The impenetrable force-field around a malignant narcissist’s creation of their own version of reality makes it impossible to alter with time or more importantly, facts and reason. All those enablers, sycophants and callous calculators like Mitch McConnell who have given Trump almost two months of oxygen for his fragile ego to howl against the inevitable have done a great disservice to the fundamental institutions of American democracy. Completely unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud parsed unsurprisingly to only have affected those battleground states that Trump lost in 2020 have brought a humiliating tally of 60+ cases in court, 2 at the Supreme Court of the US no less, with all but 1 having been rejected by all manner of judges. This assault on the rule of law to undermine the integrity of what has been called the most secure election in American history is truly unconscionable. Depressingly, there is no shame or remorse by either the leading litigators for Trump or for that matter many of the Republican officials in Congress. One has only to look at the failed case launched by the AG of Texas which had the support of 18 other states AG and more shockingly 126 members of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives.
Let me remind you “All we know are the facts, ma’am.”: 81,000,000 votes for Biden and 306 Electoral College votes. This translates into a margin of victory in the popular vote of 7 million and 74 electoral college votes. How can this not be seen as anything other than an historic win, a landslide. Pathetically, if these numbers had been reversed in favour of Trump they would be constantly paraded to the world as evidence of his magnificence. Instead, we have all witnessed 2 months of effort on several fronts to delegitimize these results and taint the President-elect as illegitimate. Trump and his most ardent followers continue daily to expand the meaning of sore losers!
For a man as transparently obvious as Trump, whose whole life is one long transaction with the primary consideration in everything he does distilled down to ‘what’s in it for ME!’, it is deliciously gratifying to watch his addled mind turn viciously upon his own enablers of yesterday – Mitch McConnell, Bill Barr, the Republican Party – indeed the list expands with each passing tweet. Trump cares nothing about anyone or anything that doesn’t continue to genuflect to his will and he is at his core an insecure bully who will, if allowed, tear down and destroy those whom he once used but have since abandoned him. They have gone from being great persons to now the worst. WEAK RINOs!
The sooner Trump is deprived of his national, nay international, insatiable need for attention in the mass media, the better off we will all be. A nation needs to reflect seriously upon how and why it elected a dangerously damaged individual with no interest in or experience of public service to attain the highest office in the land if it wants to avoid a future version of an anti-democratic, racist, sexist, xenophobic autocrat. Democracy doesn’t come cheap and it needs constant attention and care to preserve and expand on its best values and ideals.
Resist the fear-mongering about some last minute rejection of the November 3 election results on January 6 when Congress votes to accept the Electoral College votes. Posturing by a few devotees to cult Trump will not make the slightest bit of difference to the result regardless of how much media attention it gets. So to any and all ridiculous speculations about a military backed coup to keep Trump in the White House. Come January 20, 2021 at about 12:01pm Trump will become a former President and a private citizen again.
Furthermore, all the talk, aided by Trump himself, of a 2024 re-run for President is not worth one single iota of your time and consideration. Four [intervening] years of a Biden Administration and a Republican Party trying to find itself without Trump will be a very long time! Trumpism is not an ideology that can be articulated and packaged for use by others. It never was anything other than a crude cult of the personality manipulated by a master grifter upon a voting base that was/is angry and desperate for someone or something to blame for the conditions of their lived experience. Hatred is a powerful weapon to be amplified and exploited by unscrupulous persons for their own gains as seen every time Trump held a rally. Holding onto a version of reality that no longer exists with the forlorn expectation of its return is fantasy. Progress (social and economic) and demographics will continue to transform the nature of American society and not for the benefit of the Republican Party unless it undergoes a significant self critique and values adjustment to more closely reflect the aspirations of their fellow American citizens.
While I admire President-elect Biden’s declarations about being a President for all Americans and offering out the hand for bipartisanship in governance to address the extremely difficult problems still facing America, like the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic hardship experienced by millions of Americans, I believe that it will be rebuffed in the short term if not throughout his term. Recent Gallup polls taken after the election still show an overwhelming majority of Republicans, 85-89%, continue to support Trump. Nevertheless, I can’t help myself from taking some measure of relief that a majority of American voters decided to protect American democratic practices and institutions by voting out of office a wannabe autocrat. Let’s enjoy the moment before the hard work begins and rinse from our mouths the foul-tasting fascistic tendencies we were asked to swallow daily on display these past four years. Hard work and vigilance will help protect the American experiment of democracy moving forward and make Donald J. Trump’s presidency a future historical footnote of aberrant politics.
Don’t be cowered by the naysayers and haters – decency, compassion, empathy, selflessness, inclusion – are not signs of weakness. A strong civil society demands an engaged citizenry and a place for civic discourse that does not start and end with the premise that your opponent is your enemy. Above all, don’t be a slave to ignorance and narrow-mindedness. Get out of your bubble and start listening to others, especially those you don’t usually agree with – maybe you will learn something!
Speak up! But since I cannot hear you, tell me what you think in the comment field below.
Comment as a logged user – Dec 31, 2020.
Let’s see if the reality at the end of the universe can make CAPTCHA work and certify me as a real human being. It’s a long shot, but then again, life is a long shot.
Well, it seems I got through the gatekeeper this time. Nice work Frank!
Thanks. The error message was rather obscure. It took some time to find the cause (recaptcha). However, let us Paul know that he has to approve the comments.
Indeed.
Captcha has been changed.
excellent!