Trump's Final Act

The vast majority of the political class (both left and right, Democrat and Republican) believe that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States - that Donald J. Trump's efforts to continue in office will NOT succeed. Nevertheless, it is also becoming increasingly clear to most of those same folks that his refusal to begin the transition process will probably do irreparable harm to our republic. So far, Trump has refused to even share intelligence briefings with the incoming administration (which even a growing number of Republican senators acknowledge is a good idea).

More to the point, the final three paragraphs of a recent CNN editorial by Julian Zelizer summarize what's at stake:

Unfortunately, the US will pay a price for Trump's decision to stonewall Biden's transition. Former Chief of Staff John Kelly blasted the President on Friday and said his refusal to help with the transition "could be catastrophic to our people regardless of who they voted for."

If Trump is unwilling to fulfill his duties as President in the next two months, then the least he can do is step out of the way so the incoming administration can be in the best possible position come Inauguration Day. By refusing to recognize Biden as President-elect, Trump is cleaving the country in two, hamstringing the new administration's ability to move forward, sealing the country's fate with a grave loss of human life due to Covid-19 and potentially dealing a devastating blow to the economy.

If Trump continues on this path, it will be tragic. And historians will look back on the next two months and debate what might have been -- how many lives and livelihoods could have been saved -- if only Trump had been capable of thinking of someone other than himself.

See the complete article here: Trump's Refusal to Concede

LET'S HOPE THAT REPUBLICANS BUY WHAT TRUMP IS SELLING!

As the much anticipated and expected "Blue Wave" did not materialize, it now appears that control of the United States Senate will come down to what happens in the runoff elections in Georgia. Moreover, it appears that Biden's margin of victory in that state was just over fourteen thousand votes - not likely to be overturned, but not big! Hence, for Democrats to have any chance of capturing those two seats, Republicans are going to have to swallow Trump's narrative that their votes don't really count - that Democrats will discard Republican votes and pad their own totals. Hopefully, they will realize that their votes aren't going to count anyway, so they may as well stay home for this new election!

Wait a minute! I know that many of my Republican friends will have no sense of humor about this, so I will point out the intentional use of satire and sarcasm for this post. I do NOT really hope that Republicans buy what Trump is selling. I hope that they will reject his false narrative about voter fraud in 2020 and realize that their votes held off that "Blue Wave." And, if Biden can find even a few Republican senators that would be willing to play something other than a purely obstructionist role during the next four years, I'm thinking divided government may even prove to be a good thing - tempering or thwarting the more extreme impulses/agenda of some of Biden's supporters on the left. Maybe that would be something we could all eventually rally around - moving the republic back to the middle (restoring some of our equilibrium)? 

Are Trump and His Supporters Demanding a Fair Election?

Trump has succeeded in creating a cult. He has been described by Ted Cruz as a pathological liar, yet his manipulation of social and other media has produced a diehard core of credulous followers who will believe him regardless of contrary evidence. If Trump says it, it's true. 

 

Trump hates nothing more than losing. In his mind, he's always a winner. So, his narrative is that since he's a winner, ergo, he was going to win. And if he didn't win, the only possible explanation was that the election was rigged and stolen from him. 

 

He will pursue that narrative to the bitter end and leave office still claiming to have won. In the time he has left, he will sow as much discord as he can. Anything not to be a loser. He has denigrated "losers" his whole life, so he can't possibly be one of them.

 

Regardless of results, if Trump claims he really won, his followers will keep on believing him.

 

And since Trump loves being the cynosure and feeling relevant, he will tantalize his supporters with talk of running in 2024. Meantime, any Republican with eyes on the presidency in 2024 knows to avoid upsetting Trump because they've seen his vindictiveness play out numerous times. So, they will supinely parrot his lies about a stolen election. How sad for them — and for our country.

Reginald Killingley

Big Sandy, Texas

I'm Flying the Flag Again!

Those who know me, know that "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy." My patriotism has always been an important part of who I am as a person.

My roots run deep in the United States of America. I am a descendant of the Cherokee Vann family and have familial ties to Roanoke, Jamestown and Plymouth. I am a descendant of one of the first Africans enslaved in what was then a British colony. I am also a descendant of slave owners and abolitionists. I am also the kinsman of numerous soldiers who have served this country in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812,  Mexican War, Civil War, WWI, WWII and Korea. And I also served honorably in the United States Army during the time of the First Gulf War. Yes "I'm a real live nephew of my Uncle Sam."

This year, for the first time in my life, I didn't attend any Independence Day celebrations. I had always jubilantly joined in the cookouts, fireworks and parades; but I could not bring myself to celebrate a country that I felt was not keeping faith with its institutions and traditions. In fact, I had vowed to myself never to observe the Fourth, display the flag or stand for the nation's anthem again if Donald Trump was reelected! I believed that it would be hypocritical and disingenuous to continue to celebrate a nation which no longer existed.

Fortunately, a strong majority of our people have repudiated Donald Trump and placed the presidency of our republic in the hands of a decent and capable institutionalist. For now, at least, this great experiment in self-government continues. Four years of Trump has done incalculable damage to our institutions and traditions, but he has thankfully been unable to completely destroy them.

I can't even begin to put into words just how good it felt to dig that flag out of the back of the closet and slip it back into its holder on the front of our house. I pray that I will never feel compelled to put it away again. 

The Dawn of a New Day OR More of the Same?

Donald Trump continues to demonstrate on a daily basis that he is unfit to be President of the United States! One has only to scan his Twitter account since election day to see that this is true. On election night, he tweeted: "I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!" And, as we all know, neither one of the major party candidates for President was in a position to make such a statement that evening. We all knew that the Coronavirus Pandemic had generated the return of an inordinately large number of mail-in ballots (which Trump had been decrying for months prior, and many states had precluded from being opened and counted until the polls had closed). Hence, we ALL knew (including Trump) that almost all of the initial vote counting would reflect only the totals of the ballots that had been cast on election day! Indeed, as of the writing of this post, election officials are still counting those mail-in votes in MANY states!

Moreover, in the days following the election, Trump has continuously issued tweets demanding that Americans who chose to vote by mail be disenfranchised - that their votes not be counted. On the day after the election, Trump tweeted: "How come every time they count Mail-In ballot dumps they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction?" The answer of course was clear to everyone: Democrats (and those who were fearful of exposure to Covid-19) were encouraged to vote by mail, and Republicans were encouraged by their man to vote on election day! Hence, it came as a surprise to NO ONE that mail-in ballots heavily favored the Democratic candidate when they were unsealed and counted (just as election day voting favored the Republican candidate)! A little later, Trump continued his offensive with this tweet: "They are finding Biden votes all over the place — in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. So bad for our Country!" And this tweet which was blocked by Twitter because it was considered to be so blatantly misleading: "They are working hard to make up 500,000 vote advantage in Pennsylvania disappear — ASAP. Likewise, Michigan and others!" No one was "working hard" to erase his advantage - They were simply counting votes! Later that day, he tweeted: "We are winning Pennsylvania big, but the PA Secretary of State just announced that there are 'Millions of ballots left to be counted.'" In desperation, watching his election day margin disappear, Trump tweeted the following day: "STOP THE COUNT!"

Reading Trump's Twitter thread is like walking through an alternative reality. And, while he is preoccupied with tweeting, his lawyers have been working tirelessly to throw every legal challenge that they can imagine at state election officials to try to influence the outcome of the counting in favor of their boss! Even though observers from both parties have been present throughout the counting of these ballots, they have demanded more Trump supporters and a closer view of the process. In short, they have been throwing everything at the wall and hoping something will stick. Moreover, Trump and his allies look incredulous when anyone has the audacity to accuse them of undermining the integrity of the election process!

Fortunately, as of this writing, the counting of votes continues. It is my sincere hope and prayer that Trump's tantrums and efforts to disrupt that process will continue to fall flat. It appears that Joseph R. Biden is now on track to be confirmed as the 46th President of the United States. In the popular vote, Biden is currently ahead of Trump by 4 million votes! That's quite a margin, but we know that the final tally will probably be even more impressive because of the nature of those mail-in ballots that are currently being counted. In my opinion, Trump has done incalculable damage to this republic and its institutions, and I share his impatience with the counting. Biden's victory can't come soon enough for me! I'm looking forward to the dawn of a new day!