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Sowing the Wind with Votes
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…
On Election Day, the most popular search term in states that the President-elect won, with a Google Trends score of 100, was “How do I change my vote.”
If only, if only.
There is a line in the book of Hosea that has interested me for many years. I heard it first in a speech by “Bomber” Harris, leader of RAF Bomber Command in World War II. It says those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.
In the Old Testament, this was meant to warn Israel about worshipping idols and choosing the wrong kind of leaders. Early in WWII, Harris meant that Germany had sown the wind by starting the war and would reap the whirlwind by suffering destruction.
He might have agreed that Germany had already sown the wind by choosing an autocratic leader, a narcissist who systematically dismantled established democratic processes and put subordinates in place based upon their allegiance to him. Constitutional ideals were abandoned.
I’m afraid we have sown the wind. We’ve put a narcissistic autocrat in power and he is surrounding himself with marginally qualified sycophants. We’ve set aside our democratic values and ideals.
I hope that four years from now we are able to sow with our votes a promising future for our country.
