One of the worst contradictions of our debased republic is that we loudly insist voting is sacred, but we treat the actual ballots like toilet paper: Third World election systems, rampant fraud, clown-show counts and audits, election rules that keep getting looser.
You can't have it both ways. You can't insist voting is such a sacred privilege that it overrides every other consideration, while also treating the votes themselves as worthless junk - protected and counted far less assiduously than every state tracks its weekly lottery tickets.
If voting is a serious business, then it MUST be taken seriously, by both election officials and voters. That means firm rules and real effort for both casting AND counting the votes. Voting must be treated as a solemn duty, not an Internet poll to judge the cutest cat photo.
Voting was made almost as easy as tweeting in the last election, and the ballots were fed into big-city election machines that have been sloppy and outright corrupt for generations. It's not surprising the result was an indefensible disaster.
"You get what you pay for," the old saying goes. That applies to the amount of reverence and effort we put into activities like voting. Take it seriously and voters will rise to the occasion. Treat it like a joke and it becomes a punchline.
Americans have been bullied and cajoled into thinking their vote every two years - and really their presidential vote every four - is the only say they really have, or need, over how their lives are managed. It's an inevitable result of radically expanding government power.
We complain about how much money is poured into elections (well, the media mostly complains about it when Republicans win after spending a lot of money.) We bemoan the influence of special interests. That stuff only happens because power is so incredibly valuable now.
"It can't be a dictatorship if we get to vote the bums out," right? We've largely accepted that elections are the only necessary limit on power. The Constitution is a "living document," don't you know. The only real limit is that our leaders supposedly fear the vote.
And yet, when it comes time to actually vote, look at the idiotic circus that ensues. Look at all the loose rules loosened even further at the last minute. Look at the new idea that people shouldn't even be expected to leave their houses to cast their sacred ballots.
Whether or not those vast troves of Biden-only ballots are fraudulent, they're a national embarrassment. People who didn't care enough about their "sacred vote" to learn about any other candidates or ponder any issues filled out one bubble and dumped them in the mail.
If you treat voting like filling out the comment card at a restaurant with low marks because your burger was undercooked, don't be surprised that you end up with garbage government run by a greedy and inept ruling class. You allowed voting to become a joke. The joke's on you.
One of the big stories of the 2020 election is that it was dominated by people who treated voters like sheep to be fleeced, harvesting ballots like they were sowing wheat. They didn't waste time on persuading anybody. They just raked in ballots from people who didn't give a damn.
Stop acting like voting is sacred if you're not prepared to take it seriously. Stop acting like it's a bastion against tyranny if you treat it like a circus sideshow. Voting is either a drama or a farce. Pick one, knowing those hungry for power greatly prefer the farce. /end
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