For those who have traveled , as they say, in my orbit over the years, it should be evident that I have been engaged in, closely followed , observed and offered observations and commentary on the politics of our surroundings. There have been involvements in  the politics of local jurisdictions, state level legislatures and, of course the goings on inside the beltway and its tributaries into the states.  We won’t even talk about the private sector and its own brand of politics, especially those organizations associated with a church. Over nearly four decades, as an advocate for those vulnerable populations who had a voice that often was  ignored, interaction with legislatures, legislative committees and politicians of  all stripes was the order of the day. It never ceased to amaze me how on the one side, matters of concern seemed all so plain and simple and on the other side of that same coin, they became so very very complicated. Dealing with so many   “ forked tongue “ people had a way of causing major migraines . You could listen as a key note speaker at a right wing group convention lists all those alleged christian principles swearing they are his guiding principle and soon thereafter be indicted for fraud or of being a sexual predator.

One can view the caliber or the lack thereof  of legislative bodies and their committees and the character or lack thereof of its members. A cursory survey of such yields interesting and sometimes scary results. While this is not about a party specifically, it must be conceded that the current edition of the GOP, fallen completely into the MAGA cult, comes across as the worst offender. For instance, one member of congress believes that Italians commandeered the voting machines  and changed the results of the 2020 election. Other  members of congress  actually joined the rioters – yes, rioters – at the Capitol on January sixth, 2021.  Another less than esteemed member of congress can boast of several DUI convictions and had to be escorted out of a theater for public intoxication and indecent actions in public. Then there are  the numerous members of congress who actually voted to throw out the results of the 2020 election, voiding the choices of millions of voters who no doubt voted on both sides of the aisle.  And we won’t go in to the members of congress who still hold that the 2020 election was rigged and that the candidate who lost the popular vote by over seven million and the electoral vote by 306 to 232 actually won. That list is far too long.

The list of such members of legislatures, on all levels,  is long, almost to the point of exhaustion. We all have been witness to such behaviors over and over, time and time again and locale is not an issue. It is pervasive. However, while this is disconcerting to say the least, what one has to look at is the underlying issue which is far more disconcerting. 

Understanding that the office that legislators hold is gained by election and therefore subject to election and reelection, the more profound question which  requires some sort of answer is, while it is difficult to understand how many of these get elected, it remains to find an answer as to how do they keep getting reelected, term after term after term. The possible responses to this question are curious as well as numerous. However, when one looks across the spectrum of those responses, it seems to be clear.

As Donnie Deutsch, television personality, commentator and marketing executive , in discussing the current GOP, notes – “ …. the problem is not with the Republican  party, It is the seventy-four million trump voters …”. The sum and substance is that the problem is with voters – the body politic, if you will and the overall mind set that drives them which is solely  and completely based in two buckets  – fear and ignorance. It all really comes down to those two and, while there are aspects of them that spread out a bit, the essential items are these two – that we have a major portion of the voting public who either are fearful of what they think will happen depending on who they elect , whether real or imagine, or they are pitifully ignorant of the reality that engulfs their  social and political environment.

We have, as many observers of the political tide have concluded, one of the  most politically ignorant voting population in the free world. It is no wonder, considering the constant flood of disinformation spewing out from seriously questionable sources and an audience that the concept of fact checking is totally foreign. Now, I accept that most  people do not follow as closely or spend much in the  way of fact checking as  many writers do, or should. But that we do not teach civics and how government does or should work lends to this lack of knowledge. Nor do we teach even fundamental skills in the art of fact checking – an absolute necessity in this day and age. So, either voters do not know how to check the sources or they simply do not care. Both are unfortunate

conditions. The ground is then fertile for the spread of misinformation, disinformation and outright lies.

The current posture of of least one political party is that it is no longer a political party but more akin to a cult and the so called red states are more akin to Berlin in 1938 than  to the United States in 2024. Even at least one candidate for congress in a swing state is  identifying himself as an America First candidate without, one has to bet, having  any understanding as to where that phrase came from. Yes, it was the mantra of the American Nazi Party in the late thirties.

So now, where are and the question at this point in time is really obvious. What do we do about it all, knowing full well that the very existence of that “ Great Experiment “ is at stake. 

It is paramount that ALL voters spend far more time learning about not only voting process and procedures so they know the how of voting but also spend far more time delving in to the candidates themselves –  for those seeking reelection, what their voting record  is and, in this writer’s opinion, what their personal character is. We should not be electing felons, traitors, fake electors and the like. It is long overdue that we become an informed voting public. It is long overdue that vetting of candidates is now paramount and serious criteria must be imposed. It is time we stop surrendering to the lunatic fringe and work diligently toward a government that actually governs.