Enemy of the Possible
AJ Robinson

I was never a fan of Babylon 5. I don’t know, it wasn’t a storyline with which I could associate, but that’s just me. I did see several episodes and I remember one quite vividly, called Infection.

A super soldier is not a clever idea

Infection revolved around artifacts from a long dead civilisation, which gradually take over the mind and body of a man. As the crew, of the station, tries to figure out what’s going on, they examine the records of the alien world and come to understand what happened to it.

The aliens created a super soldier to defend their world against attack. Nothing new here. The Spartans were among the earliest elite human warriors on earth.

The aliens made a critical error. When they were designing the soldiers, they allowed military and religious experts to chime in, equally, with suggestions. Meaning they did not leave it to the scientists.

Gee, where have we heard that before? The super soldier was to defend true members of the civilisation from alien enemies. Of course, their definitions of alien and enemy were based on conflicting military and religious views, which meant unattainable, especially by those doing the defining.

I think you can see where this is heading. A camel is a horse designed by committee. A super soldier designed as a compromise of military and religious views is a camel of a sort.

When attacked, the soldiers went into action. They defeated the invaders, but didn’t stop there. As no one could measure up to the standards imposed by the generals and religious leaders, the warriors annihilated the entire population of their world.

We face similar circumstances, today, but in a different manner, thank goodness. We have leaders who can’t measure up to our standards. In some cases, this is a minor inconvenience, as in an award show that can’t find an acceptable host.

When it comes to politics, we’re in real trouble. People keep talking about a Blue Wave or Blue Tsunami, in the 2020 election. Seems to me, I’ve heard that before, I remain unconvinced and uncertain and for good reason.

With the Republicans, they are more than willing to hold their collective noses, metaphorically speaking, and vote for a candidate they don’t like, all in the name of winning. That’s what gave us Trump. It might do so again.

Democrats seek perfection.

Democrats are not so flexible. Like those aliens that built the super soldier, Democrats seek perfection and, I fear, may share in the same fate, metaphorically speaking. Then, again, maybe not.

Joe Biden is far from perfect, the same is true of other Democrat candidates in other races, but many voters don’t seem to accept that. When you consider all that we must overcome in order for Joe and others to win, gerrymandering, voter suppression, Russian interference, and voter apathy, the result is no predetermined.

Still, the last thing we need is people deciding, “Well, I don’t like this or that when it comes to Biden. I’m just not going to vote for either candidate.” The spectre of stay-at-homes runs a chill up and down the spine of Democratic Party leaders.

Plus, with the covid-19 giving Republicans an excuse to shutdown polling places and Trump working to prevent vote-by-mail, turnout could be quite low. Low voter turnout often favours the incumbent; signals satisfaction.

Keep in mind, too, a joint session of Congress oversees the Electoral College vote. The Vice-President must certify the results. There is plenty of room for shenanigans.

In 2000, Al Gore, as Vice-President, had to do that, which meant he had to agree he lost the College. He did so, despite people arguing he should fight it. He did it for the good of the nation, to prevent us being torn apart.

Does anyone think that Pence will do it? That he’ll dare defy his lord and master? I doubt it.

No matter the nature of the outcome, if Joe wins, Trump will cry foul. If Trump loses by a narrow margin, it’s voter fraud. If the Blue Wave truly does materialise, it’s voter fraud.

Trump will blast it from every media outlet available. Fox News will carry continuous coverage. Every Republican will agree in the fashion of all good bobble-heads.

We also get the false equivalency argument. Just recently, a woman, one woman, mind you, claimed Joe assaulted her in 1993. For some voters, that’s it, he’s done, they now argue that Joe and Trump are the same. Are they really?

One accusation from twenty-seven years ago versus more charges against Trump; twenty-two at last count, several quite recent and one including a minor associated with Jeffrey Epstein. Let’s not forget Trump bragging of such acts, never apologizing, cheating on each of his wives and paying off porn stars. Equivalent? Really?

Count on Fox News to talk, for months, of nothing but the accusation against Biden and how his son is ostensibly involved in the Ukrainian scandal. Every republican will jump on the bandwagon. You can count on the mainstream media not pointing out their hypocrisy at ignoring the charges against Trump.

I may be too pessimistic.

When you pile these factors, one on top of the other, I have to say, I do not see any Blue Wave coming in November. I most definitely hope it happens, I hope Trump, Mitch and all the rest are out from office, but I doubt it’ll happen. Sorry to sound so pessimistic, but, based on our recent track record as a nation, it is the most likely outcome.