By Dale Lucht

When we put the last issue of Visionary Viewpoints to bed, I was wondering what I would be writing about for the next issue.  With the Presidential Conventions looming, I knew that it would deal with the upcoming election. My intuition told me that the November election would not be between President Biden and Trump, I was actually hoping that they would both drop out before the conventions. I was thinking of the different scenarios that would shake things up, then I thought of the old plot device of Deus ex machina.

You may be unfamiliar with the term, but you know it when you see it. Deus ex machina is Latin and means god from the machine, and it is believed to have first been used by Euripides in his play Medea.  It is a plot device to bring about a happy ending by using an unexpected intervention. Now, in the Greek Theatre a crane was erected and at the opportune moment an actor playing a god would be lowered from the crane and resolve the disputed action, hence god from the machine. 

For the last 2500 years this has been a common plot device in literature, plays and movies, think of the Calvary riding to the rescue while the bugler is playing “Charge”.  Or, Gandalf riding the eagles in at the height of the battle in “Lord of the Rings”, or Obi Wan Kenobi telling Luke to use the Force to destroy the Death Star.  One of my favorite uses though was in “Jurassic Park” when the four were trapped by the Velociraptors they are saved by the Tyrannosaurus Rex, of course the music made it more heroic.

So, what does this all have to do with the election?  As I said, I was hoping that they would both drop out, and I even pictured Biden saying to Trump in their debate that he would drop out if Trump would drop out. Of course, Trump is not going to drop out because if he gets in charge of the Justice Department again all of his troubles go away and all the money he has raised for his legal defense fund would all be his.

The Deus ex machina almost surfaced with the assassination attempt on Trump’s life on July 13^th.  But that might have been the catalyst for Biden dropping out of the race.  Many people wanted Biden to drop out because they thought that he was too old and feeble for the job. Now personally I think that there is no substitute for wisdom, and Joe Biden showed that wisdom by endorsing Kamala Harris for President. There were some states that started printing ballots before the Democratic Convention, and if it wasn’t known who was going to be the nominee how would that have affected the election. Only the Deus knows how an open convention would have turned out.

Before the next issue comes out America will have its next election on November 5, 2024. Make sure that you are registered to vote, and vote. If you are unsure if you can vote, check out your states voter information website. Do not allow Deus ex machina to decide this election, let us resolve it ourselves.

Diversity is our strength. Unity is our power. –  Nancy Pelosi