A Magician's Election

What difference does it make who gets elected to the office of President of the United States, or any other office for that matter, if we can't be certain that the election process is legitimate? Time and time again I see reports of ballots being counted in secret, of voters being told they're not on the official party roster, of voting machines malfunctioning... These are good accounts, documented by witnesses or even better, by video.

Why do we allow these sorts of things to happen? Do we trust those who hold the keys to power? Trust is dead, my friends. It may be revived, but for now, we must pay our last respects and move on.

Magicians know how to fool us by combining deception with distraction. The rabbit appears in front of us because we assume we know where and when to look. And yet... where the hell did that rabbit come from?

There should be no voting machines. There should be full public accountablility of the ballots and the ballot-counting process. This accountability is a requirement of a legitimate representative democracy. The ballots should not be out of sight, not even for a moment. Until we demand these things, our elected officials are nothing more than rabbits pulled out of hats.