By Nathan Barton

As I write this, it is late Wednesday evening in the Four Corners, and just six more days of having to put up with the advertisements and the hype and the appeals to vote, and the tales of how important it is to vote. And the rest of the nonsense. As I’ve commented on previously, it will NOT be the end of this insane year of election process to see who gets to be Massa starting in January, although presumable most of several thousand OTHER offices on the various ballots will be resolved quickly.

But some of the foolishness WILL end, for which I am thankful. I’ve pretty much turned off the news AND the talk-shows for the last several weeks, to reduce the stress level and keep a modicum of sanity. I’ve even (so far) resisted the temptation to put out a series of four commentaries, to be entitled “A Baker’s Dozen Reasons to Vote AGAINST …” So far. The lists would be easy enough, I know. But the stress and the madness would probably not be worth it.

This cartoon shows some people have been doing some thinking about what this year’s (well, actually, since early in 2015) circus illustrates. (I couldn’t find an attribution for it, and it does not appear to be copyrighted.)

So I am far from the only person saying enough is enough. And the only thing that I’d add to the cartoon is that the LP is not shown together with the Dems and Reps. The LP demonstrated its disfunctional nature just as much as the two old parties. I can’t say anything about the Greens as I know little (and wish I knew less) about their internal workings, and they apparently don’t have a clothes line on which to hang their dirty laundry. I suspect it is no different.

Even if this election does not result immediately in open warfare – even if there is a “peaceful” transition of power – the problem is not with the election process nearly as much as it is the power being transferred. NO person, NO party, NO organ of government (Congress, Executive Branch, SCOTUS et al., or for that matter the state versions of each) should have the kind of power that will be transferred if things go smoothly. It is the very magnitude of that power – and the consequences for those that lose power during this farce – that has created the foolishness that we have been afflicted with for the past 20+ months.

Mama’s Note: The baseline question is this: By what legitimate authority does anyone obtain or exercise this power over other people and their property? There is NO legitimate authority for it, especially for those of us who see that and refuse to consent. And the ranks of those who no longer consent are growing daily.

And at the same time, as more and more people have been pointing out, this election really isn’t going to change anything. The “deep government” or “secret government” or “state within a state” will STILL be running things. Only the public face will change, to the extent that it DOES change: most incumbents in Congress will still be there come January. And the staff of those incumbents who lose or who retired, for the most part, will simply work for their replacements, or find some other convenient den in DC to occupy and work from. The Fifty States will continue to be bled by the parasites.

So again, I urge you, dear reader, to prepare for what might happen: the mental and physical equivalent of carrying a weapon for self-defense, of having that fire extinguisher, of having the spare tire: be prepared for any unpleasantness that might break out on Tuesday, 9th of November, or for the next several months thereafter. Not saying to hunker down, not saying to go out and buy three months worth of emergency food and ammo, but be prepared just as you would for a bad blizzard or hurricane. And remember that with state-caused disasters (as this one would certainly be), don’t depend on the minions of the state, whether they be employees in or out of uniform, or contractors, or “volunteers.” Don’t expect help from government, and you won’t be disappointed.