System Restored: The Case to Vote
If we were to churn this past year of American life into a feedback machine, the computer’s output would read: “System Critical”. Circulating is an aggressive pandemic still raging uncontrollably with unfavorable trends noted in virtually every state. Our economy has been severely distressed in many sectors and our children are stuck learning at home accompanied by wearied parents. Continued civil unrest due to disparately implemented policing in communities of color alight protests and oftentimes, rioting. Exacerbating the violence and in contravention of the Second Amendment, armed militia have essentially taken over numerous streets in America. In the backdrop, unpredictable planetary emergencies threaten major populations. All this is compounded by an exasperating political climate.
The presidential candidates Joseph Biden and Donald Trump have starkly different outlooks on combating these ills, among others. The incumbent Trump, who carelessly contracted the coronavirus himself, has objectively exhibited unconventional behavior leaving the rest of the world perplexed, including encouraging the non-use of masks, the one easily accessible tool to protect from infection. Biden, the former Vice President to Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, is tempered but unproven in these complex times. Frankly, any candidate would find these current conditions daunting. This has triggered a nationwide race to vote early and in unprecedented numbers. Yet, as we pull the levers of power in the ballot box, there is a looming threat to our personal electoral agency. The GOP mainly has used legislative prowess to put forth policies arguably intended to hamper the voting franchise of many disadvantaged groups who tend to vote democratic. In conjunction, Trump has elicited election insecurity by prematurely delegitimizing the outcome of the race should he lose. In that same vein, the United States Postal Service has been ordered to surreptitiously slow down mail service, preempting the non-counting of absentee voters.
More recently, the Republican party forged ahead with the confirmation hearing of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court slot left behind after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, weeks ahead of the general election and while early voting has already commenced. This now completes the nine-justice panel and secures a conservative bent to the highest court in the land for years to come. Recall, Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s judicial pick in 2016, was denied a hearing by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell citing a fabricated rule that a lame duck president could not make such a selection. In fact, McConnell also denied President Obama’s other choices for federal district and circuit courts upwards of 105 times, leaving that many vacancies that Trump has diligently filled. Yet, four years later, Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, was graced with an expedited appointment which followed Brett Kavanaugh whose shoddy past and questionable record on voting rights should have given the Senate committee pause. Within the last week, election decisions have already been handed down and on election night, we may see candidates and their respective parties running to the Supreme Court steps.
Understand this: the Supreme Court is the venue of final redress, the avenue of last resort. There are no other judicial remedies in the litigation process. Thus, the only other solution to bring about changed policies that are more representative of the majority views of the public is through expansion of the court itself and legislative changes. However, unless rigging of the system via suppression is thwarted, a small segment of the population in a large number of states will be able to consolidate power in the Senate, the ultimate power grab. And that’s the play – be not distracted by the frivolity being displayed by our leader.
In good conscious, for the sake of our democracy, there should be the fair rotation of the elite, the very principle this county was founded upon. Most Americans view this year’s presidential election as the most important of a lifetime. Questioning how we got here would engender a range of viewpoints and emotions, all falling along either the red or blue political spectrum. Whether you sway left or right, what’s clear is the essential need to vote, either to disrupt the branches of government that are not demonstrating our deepest values or fighting to keep them in command. It is the writers hope that on the morning of November 4th, the read out will say “system restored”.
