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*(Revised)

The president alleges without evidence that there will be voter fraud with mail-in ballots in the upcoming election, yet he continues to maintain there was no Russian interference in our last election despite ample evidence of its occurrence. But this is not surprising coming from a man for whom reality is viewed as an obstacle to be overcome rather than a condition in need of accommodation.

The president’s anchorage in a mythical reality is an incredible phenomenon to witness that is only eclipsed by the willingness of his followers to eagerly play along, so far as it suits their needs, which up to now has been most of the time. Some, although little, solace may be found in an observation by the British comedian John Cleese, who said, “When I was young, I thought the world was basically sane with little patches of insanity lying here and there; now I know it’s the opposite—the world is mad, with areas of reasonable intelligence scattered about.”

So, it seems, we’re all living in an insane asylum whose only walls are the ones the reasonably intelligent among us erect to protect ourselves from the asylum’s inmates. Who the inmates are and who they aren’t is largely a matter of perspective but boils down generally to which version of reality they are grounded in—the one people used to traditionally agree was the only one, the common collective reality, from which all deviations were thought to be the realm of mania, and the one in which Kellyanne Conway’s famously termed “alternative facts” shares equal footing: To put it in technical terms, the former version represents consensus reality while the latter one is totally nuts! For the reasonably intelligent, no passport exists that allows entry into the latter realm, save the complete abandonment of the senses.

That very condition—the complete abandonment of the senses—helps to explain why certain Republican congressional leaders continue to support this president. What else could explain their behavior? For these men and women, hewing to the party line these days requires a willful refusal to acknowledge the facts surrounding the issues as well as an utter disregard for the consequences of their words and acts. It should go without saying that these actions do not describe the behavior of reasonably intelligent people!

The only recourse for the reasonably intelligent in the face of such societal mania is to not only refuse to participate in such craziness but also to voice objection, to speak out, and to do so loudly and clearly, adding our voices to the growing chorus of those who refuse to submit themselves to the writhing tentacles of pathology seeking to invade our minds and overcome our spirits.

And the ultimate act of defiance available to us is to vote, and to do so carefully, not just in whose names we mark on our ballots, but also in the manner in which we do so. Become aware of the pitfalls the asylum’s inmates exploit to invalidate ballots. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to register before the deadline, take care you sign your ballots legibly (your signature will be checked to see that it matches the one on file) and, if you vote by mail or via absentee ballot (which are the same, despite what the president would have you believe) send your ballot back extra early to ensure it gets there in time to be counted.

And don’t procrastinate; the asylum’s inmates are counting on your doing so. Disappoint them. Vote with resolution! Make your vote an act of defiance and a rejection of the sinister ambitions and unhinged meanders of the present administration, a clear repudiation the asylum’s inmate will not be able to credibly counter.

Vote this time like your life depends on it, because, especially now with the administration’s embrace of “herd immunity” as the solution to the Covid “problem,” it may well come to that!

To say that this November’s election will be the most consequential election in decades is a tremendous understatement. The very survival of our democracy is likely at stake!  In order to save it, everyone’s voice needs to be heard this November and your vote is the means to make sure the message comes through clearly and unambiguously. A resounding defeat for the party currently in power will be a clear mandate for change the president and his acolytes will be unable to ignore. It is the only reasonably intelligent path toward truly making America Great Again.

Tim Konrad

September 6, 2020