In my column last week I suggested Georgia voters might consider my Brittany birddog, Ike, as a potential candidate for the United States Senate. I braced for flak from Democrats and Republicans, and it didn’t happen.., yet. In fact, the general reaction for the most part from responders was “your column is spot on.” Two went so far as suggesting a statewide newspaper or some form of social media should publish it in hopes of getting enough votes for Ike to send a message to Democrats and Republicans that voters are tired of being forced to select the lessor of two evils. Obviously a 10 or 20 percent vote for a birddog with no last name would send a strong message to the political kingmakers who apparently enjoy watching citizens vote while holding their noses.
I did have one individual who pointed out the fact that both candidates were black, and he wondered if I’d react the same if both were white. I mentioned that I suggested Ike’s father, Major, as a candidate for President in 2016 when both candidates were white. Perhaps that issue was put to bed.
But apparently there is a need for more “we like Ike” movements in the United States. There is evidence in a few states that some candidates may not accept the 2022 decision of voters if they lose. Of course they will be happy to accept if they win. A gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, Kari Lake, stated “She would accept the results.., if she won.” She is very magnanimous and completely in line with the 2020 definition of fair play in modern hyper-partisan politics.
Currently that same mentality is surfacing in the banana republics of South America. It is more than a little embarrassing that they are learning such behavior directly from the nation responsible for the birth of the modern democratic system of government on Planet Earth.
It seems entirely plausible that an overtime method for breaking a tie or contested election among president or congressional candidates in the near term may be necessary to deal with the issue of election fraud allegations. One procedure might include lining up a significant number of the opposing factions back to back and armed with semi-automatic weapons. Upon command, they should take ten steps, turn, and fire at will. The candidate’s group with the fewest bullet holes in their booties would be declared the winner. To limit further allegations of fraud, candidates should be located directly front and center on the firing line alongside their most avid supporters. Any candidate who alleges fraud and refuses to take part in the designated overtime election procedures would be disqualified immediately and deported to Russia.
On a more serious note, it appears that “we the people” are determined to undermine and destroy the very system for which much of the world yearns. So many humans labor under autocratic governments with unlimited power, and they dream of living in a nation in which the people have the power to select or deny candidates the privilege of leadership. In many of these countries, a bullet in the back of the head settles political disputes, and losers simply disappear.
Most of us cannot fathom such godless forms of government where virtually any criticism can be punished by death. But it apparently exists in Russia, China, North Korea, Syria and more. Currently in Ukraine, unknown numbers of innocent people have been randomly murdered by Russian invaders with little or no fear of consequences.
No doubt my tongue-in-cheek criticism of Georgia’s two senatorial candidates could result in severe, perhaps deadly consequences for me and my family in some nations around of world. Yet that is what some people seem to believe we need in the United States. In reality, that is what Adolf Hitler convinced the German people to support in the 1930s. In the beginning he told the German people exactly what they wanted to hear such as “Germany didn’t actually lose WW I. According to Hitler, “the German military was stabbed in the back by Jews and the German military leadership.”
Does that sound a little like the “fake news” of 2020? It should. In Mein Kampf, Hitler said the simple-minded masses would more readily accept the “big lie” than smaller ones because they could not believe someone would be so stupid as to spread such a preposterous falsehood. One could argue that “stop the steal” politics in 2022 germinated directly from Mein Kampf.
