Nothing is More Important to America’s Future than an Informed Electorate

 

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

We are responsible for one irrefutable fact: the government of the United States is the most incompetent and corrupt in the world. We the people, the voting public, without accurate information, and being led astray by the right-wing propaganda machine, FOX News, and other extremist fake news organizations, elected the worst of the worst: men and women who are woefully incompetent and have no loyalty to our nation and our people.

WHEN THE END BEGAN

In 2009 the Republican Party endorsed a policy which became its ultimate demise in 2017. In that fateful year, the Koch brothers, confirmed as the wealthiest billionaires in our nation behind Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, funded a group of incompetent men and women who promised to support every issue important to these anti-American billionaires. They called themselves the “TEA Party, and acronym for “taxed enough already,” a catchy name without substance or meaning.

The truth is, Republican leadership had no obligation to support TEA Party candidates in the 2009 midterm election. They could have been forced to run as an independent party. This controversial and questionable decision began the end of the once Grand Old Party.

MOVING SO FAR TO THE RIGHT, THEY WERE ALWAYS WRONG

This group of men and women who were and are unfit to serve in Washington had a single purpose: to support the agenda of the Koch brothers and other billionaires at the expense of the working class.

You know some of the names of early TEA Party members who were elected under the banner of the former Republican Party: Michelle Bachman, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz. With one exception, they remain obstructionists and now pledge their loyalty not to America but to America’s most infamous traitor, Donald John Trump.

Members of the TEA Party were the first to refuse to work with Democrats on issues important to all Americans. They abandoned the arts of diplomacy: deliberation and compromise. The people became an afterthought. 2010 is the year when right-wing politicians became the party of morons who decided that extremism was their path to greatness.

NEXT CAME A RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST GROUP WHICH SUPPORTS A FASCIST REGIME

For many “Republicans,” the TEA Party was not far enough to the right. In 2015 loudmouth Jim Jordan and his fellow separatists formed another misnamed group in the House called “the Freedom Caucus.” This small group of anti-Americans have succeeded in remaking the House of Representatives into a totally incompetent failure. In 2023 only 34 bills were passed: an all-time low in modern history.

The Freedom Caucus is responsible for making history, but not the good kind. In the most embarrassing situation in history. In 2023 it required 15 votes to select a Speaker, Kevin McCarthy. Not once in our nation’s past was more than a single vote necessary. Then, in another embarrassing and moronic act, Matt Gaetz led an effort to remove McCarthy from his position. It succeeded on October 3, 2023. The truth is that the House does not have anyone who can be called a leader.

VOTING IS NOT ENOUGH: EVERY VOTER MUST BECOME INFORMED

“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” Harlan Ellison

No quote could have more meaning or be more accurate. The right to vote is too important to cast mark your ballot based on the fact that a candidate has an “R” or a “D” next to their name. Doing so is moronic and irresponsible. The platforms of both parties fail to address the will of the majority in multiple situations. Each candidate must be evaluated based on his or her actions, not empty words.

If the electorate was well-informed, as it is in most developed nations, the worst of the worst would never have been in power, including Trump, Moscow Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, or many other men and women whose loyalty is to the worst illegitimate president in history, not to the American people.

Voting is both a right and a privilege. With that right comes responsibility. Your vote could make a difference in the quality of life for yourself and everyone you love.

Learn the truth and do the right thing.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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