Tomorrow is November 3rd, 2020. It will mark the 13th Presidential election in which I have voted. Sometimes my candidates win ... and sometimes they don't. That's how it's supposed to work. As Hillary Clinton correctly pointed out in 2016:
“To say you won't respect the results of the election—that is a direct threat to our democracy! The peaceful transfer of power is one of the things that makes America America!”
Thus I find it ironic that she has been the face of the "resist" movement for the past four years and, as a result, America has become far more divided than ever before.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
I also find it ironic that the Civil War began with the election of Abraham Lincoln as the first Republican President, who replaced outgoing Democratic President, James Buchanan. Even before Lincoln was sworn into office, seven southern states formally seceded in order to protect their right to own slaves. It began with the orderly secession of a number of states whose state governments declared that they were no longer part of the United States of America, but were now part of the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln's determination to unite a House Divided set the stage for what followed. The Confederates began the fighting by firing upon Fort Sumter, a Federal facility, in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861.
In spite of what many people seem to believe, America is not a democracy. It is a Union of 50 member States that are United by the U.S. Constitution. Each state can act independently of each other, as long as they don't violate the overarching Law of the Land. In return, the Constitution restricts the Federal Government from meddling too deeply into States' affairs.
But, I wander (sorry). Tomorrow we won't know who our next President will be. Not just because of the unavoidable problems in dealing with 100,000,000 mail-in ballots (each of which has to be hand-verified before it can be counted). Nor because every State has their own way of collecting the vote tallies for determining their electors. They are free to do so because the Constitution protects their rights to do as they please under their own State Constitutions.
No, we won't know who our next President will be until December 14th. That's when the electors representing the States will convene in Congress to cast their choices for President and Vice-President. While these electors generally follow the choices of their respective states, they are not legally bound by the Constitution to any prior arrangement. Electors that are sent to Washington and change their assigned vote, are called Faithless Electors. They may be penalized by their home state—even sent to prison—but their vote will still legally stand in the Electoral College (once voted, it can be voided under individual state law, but not replaced).
The proverbial excrement is already hitting the rotating impeller and will only get heavier and nastier before the 14th of next month. That's when we will find out if we are still a Nation of Laws, or a de facto Nation of Outlaws. Six long weeks. In today's instant gratification world, that's practically an eternity. Plenty of time for peaceful protests on both sides of the aisle.
Try to remember what Hillary said about the biggest threat to Democracy. She was right, you know.
WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER
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