The threat of tyranny: How Schwarzenegger misses the point
12 January 2021 By Abiodun Giwa
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Courtesy:Wikipedia)
Arnold Schwarzenegger has posted a statement and a video on the social media talking about his experience in Austria as a young boy, and he tries to relate events in the United States to the events in Europe of his boyhood time. Schwarzenegger's story cannot fly with people who have the knowledge about the history of Europe of the time that he attempts to impress on the public.
Undoubtedly, there are ominous signs here that should remind us about the need to guard against totalitarianism or tyranny, and those signs have more to do with supporters of one political party are not allowing supporters of another political party express their opinion. It has to do with censorship and the death of dissent. The development has seemingly and sadly become part of the political culture here, with the social media deciding what we can say and who they can ban from their platforms.
It is annoying that the majority of us are up in arms against one person because we have been brainwashed by the media - the agent of the rich and the wealthy - to not see the reason for the need to review the country's election rules towards safeguarding against the erosion of trust and confidence in election results.
I have warned so many people that I have access talking to way back before the election and during the election about the lack of accommodation of other people's opinion by members of the two political parties, a development that has become a new genre in the American political culture. Another new development that has seemingly derailed the political culture is the sudden emergence of counting the votes three days after an election.
The normal political culture in the country has been that citizens know the outcome of the presidential election before midnight on the day of the election and the result is consolidated by the next morning. If Covid-19 has caused the new culture that the country has experienced in the last election, it should be accepted that Covid-19 has not only come posing as a health endangerment, but also as a socially destructive agent, which it is anyway. It means that the virus has also contributed to the mess that the country is politically.
But that is still not an excuse not to accept that something abnormal may have happened during the last election and that there is a need for a review towards acceptable outcome and accountability to the citizens. It is why the applied statistics and the research design have become popular subjects respectively for students of public policy and administration. America is not a country where lack of transparency should be allowed to suddenly become a norm, especially on serious issues as a presidential election.
The president has raised a serious issue with the election. He is the president. The country needs to listen to him. The Congress is supposed to have a role to play. No one is saying that the election result be changed. But the type of review that will unearth what may have happened to calm nerves on issues such as the televised bags that we all saw in an election center under the dark. Was it true that those bags shown on the television news in a counting center illegal or legal? Was it true that the Republican Party was not ready for the signature matching process and that the votes arriving by mail were just dumped and counted without verification of signatures?
If the country cannot undertake this onerous exercise to ensure free and fair election, to make every citizen feel comfortable that his or her vote counts, we will have no moral right to teach other countries how to conduct democratic elections. Of course, if what the president says has happened to him has happened to an ordinary mortal, we could have moved on. It is the practice in countries with pseudo democracies.
Protesters are not criminals. Those who have crossed the line by breaking into the Capitol can be punished under the statutes. It is the reason behind the curfew announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser that whoever remained outside the Capitol after 18:00 hours would have committed a crime because as at the time law enforcement work to restore order to the Congress, protesters outside the Capito; have committed no crime. The most important issue is that the issue that propelled the millions of citizens to a protest to the Congress still needs to be addressed because it is part of the work of the Congress under the public police process routine, and not to go after the president who have committed no crime with a threat of impeachment.
We are where we are today because it has happened to a person high up and he is not letting go and which part of the acceptable and recognized culture here. The standard ethical requirement is that such an issue should not be swept under the rug irrespective of the person it has affected. Again, one would ask the reason that some politicians are saying it is wrong for anyone to show his or her identity card when voting. Does the Constitution not say only the citizens can vote?
And in a country with over 11 million undocumented immigrants, where some can become instruments in the hands of politicians who seek power at all cost, is it not moral and ethical to ask voters to show identity card when voting to guard against career politicians' antics of derangement?.
Undoubtedly, there are ominous signs here that should remind us about the need to guard against totalitarianism or tyranny, and those signs have more to do with supporters of one political party are not allowing supporters of another political party express their opinion. It has to do with censorship and the death of dissent. The development has seemingly and sadly become part of the political culture here, with the social media deciding what we can say and who they can ban from their platforms.
It is annoying that the majority of us are up in arms against one person because we have been brainwashed by the media - the agent of the rich and the wealthy - to not see the reason for the need to review the country's election rules towards safeguarding against the erosion of trust and confidence in election results.
I have warned so many people that I have access talking to way back before the election and during the election about the lack of accommodation of other people's opinion by members of the two political parties, a development that has become a new genre in the American political culture. Another new development that has seemingly derailed the political culture is the sudden emergence of counting the votes three days after an election.
The normal political culture in the country has been that citizens know the outcome of the presidential election before midnight on the day of the election and the result is consolidated by the next morning. If Covid-19 has caused the new culture that the country has experienced in the last election, it should be accepted that Covid-19 has not only come posing as a health endangerment, but also as a socially destructive agent, which it is anyway. It means that the virus has also contributed to the mess that the country is politically.
But that is still not an excuse not to accept that something abnormal may have happened during the last election and that there is a need for a review towards acceptable outcome and accountability to the citizens. It is why the applied statistics and the research design have become popular subjects respectively for students of public policy and administration. America is not a country where lack of transparency should be allowed to suddenly become a norm, especially on serious issues as a presidential election.
The president has raised a serious issue with the election. He is the president. The country needs to listen to him. The Congress is supposed to have a role to play. No one is saying that the election result be changed. But the type of review that will unearth what may have happened to calm nerves on issues such as the televised bags that we all saw in an election center under the dark. Was it true that those bags shown on the television news in a counting center illegal or legal? Was it true that the Republican Party was not ready for the signature matching process and that the votes arriving by mail were just dumped and counted without verification of signatures?
If the country cannot undertake this onerous exercise to ensure free and fair election, to make every citizen feel comfortable that his or her vote counts, we will have no moral right to teach other countries how to conduct democratic elections. Of course, if what the president says has happened to him has happened to an ordinary mortal, we could have moved on. It is the practice in countries with pseudo democracies.
Protesters are not criminals. Those who have crossed the line by breaking into the Capitol can be punished under the statutes. It is the reason behind the curfew announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser that whoever remained outside the Capitol after 18:00 hours would have committed a crime because as at the time law enforcement work to restore order to the Congress, protesters outside the Capito; have committed no crime. The most important issue is that the issue that propelled the millions of citizens to a protest to the Congress still needs to be addressed because it is part of the work of the Congress under the public police process routine, and not to go after the president who have committed no crime with a threat of impeachment.
We are where we are today because it has happened to a person high up and he is not letting go and which part of the acceptable and recognized culture here. The standard ethical requirement is that such an issue should not be swept under the rug irrespective of the person it has affected. Again, one would ask the reason that some politicians are saying it is wrong for anyone to show his or her identity card when voting. Does the Constitution not say only the citizens can vote?
And in a country with over 11 million undocumented immigrants, where some can become instruments in the hands of politicians who seek power at all cost, is it not moral and ethical to ask voters to show identity card when voting to guard against career politicians' antics of derangement?.
Widget is loading comments...
