Greetings and Salutations;

Today, as we struggle in the USA to avoid slipping deeper into the fascist dictatorship that the Republicans are promoting, I thought I would discuss, again, what we need to do to survive as a vibrant, positive Constitutional Democracy. My actions were triggered by a Facebook post, based on the following meme:

While very true, this is but the first, halting step towards getting our society on the path to the ideal the founding fathers envisioned. If we, as a society, take up the challenge, and persist, perhaps in a couple of generations we will be close to the respect that other countries have in the world, and, our citizens will enjoy a quality of life approaching theirs. I realize that, at the moment, the above goal is a challenging one. However, already, we are seeing elections where Republicans are being replaced with Democrats by large majorities of the votes cast. We can achieve this goal, if we persist and resist attempts by the Republicans to cling to power. There are many more steps necessary to bring the USA back to being a good citizen in the world, and to start repairing the damage done by the Republicans. It will likely take decades of effort before this country proves to the world that it can be trusted, and is not trying to destroy the world as well as itself.

I submit that the next step on that path is to focus on, and diligently work to remove the culture of violence and hate that the Republicans have fostered over the decades. We should never be in a position where one political party is comfortable with, and even celebrates, calling for citizens who disagree with them to be imprisoned, lose their citizenship, or, be killed. My parents were staunch Republicans, back in the middle of the last century…but they would look at what that party has become, and recoil in horror.

Another step is to do a true reform of the laws outlining how our politicians and judges are elected/appointed, and the powers of the office they hold. Here is a list of some changes I would like to see:

• Term limits on all offices. A major controlling factor in our political system is that, without term limits, the focus is on clinging to the cushy, well paid, perk-filled job…and not doing what is best for the citizens of the country. I suggest 20 years in office is a good maximum time for any person to hold a position in government. That having been said, I think the existing term limits for the presidency should remain, though. That office holds too much power to allow anyone to occupy it for any great length of time.
• Ranked voting. While a bit more complicated for the voter than simply checking one box on a ballot, I would like to see wide-spread implementation of this form of voting. From all I have read, it tends to be far better at putting people in office who represent the views of a significant majority of the citizens voting for them. I know that I have been presented with elections where there were two or three, almost equally strong, candidates…and it can be a lengthy process to pick one.
• The process of creating voting districts should be removed from the party in power. By law, all districts should be created by non-partisan committees, using one of the excellent computer programs designed for this that are available. Right now, in far too many cases, we are in a situation where the voters do not choose their representative. Rather the elected politician chooses their voters. This is, of course, because of the obscenely gerrymandered districts that partisan groups have created. In a perfect world, there would be NO “safe” districts. All districts would be up for grabs by either party. However, I do understand that in areas that heavily favor a particular party, it may not be possible to reach that ideal goal. One way or another, we need to get away from the current system, which not only gives power to people more interested in their own agenda than what is good for all citizens, but produces ridiculously convoluted districts. HERE are some examples
• As a side note, I also call for the repeal of “winner take all” laws, and other constitutionally questionable laws that have been passed on a state level.
• I would like to see “Citizens united” repealed and removed from the body of law. It has allowed very rich people and organizations to buy elections. I point out Elon Musk’s $200 million purchase of the last presidential election as a perfect example of this.

Right now, though, the vital thing to focus on is to vote Republicans out of office. They are on the way to turning this country into a fascist dictatorship…and no one should support this. Until the rot of hate, intolerance, misogyny and racism is purged from that group, they should never hold significant power in government. So…for all coming elections…vote BLUE and make sure you get to the poles. If possible keep track of local protests, and participate in them. Your individual voice and vote are important. Because a few 10s of thousands of Democrats did not bother to vote in the last presidential election…we got a government that is filled with incompetents, run by an ancient, increasingly senile man-child. We have discovered how fragile a reputation is…and how easy it is to go from a respected state that is a world leader, to a rogue state that no one trusts, and has no interest in interacting with.

Be safe..get vaccinated (while you still can)…be strong – Resist! Persist…

Bee Man Dave