Quote of the Day - Democracy’s Gyroscope

There's something amazing about America's democracy, it's got a gyroscope and just when you think it's going to go off the cliff, it rights itself. – Albert Einstein

Einstein made this observation in a private letter to his son in the 1950s. He was being urged to leave the United States because the son feared the US was about to turn into a fascist state in reaction to the Cold War. Einstein did not think that would happen.

I bring up this quote, because nearly three-quarters of a century after Einstein put these thoughts to paper it appears we are again heading for a political cliff. We are closer to a fascist state today than ever before in our history. Yet I am not yet ready to despair. I believe Einstein was right about this. The United States is more likely to right itself than to go over the cliff.

Straws in the wind indicate hope may be more appropriate than despair. The Democrats' lawfare offensive against Trump is collapsing - not just collapsing but backfiring, like a bullet ricocheting back on the shooter. The vast body of the American people are rejecting the pro-terrorist "protests" that support genocidal Hamas. Again, these are backfiring on the Democrats. "Trans" has peaked, and is beginning to slide into being mocked. People are weary of high crime rates and of criminals (including illegal aliens) being coddled. Ron DeSantis has turned Florida into a conservative stronghold. Despite all efforts, Texas remains stubbornly Red.

There is no guarantee that the 2024 election will be the political equivalent of Midway, with the Republicans routing the favored Democrats - but it could turn into that. At worst it will be a political Coral Sea, a draw providing strategic advantage to the Republicans. (I do not see how the Democrats hold the Senate.)

Everything is inevitable until somehow it isn't. No one predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1989 (yes, it still existed until 1991, but it collapsed prior to that) or the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Both seemed inevitable and eternal. Just ten years before the fall of the Wall, folks in the US were seriously discussing the most painless way to surrender to the Soviets, because their victory was inevitable. Then Ronald Reagan came along and proved them wrong.

The top that is America's democracy righted itself then - just as it seemed about to tumble off a cliff. Substitute determination for despair. Turn to action on the local level to elect those who will actually represent you. Once elected, hold them to their promises. It may be hard. But hard work pays off more often than simply giving up.