Imagine an extraterrestrial that is literate about democracy and in the English language, that landed on Planet Earth on the morning of January 6, 2021, and the first sign it read was "Save America March." I am not sure I can call an extraterrestrial a who? So, I will call it a that.
Imagine the extraterrestrial finds a conversant about democracy and starts to ask him or her questions about what is going on with the March.
The extraterrestrial (ET:) What is the matter with the marchers?
The Respondent (R:) There were two contestants on November 3, 20220, for President of a country called the United States of America and one of them lost by over seven million votes.
ET: How many citizens of the United States of America voted?
R: More than 159 million, which is a record in its entire history.
ET: Why isn't everyone happy with the record number of votes in its entire history, if what you say is right? Isn't that one of the best things about democracy?
R: One of the contestants isn't and some of his supporters, including some legislatures, also are not.
ET: Who are these legislatures?
R: One of them is a Harvard boy who was once upon a time a campaigner himself. Harvard is one of the leading universities in the world, which happens to be in the United States of America. During his campaign rhetoric, this legislature threatened to put the children of others under a carpet indiscriminately. That was shortly before he showed up along with his own princesses on a national, and hence, a global stage.
ET: Does he know the majority plus one rule in a democracy?
R: I am sorry but I do not know if he does.
ET: Since you say the United States, is this legislature unhappy about the votes in his own State or another State in the Union.
R: He is unhappy about the votes in another State in the Union while saying nothing about the legitimacy of the votes in his own State.
ET: What is the source of his second-guessing the legitimacy of the delegates of another State in the Union?
R: I am sorry again but I do not know.
ET: How old is the country in which the record number of citizens voted.
R: Less than two and a half centuries?
ET: Wait a minute. Who wrote the constitution for it?
R: They are called its Founding Fathers. They were students of Renaissance men.
ET: What does renaissance mean? (The ET is yet to learn French.)
R: It means rebirth.
ET: Thank you very much for that translation. I will come back to the birth part later. More than seven million votes is not a joke when one more vote can be a decider in a democracy. Hail the Renaissance men. They must have taught their students how to make and maintain the United States of America from a delusion about democracy. Delusion doesn't make and maintain a country. Democracy does and it must have been doing for the United States of America for it to have the resilience to outsurvive aberrations and aberrants.
I am not sure if very many people can relate to this thought process that I think even an extraterrestrial can do so after getting a first glimpse of the news in the United States of America on January 6, 2021. As far as I know, I am not an extraterrestrial. I have lived on Planet Earth for the last many years and this kind of thought process went through my mind after I got up on this day, turned on the TV, and read a "Save America March" banner carried by protesters in Washington, D.C.
Later on in the day, I listened to many political leaders express similar sentiments about democracy. I think that even the current Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell, emotionally came closer to many people's views about democracy. I only wish that kind of emotional attachment of him to democracy came soon enough.
The flip side of that emotional attachment to democracy is the delight in seeing democracy win. As many have said, there is grace in losing in a fair election. There is even a bigger grace in winning in a fair election, which is not to relish in the loss of political opponents but advancing the winning ideas for the betterment of all.
I have tried to observe the election campaign politics in the U.S. over the last several years. I was one of those who thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win against Donald Trump in 2016. The first time it occurred to me that Donald Trump might have a chance was when I watched the skillful debate between Governor Pence and Senator Kaine. Even if I thought highly of the skills of both in the debate, I thought the Governor outperformed the Senator.
Today, I was looking for grace for at least that debate performance but I was unable to find it.
This only makes me think more highly of the Renaissance men that were able to make egos take the backseat to ideas. They evidently didn't mind if the idea originated from an ancient country in the Mediterranean Sea. Anyone might ask who wouldn't do that after witnessing societies wallow in a Dark Age and medieval anarchy.
To begin with, anarchy gave birth to democracy, and this democracy that was sawn by the students of Renaissance men is proving itself resilient enough to outsurvive aberrations and aberrants. I have argued before and continue to argue that even the writers of the U.S. Constitution weren't without shortfalls. I recently learned that one of those shortfalls is the pardon powers that found its way into the constitution from an old English monarchical provision. I have now learned a new provision whereby a Senator has the power to second-guess the legitimacy of the delegates of any State. I think that both of these provisions, among others, are exhibits of those shortfalls.
So, I also say hail to the Renaissance men. May God bless the democratic country, may God bless the souls of the Renaissance men, and may God bless humanity at large for whom they labored, at least as far as I know, selflessly?