July 2020

Well, anyhow, within those limits it was a democracy... And over time, as political parties formed, gradually us mere commoners were also allowed a vote... within limits set by those parties, of course... Although it took a Civil War that killed hundreds of thousands to finally establish that Blacks were more than 3/5 ths of a "man"... and it actually wasn't until 1920 that women were finally promoted to "man"-hood, so far as the Founding Fathers' criteria went... And it took another long, bloody war, in Vietnam this time, before our government could be persuaded that "If they're old enough to draft, they're old enough to vote..."

So, why is it all going south? Apparently, we've got another "King" now, (Mostly just a royal pain in the ass!) and his servile retainers are once again doing everything they can to limit this "voting" nonsense to the Right People only... if you're not one of the Right People, and you don't live in a modern, vote-by-mail state, but you don't wish to risk a ghastly plague death from going out and standing in a long line for hours on end at some remote and strictly limited polling station, then you're outa luck! the US Postal Service, invented by good old Ben Franklin, apparently can't be trusted to deliver your ballot anymore... but just in case, they seem to be willing to let the USPS go bankrupt to avoid millions and millions and millions of "voter frauds..." (Yeah, I know... frauds... sweet bit of irony there)....

So, anyway, Happy Fourth... Stay safe and sane... and to paraphrase good ol' Ben Franklin, come Election Day remember, "We've got a Democracy... if we can keep it!" JQ...