Election Day approacheth. In every iteration since, oh, about 1984, I’ve viewed its advent with a mix of resignation and detachment. Not apathy – I had and have a strong interest in who’ll win and how the political landscape will change as a result, but I’ve long known that, as a mere one of over a hundred million votes, and as a resident of New York State, my vote really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in and of itself.

Still, I voted, and I vote. It is in the aggregate that our votes matter, and not just in terms of selecting a winner. Votes are information – a message sent to those who run the country, who want to run the country, and who opine on how the country should be run. That message from me has, in every Presidential election since 1984, taken the form of a vote for whoever was the Libertarian Party candidate.

Up until perhaps a couple weeks ago I was planning to vote for Jo Jorgensen, the libertarian candidate. The fact of my home state makes my vote meaningless to the ultimate outcome, so my “message” to the major parties was “move towards liberty.”

The combination of Democrats’ plans, Democrats’ behavior, the Press’s abandonment of any ethic, Big Tech’s antics, and the generally grotesque attitude I’ve witnessed from certain quarters have me about to, for the first time in 36 years, break from my unwavering history and vote for Trump.

Not because I’ve consumed the orange Kool-aid, or consider him a brilliant President or a towering statesman. Not even because of his policies and actions (I like some, I dislike others). And certainly not because of his behavior and rhetoric, which I dislike in the extreme.

Simply, rather, as a message to the Democratic Party and its accomplices in the Press, academia, big tech, and social activism.

Much is made of Trump’s behavior, demeanor, and lack of presidential quality, with good reason. He is indeed not even of the mold of a typical politician, let alone a transformational figure like Reagan. But, when compared to the other side…

which spent four years trying to undo the outcome of the 2016 election, by hook, by crook, and by any means necessary; which engaged in improprieties prior to the election that would have been easily deemed shocking and outrageous were they leveled at a Democrat; which has assembled an agenda that’s destructively socialistic, ruinously progressive, economically illiterate, and ragingly anti-liberty; which has voiced an open desire to turn the judiciary into a partisan puppet; and which has expressed a lust for power so rapacious that it’s willing to go to any length to ensure its perpetual dominance.

… I’d much rather have another four years of Trump than reward the Democrats for their vile behaviors and abhorrent plans.

Because, when it comes down to it, voting a Democrat into the White House, or voting third party as a rejection of two lousy choices, would be even more a validation of the grotesque “remove him at all costs and via any means” behavior of the Democratic Party than it would be a statement regarding what I dislike about Trump or about the major parties in the aggregate. It would validate the from-Day-1 efforts to delegitimize the will of the voters, it would validate the dirty tricks and corruption of institutions that led to the Mueller investigation, it would validate the [farce][1] that was the Democrats’ impeachment, it would validate the leftward shift of the Democratic Party, it would validate the mainstream Press’s abandonment of any shred of journalistic ethic and duty in favor of raw and rank partisanship, it would validate the abandonment of free speech and other liberties in our universities, it would validate Big Tech’s illiberal behaviors, and it would validate the re-emergence of socialistic thought, no matter how many its previous iterations impoverished and killed.

I’m normally not prone to thinking doomsday. I predicted the republic would survive Obama, and it would survive Trump. I’m not so sure it’ll survive the Terrible Tetrad that is Biden-Harris-Schumer-Pelosi without being permanently damaged.

So, I’m rooting for Trump to win, and I’m voting for him, no matter my personal feelings. I urge you to do the same.

• About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

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