By Mark W. Fowler

“And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischiefs." —William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

We are in the silly season, as described by George Will, meaning the season of presidential politics, where overblown rhetoric and breathless prognostications clutter the media. Entertain your friends with this trivia question: What do Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Dean Phillips have in common?

Answer: If the Democrats have their way, none of these three will appear on all ballots for president.

 Democrats wail about the myth of voter suppression, claiming minorities are effectively discriminated against by requiring voter ID as though they are unaware no one can function in a society such as ours without identification. You cannot borrow a library book, board a plane, or pick up a prescription without identification. The incremental burden of getting a voter ID pales in comparison with the mischief made possible by not requiring it.

Biden and others loudly proclaimed Georgia’s latest modification of voting laws as Jim Crow 2.0, but after its enactment, 61% of registered voters voted versus 57% in 2018. Stacey Abrams’s pursuit of reelection (pun intended) as governor of Georgia failed to excite her constituency sufficiently and she lost again. Now the hypocrisy of the Democrats is on full display as they seek to suppress entire blocs of voters — based on race.

New Hampshire has traditionally been the first state to hold primaries as opposed to caucuses in the race for president. But the Biden team, deeming voters in the Granite State too white, have moved South Carolina up to the first position. When New Hampshire moved to step out in front again, the Democratic National Committee sent a letter to the New Hampshire Democrat Party urging voters not to participate, Granite State voters being insufficiently diverse and therefore inadequately representative. Biden did not appear on the ballot. In 2020, Biden placed fifth in the Democrat primary in New Hampshire. He also lost South Carolina to Trump in the general election.

Dean Phillips, Democrat Representative from Minnesota, is a candidate for the Democrat nomination for president. Notwithstanding his relative lack of traction in the race (have you heard of him?), the Democrat leadership in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee have refused to put his name on the ballot, thus disenfranchising millions of voters in those states. Presumably, those voters cannot be trusted to choose correctly according to Democrat leadership.

Finally, a cabal of Democrats and Never-Trumpers are pursuing the goal of blocking Trump from the ballot in several states based on the theory he is an insurrectionist — a crime for which he has been neither indicted nor convicted. Assuming Trump acted inappropriately or illegally, can the voters themselves not be trusted to make the decision of his fitness on these matters without the help of others? Is Biden not capable of making that argument? Conversely, what makes the question so compelling that only selected individuals such as the hyper-partisan Democrat Shenna Bellows, secretary of state of Maine, are uniquely able to answer the question?

The obvious answer is that Biden’s approval rating is underwater in the polls as much as 10 points, and growing number of influential Democrats are calling for him to step down. The average voter does not feel he is better off than he was under Trump’s term. Seventy percent of surveyed voters want anybody to run other than the two ostensible leaders. It is very early in the presidential election cycle, and who will ultimately win is yet to be determined. The country will be best served if all voters participate.

A sad coda to this election skullduggery. In the last century, two members of the Kennedy family were assassinated. A third assassination of a presidential candidate — Robert Kennedy Jr. — would be an avoidable tragedy. While Kennedy may not be a major candidate as defined by the relevant statute, his identity per se is sufficiently unique to warrant Secret Service protection. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has denied it, further demonstrating his incompetence. Let us hope Kennedy avoids the fate of his uncle and father.