“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right” – Victor Hugo
Two more days until the general election, two more days in which the future of our nation will be decided. As I write this, 92 million Americans have already cast their ballots, nearly twice the number in 2016, and it’s not even election day yet. Some states are running far ahead of the abysmal 2/3 of registered voter turnout we saw in 2016, and Texas has surpassed its 2016 total vote in early voting alone. Around 9.67 million people have voted in Texas, compared to less than 9 million total in 2016 (1). Texas and 34 other states have crossed their halfway marks for total ballots cast in 2016. These include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. About half of the votes already cast so far come from these 16 states, which will no doubt play a crucial role in determining our next president.
There is so much at stake in this election: Foreign policy, LGBTQ+ rights, Roe vs. Wade, climate change, voter rights, tackling a pandemic and over 200,000 dead, Social Security and Medicaid, the widening gap between the super-rich and the rest of us, black lives matter, free speech, the right to assemble, the list goes on and on. We are on the precipice, teetering on the edge of a dictatorship. Don’t believe for one second that “it can’t happen here,” because it’s happening right now. Look at the rise of Trump, an unprincipled, populist, and racist demagogue who has turned the White House and our nation upside-down, sewing division, and derision. In 2016 America fell for Trump, and straight out of the dictator’s playbook he has voiced the buried resentments of conservatives who have felt “left behind.” He has solidified his power by blaming our nation’s woes on Democrats, immigrants, socialists, minorities, and foreigners.
Just as Hitler’s Nazi Party had their own newspaper, the Volkischer Beobachter (People’s Observer), and Mussolini was the editor of a newspaper before his rise to power, FoxNews, FaceBook and other “news” and social media entities spread lies and alternative realities to captivate and transfix their followers. It’s important to remember that dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini, Dutarte, Putin, and Erdogan didn’t get where they are today all on their own. All of these men had aides, sycophants, and enablers greedy for the money or power that goes with access to the leader. Mitch McConnell is a case in point, perhaps Trump’s biggest enabler in the Senate. It’s probably true that the GOP didn’t really think that things under the Trump administration would be as bad as they are now: An impeachment, dark money from Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey, over 200,000 dead from the overt mishandling of a pandemic, record-breaking unemployment, the erosion of vital regulatory bodies such as the EPA and the CDC, the packing of the courts with ultra-conservative, right-wing judges, and Trump’s increasing divisive rhetoric that stokes violence and racism. Trump’s media enablers such as Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, and GOP lawmakers, governors, House members, and senators have put their party before their nation, and have cast aside the Constitution and any regard for the American people. The GOP is unrecognizable, and it is entirely complicit in the state of our nation today. The GOP has refused to play by the rules, always moving the goal-posts, as incumbent Democrats stood by, immobile. The German businessmen and generals of Hitler’s time believed they could control the man they put into office, but we all know what happened. Trump and his enablers are off the rails, and I doubt that our democracy will survive another four more years.
Revolution is our right, and the first step is to vote. It’s time for change, it’s time to show Washington that “we the people” demand the preservation of our democracy and the elimination of the oligarchy, of corruption, discrimination, voter suppression, and the assault on minorities and immigrants. Two more days. If you haven’t voted, do it Tuesday. Wear your mask, practice social distancing. Do it for America and do it for democracy.
Sources:
1. https://www.vox.com/2020/11/1/21543381/92-million-people-early-voting-turnout-2020