It appears to us, that that a long awaited, but unarguably, inevitable, general consensus has been attained, to the effect that the current Presidential Administration has declined to the level of a sad parody of that institution’s historically respected past; and constitutes, by its erratic behavior in office, a manifest rebuke to our Founding Fathers’ express declarations and confident expectations.
It would not seem useful, to (again) recount the plethora of ignorant, harmful and embarrassing acts of incompetence, and the utterly shameful performance, professionally and personally, of our current President, an adolescent, former television game show host and real estate grifter; we have already a done so in previous posts, and confidently perceive, that they have by now, noticeably, earned the status of popular, legend. The disturbing question, for the concerned citizen is, “What shall we do now?”
Stella Adler, a member of an internationally renowned acting family, and founder of an iconic Actor’s Academy, statement, relevant to our thematic question, “You only fail to learn, if you do not learn from failing,” may, consistent with our steady, and still undiminished exercise of innate optimism, be employed to see these “Dark Ages” of the Trump Administration, an out of control, Presidential three-ring circus, as a useful, albeit painful, learning experience.
Thomas Jefferson’s admonition, ” For a democracy to succeed, you need an educated and informed citizenry” often quoted by us, continues to be eternally relevant and constructive.
It is a matter of statistical public record, that the Presidential election of 2016, resulting in the surprising elevation of Donald J. Trump to the Oval Office, witnessed a total vote of little more than 50% of all eligible voters. This was inclusive of an unprecedented number of low information people who traditionally, do not vote. The latter group, who unpredictably, did choose to vote, in he 2016 election, were citizens of such description who, disappointed with their disadvantaged lives, responded to a tactical program of demagogic, false, “snake oil” promises of a Valhalla, financed by big business interests; who value deregulation and consequently, increased profits, above the health of their fellow citizens, and as well, the planet. The effective combination of large voting numbers of such uninformed people, together with the abysmally low voter turnout of regular voters, seemed to win the day for the unpredicted and unsuitable, candidate, Trump. The ensuing results are [sad and embarrassing, as well as, dangerous, current] history.
The lessons taught by this failure taking part in our Democratic process, need merely to be noted and relevantly addressed, to attain the needed solutions and prevent a recurrence of the problem.
The statements of Edmund Burke, 18th Century Member of the British Parliament and noted political philosopher, best known for his famous admonition, “those who forget history are likely to repeat it.” [relevant, as well to our subject[ seem especially apt, on the subject of the Trump election. and democratic elections, in general, ” Those who know virtuous liberty, cannot see it disguised by incapable leaders on the sole authority of their mouth,”
We have chosen to see a shiny bright “light in the tunnel,” from the salutary results of the recent mid-term elections, and are determined to assume that such positive impetus will continue. Furthermore, full and informed, citizen participation in the elective process, has now, no doubt, been awarded its deserved level of impactful respect, based upon the experience of the past Presidential election, [especially, by those who have nourished their lives with wisdom, developed from the precious, and enjoyably, enriching, resource of reading good literature].
-p.
plinyblogdotcom 