Election Day Mystery: Deus Ex Machina to the Rescue?

By Colleen O’Connor

If you are an Agatha Christie fan, a murder mystery connoisseur, or just tired of waiting for the current election returns to become final (which may take months), take heart.

A plot device that from ions ago dating back thousands of years from Greek tragedies brings about the final “Aha” moment when clarity arrives.

“Deus ex machina is that plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is generally to resolve an otherwise irresolvable plot situation, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending, or act as a comedic device.”

True to historical trends, Tuesday’s results could be either happy or comedic and sadly, tragic.

However, several such important clues have just presented themselves:

First, the overconfidence of the former President Trump, has caused him to get sloppy and clarifies his participation in the plot line.  No more hints.  All aloud.

• Despite over 900 arrests, losses of over 60 court cases, massive evidence from the Jan. 6 committee, guilty pleas, jury convictions, and a general revulsion for the riot, Trump demanded: “Let them all go now!” in a post on his Truth Social Friday, declaring that it was time to “start treating Jan. 6 protesters fairly.”  And promising to pardon them all; if elected President again.  Then he teases his run.  Announcement date November 14th.
• Next sloppy move:  Attack the Governor of Florida: Ron DeSantis; aka “Ron DeSanctimonious.”  This after attacking Sen. Mitch McConnell, members of his former Cabinet;  Mike Pence, Bill Barr: anyone who threatens his version of reality.
• Next, his favorite sport: Taunting Speaker Nancy Pelosi; not just after the assailant’s brutal attack on her husband, suggesting it was staged (“Lots going on inside the house”), Trump then led his MAGA rally crowd with a snarky, “How’s Nancy doing?” before leading them in a “Lock Her Up” chant.  His nemesis. Cruelty is his point.
• Just as the country’s rational audience grows fatigued, the plot thickens, and the villain becomes crystal clear. Ironically, Trump’s own puppeteer, ousts him. The lead headline in the New York Time’s today. Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday’s Midterms.  You remember Trump’s, “Russia, Russia, Russia.  It’s a Hoax,” as a bludgeon to contradict the Mueller Report.  Yet, here it is.

“Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia has interfered in US elections in the past and would continue to do so.  In a post on the Russian social-media site VKontakte, via his catering firm, Prigozhin said:

“We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do.”

The final chapter:  Deus Ex Machina.  A solution. Two protagonists arrive, but perhaps too late in the narrative; Pope Francis and Speaker Pelosi.

Pope Francis: “We have to tell the truth.”

“The struggle for women’s rights is a continuing struggle,’ he said, listing historic struggles such as the fight for the right to vote. A society that is not capable of (allowing women to have greater roles) does not move forward. This chauvinism kills humanity,’ he said.

Speaker Pelosi: “We have to be optimistic.”

She read an excerpt from a poem by Israeli poet Ehud Manor that she previously read following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection in encouraging the country to come together.

“I have no other country. Although my land is burning, my veins, my soul with an aching body and with a hungry heart, here is my home,” she read. “I will not be silent. For my country has changed her face. I will not give up on her.”

“We need to bring our country together,” she added. “So, when we are fighting this fight, getting out this vote, let’s do so with the greatest respect for everyone.”

Election Day matters.  VOTE.  The choice is clear thanks to Deus Ex Machina.