Election Thoughts (or Hopes?) Sydney Williams
Otto von Bismarck reputedly said: “People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” Never having gone hunting or been in combat, I assume that the “Iron Chancellor” was correct about those events. However, having watched elections for seventy years, I know he is right about politicians who give speeches that exaggerate past accomplishments, denigrate opponents, and fabricate plans for the future. But, as the author-poet Benét is quoted in the rubric above, doing so is “an American custom, like eating corn on the cob.” The difference today, though, is that elections don’t end on election day: witness Hillary Clinton in 2016, Stacy Abrams in 2018, and Donald Trump in 2020.
While there are issues that concern us all, we have politicians today, as one pundit put it, who have even bigger issues – ones of excessive egos and acute sensitivity to criticism. Nevertheless, issues are plentiful: abortion and a woman’s right to choose; inflation, which is hitting the pocket books of everyone; the economy – while third quarter preliminary GDP (+2.6%) was a welcome relief after two quarters of negative growth, rapid inflation and escalating interest rates portend stagflation; a surfeit of jobs and a decline in labor participation rates suggest a dearth of willing workers; education, where the drop in test scores accelerated during Covid, but the decline began earlier; immigration, where a needed increase in legal immigration is being held hostage to a flood of illegal immigrants; crime, which has increased across the country, but disproportionately in inner cities; discrimination against Asians and Jews, reminiscent of the anti-Semitism of the 1920s, scare mongering over climate change by radicals with little understanding of history and climatology; and the teaching of a false narrative regarding the founding of the United States, along with the cancellation of ideas that do not conform to progressive ideology.
Typically, midterm elections favor the “out” party, and polls suggest 2022 will be no exception. No matter which party wins, though, differences abound and have become violent: last week’s attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in his San Francisco home; the June 2022 arrest of a “heavily armed” man outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the shooting of six people, including Representative Steve Scalise in June 2017. While there is little doubt in my mind that all three incidents were the work of a mentally deranged individual, politics is, in part, responsible. But the real issues that confront us, as mentioned above, are numerous and include concerns about the cultural and moral direction of the Country, along with technological advances that supersede man’s ability to easily adapt. Pundits deem all elections as “the most important of our generation.” This one is no exception.
However, the point I want to make is to urge candidates and voters, alike, to take a deep breath. No matter what happens on November 8th, the Republic will survive. The United States is generally considered the world’s oldest, continuing democracy. Like other democracies, the United States has adapted to changing times and customs; but representative government, rule of law and individual freedom have characterized this Nation through enormous changes, conflicts, and challenges, including the burning of the Capitol and a Civil War. The Nation has stood for almost 250 years. It will continue to stand.
Instead of predicting individual races – which others, more qualified than I, do – I want to make a larger point of hope. Should Republicans win control of the House and the U.S. Senate, which some polls indicate and which I believe will happen, they should celebrate their victory. But they should try to smooth the shards that rend the fabric of our Nation, and they should acknowledge that victory would have been impossible without the votes of Independents and some Democrats. They should not violate their principles, but their tone should be conciliatory. They should take the political high road, which today is barren of traffic. Lizzie Post’s and Daniel Post Senning’s centennial edition of their great-great grandmother Emily Post’s 1922 Etiquette is a reminder that behavior matters. The original – not the new, politically correct centennial edition – would be a proper holiday gift for all politicians.
There should be no attempts to exert revenge. Extremism is okay on the political hustings, but it does not belong in the halls of Congress or in state legislatures. Humility should replace arrogance; respect, contempt; humor, drama; and clarity, obfuscation. And all politicians should heed the advice my father once gave me: You do not listen when your mouth is open.
Stephen Vincent Benét wrote the words in the rubric that heads this essay in 1943, while our nation was united to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Yet his words are relevant today. The course of this Country’s history is long, and it varies, up and down hills and around corners. My grandchildren, God willing, will see the tricentennial of this Nation’s founding, and some of them may live to see the arrival of the 22nd Century. Regardless, their children and grandchildren will. Our time on Earth is but a small mark on the continuum of history. We live in a remarkable Country – for which we should be forever grateful – the envy of the world. And it was not through our own efforts, but by pure chance, that most of us are here.
But politics has become nasty. As Marcellus says to Horatio in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Something seems rotten in Washington. There is no accountability. No one in the Biden Administration assumed responsibility for the decision to hinder fossil fuel production, which has been one factor in higher energy prices. The NEA blamed everyone but themselves for poor student performance. The Federal Reserve ignored the impact of a decade of abnormally low interest rates on increased debt and subsequent inflation? Two questions, as the election nears: Is the leftist culture of self-aggrandizement combined with loathing for those with conservative values a passing fad, or is it a deliberate attempt to change the political calculus? Will this election make a difference?
The answers are unknown, but voting is important. A definition of madness is to expect different results by doing the same thing over and over again. Sending the governing party back would not seem wise. Among our responsibilities as citizens is to leave the Country a little better than we found it – advice largely ignored by the current batch in Washington. Winners next week could start with an olive leaf.
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