“Back in 2016, the Republicans were at their wits end, because they believed they just couldn’t win, anymore! So they opted to go for broke, by electing a city slicker instead of a conservative politician. But here’s the ‘kicker’, only fools go for broke, because if you gamble with your liberty, chances are you’re going to end up in bondage. But not only that, you’re probably going to break the ties that bind you with family, friends and church, too.”

By: ElRoyPoet, 2023

The Biggest Lie Trump Told Was His Oath Of Office

Definition: Kicker, as in “here’s the kicker “, likely comes from poker. The kicker is a card used to break ties in hands of the same rank.

Commentary: When a country throws up its arms in disgust, because congress doesn’t want to compromise and everybody is constantly digging in their heels, because they don’t want to relinquish the ideology of their polarized parties and culture groups. It becomes easier for affluent society to become cynical about its democratic institutions and the civil rights it guarantees. Physical and emotional fatigue makes cowards out of all of us, and when patriots believe they can’t win, they resign to the temptation—perceived to be the easy way out—to forfeit liberal democracy and let a power hungry strong man do the governing for them. In the Bible, the Jews had the opportunity to govern themselves with judges, but they always opted to relinquish their freedom to a king. This provided temporary peace of mind, but eventually the honeymoon is over and the domestic abuse begins.

“If our democracy dies, the reason won’t be that Americans were too apathetic to save it; it will be that they voted it out of existence.” By: H. Scott Butler

“The reason the MAGA republicans keep repeating the big lie, even though they know that the elections weren’t stolen, is because it’s a big joke to them—they do it to ‘own the libs‘ (mock the democrat voters who still believe in democracy). Ironically trump has ignited their ‘disgust for democracy’ reflex with his constant barrage of grievance rhetoric bombs.” By: A. Freeman

“But if the story is about Republican candidates who say in absolute terms that they have no business running for public office; that they don’t believe in democracy; that indeed they have contempt for the very idea of normal people manifesting their destinies; […] With that, citizens know what to do. That paradox is, of course, this: Republican candidates who are hostile to democracy are asking voters to entrust them with democracy. They are saying, ‘I can’t be trusted.’ […] When you allow anti-democrats to sit at the negotiating table of democracy, little gets done, because the table’s been depoliticized. That, of course, is the ultimate objective of these Republican anti-democrats. They strive to make democracy unworkable, ungovernable and unbearable, hoping to drive republican citizens into despairing whether they can manifest their own destinies. Fortunately, they are telling us who they are.” Excerpt from Republican anti-democrats are telling us who they are. Are we listening?

“Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that same liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the ‘general welfare of the people’. Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by [authoritarian] tyrants—to make us bondsmen.” By: Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct nderstanding.” By: Mahatma Gandhi

In order to explain why we have systemic racism and a culture of ethics violations within our institutions, we need to understand that all systems in government rely on people to do their jobs in good faith. All it takes is for one key player to cheat, and the system fails. No system is self-moderated, no matter how much we audit and try to regulate it; it is up to the civil servant(s) to do his job to the best of his abilities. All the systemic problems we find are to be blamed on the people in power who are acting slick—not on the system. Blaming the culture is unconstitutional; an individual(s) in that system who is unwilling to support it, is literally breaking his oath of office. This is why a democracy can’t survive without a free press—to force transparency on the government—so that if it is discovered that a corrupt public official(s) is gaming the system, it can be brought to the citizens’ attention, so that the bad actor(s) can be impeached by the checks and balances in place.