| Photo by Elizabeth Shaw on Unsplash
Part III of the “United States 2024 Election” Series
The 2024 national, congressional, state, and local elections can be different for the better from previous ones. Candidates must be forced to sign a “Covenant with Voters.” Obviously, “Abracadabra politicians” will not sign any covenant with voters. And much less with the people in general.
This column discusses why some politicians are the American versions of “Abracadabra” public officials. “Abracadabra” means “I will create as I speak.” Does it mean that politicians create only by word of mouth? As in, “Do what a politician says but not emulate what he actually does?”
Here are some theories for its worth: It is a word from the Aramaic phrase avra kehdabra, meaning “I will create as I speak.” Another source says that it is composed of three Hebrew words: ab (father), ben (son), and ruach acadosch (holy spirit). Or it may have originated from the Chaldean abbada ke dabra, meaning “perish like the word.” Because many politicians speak words that are empty and devoid of reality? Should they also perish politically because of the lies and other half-truths they utter in rallies and press conferences?
“”Abracadabra politicians” have turned the concept of “The Promised Land” into a “Land of Broken Promises.”
Thus, politics is getting more absurd for the 2024 elections than the usual gaffes and honest mistakes of facts and dates. Many aspirants, especially for the presidency, just utter words without knowing the meaning or checking for facts. Or do many of the country’s national “Abracadabra politicians” simply suffer from a combination of delusions of grandeur, senility, if not second childhood, or worse, Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive impairment?
The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reported last Monday, September 18, 2023, that (former President) Trump’s tactics rebounded when he said (President) Biden threatened to lead the U.S. into “World War Two” – and suggested that he, Trump, thought he had beaten Barack Obama for the presidency back in 2016. AOL highlighted Mr. Pengelly’s report in this article.
What will former President Trump say next? That the American-Spanish War happened in 1798 and that George H. Bush (the Elder) was the U.S. president when the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam became American possessions?
Should the Federal Election Commission and state election officials require senior-citizen candidates to present a medical certificate certified by at least three medical experts? Should physicians be made to attest that a candidate does not suffer from, or have confirmed signs or symptoms of, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment?
By this Sunday, this column will discuss more about a proposed “Covenant with Voters (and People)” that voters must demand from candidates. Should it start with a covenant of turning “labor unions” into “labor cooperatives” that will own at least a third of the voting stocks of corporations? Yes, firms with organized labor or companies that use natural resources (like minerals, crude oil, and coal) as raw materials. And other issues that will prevent labor strikes like those being waged at press time by auto workers, screenwriters, and actors? Or labor strife like what is happening in some Starbucks cafes?
Also, by September 26, this columnist will conduct surveys in some 81 Facebook Groups he founded or where he was invited to become an administrator. The surveys will determine how many Facebook members will support issues like the proposed “Covenant with Voters” and other issues like turning labor unions into labor cooperatives, the required medical certificates asked of senior citizen candidates, and other political issues.
