A “Catch-22” is commonly regarded as an impossible situation in which you can’t achieve one thing until you achieve a second thing. But, you can’t achieve the second thing until you have achieved the first. It’s a dilemma made worse by conflicting interests.
The term comes from Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel “Catch-22.” The story unfolded on an American airbase in Italy during World War II. The main character was Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier in the Army Air Corps who, after many perilous sorties, desperately looked forward to receiving a discharge.
Most aircrews were being rotated out after 25 missions, but to enhance his own reputation, Yossarian’s commander kept raising the required number for an honorable discharge.
The only way Yossarian could escape the dilemma was to claim that the war had driven him crazy. But, a military doctor contended that his wish to be discharged demonstrated his sanity.
The term “Catch-22” was invoked by an army psychiatrist who pointed out that airmen requesting a mental evaluation could not be diagnosed as insane because they proved their own sanity by making the request.
Captain Yossarian and his squadron flew record numbers of potentially fatal missions. Given the odds, they feared almost certain death if they were forced to carry on indefinitely.
Dishonest Practices Are a Perfect Fit for the Left
In 2016, progressive elites were shocked by an unforeseen populist victory and the election of Donald Trump. The vote amounted to a promising win for what Victor Davis Hanson called “the dying American citizen.”Radical Democrats were determined not to let it happen again. With hysterical accusations of “voter suppression” and pandemic-inspired “emergency” electoral procedures, they opened the floodgates for extended early voting and the widespread use of mail-in ballots. These revisions were a perfect fit for the left.
For decades, progressive activists have de-emphasized the merits of conventional election campaigns and secret ballots cast in person by independent individuals. They replaced trustworthy electoral authorities with partisan activists who sought to harvest as many ballots as possible, by any means imaginable, from targeted constituencies.
Following U.S. politics is now like watching two football teams playing by different rules. The Republican team sticks with the old rugby-style ground game that governed play before the 1906 introduction of the forward pass, while Democrats make record gains under new rules that favor their particular style of play.
The Catch-22 in US Politics
Today, a similar version of “Catch-22” challenges American democracy.Some political scientists contend that mail-in balloting favors neither Democrats nor Republicans. Rank and file election participants have some good reasons to disagree.
For example, in 1983 Washington became one of the first states to introduce mail-in ballots. Since then, not a single Republican governor has won election.
Practices exposed in the State of Washington during the recent midterms shed considerable light on the election integrity dilemma.
Prior to election day, a “ballot party” was hosted at a community center by the Washington Environmental Council, an organization known for its opposition to fossil fuels and support of Democrat policies. No conservative events of this nature were scheduled.
Event organizers invited voters to bring along their ballots and join them for free tamales and special giveaways. Thinly disguised as a how-to, public information session on voting procedures, the King County gathering seemed to be a ballot-harvesting operation.
There are countless irregularities at play in American elections, and the left looks forward to making them all permanent. The ironclad set of neo-Marxist, woke attitudes acquired from schools and universities have made recent generations of progressives incapable of considering a rational argument that is inconsistent with what they already believe.
The woke don’t regard elections as orderly opportunities for individual citizens to choose a new direction. They employ any and all means possible to expand and consolidate political power.
The left is winning key contests decided by early mail-in balloting. Trustworthy voting practices can’t be restored until those who want to do so win back power. But, responsible citizens may never win back sufficient power without resorting to the same underhanded practices as their leftist opponents. That’s the Catch-22 in U.S. politics.
Honest American voters are justifiably reluctant to participate in a game that leaves room for cheating. They believe that “two wrongs don’t make a right” or “those who sleep with dogs, get up with fleas.”
Nevertheless, it may be time for American patriots to adopt the tactic of Joseph Heller’s Captain Yossarian and play by the same unprincipled rules as their ideological opponents. The future of the American Republic hangs in the balance.
