It’s alivvvve!  It’s alivvvve!  Do you remember that line in the Monster Frankenstein movie; it’s alive?  You know, it’s alivvvve!  Well, Republicans created and nurtured a monster during Donald J. Trump’s tenure as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and now it is completely out of control.  Now, they keep trying to put it into the coffin so that they can nail it shut, bolt it shut, wrap a few heavy chains around it and place strong padlocks on it to assure that he will not escape but they can’t.

They can’t because every time that they think that they have him in there, press the lid down and try to begin to nail it shut, ole Frankie stretches his arms out and pushes it open.  Republicans, especially coffin-workers, SCREAM and jump backward away from the coffin!  Then, when Frankenstein appears to simply be readjusting himself so that he can be more comfortable and does not climb all the way out of his coffin, the coffin-workers cautiously approach again and repeat their effort to seal Frankie’s fate.

So far, Republicans’ efforts to contain Frankie haven’t been productive.  How does one know that these efforts have not been fruitful?  Here’s how.  After all of the notes that they nailed to the doors at his home and the messages that they have incessantly promulgated via the media saying that they do not want him to run for reelection in 2024, and he should not announce – especially right after the midterm election, that he will run; Mr. Trump announced – right after the midterm election, that he will run for president in 2024.  The monster that they created because they believed that they could control him and use him to secure the Republican agenda is completely out of control.  It’s alivvvve!  It’s alivvvve!

But Republicans are really angry now so they are very strongly denouncing Mr. Trump whenever they are asked by the media whether they think that he should be president again and or if they would support him if he were the Republican nominee in 2024.  They are getting on any news shows throughout the country that will accept them and saying things like, the Republican Party has better choices than Donald Trump for 2024, the American people can reject Donald Trump in an effort to move away from divisiveness, I think that’s up to the American people, and well, there might be somebody else I’d prefer more.  While all of these comments were made by one Republican, former Vice President Mike Pence, comments coming from other elected Republican officials are either just as weak or not much stronger.  None of them are willing to directly denounce him.

In the meantime, because Mr. Trump is well aware of what these Republicans are trying to do to him and also knows that he is still facing multiple investigations some of which could ultimately involve criminal charges, he is using these – as he calls them – witch-hunt investigations and the fact that he has announced that he is running for president in 2024 to label himself as a victim.  Okay, now we have it; Mr. Trump is a “victim!”  This is his strategy.  He has implied victimhood for a long time but now that he has actually proclaimed it via his announcement to run for president in 2024, the victimhood strategy is no longer opaque, it is out in the open.

Having done this, it remains to be seen what Mr. Trump will do next.  However, his Republican sycophants in the House – having signaled for a long time now what they would do should they win the House in 2022 – are making their intensions clearer.  Like Mr. Trump who decided to clear things up now that he has declared that he will run for president in 2024, they want to be sure that Republican constituents understand exactly what they intend to do:  Attorney General Garland, retain all documentation regarding your investigation of Mr. Trump.  Hunter Biden, prepare for a reckoning.  Biden White House staff and Cabinet members, prepare to be investigated, they say!

Now that the air has been cleared so that everyone understands exactly what it is that Republicans are going to do once they take control of the House, Frankie does the Frankenstein walk – there’s nothing wrong with him physically, he just walks that way – back to his coffin and settles in again.  But for how long, nobody knows.  But there is little doubt that he will not allow anyone to nail his coffin shut…and bolt it…and wrap it with heavy chains secured with heavy padlocks.

Once Frankie is comfortably settled in, his sycophants – an oversize coffin had to be built for this purpose – scramble into spaces all around him sort of like a huge human cushion.  This not only protects him from bumping into the hard interior of his coffin while he is inside, but whenever he climbs out of it and they scramble out along with him, they cushion him from the onslaught of things like, let’s say, all of the ongoing investigations that he is caught up in and all kinds of questions from the media.  Questions like, why are you doing and saying all of the asinine things that you are doing and saying while you are already in enough trouble?  Wouldn’t it be better to just be quiet?

Anyway, once Frankie has settled into his coffin and has been well cushioned, the Republicans – especially the coffin workers, wait until things have grown quiet inside it before they once again cautiously approach it.  They cautiously and quietly place the lid on the coffin, press it down firmly and some of them hold it down while others with hammers and nails prepare to nail it shut.  But before a single nail has been struck, Frankie places his hands against the inside of the lid, pushes upward and stiffens his arms.  The Republicans, especially the coffin workers, SCREAM and jump backward away from the coffin.

This commotion startles the sycophants and so awakens them.  They begin to make all of these unique sycophant noises – which sounds cannot be expressed in writing; you have to hear them – and prepare to swing into action to shield Frankie.  But false alarm.  Frankie simply says, no one had better run against me to force a primary in 2024.  I’ll bury them!  The sycophants make more unique sycophant noises.  Then Frankie says, and you better not try to nail this coffin shut or secure it in any way!  If you do, I’ll bury you!  And he lays down again.  The sycophants make a few more unique sycophant noises before they too lay down, assume their assigned spaces and cushion him.  This further frightens the Republicans, especially the coffin workers, and they jump backward even further away from the coffin…  It’s alivvvve, it’s alivvvve, they say!

Epilogue

Hopefully, during these extremely stressful times and extraordinary circumstances in the history of our young country, a bit of humor will provoke a laugh that will relieve some of that stress; even if only for a brief moment.  Then – hopefully, all Americans, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents will take a deep breath and continue the fight to keep our republic.  And finally – hopefully, we the people will resolve to settle any differences that we might have, no matter how great or how small, through reasonable discourse and not violence.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

On the day of Election Day what came to mind for me was that the words of Maya Angelou – “When someone shows you who they are, believe them” – do not only apply to individual people but they apply to political parties and, by way of our system of governance, America overall, as well.  I mean, come on; how can we repeatedly say that this is not who we are as regards hate when the vote in this 2022 midterm election shows the world exactly who we are?!  The argument remains the same whether this hate is directed at an individual, their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or anything else.  Hate is hate!  In light of what happened on January 6, 2022, how can we say this is not who we are as regards democracy after the voting results of this 2022 midterm election shows the world exactly who we are?!  Insurrection is insurrection!

All Americans know that America is not perfect and that she never will be.  But we can, and should, always strive toward perfection.  That is the only way that a democracy can survive.  All of us should know by now that things will be messy more often than not but we have to be able to work our way through those things…without violence.  Messy is inherent in a democracy.  If we truly believe in democracy and are serious about it, any one of us who was or is in anyway involved in supporting anyone who plotted to subvert the American democracy needs to ask ourselves this key question.  Why?  And when we ask ourselves this question we should not rationalize and make excuses when we answer it.  There is no one else involved in questioning us and evaluating our answer.  Then, once we answer that question truthfully, we can decide whether we want an autocracy or a democracy and determine where we will go from that point.  If we opt for democracy then we must deal with the democratic process vis-à-vis, messy.

The “sea of cowards” that is the current Republican Party is just as guilty as the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America as regards the deterioration of our democracy.  A great injustice has been carried out against the American democracy since Mr. Trump arrived on the political scene and the Republican Party has been a willing participant in the blatant savaging of Lady Liberty.  Some of these elected officials have been active participants while others have participated tacitly.  But in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”; and that time is long past for those tacit participants.

There are those, foreign and domestic, who say that the American democracy is designed to be undemocratic.  Although I can accept their perspective as arguably correct, that perspective is what I view as the “messy” part of democracy, which is something that we have to continue to deal with as we strive toward perfection; as we strive to make America a more perfect union.  Unfortunately, as disgusting and frustrating as it may be to deal with the messiness of democracy, that’s just the way that it is.  As long as we live in a democracy, Americans will constantly have to deal with conspiracy theories, white supremacy, the QAnons of the world, the Donald Trumps of the world, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world and the list goes on.

Most Americans would be hard-pressed to come up with a worse time for the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to even appear to be unsure of itself and faltering in their role as the virtual glue that holds the legal system together that allows America to be an effective rule of law nation.  Yet, here we are with a supermajority conservative SCOTUS that has cast aside stare decisis, something that every justice on the court said that they were committed to and would abide by, and overturned Roe v. Wade.  Wow!  Not only had Roe v. Wade been established law for almost 50 years but the great majority of Americans felt that, before it was overturned, it should remain law.  The only thing that changed that brought about the reversal of this law was that three new conservative justices were added to the Court during Mr. Trump’s tenure as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.

And as if overturning the Roe decision wasn’t controversial enough, the SCOTUS, after having already gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 2013, suddenly saw fit to interject itself into a case that a lower district court had adjudicated and decided in favor of the plaintiffs who said that the Republican Party had drawn a gerrymandered map for the 2022 midterm election that involved extreme redistricting, which favored the Republican Party.  The SCOTUS overturned the lower courts’ ruling based in great part on the “Purcell principle which cautions against federal courts’ changing voting rules on the eve of an election.”  As a result of this SCOTUS ruling, the midterm election was likely affected in favor of the Republican Party.  Even if it wasn’t, it certainly has the appearance of having done so.  Are the SCOTUS justices simply politicians in long black robes?  If they are, how long have they been hiding it until they could become a supermajority?  And if they are not, their recent overall conduct, which includes more than merely the cases that they adjudicate, definitely gives the appearance that they are.

So, you see, this is our system of governance and this is how it works…for now.  Because there is obviously those among us in this fledgling democracy who feel that something is not right about what is happening at the SCOTUS right now and that it needs to be closely scrutinized and corrected, things will likely have to eventually get messy.  Then, there are those who think that no changes are required because the SCOTUS is fine just the way that it is.  In order to resolve the differences between those who feel that something is not right and those who feel that everything is fine as it is…  It’s messy time!

As Americans, if we want to keep our democracy, we must be willing to work for it in perpetuity.  If we are not willing to do that, then we cannot keep it.  Without question, that work includes voting; and not just in the presidential elections.  Win or lose, like the results or not, we must continue to perform our civic duty at all times.  So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

There is only six days left until Election Day and some voters are still struggling to decide how they will vote; will it be for Democrats or Republicans?  Donald Trump and his sycophants are not concerned about why these voters are undecided, they continue to relentlessly pound them with anti-democracy rhetoric and other disinformation.  All of the election deniers that are running for office are making it clear that they will not accept the outcome of their election bid if they lose.  Donald Trump and all of his supporters are busy badmouthing the election process in general and implying that elections are bad and not needed here or abroad.

Mr. Trump and his followers are doing everything that they can to create problems with elections where there are none.   Then, they complain about the problems that they have created and use them as an excuse to reinforce their allegations that elections are completely messed up and that is why no one needs them.  One glaring example of a problem that Mr. Trump and his sycophants have created is the demand to count ballots in Arizona counties by hand.

Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Secretary of State recently made this comment about the hand counts.  “With early voting well under way and less than two weeks from election day, these antics are doing more than creating chaos and confusion around the election and tabulation of ballots, which is wildly irresponsible,” she said.  In light of the just released emails surrounding the plan of Trump lawyers to overturn the 2020 election, this fits right in with Trump and his sycophants’ plan to return Mr. Trump to power; smoke and mirrors and chaos and confusion.

To make the things that are occurring in Arizona and in other states around our country even more sad and unsettling is that all Republicans in congress– with the exception of two, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are either actively supporting these things, tacitly supporting them or are completely silent!  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.”  Dr. King is absolutely right.  Not only have these Republicans betrayed their oath of office in their greed and lust for power, they have betrayed the American people.  Any time that these elected officials are faced with a choice between defending the American democracy or circling the wagons and standing with Party, American democracy should always win!

There are those among the Republican faithful who might feel that they are comparable to those who fought in the first Crusades; who fought based on various motivations including religious salvation and economic or political gain.  Certainly, in the eyes of many during those times the end justified the means because their cause was just.  And there is little doubt that there are many Republicans, especially those who identify as evangelicals, who believe that Democrats are leading America in the wrong direction.  They believe that the policies for which Democrats are advocating and making the law of the land are so devastating that they must be stopped at their earliest stages.  And under these circumstances, the end justifies the means; their cause is just!  Many of them will weigh the cost of preventing these policies from spreading and becoming deep-rooted against democracy and might even opt for prevention at all costs.

Some of us might even agree with these Republicans that some of the policies and laws that Democrats are advocating for and putting into place are moving us in the wrong direction.  But to go with the end justifies the means approach and be willing to exchange our democracy for an autocracy to achieve those ends should be a bridge to far for all Americans whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.  That is where Republicans like Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger come in.  Representative Liz Cheney is as conservative and staunch Republican as any Republican can be!  And Representative Kinzinger is probably not far behind her.

These two brave Republicans, Representative Kinzinger says that they are not brave but simply surrounded by a sea of cowards, believe strongly in the establishment Republican party and embrace its policies and ideals.  They have demonstrated that they also believe in democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.  How could any Republican choose Donald J. Trump, a man who almost every Republican has at one time or another called a liar and every other derogatory name that they could think of, over Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger who have chosen to honor their oath of office and stand on principle?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and proud of it.  However, as I mentioned earlier in this article, when it comes to choosing between Party and democracy, we should always choose democracy.  In this case; however, heaping praise on Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger – which they deserve, and agreeing with them on some things that relate to American policy does not involve a choice between democracy and Party.  It’s a choice between who you would prefer to argue about those policies with; Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger and people like them or Donald J. Trump and people like him.

I know who I would prefer to see elected Democrats argue those policies with, and it’s not Donald J. Trump and people like him.  My hope would be that we would win some and that we would lose some because that is the essence of democracy: no one gets everything that they want.  Common ground is the key and that can only be reached through compromise.  But those arguments would have to begin with Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and Republicans like them.  Any proffer that would involve Mr. Trump and/or his sycophants would be a non-starter.  This is how Democrats, Republicans and Independents should be assessing the situation as we navigate through these last six days before Election Day.

As American people, we absolutely must be able to agree to disagree and resolve our differences through reasonable discourse.  But in order to do this, we absolutely must have reasonable elected officials in office.  Perhaps it would be sufficient to give those who currently constitute that “sea of cowards” that Representative Kinzinger mentioned, a warning from voters that they need to stand up, step up and be counted or risk being voted out of office.  But there are more than 300 election deniers running for office in the 2022 midterm election and we, the American people, must let them know in no uncertain terms that we will not tolerate anyone as an elected official who is against or advocates against our democracy.  We can let them know by voting against them on Election Day.

Again, there are only six days left until Election Day.  Americans know that our enemies, whether foreign or domestic, are watching this midterm election and wishing those who love our democracy ill.  Let’s coalesce around democracy and those things that have always made and will continue to make America great!  Let’s show the world that America is still the leader of and chief defender of democracy.  Let’s show them that democracy is the best way to govern.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line