The Wall St. Journal’s Joseph Sternberg brings us news that Portugal recently had an election. A new far-right party, Chega, which roughly translates as “Enough”, finished a respectable 3rd with 18%. That’s enough to make its leader, entertainer Andre Ventura, a kingmaker as the new government is formed, but not enough to have much influence on policy. Which is well and good as far as Mr. Sternberg is concerned, because he sees Chega as a party of loud, unfocused protest without a serious plan for governance or any hope of formulating one. Says he, “Europe’s consensus isn’t immutable, it is plainly broken and it needs a revamp. But that revamp requires the hard labor of persuasion and good governance rather than crude political vandalism.”
There’s a lesson in there for the U.S. Since no one in the MAGA camp or the far-left Progressive camp is about to learn it, let’s hope the vast majority of us who aren’t consumed by rage and radical politics is listening.
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Poor Haiti. The situation there gets worse and worse. This is a nation that has never known a day of competent governance since it broke free of France over 200 years ago. What government it has had has been kleptocratic. Its poverty defies comprehension. U.S. intervention over the years has ranged from ham-handed to arguably-malign. The UN’s track record is at least as bad.
Thugs now control the country and seem willing to burn it to the ground if that’s what it takes for one of them to eventually come out on top. The Dominican Republic, its not-quite-as-poor next-door-neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, is building a wall to keep out desperate Haitians, and deports hundreds every day back across the porous border. The situation looks hopeless; there is nothing to gain for any nation willing to step in and take the harsh measures that would be needed to restore order, but plenty to lose.
As much as we would like to ignore this benighted little country, we can’t. Its proximity means that its problems will eventually become ours as its population flees the madness. That’s exacerbated by the Biden administration’s insane non-policy on illegal immigration, not to mention its overall incompetence in matters of foreign policy. But in fairness, no one else seems to have a clue what to do, either, or the stomach to do it.
God have mercy on the poor people of Haiti. The only peace they are likely to have anytime soon is the peace of the grave.
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What is it with the U.S. and elections involving despicable candidates? Trump v Clinton in 2016, Trump v Biden in 2020, Trump v Biden in 2024, just to name the marquee matchups of the last few years. In all of those elections, none of the candidates came close to positive territory in opinion polls. We all held our noses and voted for the less-objectionable choice, and no matter who won, only a minority of die-hard partisans was pleased with the result – not even most of the people who voted for the winner. Neither party seems to be the least bit interested in nominating a candidate who isn’t viscerally hated by his or her opponents. Indeed, being viscerally hated by the other side seems to be a necessary predicate for winning one’s party’s nomination. If you doubt it, ask Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, 2 people who tried to play nice, only to find that the Republicans are all in for nasty these days, and the nastier the better. Electability doesn’t matter to the parties anymore.
Need there be any more proof that “None of the Above” needs to be on the ballot? The majority of Americans see no recourse but to vote for people they wouldn’t have as dogcatcher if they could help it. We need a way so they can help it, by rejecting the reprobates, incompetents, con men, extremists and otherwise unqualified candidates put forward by parties captured by their lunatic fringes. The logistics would be daunting, of course, but not insoluble. Furthermore, just the knowledge that their candidate could be rejected and barred from running again would serve to concentrate the minds of party leaders, who would be strongly incentivized to make sure they nominate the right kind of people the first time.
None of the Above, what a concept. Time to give it a try.
- Kenneth D. Gough © 2024
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