The Problems with 21st Century American Democracy

There are two, only two, major problems with 21st century American democracy.  The first is the abject ignorance of the average American voter, and the second is the influence of corporate and big donor money, on elections and - even more importantly - on legislation.  The first reason is supreme, however, because if the people were not so ignorant, they would take care of the second problem in a New York minute.  Proof of the public's ignorance is blaming President Biden and Democrats for problems, many of which are only matters of perception, for legislation that is driven by Big Money, and then installing a piece of New York City tra$h, and his craven loyalists, to fix it.   I would write a proof of what I just wrote if I thought that any of my readers needed any proof; they don't.

What Went Wrong?

For starters, we need to agree that Democrats can’t blame the winners for winning.  Trump, his advisers and his MAGA voters got what they wanted.  Democrats can’t fault them for Democratic failures.  Then, the only reason to ask this question is: Democrats don’t want to repeat the mistakes that caused them to lose this time.

The most obvious and agreed upon reasons why Harris lost are: a) she only had a few months to campaign, b) Biden was a very unpopular president (history will judge him very kindly, the American people – polls – not so much), c) Harris was

The Morning After

I left my Watch Party at 9:30pm, it felt too much like 2016 over again.  And I don’t like to cry in public (fact is, I don’t cry, I get angry at my own team’s fecklessness).

John F Kennedy took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco, lo these many decades.  Since then, what person in the public eye, especially among politicians, has taken responsibility for any screw-up?  You have a week to come up with one name!

Silence doesn't communicate

For years, decades even, I thought that silence in any relationship, close or distant, didn't communicate, or communicated poorly.  I have changed my mind.  Silence does communicate, as loud as thunder.  It just doesn't communicate what I wanted to hear.

An Israeli Perspective

Americans have no problem offering their opinions when they have no facts.  Antisemitism is a perfect case in point.  Antisemitism is so old there must be some truth to it.  There are so few Jews and they don't fight back.  Worst case scenario, you say something and he takes offense and you didn't even know he was Jewish.  Good people everywhere hurled the charge of "war crimes" at the state of Israel before she even declared statehood.

The following is a response to a careless young man who didn't know what he was talking about.  One wonders just how long we must wait for young men to grow up and take responsibility for the words they speak.

End Notes from Stop the Steal

Ben's 2nd book, Stop the Steal, is only available in paperback.  Which makes viewing the sources noted in the End Notes a bit of a problem to find.  So, here, the solution.

1.   https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_affiliations_of_registered_voters
2.   https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Polling_Index:_Congressional_approval_rating
3.   https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2020:_Incumbent_win_rates_by_state
4.   You will find little evidence online for this assertion.  I contend that Big Money rarely impacts elections’ outcomes, it rather follows winners into their offices.
5.   a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”  See the film Stand and Deliver, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/
6.   Aristotle, Jefferson, and nearly every serious philosopher of politics and democracy
7.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WxdaU9AsnU
8.   https://today.yougov.com/ratings/politics/popularity/politicians/all
9.   https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/logic_in_argumentative_writing/fallacies.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect#Definition
11. https://citizensandscholars.org/resource/national-survey-finds-just-1-in-3-americans-would-pass-citizenship-test/
12. falsely attributed to Thomas Jefferson, who nevertheless preached it until he became president
13. Unfit -- https://benpaine76.blogspot.com/2021/01/unfit.html
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman_1948_presidential_campaign#Whistle-stop_tour
15. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/20/presidents-ranking-trump-biden-list
16. “There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them"

The Price of Protest: An Open Letter to America’s Children

The following words were inspired by the anti-Zionist protests in “elite colleges and universities” across the United States which in turn were inspired by Hamas declaring war on Israel.  Full disclosure: the author of this piece is a Zionist, someone who affirms that the Jewish state of Israel has the right to exist, even if that right is based solely on the spoils of war.  I also declare that I, like so many Israelis, want Benjamin Netanyahu gone.  I further declare that anti-Zionism is 100% antisemitism, that it is 100% Jew hatred, both of which sentiments are quite legal in these United States, as sentiments.

Alexei Navalny

R.I.P. Alexei Navalny, 4 June 1976 – 16 February 2024

A Brief for Israel

It is April 5th, 2024.  But this needs to go upfront.  As an American who numbers Jews among my very best friends, as an American who is a sincere friend of the state of Israel, I am nonetheless deeply disturbed and horrified at the number of civilian deaths – even as "collateral damage" in wartime – in Gaza at the hands of the IDF under PM Benjamin Netanyahu.  But for 75 years, the policy and practice of Palestinians  – whether under Hamas, the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization – has been the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians.  Where was the outrage?

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While many of us bemoan the ascendancy of Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel's Donald Trump?) and his supporters, you have to wonder: if you were an Israeli Jew, would you still be patient with the daily threats of bloodshed posed by Palestinians?  Yes, Israel has over-reacted to Palestinian violence, but what would you have done?

It is my conviction that a lot of anti-Israel sentiment in these United States, especially among young people, is due to a lack of historical perspective.

Fixing a Broken System in 800 words

This piece was written to be an Op-Ed.  The Washington Post has rejected it.  I will take it down when and if some newspaper publishes it.