Roy Johnston - 34 Days & Holding: America in the Balance; The 2020 Election: History, Commentary & Warning

Perspective

To only look at one side of anything is to cheat yourself

of knowledge and understanding

Roy Johnston

There will be many books written about the 2020 Election by well-known authors and published by the major houses. This book, however, may be the only one written chronologically, in real time, with only the perspective of that window in time. I am one of you. Nobody special, just someone who loves his country and believes truth is not relative. If something is debatable, then we are dealing with an unsettled issue that has associated facts and gray area; thus, more than one valid perspective. My objective has been to give you the verifiable facts known at the time. I will regularly shift from recording the history to commentary and perspective. The references and sources of the information cited are provided, so you can do your own fact checking. I have tried to be diligent in giving attribution to other writers and reporters whom I have directly quoted or used their piece as a basic source. If there are errors in attribution, I hope they will be brought to my attention. They are accidental. This is the difference between what is provided herein and what you read or hear.

Truth is not relative, but bias is ever present. We are not machines. My first presidential vote was for Richard Nixon because he had demonstrated progress toward getting us out of Vietnam. John F. Kennedy got us into Vietnam. He had a chance to call it off, but didnt, as now released phone conversations prove. Lyndon B. Johnson fully committed the U.S. to an unwinnable war. I was number 63 in the 1969 draft, which meant I was going. A college 2-S deferment kept me from being called up, until 1973. By, this time, the war was winding down, but I was called up anyway, 6 credits shy of a B.S. degree. Providence, however, was on my side; I failed the physical due to a broken ear drum and a football spinal injury. By the time I had started my Ph.D., Watergate had occurred, and Gerald R. Ford and I did not connect. I voted for Jimmy Carter (everyone should be allowed at least one mistake). Carters incompetence was unbelievable, one disastrous decision after another. When Ronald Reagan was nominated, he got my vote and he delivered. Even though Democrats held both houses, he still got a tax reduction bill passed and the economy responded. He also was the catalyst that broke down the Berlin wall and freed millions of people. I became a committed conservative but left the Republican party in George Bushs second term. By this time, the Democrats of Kennedys day had moved so far left, I could no longer support anything they stood for. They were just the anti-Republicans. So, thats who I am and where Im coming from.

This book strives to assume nothing nor trust sources that cannot provide a convincing argument with facts and logic. Hopefully, you will conclude this principle has been achieved in this book: verifiable facts and logic. Emotion has no place in choosing the leader of the greatest country in the world.

For most of my adult life I have been a political minority. My wife and I have lived mostly in Democrat run states and cities, thus, most of our friends have been and still are Democrats. They are good people. We love them; we just dont agree on some political issues. Sadly, our cultural temperament today has become so warped by misinformation and outright lies (Newspeak), the constant drum beat of racism and hatred for Donald Trump, that we now automatically self-censor most of our conversations. Weve been conditioned. We have some friends that are open minded and value dialogue, but they are the exception. It didnt used to be this way. When emotion can be set aside, I have found there is more common ground than disagreement. When we can dialogue, our lives are mutually enriched. As a people, we must retrieve the habit of mutual respect, being open minded and willing to consider that our position may, in fact, need review. This cannot be done when emotion rules. People today are easily offended. When I speak of Democrats and Republicans in this book, I am primarily referring to the party leadership, permanent government bureaucracy, elitist media, non-government organizations (i.e., World Economic Forum, The United Nations, etc.) and academicians. I am convinced, if we could eliminate Newspeak and those who feed it; and replace them with honest reporting and journalism, most of our differences would evaporate. This is probably the most important challenge of our time.

We must regain mutual respect and place the value on facts and sound logic. If I have an ax to grind, this is it: commitment to the truth. There can only be one set of rules we live by, otherwise, we will destroy each other. God bless you and God bless America

Roy A. Johnston January 16, 2021

Prelude

How Did We Get Here?

...the denial of reality which is the special feature of Ingsoc

1984 George Orwell

The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism. Trumps shocking victory, his ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy. So wrote David Remnick on November 9, 2016 in New Yorker magazine . [1]