They are everywhere

By Alex P. Vidal

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”—Winston Churchill

WE thought it is happening only in the Philippines.

But the presence of suspected mentally deranged candidates in the elections anywhere in the world has become a reality now; and it can’t be avoided.

Although most of them have been resoundingly rejected in the recent 2022 US midterm elections, there were a few who still made it.

Their presence were felt in the gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional contests; they were mostly conspiracy theorists, fanatics of the former guy, and election deniers (or those who refused to believe in reality and truth that Joe Biden won honestly and decisively in the 2020 presidential election).

What a shame that they were able to reach this far.

In some of the still undecided races in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, as of this writing, some of them were already starting to seek refuge in the playbook of “we wuz robbed” to hide their frustrations.

Some of these lunatics will never concede even if the trend showed they were heading for a blowout loss.

Control of the next Congress was still up in the air as of this writing (Democrats 198-Republicans 211 in the Senate and Democrats 198-Republicans 211 in the Lower House) after Republicans underperformed expectations in the November 8 midterm elections. But many of the most important races have already been called. The good news: Radical election deniers lost their contests—and decisively.

Good for democracy. Good for common sense and logic.

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In an election that sent a muddled message, voter distaste for extremism shone through, emphasized the The Washington Post. Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano lost by some 13 points, with 94 percent of the vote counted, to moderate Democrat Josh Shapiro. Mr. Mastriano led the 2020 election-denial movement in his state; he even participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Trump rally that turned into an assault on the Capitol, said The Washington Post.

It added: “As a candidate, he threatened to decertify voting machines if he won the governor’s mansion. Mr. Mastriano did not concede on election night, despite the wide margin in his race.”

Meanwhile, in Michigan, Republican secretary of state nominee Kristina Karamo lost her bid to be her state’s top election administrator by 14 points. Ms. Karamo’s only apparent qualification for the job was her claim to be a 2020 election whistleblower. She had insisted that President Donald Trump won Michigan. (He lost by 154,000 votes.) Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who stood firm against Mr. Trump’s 2020 efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in his state, won reelection after surviving a GOP primary challenge from a Trump-backed election denier.

The paper said these results mean that leaders who are grounded in reality will run the 2024 presidential elections in key swing states, making it harder for Mr. Trump or another candidate to meddle with the democratic process.

Votes were still being counted in Arizona and Nevada, where deniers are running to become their states’ chief elections officers. But voters have already rejected some of the highest-risk characters in the run-up to 2024.

Despite well-grounded fears about polling place disruptions, even violence, the election itself went smoothly. Election night was also notable for the decency many losing candidates exhibited. “I have the privilege to concede this race,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said, acknowledging his defeat in his bid for a U.S. Senate seat. “When you lose an election, you concede. You respect the will of the people.” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) silenced booing after she mentioned her victorious Republican opponent, state Sen. Jen A. Kiggans. “The success of this district depends on her success,” Ms. Luria said. “She won this election… We do need to wish her the best of luck.”

These hopeful signs do not argue for complacency. Exit polls suggest that one-third of voters still believe Mr. Biden’s 2020 election was illegitimate. Before 2024, states should invest more in reliable election systems, voter education, poll-worker training, and security.

Congress should send the states more aid to help in their efforts and also rewrite election law to make it more difficult for losing candidates to attempt procedural coups.

But democracy and reasonableness scored some important victories on Tuesday. Americans should be relieved.

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The Sentrong Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan-Sambayanan has just held its “special mission project” in the United States.

“It is now rolling out as we start to seriously address the remaining tentacles of CPP-NPA-NDF special line work operations – their so called International Solidarity Network or ISW, which is basically an international network and support build up operations of the CPP-NPA-NDF for their communist terrorism international operational modus operandi,” declared Philippine Team member Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, who leads the group of former CPP-NPA-NDF rebels and cadres who have embraced the life of peace, under the rule of law.

They were joined by their counterparts from among the Filipino communities and their organizations in the United States and the government’s foreign security liaison team.

They held four series input seminar and discussion on information and security awareness about the international communist terrorism network building operations of the CPP-NPA-NDF in the US.

The four series of information caravan covered the East Coast area spanning Washington DC, New York and New Jersey, and the West Coast area focusing on San Francisco and Los Angeles.

They identified the places to be “also among the operational focus of CPP-NPA-NDF international infiltration and terrorism network building of their international network, as well as their operational focus among the Filipino communities, organizations and associations, especially the FilCom youth and American youth recruits.”

The first engagement of the Special Mission Team included the participation of Isay Lucena of Yakap ng mga Magulang group and Bae Jessa Anna Crisostomo of Mindanao Indigenous People’s Youth Organization.

The group called as “very dynamic” the interaction and discussion participation among the various Filipino community leaders and core group of their different associations led by a reputable US-based Filipino lawyer Atty. Valera with at least five big organizations of Filipino professionals in the US- teachers, nurses, and other Filipino expatriates have made their very favorable impressions on the knowledge and experiences sharing regarding the different modus operandi of infiltration operations, recruitment and radicalization, especially among the FilCom youth and other expats, finance generation schemes and the over all spectrum of so called CPP-NPA-NDF international solidarity work or the ISW which also include input discussions on underground component operational activities of the CPP-NPA-NDF, where their various web of operational schemes were likewise clarified.”

The existence of at least two Country Party Committees of the CPP in the US were also reportedly discussed during the open forum sessions among our FilCom leaders, including the CPP-NPA-NDF conduit of front organizations and other operational network.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)