Of, By, and For, Part 2

I needn't tell you the adversary I spoke of in Part 1 is the unpresident, Donald Trump.

He has declared war on absentee voting, because he rightly sees it as a threat to his re-election. Between now and November 3 he will be trying every dirty trick imaginable to win the election. Trump is amoral, and will see this fight as business as usual in his twisted universe.

We are fighting for control of our government. Lincoln said the American government is Of, By, and For the American people, and Trump wants to take it away from us any way he can.

Voting is the single most important thing we do as Americans, and any attempt to tamper with any citizen's ability to vote freely must be met with extreme resistance.

Trump, his allies and his minions may have means to cause trouble with in-person voting systems, but absentee voting is beyond their filthy grasp. It must remain so. The number of absentee voters will no doubt be much higher than usual this year due to the isolation and quarantines resulting from the threat of COVID-19. And that has the Criminal-in-Chief terrified.

The man has no shame, no sense, and is willing to destroy the very fabric of the nation if it could get him re-elected. His overinflated ego could bring about the collapse of democracy, and that's not hyperbole.

Absentee voting has been around a long time, beginning during the Civil War when it was offered to soldiers stationed far away from their home states. Military personnel have continued to be major users of absentee voting. Would Trump disenfranchise those in uniform who he calls "great people?" You bet. To him they're just cannon fodder.

Who else votes by mail? The elderly and disabled and others with mobility limitations; people isolated by the pandemic, which is likely to be most of us; and potentially all 13 million voters in the states of Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, where voting by mail is the primary means of casting ballots.

Finally, the supreme hypocrisy, the most shameless mockery, the most sickening casuistry: The Hypocrite-in-Chief and members of his family routinely vote by absentee ballot.

Donald Trump is more dangerous to this country than Russia, China and North Korea combined. He must be stopped by any means available before "Of the people, by the people, for the people" becomes an odd, empty phrase uttered by an unremembered Republican politician.


--- Diogenes, 6/26/20


Bonus link to an important defender of free elections: https://www.brennancenter.org/