Vote ideology; vote for Supreme Court
It is time once again for me to don my tinfoil hat and venture forth into the streets sporting my sandwich board declaring that “the end is nigh.” When the current election season is over, the Secret Service is going to have to retrain the White House contingent in preparation for a plague of dung beetles trying to roll away the new head resident.
I don’t care which side you are on. If you try to tell me that your candidate is a good choice for the office, I will laugh in your face and tell you that you are lying. Just in case you actually believe what you are saying, you need to be confined because you are not capable of caring for your own needs. Now then, if you tell me that you are pulling the lever on Election Day based on your ideology and wish merely to get your side in the White House, I can respect the honesty. Don’t try to tell me that your candidate is eminently qualified. They are both abysmal.
You can blame the media for this phenomena. The media has leanings, of that there is no question. Eight years ago, the media decided that a young, black candidate was “more historic” and would get better viewership ratings than a white woman. The media put their collective thumb on the scale during the primary and we all know the result. This election cycle, the media didn’t bother with their thumb. They have dropped the whole refrigerator on the scale — for both parties. The two best candidates on the Democrat side were run off by the second debate because of the coverage inequities. The media wanted Hillary Clinton because she matched their ideology and would drive up their ratings because she was a woman.
The Republican primaries were even more ominous. The Democrats’ internal polling identified that Trump was the candidate with the least chance of beating Ms. Clinton. The media did everything possible to bolster his numbers. The media gave him free coverage overshadowing all other candidates by a factor of 100, knowing full well that a substantial portion of the electorate are low-information, name-recognition voters. Any publicity is good publicity.
The current Trump scandals were known by the media for the whole election cycle. They held back wanting him to win the primary and then, in an orchestrated assault, dumped these “revelations” at the most advantageous moment. One pundit characterizes this election season as a “media coup d’etat.” He is not wrong. Make no mistake about it. The media has completely controlled how this election is progressing. They have become so emboldened that they are not even trying to hide it any more. I don’t care which end of the ideological spectrum you reside. This should alarm you. When the media takes sides, it runs the risk of becoming a pawn of the government.
When a politically slanted press deceives itself into thinking that they control the government, it is only a short amount of time before they find out that the opposite is true. If you study the progression of totalitarian regimes, the paths are always the same. First, sublimely control the press. Then, religion must be denigrated and minimalized. A subjugated people must believe that the government is the solution to all problems. Religion is an unacceptable competitor. A quick look into the Wikileaks hacks reveals just how the political elites view religion with disdain. Finally, a complete take over of the press is necessary.
In our country, a strong, equally divided Supreme Court is our the best protection against governmental overreach. It does not matter which dung beetle bait occupies the White House for the next four years (eight if they miraculously surprise us). With up to three or more court positions opening up soon, the court’s makeup could be negatively impacted for a generation.
Ignore the distasteful fight over which candidate is worse. Vote your ideology. Vote for the Supreme Court.
HERB WIENS
Sandpoint