SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 – . . . after last’ night’s debate, I wish that Joe Biden were not who he is. I wish he were a Rhodes Scholar, a great debater, and 20 years younger. I wish he espoused a different policy here and there.
I also wish that humankind were so perfect, it didn’t need police, doctors, government, or religion. And while I’m at it, I wish I were 25 again.
But realistically, what I wish for most is that we save ourselves before we destroy ourselves.
What we saw on undeniable display last night was an unmistakably dire warning—an out-of-control president within an out-of-control process in a now out-of-control democracy. We witnessed in full rage a deeply flawed president who reflexively undermines every norm of our democracy and civil society—all policy matters aside. If he isn’t roundly defeated and doesn’t readily concede, America won’t survive as it’s currently configured.
“And here’s the deal,” as Joe would put it: we’ve done this to ourselves. We didn’t land in our current predicament by way of the Wehrmacht or invasion by Imperial Japan. We weren’t dragged to this nadir by the U.S.S.R., Mao’s China, or the Comintern. We didn’t fall to Islamic extremism. We. Did. This. To. Ourselves.
In our prosperity and infatuation with bright, shiny objects, we lost sight of the dangers to our democracy: ignorance, impatience, and unquestioning belief in our own press releases. We lost sight of crumbling infrastructure and the suffering of those who live in the shadows, and now we face the consequences of neglect and rejection. Puritans, meanwhile, made “perfect” the enemy of “good.”
To recover our country will take more than ousting the man who defiles the people’s house. Our salvation will require introspection and a generation of change.
We who criticize this country don’t “hate” it, any more than a parent reprimanding a child “hates” the child. Yet Trump tells his followers that criticism amounts to “hatred.” How long before he orders it “illegal”? Until that possibility is removed, our prognosis isn’t good.
Ahead of the election, Trump and his minions actively undermine the process. For that alone he—and they—are the enemies of democracy.
Since Trump announced his candidacy, America has had four “bites at the apple”; chances to prevent the horror that is now upon us. The first was the nominating process starting in early 2016, followed by the second bite that November. The third missed bite was the 2018 election, in which a Republican majority was returned to the Senate. The fourth chance was the impeachment trial early this year. Shame on us for missing all four bites, however unappetizing the apple might have appeared.
Our house—in dire need of renovation—is now in flames. Before we can re-wire, re-plumb, and remodel our home, we need to put the fire out. I wish that we were now calling planners and contractors instead of 9-1-1.
And oh how I wish our insurance policy hadn’t lapsed when we threw that apple away!
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
