(WWEU) The Great Question

UNITED WORLD PRESS

Valerie Riha

Sacramento, California, Earth

(10/30/2043)

 

Valerie Riha: I’m sitting down with political analyst Sergio Hewitt of the Unity Party and just in time for Halloween, we’re discussing something that’s got a lot of Americans spooked. Mr. Hewitt, the question: would Americans vote for an alien President?

 

Sergio Hewitt: Well, that’s a tough question to answer – mainly because the terminology in that question is more vague than its simplicity would seem to imply.

 

VR: How so?

 

SH: Right now, when we say ‘American’ we of course mean ‘human’ from the collective New United States from Maine to Panama and the Lunar and Martian colonies. If any new worlds are annexed, that definition will change to include the peoples of those worlds as well. As such, those worlds would legally no longer be ‘alien’ and would simply be added as new states with all the rights and privileges therein.

 

VR: Including the right to field a candidate for President of the New United States.

 

SH: Of course; they will have all the rights of equal representation which means that they will be able to field Senators, Congress Persons, and –of course- Presidential candidates. So, being that they are Americans already, it seems rather obvious that they would likely vote for their candidate.

 

VR: An important observation. Still, under the current definition of Americans, meaning humans on Earth, the moon, and Mars do you think they would vote for an alien President?

 

SH: Again, we need to adjust our terminology: ‘alien’ in this case is unnecessarily prejudicial as it implies a foreign being and –ergo- one who is not eligible for the Presidency. The question is: would humans vote for a non-human President or –more precisely- could a non-human President count on human votes to elect him?

 

VR: Do you think that’s possible?

 

SH: Honestly, I think it would be very difficult at present. Already the “Homeworld Act” is being debated in the Senate but it has overwhelming popular support; particularly in the Victory Party. If passed, it would state that no one world would have more electoral votes than Earth under any circumstances. I think this is indicative of an attitude that is not quite prepared to accept a non-human Commander-in-Chief.

 

VR: Some representatives in the Victory Party contend that newly annexed worlds should be considered US ‘territories’ until they have reached ‘equal racial population mixing’. Do you think that NUSA planets should all be equally mixed demographically before they are allowed to participate in electoral proceedings?

 

SH: It sounds reasonable initially; until you consider that would have to apply to Earth, Luna, and Mars as well, lest we risk violating the 14^th Amendment. You see, [Ubiquitous Racial Demography] theory has a pretty severe flaw: it could take decades –if not centuries- in order for global demographic statistics to reach the saturation required to satisfy [URD]. Essentially, we stand to have entire worlds excluded from election rights indefinitely.

 

VR: Do you think the NUSA could benefit under the leadership of a non-human Commander-in-Chief?

 

SH: Well, anything is possible. Obviously, it would depend on the individual.

 

VR: How do you respond to concerns that non-humans will not understand the values and traditions of the NUSA enough to lead effectively?

 

SH: All Presidents have enforced the ‘values and traditions’ of the USA & NUSA based on their own interpretations. If we maintain the policies of voluntary annexation, part of what comes with that territory is a planetary populace accepting the values America espouses. That being the case, at some point we are just going to have to trust them to uphold those values if we are to call them fellow citizens.

 

VR: Isn’t there a difference between trusting a population and an individual?

 

SH: Well, let us first remember that the population informs which particular individual is to lead. We cannot entice worlds into the fold with the promise of freedom and equal rights only to pull the rug out from under them when we think they got it ‘wrong’. Besides, Congress and the Supreme Court still exist to limit the President’s power, and Congress still retains the power to impeach if the President himself ‘gets it wrong’.

 

VR: The argument can be made that there have been examples of Presidents overreaching the limits of their power and getting away with it before.

 

SH: I would submit that is an example of the system itself failing, regardless of who happened to be the leader at the time. The fact is: either we believe in the government we chose to preserve after the occupation or we don’t. I, for one, do. While it may take some time for some to let go of their trepidation and –let’s face it- prejudice, I believe that someday we will see a non-human President.

 

VR: Care to make a prediction as to when?

 

SH: Oh…twenty credits on the 2060 elections.

 

^[UWP]

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