I believe in human agency when a person lives in a free society. In China, Russia or North Korea, or other countries of their ilk, that agency is restricted by threats of State violence. That is not the case here, yet.
We should not make excuses for the choices others make. Unless that person is mentally ill, I think we have to respect that person’s capacity to make a choice and not infantilize him or her.
Two days’ ago, the Times published a poll showing Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden in 5 of 6 swing states. In other words, if the election were held today, Trump would win.
As best I can tell, the poll was well constructed and administered.
Even after 8 years of Trump revealing himself as a criminal and sociopath, as the most dishonorable man ever to hold the Presidency, and as an incipient tyrant, he may be re-elected.
Those who choose to vote for him again next November do so with eyes wide open. They are men and women, not children.
One must respect their ability to choose. One must also judge their choice. Any of us can see through MAGA and Fox propaganda. Any of us can read Trump’s own plans for what he intends.
They are voting for an end to the United States as we know it. They are voting for guaranteed suffering for tens of millions of human beings. They are nihilists. They are moral and intellectual failures. They know exactly what they are voting for.
