Here we are again, approaching a presidential election, predicting again that loss of this election would bring certain disaster. Colossal disaster, loss of life in such numbers that the event qualifies as a sirens-and-flashing-red-lights emergency.
To be fair, these dire predictions are supportable by some pretty reliable observations and reasoning.
And yet it seems like we’ve heard predictions of disaster every four years, to the point of experiencing “prediction of disaster” fatigue. Over and over, the same thoughts. So, a moment to consider the ugly trail of past predictions of disaster…
1964. Goldwater vs Johnson. Predictions of disaster!
The great prediction-of-disaster moment was the Daisy Commercial. If Goldwater is elected we’ll have nuclear war, wiping out at least half of human life on the planet!
Here’s the thing: the Daisy Commercial wasn’t an exaggeration. Goldwater, along with the wildly pro-war Joint Chiefs Of Staff and General Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay, were all on board for launching a total nuclear annihilation of the USSR. So, yes, loss of that election would have meant disaster.
It also would have meant: not passing the Voting Rights Act; not creating Medicare. Imagine those things just not happening at all. Doesn’t it give you a cold chill of terror?
1968, 1972. Nixon vs Humphrey/McGovern. Predictions of disaster!
If Nixon wins, terrible things will happen.
Here’s the thing: terrible things happened. How about seven more years of a war that either Democratic candidate would have ended? How about illegal bombing of Cambodia and regional destabilization leading to millions of deaths? How about the US-backed coup in Chile and ensuing mass murders? And US-backed fascist takeovers and mass murders across the rest of South America?
How about the launching of the careers of Cheney and Rumsfeld?
What do you know. Predictions of disaster were true.
1980. Reagan vs Carter. Predictions of disaster!
If Reagan wins, terrible things will happen.
Really?
How about: installation of Clarence Thomas to begin the absolute corruption of the Supreme Court. How about Reagan laughing at dead gay people as he refuses to take action against AIDS. How about the onslaught of tax and labor laws leading, over 40 years, to the oligarchy of the billionaires, the destruction of the American middle class, and the ruin of small cities everywhere. How about the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, making possible the rise of FoxNews with all its consequences? How about the pardons after Iran-Contra, establishing the doctrine that illegal activity on behalf of Republicans will never be punished?
2000. Bush vs Gore. Predictions of disaster!
If Bush wins, terrible things will happen.
Really?
You mean, like 8 years of refusal to deal with climate change, leading to the droughts, floods, and wildfires we have now? Or do you mean when Bush SCOTUS appointees legalized bribery in the Citizens United case? Or perhaps the oceans of blood and treasure spilled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
2016. I can’t. I just can’t.
2024.
Losing this presidential election would bring certain disaster.