Don't Fall for Imaginary Hobgoblins of Dems, GOP

“One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the rickyard when — whack! — an acorn hit her upon the head. ‘Goodness gracious me!’ said Henny-penny, ‘the sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the King.’”

Don’t fall for it.

The sky is not falling

This media-political-infotainment complex (outside Newsmax!) is framing the presidential race in quite apocalyptic terms. What’s really going on?

America’s “mission statement,” the Declaration of Independence declares that

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness,”

That sentiment then was ratified by 56 intrepid statesmen-to-be. And, from this, the United States of America, a wonderful new nation, was born.

Let’s focus: “To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The most powerful force in politics is not money or tax cuts or name recognition.

It’s legitimacy. And authenticity.

And there is a virulent ongoing campaign, by both left and right, to delegitimize government to the extent government retards their core agendas. Don't fall for it.

Biden attempts to delegitimize the U.S. Supreme Court, whose recent rulings he deplores. Trump attempts to delegitimize the 2020 election results, having proposed to vest the power to override electoral slates in the Vice President.

Mr. Trump? Vice President Harris might well find such power rather handy after November 5th.

President Joe Biden reportedly bowed out because he saw Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy, saying: “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy.” Plus, his party’s other Elders wanted a younger and more agile champion to slingshot Goliath.

Vice President Harris herself does not appear to be founding her narrative on the “existential threat to democracy” theme. She has moved center on economic issues, withdrawing her opposition to fracking and pitching a J.D. Vancian-style child tax credit.

Ms. Harris casts herself a tough cop capable of taking down her wily convict by which she avoids serving up Michael Bay-style flaming political Dumpsters. Apocalypse Not!

Gov. Walz? Per Ezra Klein at the NY Times, Walz, without abjuring the danger he sees Trump posing (“All those things are true about an existential threat to global peace, in my opinion, a desire to strip constitutional power and division.”) Walz attacks with ridicule rather than dread: “It’s the emperor’s wearing no clothes, is all this story is — this guy’s weird stories and inability to connect like a human being.”

President Donald Trump, himself, seemingly never met a hyperbole he didn’t like. As he recently stated, per PBS: “At this very moment, Democrat Party bosses are frantically trying to overthrow the results of their own party’s primaries to dump Crooked Joe Biden from the ballot,” he said. “As you’re seeing, the Democratic Party is not the party of democracy. They’re really the enemies of Democracy.”

And J.D. Vance? Pretty much straight out of The Handmaid’s Tale!

Not saying that we don’t have problems. Some serious.

Yet we live in an era of unparalleled affluence and our resources, including the American “can-do” spirit, have always been up to solving those problems. They still are.

Have we Boomers left some challenges to GenX, the millennials, and the rising Zs and Alphas? Yes, we did.

All to the good. As Bismarck is said to have said. “We must leave some problems for our grandchildren to solve.”

How else will they enjoy the glory that we Boomers did, winning the Cold War; landing men on the moon and returning them home safe; peering to the far edges of the galaxy; inventing the internet and Web. ... And more.

C’mon kids. Your at-bat.

What seems to be going on here, now, was what the great H.L. Mencken observed about a century ago in In Defense of Women:

“Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

“Hobgoblins.”

“Most of them imaginary.”

“Good gracious me!”

Don’t fall for it.

The sky is not falling.