"I want to live in a normal country" may well be the most poignant, plaintive and desperate quote of Alexei Navalny whose death in a Russian penal colony north of the Arctic Circle was reported on 2/16/24. Which begs the question - what is normal? We in America have no idea what it is like to live in a country where a citizen can legitimately express that wish. All Navalny wanted was to be able speak his mind and express opposition to the president who has been in power for the last quarter century. He exposed the corruption in a system where an oligarchy owns most of the material wealth and a totalitarian has sole control of the levers of power. For all that, Navalny's followers are such a small minority that there is no question about the outcome of elections in Russia. Yet such is the nature of dictatorship that even a whiff of dissent must be stamped out brutally. The Russian people have lived under tyranny for so long that this is normal for them. Unfortunately for him, Alexei Navalny could envision a different normal and it cost him his life.
The question for Americans as we approach another presidential election is, what's normal here? The likely Republican nominee for President, when asked if he would be a dictator, says "No, no, no - except for Day 1". Such dissembling may be amusing to some but should be alarming to the rest of us. He makes no secret of his admiration for the likes of Putin. He repeatedly casts aspersions on democratic institutions and norms. He questions the validity of free and fair elections - when the outcome is not to his liking. He sees nothing wrong with calling on local election officials to change, by hook or by crook, results not to his liking. He wanted his Vice President to halt certification of the Electoral College vote in Congress so "alternate" electors voting for him could be substituted, thus overturning the actual vote. He says that immigrants poison the blood of this country and that he would deport them en masse; and those who stormed the Capitol in D.C. on 1/6/20 at his urging are patriots who are being held hostage by the justice system whom he would pardon if he were elected. This is not the "normal" that has evolved in this country over two hundred fifty years and that the majority of us have come to cherish. I do not question the motives, the sanity or the patriotism of the majority of Republican voters who clearly support Mr. Trump. They have a right to their opinion and to vote accordingly. I cannot extend the same courtesy to Republican elected representatives only a few of whom have condemned his behavior. The vast majority of Republican leadership at the federal, state and local levels, many of whom privately despise him continue to say they will vote for him if he is the nominee. This duplicitous behavior, in my opinion, is unacceptable. The only explanation for it is a desire to eat their cake and have it too. These are the people who, if Mr. Trump wins in November will line up to kiss the ring; and if he loses, they will be there to pick up the pieces.
This is not normal. Unlike Alexei Navalny and the Russian people, we in the US have the ability to ensure that this does not become our normal. Call me a diehard optimist, but I am confident that those of us who know what is normal and value it outnumber those who are disgruntled and/or misinformed enough to be willing to sell their birthright for the false promise of slogans like "America first". Sitting out this election because of concerns about President Biden's age or any number of other issues is not an option. Everything else takes a back seat to the goal of keeping Donald Trump from returning to the White House. If middle-of-the-roaders fail to show up for this election we will have only ourselves to blame and the rest of our lives to regret it.