‘A republic, if you can keep it’ | BIDLACK | Opinion

Well, it’s Election Day, and I know what that means for most of us: the end of the endless candidate commercials and ads for or against various positions. Hopefully, since Colorado is a mail-in voting state, you have already received confirmation from your local elections office that your ballot you mailed in a while ago has been received and counted. Or maybe you’re a traditionalist and want to drop off your ballot in person today. That’s fine, but remember that it’s too late to send it; you must take it to a mailbox or election office.

Elections may seem interminable and the advertising annoying, but today the nation finally decides, even though it will probably be a few days before we know the final results. That is not because of pranks or deceit, no matter what a certain failed businessman says. No, it takes time to count accurately and completely millions of ballot papers. A short wait is a fair price for free and fair elections, and it will be so no matter what a certain convicted felon and serial killer says.

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That said, we should take a moment to celebrate how remarkable it is that we live in the country with the longest-standing written constitution in the history of the world. Some claim that a few small nations have older countries, but among the large nations we are the oldest in existence. Interestingly enough, and completely unrelated to any argument I’m making here, is this longest constitution belongs to India, with almost 450 articles, compared to our seven. Okay, back to some history

Please remember in your American civics class, long ago, that there was no guarantee that our nation and our Constitution could stand the test of time. It is known that the old American Benjamin Franklin, as he left the constitutional convention for the last time, was asked what kind of government the convention had given us. His insightful answer was: ‘a republic, if you can keep it.’

When the shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, there was no realistic reason to believe that our little revolution would be successful. We were up against the greatest military force the world had ever known, with the British Army and Navy being the wonder of the world. We brought that mighty army to power with shaky popular support, poor infrastructure and a nascent, small army. If you had been alive then, there would have been real doubt in your mind as to whether we would win the Revolutionary War or not.

Today, when history has told us of our victory (however vague it was), far too many Americans are far too comfortable in their democracy. They assume that our system is inherently secure, and in many ways it is. Yet there is a danger that I sincerely hope this election will end, and that is a candidate who, for the first time in any significant way in American history, has declared either he wins or he wants people to take to the streets go up. Heck, just yesterday he was making a joke about people shooting members of the press for reporting on his lies and misdeeds in a way that he can only try to thwart by claiming they made it all up.

And so today is truly a revolutionary day. The Founders gave us the ability to fundamentally change our government every two, four, and six years through national elections. I dipped my own toes into that massive democratic experiment in 2008, when I ran for Congress. This should be a holiday. Oh well, it should be a national holiday because I suspect that across the country, in both red and blue areas, there are people who cannot go to the polls on election day due to work restrictions. Voting is the single most important act a citizen can take, and we should try to ensure that there are no logistical barriers that keep people from the polls.

Until 2020, we always had peaceful transitions with the transfer of power from an outgoing government to a newly elected government. That changed when one man decided to defy the will of the people and attempted the closest thing to a coup our nation has ever seen. Even Nixon, much smarter and more capable than Trump, knew when it was time to leave office.

With Trump, who also said a few days ago that he should simply never have left the White House, we are dealing with a deeply flawed, rather stupid and dangerous man who wants to gain and maintain power for all kinds of personal reasons (such as: you know I don’t, isn’t he going to federal prison for his 34 felony convictions?), and a remarkable number of Americans are okay with that. They agree with the tens of thousands of documented lies and utter dishonesty of his current campaign.

I have always said that the greatest skill that the Republican Party possesses, and that Trump possesses in enormous quantities, is the ability to make people vote against their own self-interest. They will squeal about cutting taxes for the rich because it trickles down. And they will scream across the border when they know that Obama has deported more people than Trump, and that most of the illegals are overstayed visas, and that most major drugs come in on big ships, and not by crossing a fence. to climb.

Unfortunately, none of that matters, and in a few days we’ll know whether Trump has fooled enough people to win another term. Consider that dozens of his former staffers — people he called the best people — have spoken publicly about how dangerous he is. A second Trump term will see people like convicted felon (whom Trump pardoned without due process) Michael Flynn as chief of staff, and Trump’s days before he leaves at noon to watch TV will be marked stand of retaliation and revenge.

Obviously I have a position, but we have to do that all agree on the crucial importance of election day and of participating in the process. I do believe in the old axiom: if you don’t vote, you don’t really have the right to complain about the way things are going. So if you’re reading this on Election Day and your ballot is there in the pile of mail, sort it, fill it out and take it to a polling place or election office. Today.

And don’t worry, the political ads will be gone very soon. But the bad news is that the Black Friday ads are about to take their place.

Stay informed.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught for more than seventeen years at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.