Tag: contested election

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WHAT’LL WE DO NOW?

The 2020 Election is pretty well over. Yes, it’s being contested, but it doesn’t look like that effort is going anywhere. According to various polls, at least half of Americans think there was voter fraud, but there’s no proof. That may stir up a little flurry in the media, but the pre-election frenzy has fizzled out. As Richard Nixon said in 1962, after losing the California governor’s race, “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Trump could say the same thing. What’s going to happen to people like Rachael Maddow, Sean Hannity, Don Lemon, and Tucker Carlson? What will they rant and rave about, and what’ll we do now?

What'll We Do Now that Trump has lost? Like Nixon, the media won't have him to kick around anymore.
When Nixon lost in 1962, he said “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Trump could say the same. What’ll we do Now?

Print media will have the same problem. Have you read the newspapers the past few days? If it weren’t for the coronavirus epidemic, I don’t know what they would have to report. They’re filling their pages with more and more “soft news” on topics like disease, domestic abuse, and jail overcrowding.. Honestly, I don’t know why we still take two newspapers. Guess it’s just force of habit. None of our adult children have newspaper subscriptions, and I don’t think they’re going to start buying newspapers now.

Cable news, especially, will suffer. CNN, MSNBC have provided fodder for the liberals . while conservative Fox News scores highest in prime time viewing. . Network news is federally regulated, and makes it’s money through advertising. Higher ratings mean they can charge more to advertise. Unfortunately for them, Cable news isn’t heavily regulated, so they can up their ratings and attract more advertisers because of all their outlandish political diatribes against one party or the other.

This past week, we’ve done a lot more channel surfing. We’ll watch anything but cable news. The other night, we watched a fascinating documentary “Mountain Men.” Since both of us come from farm backgrounds, it probably appealed to us more than the average city slicker.

Actually, it’s been rather relaxing. You don’t have to endure irritating social media posts about politics. Or avoid people with opposing political views. The excitement is over. But, what’ll we do now?

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WARNING! VOTER RAGE IS DANGEROUS

The contested election of 2020 between Biden and Trump  has reached the boiling point.  And it couldn’t come at a worse time. People are already feeling that they’ve lost control  during this Covid-19  pandemic.  And now, all of a sudden, many fear that their vote has been compromised by a rigged election.   It’s like being caught in a tornado following a hurricane.  That helpless feeling that our lives are veering out of control.  Warning! Voter rage is dangerous.

Warning: Voter Rage is Dangerous
Warning! Voter Rage is Dangerous. Kennedy beat NIxon, in 1960, but it was considered a rigged election.

Most people can’t remember another supposedly rigged  election, but I do. The Kennedy-Nixon election in 1960 was so close that it only took the votes in the states of Illinois  and Texas to throw it to Kennedy.  Historians believe that John’s wealthy father,  Joe Kennedy,  had the money and political power to somehow rig the votes.  I was living in Chicago at that time, in a northern suburb that was strongly Republican.  People were furious, but they didn’t contest the election.  I’m not sure why.  They say Nixon thought about it, but in the end, he decided to concede.  He was young enough to know he could run again. And he did.

Kennedy’s election was fraught with controversy, and it didn’t get any better after the Bay of Pigs fiasco when 98 Cuban American’s lost their lives. But  John redeemed himself with the triumph of the Cuban Missile crisis.  For awhile, the Kennedy era was like Camelot.  These young beautiful people were America’s version of  royalty. And then it all went South.   Kennedy’s assassination was soon followed by the killing of his brother, Bobby.  Vice President  Lyndon Johnson, who  many  thought had helped rigged the election in Texas,  then took over. But that didn’t end well, either.  The Vietnam War caused him to resign from politics, and not run for re-election.

So that’s why this contested election has me worried.  Whether it’s Biden or Trump, the winner won’t  have won in a landslide,  like other popular presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson.   Voter rage will always be simmering beneath  the surface of the political landscape.  It won’t take much to make it erupt into something very ominous.  In contrast to Kennedy and Nixon, we now have two old men with nothing to lose but the election. Warning! Voter rage is dangerous.