Rig THIS! Saturday Political Soap Box 144

Donald Trump has finally jumped the shark,  Oh, I know.  It seems like that occurs every few days. But his core supporters keep coming back.

By the time you read this, he may have backed off.  But it is too late.  He has stated he might not accept the results of our election and refuse to do what every losing candidate has done in Presidential election  history - graciously concede and acknowledge working with the winner for the betterment of the country, even it is as loyal opposition.

And no, Al Gore did not do the same thing.  The initial Florida recount was done automatically, as is required of their state's election when they are within a certain margin.  The various anomalies that occurred prompted the Florida Supreme Court to requires some counties do an additional recount.  Did the Gore campaign support these legal efforts?  Of course they did!  And when the Supreme Court intervened and stopped the recounts, heartbroken as Al Gore was, he immediately conceded the election, and in a very gracious and supportive way.

Al Gore ended his campaign when the proper legal challenges were closed.  He did not fuss or whine.  He most certainly didn't hint three weeks before the election that the results were going to be rigged and he wouldn't accept them unless he won.  2000 was a tough election, and there were anomalies (as they are with most elections), but it was conducted within the rules of the game.

We must work within these rules, even they are sometimes flawed, or we descend into the madness of a third world dictatorship, with constant coups and the potential for violence.

Donald Trump is very wrong and beyond the pale of accepted political discourse for this great republic of ours.

That does not mean there are not problems with our electoral process.  But they are not the unproven voter fraud that Donald Trump fear-mongers about.  And although there is media bias, there is also, thanks to the Internet, some of the most varied media sources we've ever had.  The problem with the media is not the rigging, it's that we tend to only absorb our own preferred media and ignore all others.  We listen, read and watch primarily those sources that confirm our own opinions and biases.


What are some of the real problems with our electoral process?


GERRYMANDERING:  Our legislative districts are carved out not by geographic logic, but by the need to preserve incumbents and create permanent majorities for the party creating the districts.  The result is fewer and fewer competitive districts, and many where in the general election there is only one candidate running. They create districts that are more conservative or more liberal than the country as a whole.

LACK OF CIVIC KNOWLEDGE:  There are fewer and fewer of us who have the basic civic knowledge to become participating members of a democratic republic.  We know less and less about how government works, what our constitution really means, and how to recognize when someone is talking outside the parameters of our American system.  More and more of us only pay attention superficially and thereby make superficial decisions.   They are made by inattentive conservatives when they are distracted by authoritarian rhetoric,  They are made by progressives when they flip from Bernie Sanders to the Libertarian Gary Johnson, completely disregarding the fact that they are complete political opposites.

UNLIMITED MONEY.  The system is warped when corporations, the wealthy and other special interests can give unlimited amounts of money to candidates or their super pacs.  We have moved from one man - one vote, to one million bucks - one bought politician.

FOREIGN INFLUENCES.  When other countries weigh heavily into our elections, whether by bribery or hacking or any other means, we need to be very worried.

Let's not burn the house down.  Let's instead renovate and spruce it up, and keep it being the envy of the entire world.