Trego's Mountain Ear

The lesser of two evils is still evil.  I’m not sure how often I have voted for the lesser evil.  In 2020, for sure.  Definitely in 2016.  Heck, the first election I could vote in was 1972 . . . choosing between Richard Nixon and George McGovern.  Next time (1976) I could choose between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

It’s not that I’m bad at choosing the lesser evil – it’s that lesser evils are still evil, and that lesser evils add up.  I’ve been voting for the lesser evil so long that I probably need an exorcist’s care and tending.  Let me describe the results:

There was a clear choice between Ford and Carter – Ford had played too much football without a helmet, while Jimmy Carter was a Navy Academy graduate, an engineer, a farmer, and of high moral caliber . . . yet the economy tanked under Carter. 

So 1980 showed up – and the choice was to keep Carter or replace him with Ronald Reagan.  Hell, I had came into my teens watching Death Valley Days on black and white.  I didn’t care if Jane Wynum was right.  Ronald had to be better than Jimmy.  Sure, he was old – but he promised to take senility tests . . . he probably just forgot.  Definitely the lesser evil.

Then came 1988 – George Bush v. Michael Dukakis . . . In retrospect, the greatest thing Dukakis did for the nation was pushing Joe Biden out of the Dems primary by exposing his plagiarism – as it turned out later over half of America forgot.  George Herbet Walker Bush – four names and once director of the CIA.  Four years of the lesser evil?

Then came the choice of keeping George Bush or voting in Bill Clinton – you know how that worked out.  After eight years of Clinton, we had a choice between Al Gore and the second Bush – Al Gore – like Joe Stalin and Cassanova, Al was a divinity school dropout.  George Bush was the second of the Bush dynasty.  Unable to hold my nose and vote for the lesser evil, I went third party.  Eight more years of Bush. I hope he was a lesser evil than the divinity school dropout.

In 2008, we tried something different – we elected a president who had 6 years in Illinois politics and part of a term in the Senate.  First it was Obama or McCain.  McCain had been a fine junior officer in the Navy, and a long-term POW in VietNam.  In general, he had done a  commendable job.  Then the Republicans ran Mitch Romney against Obama.  In 2012, again we could choose the lesser evil . . . but 2016 was coming.

In 2016, my friend Bob Brown, a lifetime Republican, chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump and voted for what he saw as the lesser evil.  Despising Hillary, I cast a ballot for the other lesser evil.  Our differing votes didn’t affect our friendship – each voted for what he saw as the lesser evil.  In 2020, we had a choice between Trump and Biden – think, if you will, what it says that neither of these men can manage to achieve a 50% approval rating, yet they are the top candidates (despite being too old, entirely too old).  Lesser evil vs. lesser evil is still evil.

There are Republicans who don’t want Trump to run again.  There are Democrats who feel the same way about Biden.  The lesser evil is still evil.  I would really like to have the choice between good and better, between good and great.