Election Day, 2020

 

Seeking Knowns

Election Day, 2020

Markers

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

            The long dark tunnel where we have lived is nearing an unknown juncture.

            Too many outcomes are at stake. The question remains will the outcome be a spring-loaded bounce, or will it be a head on collision?  Will the flag continue to be a symbol of the American pride, or will the bearer be assigned the moniker of enemy of the progressive state? Will there be healing, or will the gates of hell only widen?

            There is danger in our current path of existence.

            Seeking Knowns

            Stability is sought for good reason.

            The old ranchers of my youth, those that were criticized so vehemently because they defended their world so aggressively, have come back to life. They now exist among current colleagues who still make this life their sole existence. Just change the names the same individuals are revealed. They have evolved to become those same old crabby ranchers.

There is good reason.

These businesses are not for the weak of heart. This life is hard. Even if they were wanted, there are no normal days off like the rest of the world. In fact, there are far too few things that are routine much less guaranteed. Controlled chaos is sometimes not just the best-case scenario, but the only scenario.

            We work.

            Everyday has a demand, and, if there isn’t one, we’re just not looking hard enough. Hit at it, hit at it, and hit at it is the only driver of success. It is the tried and true version of the new byline echoing across the ranch country, sustainability.

            To have sustainability, though, stability is paramount. It is critical. It is sought constantly whether it is a budget created from yearly patterns or work schedules that reflect years of prior experiences. Disruptions become enemies and great efforts are made to limit those that pose threats. Familiarity is favored. Upsets are sidestepped. Risk is managed. Change is unwanted. Benchmarks are set. Margins are defended. The process becomes synonymous with life itself.

            Unknowns are avoided. In fact, they are suspect and pose a threat to everything. Human inclinations, exposed to natural law, will protect, and defend. The outcome is inevitable. Knowns are sought.

            Time passes, and … old ranchers emerge.

            Markers

            I don’t agree with the approach to our voting process.

            It has become a season of election rather than a defined process culminating in a day, the day, of election. Further, there has always been intrigue, nefarious undercurrents, in why and how it now exists.

            Stepwise accommodation for manipulating an outcome is what it really is.

            How many of you celebrate the season of your birth? For example, January looms on the horizon. Is it time to start celebrating a near distant day in January by commencing a structured course of action right now with the intentions of ending it all with a cake with candles to blow out on that upcoming date?

            That’s ridiculous. That birth date needs to be celebrated on its historically defined date and that date alone.

            How about Thanksgiving? Shall there be a series of dates offered for its celebration rather than following the House passed resolution dating from October 6, 1941, declaring the last Thursday in November as the legal national day of thanks for the bounty of productive effort, our daily bread, that we produce annually.

That date varies only by how that Thursday falls on the calendar not by some arbitrary manipulation. That last Thursday is the date and only date of celebration.

            How about Christmas? Shall there be a series of dates suggested for its celebration or shall we maintain inviolate the feast of the Annunciation, marking the angel, Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she would become the mother of Jesus on a date exactly nine months hence. That date, of course, was and is December 25 of each year.

            Christmas needs to be celebrated on its holy demarcation and left without change.

            July 4, the day of our national independence, is no different. It was chosen by the United States because it corresponds to the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by brave men who willingly put their lives in danger for the nation we have inherited.

            It wasn’t June 28 or April 10. The day was July 4 then and remains July 4 today.

            Election day should be no different. Nobody misses any of the national holidays or their own birthdays unless they choose to do so on their own volition. The importance of election day is, in fact, more result based in our society than any other day. It is the only day our actions actually and collectively equate to some defined outcome.

            To spread it over time is nonsense.

            It is also manipulative and subversive. It is akin to a jury voting on the outcome of a trial before the closing arguments are offered and the evidence handed to them for consideration. The trail of legal justice doesn’t operate that way and the importance of any election shouldn’t be treated any differently.

            In fact, the day of national election should be a supremely and most important day. If there is justification for another federal and national holiday, it is the official day of election. It should be the day all Americans are reminded of the importance of leadership selections. It should be the day every citizen is elevated into the marquee position of honor and responsibility for selecting leaders who will offer time and energy to the nation rather than a political party.

            Dragging out this process in the name of fairness and inclusiveness is a charade of manipulation and defined confusion. If anybody cannot step into the national limelight of a voting booth on that day, they shouldn’t expect their vote to count.

Physical presence is an indicator of trust to this nation, and … it should not be violated.

 

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.