assessment dramatically.  As has been his trademark thus far, his incitement of violence and fear could convince a large portion of the nation that there is a credible threat, real or contrived, that must be dealt with in a manner that must ‘temporarily’ suspend a portion of our democratic freedoms.

I am merely speculating, but I do not think we can afford to dismiss the idea as the ravings of a nutty Filosofa.  In the words of David Frum writing for the Atlantic …

“No society, not even one as rich and fortunate as the United States has been, is guaranteed a successful future. When early Americans wrote things like “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” they did not do so to provide bromides for future bumper stickers. They lived in a world in which authoritarian rule was the norm, in which rulers habitually claimed the powers and assets of the state as their own personal property.

The exercise of political power is different today than it was then—but perhaps not so different as we might imagine. Larry Diamond, a sociologist at Stanford, has described the past decade as a period of “democratic recession.” Worldwide, the number of democratic states has diminished. Within many of the remaining democracies, the quality of governance has deteriorated.”

I think it behooves us to be “eternally vigilant”.