THOUGHTS BEFORE THE RESULTS

As I sit pondering and waiting for the results of the United States midterm elections, I reflect on the nature of the American voter and the politics of America in general. The average American, it appears to me, is essentially a Republican at heart. There is the underlying myth of the pioneer settlers, the rugged individuals who set out to find some better life where they were free from any constraints and ‘by the grace of God’ were indeed able to fashion a life for themselves through stamina and hard work. By enriching  themselves they were keeping themselves free and capable of warding off any hazards that stood in their way. The myth of the rugged individual and the cowboy are very strong in the minds of the Americans. I believe that is why the Western is such a popular,  enduring and important theme.   

There is also, as a result, a tendency to distance themselves from any idea that the myth is just that. It is the American reality dream. They cling to it tightly, with a tenacity the makes them open to prejudice and mistrust of anyone and anything that might interfere with the myth. They adhere to it with a strong religious conviction. That combination of stubbornness and fundamental religious belief in the Bible is inalienable. It is associated with their constitutional rights. That is not to say that they are completely inflexible or without charity, but ‘standing tall’ on your own and ‘making it’ is paramount. 

I believe that is why the Constitution of the United States - a liberal document in itself and dedicated to the idea of freedom and equality of  rights as well as thoughts - is interpreted with the conceit of the rugged individual American in mind. The constitution may espouse the right of anyone to believe in any God they  choose to worship, but it is the Christian God which informs how the constitution is read and applied. Indeed there are many in America who do not accept the concept of the separation of church and state. 

That theme is embedded in the whole of its culture, not just the western. Countless plays, films, music and novels permeate the very idea of that rugged individual. To list all the examples of this would be tantamount to listing an entire library and more than half the internet movie and broadway databases. Consider Meet John Doe, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Sullivan’s Travels, Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Death of a Salesman, Twelve Angry Men, Mister Roberts, South Pacific, The Grapes of Wrath, Huckleberry Finn, Red Badge of Courage, Last of the Mohicans, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof etc. I could go on and on.

I know that some themes are universal and cover the gamut of story telling and and critical analysis, but the American myth is peculiar and particular to what is going on in the United States at this very moment. It is a vast country made up of individual States with a central federal government that is in place to oversee the collective. It is the glue that holds it all together. It is also clear that various parts of the nation are completely foreign to each other. The east and west coasts, the southern states, the New England states, the Midwestern states the mountain ranges, all are very different. Indeed, the very economies of the individual states are vastly different;  however,  they all flow out of and are governed by that overall Constitution. The passage of time has nonetheless changed the population, not only in numbers but in the makeup of its citizens. They are no longer predominantly white and are far less mobile. Their economic situations differ to a much larger extent, and the prosperity of the Eisenhower post war years is gone. Its ability to absorb those tired, poor and huddled  masses yearning to be free, is no longer what it was.  It is no longer so because a great number its own citizen’s are living from cheque to pay cheque, or are homeless, unemployed, under educated, ill and generally unable to carve out an existence as rugged individualists used to do. As a result their rights have expanded from freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the right to due process and the pursuit of happiness.  They have a right to welfare and decent health care. How that is provided is the greatest bone of contention within the individual states as well as the federal government. In any event, the Federal Government has always found it difficult to deal with Social Security of any kind, as indeed have the States. Anything that smacks of ‘socialism’ is akin to ‘communism’ which is still the great evil in the eyes of most Americans. Inordinate Fear of Communism still prevails for some reason.  So when the likes of Bernie Sanders, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Abdul El-Sayed and the like, espouse greater availability of health care for all, many of their own Democratic Party colleagues give pause. That lean towards socialism is difficult to swallow particularly when it is aligned with non-Christian religion or no religion at all. It appears to be even greater when the divide is related to the Middle East, Israel and Gaza particular. 

In addition, it would appear that a difference of opinion over the matter of treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government is sufficient to cause a member of the Democratic Party, Haley Stevens, to personally endorse Dr El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers for Senator in the State of Michigan.  In an interview with journalist Anderson Cooper, Haley Stevens gave no real explanation or rather a very confused explanation as to why she has decided, overnight,  to endorse Mike Rogers after previously claiming  that American’s cannot afford to have another Trump Maga supporter given a seat in congress. She had stated before that Mike Rogers was dangerous. After an apparent rebuff by Dr. El-Sayed, she just changed her mind calling Abdul full of anger and hate.  The sad thing is that Ms Stevens has interpreted Dr El-Sayed’s action as intolerance and prejudice rather than change. She says she cannot abide intolerance, so she is prepared to abandon her avowed political principles simply because of her own intolerance. This is just another sad story of the division that now runs through American politics.

There is a degree of fragility in the Democratic Party over the mater of unity. I think that fragility stems from an innate conservatism that finds it difficult to adjust to the necessity for social change. The population is now too diverse to cling to the previous myths of the rugged individualist who does it all by him/herself.  It is therefore difficult to fathom just what a Democratic Congress will actually do once it is seated. They are seemingly without a specific leader or representative committee where overall strategies and future policies can be discussed. There are clearly substantial differences among the party members and elected representatives which need to be resolved. Without that, and some sort of front person, it is difficult to see just who will be the democratic nominee to take the Presidential office in 2028 in order to lead a truly democratic social program for the benefit of its ever changing population.

My speculations may seem random and without direction, but we can all more or less predict the reaction of convicted felon Donald Trump to a Democratic majority in Congress. The beast will be let loose and the tirade of accusations and spurious law suits, invented wrongs and indictments without evidence will proliferate. There are already surreptitious pardons in the offing for substantial inducements to fund his way out of office. The corruption is unparalleled in United States history which is already full of financial and political skulduggery. Herewith a small sample provided by an ex-prosecutor: