A little over a year ago we witnessed what was undoubtedly one of the wildest elections in living memory.  For some, the succession of events that unfolded between November 2 and January 6 was traumatic.  While the raw emotion of that period may have subsided somewhat, it will be long before the wounds to our country’s psyche are healed.  That healing process requires taking stock of our current state of affairs in light of what occurred last year.

There is no way to sugarcoat the hard truth about the elections of 2020.  Many officials from both parties downplayed, ignored, or denied obvious irregularities in the electoral process which played out at various levels all across the country, either because they were afraid of the backlash or because the outcome of such irregularities may have benefited them somehow.  Rather than hold robust inquiries and investigations into the sincere claims of ordinary citizens, the traditional and social media outlets and many politicians attacked and sought to silence voices of concern.  The result was an increased level of suspicion and mistrust which fomented an environment that became more and more toxic as the days went on.  

The drama peaked, but by no means ended, when a confluence of events led to a confrontation between citizens and legislators at the Capitol Building on Jan 6.  The anxiety and fear that many expressed as they watched in horror the chaos that developed on the evening of Jan 6 was real, but so was the fear felt by many as they tried to comprehend the crude attempt to restore order when downtown D.C. became a militarized zone in the days and weeks that followed.  Many conservatives became completely demoralized by the swiftness with which the ruling class attempted to punish those who would not agree with the new order.  Charges of insurrection and threats of impeachment and forcible removal from office caused some to conclude that we were witnessing an ideologically-driven regime change before our very eyes.  It is easy to write off these suspicions as ill-informed or extreme, but the fact is that despite the media’s repeated declarations that the 2020 election was one of the most secure in history, a vast number of Americans continue to believe that until and unless we investigate the claimed election irregularities the results of the 2020 election are illegitimate prima facie.  A compromised election indicates we do not currently have a duly elected government that truly represents the will of the people.

Throughout this year the Left’s extreme agenda has been in full display; everything from their wanton use of tax dollars to set up useless committees to investigate their political opponents, to the passage of multi-trillion dollar spending bills designed to codify their harmful social programs, to their desire to kill the filibuster option and exploit the reconciliation rules.  In the Executive branch we have seen strongarm tactics used by the Justice department to intimidate anyone who opposes their ideologically-driven agenda.  Consider the preposterous use of OSHA’s emergency rules to issue a nationwide vaccine mandate and the coordinated efforts with the National School Boards Association to use the full weight of the Executive branch’s policing powers against parents who are labeled domestic terrorists simply for opposing radical teachings on race and diversity and advocating for parental involvement in their children’s education.  And this is just what has been made public.  We are no longer naïve enough to believe that behind the scenes all sorts of shadowy deals aren’t taking place to advance the Left’s agenda that ultimately weaken us as a country. 

Considering the chaotic atmosphere that was present earlier in the year, it’s somewhat amusing to see politicians entangled in the slow and messy process of crafting policy within a system of government that is multi-layered and complex.  The Framers of the Constitution were wise to create it so, yet the 2020 election season revealed many things, not just about the state of party politics – we Americans have always had an uncomfortable relationship with that aspect of politics – but more importantly, it exposed the inherent weaknesses in our entire political framework.  We had been accustomed to believing that our political institutions, for all their imperfections, had built-in safety mechanisms that were the result of our Founding Fathers’ acute understanding of human nature.  No election has ever been perfect, but for the most part our system of representative government has yielded positive results.  No, last year we witnessed in real-time how even a good system can break down when the various parties within that system work in concert to circumvent its built-in checks and balances. 

In fact, we appear to be living out John Adams’ warning to the Massachusetts Militia of 1798 when he wrote that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  In that address he warned about the misery that awaits us as a country if we become the type of people that preach justice and moderation while practicing iniquity and extravagance.  Adams believed our Constitution had no power to deal with the hearts of men, therefore only a righteous people could benefit from such a framework.

It is not too difficult to see the parallels between the society Adams warned about and the state of affairs we find ourselves in.  The loud calls for social justice as regards certain sectors of our population become inaudible whimpers when the rights of the so-called privileged class are trampled on.  A people that glorifies corporate greed and espouses Hollywood values is a people dripping in avarice and extravagance.  We have even gone one step further in our corruption by becoming a people that sees no reason why an ever more powerful government should not in fact regulate our hearts as well.

Yet, by God’s Grace we have not yet become so diminished as a Nation that all hope is lost. There are still many who are not willing to sit idly by as our once great country is ravaged. In due time the Lord will raise up men and women who will be uniquely gifted to stage an effective counteroffensive. God’s people have been here before and our confidence is sure because we know that Christ always wins.