Amidst challenges, Americans are hopefully going to the polls to exercise their hard-won freedom to choose our leaders. Prophetically, Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble.” And the Master was right, even though Americans today live far better than 99% of people who have ever lived.
When I was younger, I assumed I would wake up with everything working. Now, the niggling pains of a 75-year-old body challenge that notion. Ben Franklin once quipped, “When one drinks deeply from the draft of life, one should expect some dregs at the bottom of the cup.”
The war with Iran drags on, but it was 47 years in the making. Previous presidents averred that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon, but their efforts to placate the apocalyptic mullahs were ineffectual. And by 2026, further delays in confronting the terrorist nation became unacceptable because it was determined the Iranians were close to achieving a nuclear weapon. How close is arguable, but less an issue than the inevitability that they would eventually have one.
Furthermore, the Iranians repeatedly said they would use the bomb on the only democracy in the Middle East and possibly on Europe and the US. We have seen what the terrorist nation is capable of with the indiscriminate attacks on their neighbors and killing upwards of 50,000 of their own citizens, as well as killing and maiming thousands of American soldiers over the decades.
We must take Iranians at their word. Paying more for gasoline and the expensive war is painful, but necessary. However, our sacrifice is nothing by comparison to the death and sacrifices of our service members. Defanging the murderous Iranian regime had to be done, despite feckless NATO refusing to help. Hey Euros, don’t call us when the Russian bear comes for you.
However, even more dangerous and challenging than Iran is the rise of socialism and communism in our country. An opinion piece on FOX Digital by Lee Hartley Carter explained that the rise of both leftism (socialism/communism) and MAGA populism in America is due to loss of confidence in our institutions like Congress, judiciary (lawfare) and the integrity of the voting system. The recent voter registration scandal in New Jersey, where thousands of non-citizens were registered to vote – and many did – is emblematic of the corrupted voting system. With the loss of trust, Ms. Carter avers that Americans are turning to alternatives and outsiders to fix the broken systems.
Too often I hear people say, “What can I do?” I believe they are expressing a sense of powerlessness and an inability to change things for the better. I recently saw a meme which depicted Uncle Sam with the caption “Only You Can Prevent Communism.” In other words, you need to get off your La-Z-Boy and GO VOTE!
There is no such thing as a perfect candidate, and unfortunately, sometimes you must vote for the lesser of evils. However, this dilemma is present in many situations. Americans have fought and died for the right of citizens to be able to select their leader. This is a fundamental institution of Americanism. Not voting is surrendering to communism, where there is no vote. It is probably apocryphal that Joseph Stalin once said that those who count the votes are more important than those who vote.
The recent California election morass is another example of questionable voting integrity. And I’ll never understand how Joe Biden received 81 million votes in 2020, whereas Obama received 69 million in 2008 and 66 million in 2012. Hillary Clinton received 66 million votes in 2016, and Kamala Harris received 68 million votes in 2026. As Hamlet once said, “Something [seems] rotten in Denmark.” I’m proud to say that Tennessee does a better job with voting integrity than most states. But I’ll shout it again: we must have the SAVE Act to restore voting integrity!
Our presidents are chosen by the Electoral College rather than the popular vote. Superficially, this system may seem odd to the uninitiated and a challenge to Democrat activists, but the Electoral College allows the vote in smaller states to matter rather than having the presidential election decided by large states such as Texas, California and New York. We vote for electors who are pledged to vote for our choice for the presidency.
The Founders of our country were wise men who studied history. While I believe Congress should not be a rest home for aged politicians, there is something to be said about wisdom gained through the experiences of growing older and, hopefully, wiser. Apparently, aging has not improved the thinking of racist Jasmine Crockett or the vacuous AOC. But I could say the same for other old coots in Congress.
England has a different way of choosing their Prime Minister (PM). They just “crowned” Andy Burnham as PM without a single vote of the 65 million people in Great Britain. (The new PM is their 7th in the last 10 years.) Sounds a lot like the appointment of Kamala Harris to replace Joe Biden, and the Maine Democrat party bigwigs who will choose Graham Platner’s replacement. After watching segments of the Maine Democrat debate, I’m not sure Platner wasn’t the best choice.
Meanwhile, our Congress fiddles away with daylight saving time debates and seemingly endless and useless congressional hearings. That may be too harsh because recently we learned from Congressional hearings that the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History are displaying woke exhibits which bash America and promote LGBTQ+ ideology.
We hear much about diversity, but I have comfort to believe that it is overrated. I’ve read that tolerance leads to acceptance, acceptance leads to corruption and corruption leads to collapse. This seems evident in Minnesota and California, as well as Los Angeles and the downward spiral of Mamdani’s Gotham. Businesses and people who can are leaving failing states and cities run by Democrats. They are exercising their freedom to flee to Tennessee, Florida and Texas.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. So what if you can’t flee the totalitarianism of socialism/communism? This is our current challenge, and it’s up to us to choose Americanism rather than the lies of socialism or its ultimate objective, Marxist communism.
