To the Editor:
America is (allegedly) a democratic republic, so if you’re a billionaire wishing to pull the levers of government, you must first con millions of main-street voters into electing malleable candidates willing to do your bidding.
Unfortunately, convincing folks to forsake their best interests in favor of yours can be expensive. To keep the gravy train rolling, you’ll need to fund think tanks, feed the right-wing media, hire lobbyists, weaponize your philanthropic giving, and make private payoffs to people you don’t even like.
Little wonder members of the wealthy 0.1-percent club whine about paying income tax. After all, isn’t the massive investment needed to maintain minority rule just another form of taxation?
Clearly Donald Trump, Pillow Guy, and the Republicans in Congress understand just how wasteful the façade of staging a fair election really is. And, they have a point! Given the reality-bending influence of psyops propaganda, conspiracy mongering, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and outright lying, who can be sure any election result truly reflects the will of the people?
So, it’s only right that we applaud Donald Trump for using the 2020 election as a platform to scuttle the electoral process. With help from the Congress and a basketful of his ruddiest supporters, he simply denied the vote count, declared victory, and hosted a violent insurrection to back it up.
But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget those rioters were expressly motivated to hunt down Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, the two public officials next in line for the presidency. Had harm befallen either, we know the outcome.
Thankfully, it didn’t happen and now we’ve entered a quieter phase of the electoral cycle. Still, it’s no time for complacency because this is when obscure political operatives seclude themselves behind closed doors to fashion jigsaw-shaped redistricting plans and implement draconian polling restrictions—all with the goal of making voting more trouble than it’s worth. The League of Women Voters is hot on their case, but perhaps the rest of us should be, too.
Meanwhile, the captains and kings continue sipping martinis in comfort knowing at least for now, all the important decisions are already made.
Rick Littlefield
Barrington, N.H.
Rick:
For the forseeable future, Republibans are always gonna be Republibans. There’s no point in waiting for them to reform themselves.
We just wish the Democrats would quit showing up at gunfights armed nothing but platitudes about bipartisanship.
The Editor
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