Americans will elect their president this coming November. The race is coming down to a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the current and former presidents. And yet, most Americans do not want either of these men to be their next leader. Mr. Biden is widely perceived to be too old, physically frail, and cognitively impaired. On the other hand, Mr. Trump is widely recognized as incredibly stupid, unquestionably crazy, viciously hateful, wildly bigoted, and totally self-serving. And he is almost as old as Mr. Biden. Some choice, eh? Republicans had several competitors in the early primaries, but there was little doubt that Mr. Trump would prevail, and he did quite handily. Mr. Biden had no primary opponents. He simply declared himself a candidate and the choice was made. In what sense did Americans meaningfully participate in selecting either of these men? Not one little bit. Party leaders decide who enters primaries, who receives meaningful endorsements, and who will be adequately funded. It has nothing to do with what the American people want. Everyone in the country, not in a coma, knew the weaknesses of both candidates. And yet they were the hands-down choices of their parties. The American people are offered the illusion of choice. They are made to think that they live in a democracy. But they don’t have choices and they do not live in a functioning democracy. They only have false choices.