Election 2024—another episode in America's own reality TV show. 

By the time you read this, the 2024 election results will be known. The maneuvering that brought our two presidential candidates face-to-face and head-to-head will have had its say.

That said, I have a theory on why the 2024 presidential race was ever a race at all. It should have never happened, but it did.

The reality is: One of the two major candidates should have been disqualified for multiple criminal, moral and decency issues—all things that should have been addressed hundreds of years ago by the Founding Fathers, who, instead, left us with a Constitution that is frightfully inadequate, mostly because those great men would never have imagined the possibility that a man like Donald Trump could somehow slip through the cracks.

The possibility that everything decent people loathe could have taken over one of America’s greatest institutions is almost unimaginable. Though the Republican Party had once championed the American Dream, it has now descended into the bowels of history.

Simply put, Trump had no right to ever be on the ticket, and most Americans know it. How could such a lowly representative of humanity—petty, mean and pathetic—have been presented as a serious choice? The contrast between Harris and Trump should have been clear and yet, a large number of Americans can look into their bathroom mirrors today and ask, "What have we done?"

It says something about who we are as a people. How could this atrocity have occurred? The answer to my question lies in the inner workings of the human mind—a place where the matters of logic and objectivity collide with the matters of simply being human.

Psychologists have certainly addressed it. In a nutshell, a certain percentage of people can’t be happy when the hum-drum of the familiar and reasonable are perceived as boring and adverse. In the absence of excitement, they will create their own. It may not be so different than the person who leaves the cozy safety of their own home to face the odds of survival on a mountain that has claimed hundreds of lives.

There’s no question that danger is a powerful attraction, which may partially explain why voters, who actually know Trump for what he is, would allow the potential for an accidental victory. Moths, attracted to a flame, have a good excuse; they have no way of anticipating danger. But Trump voters could never claim they didn’t understand the risk.

For some strange reason, there is a surprising number of Americans who would rather have a rip-roaring, chaotic and tragic news stream than the peace, tranquility and order that should be the foundation of American lives. Partly conditioned by the age of television and the ever-new episodes that draw them back, same time every week, it’s all about the lust of Americans for suspense, danger and surprises. As the results of the 2024 presidential election go from a nightmare to a reality, lots of people are waiting to see what the Trump playbook will be throwing at our country next.

My guess is that some have chosen to vote for a monster, just to see what shocking behavior will follow. One thing we can count on—it will be shocking. Let’s face it; more than a handful of our countrymen loved each episode of “Trump’s Big Lie” and, once more, they’ll be getting a show that has lots of suspense and surprises. Television has cultivated that mindset for years, and the Trump shit-show is very much about keeping audiences engaged.

That’s just human nature. A portion of mankind possesses an inclination to live on the edge or, perhaps, an actual death wish.

My guess is that there are plenty of people out there who wish that it hadn’t been such a decisive election, that there could have been yet another claim that the election had been stolen, that there had been another call to arms and storming of the Capitol, and that the inauguration would be buried in anger, division and hate. When Kamala Harris made her gracious concession call to Trump, every one of his MAGA goons should have hung their heads in shame.

Sadly, there’s some perverse excitement when awful things happen. The sad truth is that it’s stimulating to read about another murder, a gruesome serial rapist or a landslide that buried an entire village. These are not things that should be energizing us in our discussions at the barber shop or salon, but human nature definitely seeks a degree of excitement and uncertainty, and that’s what this election has been all about.

I don’t claim to know the answers, but there’s something sadly human about the perverse streak that thrives on dissonance, mortal risk, fear, tragedy and excitement.

One thing is for sure. As long as there’s a Trump involved, life won’t be boring, because everyone, fan or foe, sits on the edge of the next episode of our nation’s worst reality series.

Frankly, I’d rather break my TV.

The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and their adorable and ferocious dog “Poppy.”