No matter who wins the election, the populace will remain sharply divided. This means that at least 60 million diehard Republicans or Democrats will suffer psychological pain and despair.
We must prepare ourselves for this potential phenomena because raw emotions create the seeds of anger which, in a country with 400 million guns in public hands, can turn to destructive violence to individuals, businesses, even churches.
The laws, rules and norms of the past are no longer a safeguard for ordinary people as criminality at the highest levels has been brushed aside in favor of powerful individuals and business moguls around the globe.
Attacks on what used to be a rather ho-hum election process with easy access to voting places, absentee voting and trust in the vote count has turned into a battleground with alleged fraud, sharply reduced in-person voting opportunities and potential challenges to the outcomes that we may not know who has won until weeks, even months later.
Meanwhile, the nation is under siege by a persistent strain of coronavirus that has upset the economy, education and social activities, with no real plans at the federal level in place to address them – just knee-jerk reactions to daily events.
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The trillions of stimulus money to shore up the economy and help the disadvantaged weather the storm is soon ending with no more than minimal help coming, except through executive orders because of Senate-blocked legislation the House passed in May.
Again, there is no plan at the federal level, just bumbling along trying to get credit for getting something done before the election, however insufficient. Meanwhile, billionaires have added more billions to their dollar pile during the pandemic, while the working class and disadvantaged struggle in their daily lives.
For several decades, now we have engaged in win-lose political games in governing – despite the obvious notion that democratic governing has to be win-win for all people residing in the country, simply stated as “the common good.” Somehow we must get back to “regular order” in governing. That simply means following the laws, rules, established processes/procedures proven over the years as opposed to blindly following individual and party ideologies.
