Jane M. Orient, MD
When I was a young idealistic student in junior high civics class—when we studied the Constitution, so you know that was a long time ago—I had the idea that we had to vote for the person, not the party.
Now I am older and increasingly cynical. Many of the candidates I favored were deceptions at best – or frauds or even traitors to a cause they claimed to believe in. I have come to agree with Peter Schweitzer in his book throw them all away. They almost all get rich doing things that would be a crime for you or me, like insider trading. They almost all have a payer, and you can’t afford to buy them or ensure they stay bought.
On occasion, I’ve voted in protest (or cast my vote) for a third party when the two leading candidates were just too awful.
I never stayed home, as some claim. There are usually small but important proposals or offices like the school board or city council.
For decades we have moved towards rule by technocracy, with major policy crafted by “expert” bureaucrats in agencies, supposedly above and immune to dirty politics. They can base their benevolent rules on The Science™ and not care about public opinion.
If you like this idea, you probably don’t understand how the administrative state (“Deep State”) works. He can be above the fray electoral politics, but he is deeply immersed and captive to intra-agency politics. This is increasingly determined by giant international corporations and global non-profit (tax-exempt) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) led by Bill Gates, George Soros and other anonymous mega-billionaires. And you can’t throw them away.
We need Congress to take back its power from these agencies and the courts to stop allowing this unconstitutional delegation of power. We must exert the only leverage we have on Congress: reject the rogues.
So how do we vote? I learned how the legislative process evolved. The majority party has a lock on the process, even if it only has one more seat than the minority. It controls which bills can be heard and which can be voted on. He decides which issues get committee hearings on national television, and which are Memory Holed. Minority politicians can’t do much.
Right now, the agenda of the US Congress is set by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. A vote for any Democrat is a vote for them. They have a very effective method of enforcing party discipline. The “Blue Dog” Democrats are a fading memory. All must conform to a Woke agenda that would have been called extremist 10 years ago.
Our founders intended to have a system of checks and balances so that no faction could take control and enact sweeping change even if most Americans opposed it. The filibuster was one such mechanism. The ruling party would like to get rid of it completely, and in the meantime avoid it whenever possible through the budget reconciliation process. “Democracy” for an elite determined to seize power means concocting a one-time majority vote — as with Obamacare — on a massive law that is virtually impossible to undo.
From my point of view as a doctor, here are the main issues of this election:
- medical freedom. The current regime is the party of masking; interlocks; forced vaccinations, regardless of necessity, effectiveness or risk; and the removal of doctors’ ability to prescribe or even discuss treatments disfavored by the government.
- Affordable food and energy. Based on the false quasi-scientific dogma that essential plant foods (carbon dioxide) will cause catastrophic climate change, the regime enforces rules to stop or reduce animal husbandry, essential agricultural activities, mining, drilling , hydraulic fracturing, pipelines and transportation. The promise that wind and solar can provide adequate and reliable electricity will fail disastrously.
- Peace. The regime is signaling that we are at a higher risk of nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis and that we will stop at nothing to get Russia out of Ukraine.
- Dollar value. Printing endless money to send to Ukraine, paying off student loans, or subsidizing “renewable” energy is impoverishing Americans through inflation, robbing savers, and possibly crashing the financial system. Emptying the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or hiring $80 billion worth of armed IRS agents will not help.
To me, this election seems like a referendum on whether we should “stay the course” on the precipice towards government-dictated medicine, food and energy rationing, war and depression – where we stop, watch and listen. Choose your party wisely.
