Friday, November 07, 2008
In media coverage of other nations we Americans have watched over the years, with detached concern, the fervor created by elections. These nations are corrupt and getting "your people" in power is, for most citizens, vital to getting anything done (permits, licenses, permission to build, etc.) and for some people it is a matter of actual life or death. Our nation is not so corrupt, so we can afford to take electoral defeat graciously. We snarl and grouse and rub our hands togther planning for the next race; that's about it.
As our nation's election results continue to "tighten" (these 49% to 50% races are nervewracking!) our elections make us all sweat a little more and pray a little harder, but I believe it will only be when the American people perceive the government to be so corrupt that the election of one faction over another is absolutely vital that we will see physical violence over elections. Then it will no longer be a struggle between opinions of how the government should be run, or how closely we should follow our founding documents; it will be a struggle for raw power.
As our nation's election results continue to "tighten" (these 49% to 50% races are nervewracking!) our elections make us all sweat a little more and pray a little harder, but I believe it will only be when the American people perceive the government to be so corrupt that the election of one faction over another is absolutely vital that we will see physical violence over elections. Then it will no longer be a struggle between opinions of how the government should be run, or how closely we should follow our founding documents; it will be a struggle for raw power.
# posted by JEB @ 4:27 PM 
