We all know (or were) the child who is constantly asking, from the moment the car pulls out of town on the journey, “are we there yet?”
Many of us feel like that when it comes to the 2024 election here in the States for Massa – and are upset when we realize that the actual election day is still almost two months away (sigh – the cup is half empty, right?). And even more when we realize that day is probably just phase ONE (or TWO) of the election melodrama this year.
Melodrama? Why? Phase ONE is the pre-election day voting madness. No we are not talking about military personnel overseas, who must mail in their absentee ballots by Saturday, 21 September, to ensure they are counted. We are talking about States like Minnesota and Virginia which allow “no-reason” voting in person or by mail starting on Friday the 20th of September.
Phase TWO is actual “Election Day” of Tuesday, 5 November. (Only for Libertarians, Green, Prohibition, and Natural Law Party members: Republicans vote on Wednesday and Democrats vote on Thursday of that week: unless they are already dead.) Seriously: that actual standing in line and punching or marking ballots or pulling levers or touching screens on Tuesday is just the beginning.
Phase THREE will be the vote counting and certification by local elections officials. Done in essence simultaneously with massive numbers of attorneys filing suits and very loud volumes of screams from everyone concerned – accompanied by ballots disappearing, appearing, accusations, and more.
Phase FOUR will be the Electoral College casting the real votes – and the grand drama around that.
Phase FIVE will center on the Capitol and possibly the SCOTUS building behind it as Congress does this and that and more lawyers jump into the dog-pile.
Plus whatever other Phases are triggered by all and sundry – even if the violence more and more people are predicting does not come to pass.
And you thought water torture was bad?
But all of that is in the future. Right now, the screaming and the ranting and raving and posturing are reaching levels of hysteria that are rare in American history. (And unfortunately becoming more common.)
As an example: the pundits and prophets and published stories make you wonder how many versions of reality exist. And how long you can see and hear these and still retain your sanity and rationality. For example:
Allan Lichtman, an American political historian called the “Nostradamus of presidential predictions”, has officially declared that Kamala Harris will win this year. “Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States,” Lichtman said in a Thursday video for The New York Times.
Or so claims MSNBC.
On the other hand, CNN claims that their polling shows the “battleground” State of Michigan leaning by 5 points to The Donald. (Though Her Imperial Governorness Whitmer claims that is not true and that dear Kammie is neck-and-neck with The Donald.) We hear similar claims on both Old Party sides about Pennsylvania and even Minnesota.
Another pundit, Nate Silver uses a election prediction model that shows The Donald increasing his chances to beat Kammie. Previously, the model said that Trump had a 52.4% chance to beat Harris, but now her chances are down to 41.6%: Trump’s chances rising to an astounding 58.3%.
Politics is dirty, and we all know it. But this year, the dirt seems to have reached a new modern high. (We suspect that the presidential campaigns between Adams and Jefferson, and whoever Andrew Jackson defeated were probably dirtier and nastier. And don’t get us started on the 1960 election of JFK and Chicago – or of course 2020.)
What can we learn from this?
Running a society is too important to leave to dirty politicians and mandatory (and evil) human government. Politics are dirty because politicians are dirty: corrupt, venal, and greedy. (Maybe not at first, or not too much at first, but it doesn’t take long). Because politicians are dirty because politics is dirty. People should be able to run their own lives. Sure, they may not do a good job a lot of the time, but their chances of success are far better than they get from letting politicians and government officials and other bureaucrats run them.
The best thing that can be said for the next four months (plus!) of the clown show of the 2024 elections here in the States? It will help more and more Americans realize that liberty – not government – is the answer for a decent society, prosperity, and peace.
About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.
The Price of Liberty 
“Are we there yet?” Less than 2 months to go!
We all know (or were) the child who is constantly asking, from the moment the car pulls out of town on the journey, “are we there yet?”
Many of us feel like that when it comes to the 2024 election here in the States for Massa – and are upset when we realize that the actual election day is still almost two months away (sigh – the cup is half empty, right?). And even more when we realize that day is probably just phase ONE (or TWO) of the election melodrama this year.
Melodrama? Why? Phase ONE is the pre-election day voting madness. No we are not talking about military personnel overseas, who must mail in their absentee ballots by Saturday, 21 September, to ensure they are counted. We are talking about States like Minnesota and Virginia which allow “no-reason” voting in person or by mail starting on Friday the 20th of September.
Phase TWO is actual “Election Day” of Tuesday, 5 November. (Only for Libertarians, Green, Prohibition, and Natural Law Party members: Republicans vote on Wednesday and Democrats vote on Thursday of that week: unless they are already dead.) Seriously: that actual standing in line and punching or marking ballots or pulling levers or touching screens on Tuesday is just the beginning.
Phase THREE will be the vote counting and certification by local elections officials. Done in essence simultaneously with massive numbers of attorneys filing suits and very loud volumes of screams from everyone concerned – accompanied by ballots disappearing, appearing, accusations, and more.
Phase FOUR will be the Electoral College casting the real votes – and the grand drama around that.
Phase FIVE will center on the Capitol and possibly the SCOTUS building behind it as Congress does this and that and more lawyers jump into the dog-pile.
Plus whatever other Phases are triggered by all and sundry – even if the violence more and more people are predicting does not come to pass.
And you thought water torture was bad?
But all of that is in the future. Right now, the screaming and the ranting and raving and posturing are reaching levels of hysteria that are rare in American history. (And unfortunately becoming more common.)
As an example: the pundits and prophets and published stories make you wonder how many versions of reality exist. And how long you can see and hear these and still retain your sanity and rationality. For example:
Allan Lichtman, an American political historian called the “Nostradamus of presidential predictions”, has officially declared that Kamala Harris will win this year. “Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States,” Lichtman said in a Thursday video for The New York Times.
Or so claims MSNBC.
On the other hand, CNN claims that their polling shows the “battleground” State of Michigan leaning by 5 points to The Donald. (Though Her Imperial Governorness Whitmer claims that is not true and that dear Kammie is neck-and-neck with The Donald.) We hear similar claims on both Old Party sides about Pennsylvania and even Minnesota.
Another pundit, Nate Silver uses a election prediction model that shows The Donald increasing his chances to beat Kammie. Previously, the model said that Trump had a 52.4% chance to beat Harris, but now her chances are down to 41.6%: Trump’s chances rising to an astounding 58.3%.
Politics is dirty, and we all know it. But this year, the dirt seems to have reached a new modern high. (We suspect that the presidential campaigns between Adams and Jefferson, and whoever Andrew Jackson defeated were probably dirtier and nastier. And don’t get us started on the 1960 election of JFK and Chicago – or of course 2020.)
What can we learn from this?
Running a society is too important to leave to dirty politicians and mandatory (and evil) human government. Politics are dirty because politicians are dirty: corrupt, venal, and greedy. (Maybe not at first, or not too much at first, but it doesn’t take long). Because politicians are dirty because politics is dirty. People should be able to run their own lives. Sure, they may not do a good job a lot of the time, but their chances of success are far better than they get from letting politicians and government officials and other bureaucrats run them.
The best thing that can be said for the next four months (plus!) of the clown show of the 2024 elections here in the States? It will help more and more Americans realize that liberty – not government – is the answer for a decent society, prosperity, and peace.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.