I’m a bit behind today as I had to get up early to take Jordan and Francine (and Duchess the pooch) to the airport so they could return to New York for Jordan’s final semester at NYU.   They have been here in Bozeman for the last two and a half months so things are eerily quiet at my house now.

Yesterday I posted some thoughts expressing my dismay about how people can continue to support Trump after he inspired his supporters to stage nothing less than an insurrection at the Capitol.  I also expressed my dismay about the 147 Republicans who continued to vote to object to the Electoral College votes AFTER the insurrectionists were cleared from the Capitol.   As the investigations continue and more and more participants find themselves facing federal felony charges, the question remains, “what will be the consequences for the members of Congress who cast votes objecting to certifying the results of a free and fair election which just further propagates the misinformation and lies spewed by the President?”

Some in Congress such as Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell from New Jersey suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoke Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment and refuse to seat those members of the House that participated in activities designed to overturn the election.  The 14^th Amendment is pretty clear: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. “¹

While I believe a case could be made to as to why this is applicable and appropriate, I don’t think that it is the best option for an already deeply divided country.  This would do nothing but further deepen the chasm splitting the country.  However, I do believe there is another path to make sure that the Congressman who enabled this insurrection by continuing to propagate known falsehoods about a ‘rigged election’ and ‘voter fraud’ have some consequences for their irresponsible actions.  All politicians understand money and that is probably the best avenue to ensure that all of these enablers pay a price for their actions.

I have stated previously that I thought the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission was a terrible decision.  That was the decision that prohibits the government from restricting campaign contributions from corporations, non-profits, etc.  It basically opened the flood gates so ‘big money’ could flow into and impact elections.  I think it was a terrible decision but right now, it might be useful.

The economic impacts of the aftermath of this failed insurrection are already starting to be felt.  The PGA was scheduled to have a golf tournament at Trump’s Bedminster club in 2022 and have now pulled that tournament from that venue.  In addition, several corporations have stated that they are suspending political contributions to politicians who voted to object to the election results.  I expect this list to grow and it could very well be that it will have a major impact in the 2022 mid-term elections. ²

I am sure that the best way to ensure politicians know there will be consequences for their decisions is to hit them where it hurts – in the campaign pocketbooks.  For example, if major campaign donors withdraw significant support for people like Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz and provide that funding to their primary challengers, perhaps they will give a little more thought to the actions.

As far as ‘normal’ Americans, if we find out that some major corporation continues to provide campaign contributions to the Hawleys and Cruzes in Congress, that information should be widely disseminated and if enough people boycott those companies for providing that kind of support, it will have an impact.  There are a lot of ways the ‘We the people’ can put pressure on people in the government in addition to casting ballots in elections.  And given how close we came to falling into the abyss of authoritarianism, I think it is incumbent upon all of us to continue to be fully engaged, vigilant and take whatever actions we can to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

1. Pelosi could use the 14th Amendment to avoid seating GOP politicians who supported Trump’s election steal – Alternet.org
2. Corporate America halts donations to Republicans who voted to overturn the election – CNN

There is no doubt that this post could piss some people off, however, I’m not writing it with the sole intent of making some people angry.  Based on some personal experiences I’ve had over the last couple of days and based upon things I’ve read, I’m still just trying to understand how there can be so much support for a man who tried to foment a coup in this country. 

I have had a couple of interactions on social media the last couple of days with people I know and who continue, in spite of zero credible evidence to the contrary, to believe that the election was ‘rigged’ and fraudulent.  One individual cited ‘hundreds of affidavits’ signed by people alleging to have witnessed voter fraud.  When I saw this response to something I had written, I was quite taken aback.   And based upon the events of January 6^th, there are obviously a lot of people who believe this same information.  How can this be?

Even if these individuals choose not to believe anything that is broadcast by the ‘liberal media,’ one would assume that the fact that over 60 lawsuits have been withdrawn or thrown out of court for lack of evidence of voter fraud would carry some wait.  Apparently not.  And if these hundreds of affidavits have not yet been presented in court, then Trump must have the world’s worst legal team.  Of course, it’s easy for anyone to sign an affidavit attesting to anything.  I could sign an affidavit stating that my neighbor is keeping three Martians locked up in their basement.  However, if I had to make that same statement in a court of law, under oath, with the penalties of perjury hanging over my head, I might be a little less willing to make that attestation.   So, in my opinion, ‘hundreds of affidavits’ that have not been adjudicated in a court of law, are nothing more than propaganda.  But the scary part is that there are millions of people out there who are believing this stuff.

The other thing that is troubling is the fact that, even after the riots in the Capitol took place on January 6^th, more than 100 Republican members of the House of Representatives still voted to block the certification of the electoral votes from some states that Trump lost.  It just blows my mind.  And while I am still trying to understand all of this, I came across an article yesterday that had been written about why people support Donald Trump.  It was quite interesting. 

The study found, “Men and women who endorse “hegemonic masculinity” — an idealized form of manhood where White, heterosexual men have power, status and dominance over women, gay men, men with disabilities, racial or religious minorities and other groups — are more likely to be supporters for US President Donald Trump than those who don’t embrace dominant masculinity, according to new research.”¹

“About half of seven studies, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, found acceptance of a dominant male hierarchy predicted a positive evaluation of Trump over and above any sexist, racist or homophobic attitudes a voter might have.”¹

After I read this article, I reflected back on the people I know and have interacted with, who are ardent Trump supporters and it seemed to make sense.  I’m certainly not saying that this explains everything but it certainly provides some interesting food for thought.

In trying to make sense out of everything that is going on and the seemingly unfathomable divisions that have fractured this country, I’ve heard a number of people say things like, ‘this isn’t who we are as Americans.’  There was a time when I would have said something similar but now, I’m not so sure.  I’m thinking that it could very well be that this is really what America has become.

Pressure on this fault line in America has been building for a long time.  There is a large segment of the population that is simply uncomfortable with the changing demographics of this country and the fact that the white population will eventually become a minority.  That’s just a fact.   The non-white segment of the population is growing, winning offices in political races, and becoming senior executives in major corporations.  Women are becoming more prominent at all levels of politics and in the board rooms.  All of this is anathema to those whose comfort zone is a white-male dominated society. 

I think what Trump has done over the last four years has simply ripped the scab off of this festering wound and exposed the raw ugliness underneath.   I’m very concerned that the wound has been festering so long, that it will be very difficult to heal.  In the past, when the wound ruptured a little, we (American society) would just put a clean bandage on it and move on down the road like everything was fine without addressing the underlying deep wound. 

The rupture in American society did not just happen within the last four years.  It has been building for a long time – many Americans just chose to ignore it.  Trump poured salt in the wound, covered it with dirty bandages and finally just ripped off the dressings and the scab and exposed what was really there. 

We as a society need to decide if we want to try to address the underlying issues of social justice, white supremacy, and economic disparity in an attempt to heal our country while recognizing and embracing the fact that American is changing.   Or we can let the wound continue to fester and pretend that it doesn’t exist.   It’s up to all of us to decide what kind of a country we want to live in.   There are obviously those who would prefer to let this wound fester and deepen until gangrene sets in and amputation is the only solution.  I would very much like to think that there is a way forward to heal this country, but given the events of the last few days, I’m afraid the wound may be too deep to recover from.  I truly hope I’m wrong.

1. Valuing male dominance may predict support for Trump, study says – CNN

It is well known that President Trump does not drink alcohol.  He does, however, have another couple of addictions – power and adulation.  Let’s look at his addictions through the lens of an alcoholic.  Let’s assume that Trump is an alcoholic.

If Trump was the boss of a large organization and most of those around him knew he was an alcoholic and continued over a period of years to cover for him, defend him, rationalize for him and continue serving him alcohol whenever he demanded it, what would happen if he killed someone while driving drunk?  Would all of those people be culpable in enabling and defending behavior that led to that tragic consequence?  The answer is most assuredly ‘yes.’  Even a bartender can be held liable, criminally and civilly, for serving alcohol to a customer is obviously drunk. 

Since the tragic and shameful events of January 6^th, we have seen a number of Trump administration officials resign ‘in protest’, and we have seen a number of former Trump allies and enablers try to distance themselves from the President now that the President’s reckless actions have culminated in the deaths of 5 people, including a police officer, and an assault on the very seat of American democracy.  It’s too little, too late!  All of these people that served in this administration and enabled Trump’s reckless, dangerous, divisive behavior over the last four years cannot wipe the slate clean by a token resignation after the damage has been done.  They are no less guilty than the bartender who continues to serve alcohol to a severely impaired customer.

What happened on January 6^th was easily predictable and completely avoidable.  Months ago, when Trump was asked if he would support a peaceful transition of power, he could have simply said, “I will respect the results of the election, whatever they are because that is the way our democracy works.”  If he had said that, and meant it, the events of January 6^th would never have happened.  It’s that simple.

Instead, Trump, the media that supported him, and his Republican enablers, continued to spew baseless conspiracy theories and propagate the myth about a ‘rigged’ election.   And the more his ‘base’ got riled up and bought into this narrative, the more Trump fed off of it.  It was just like serving Trump a dozen ‘power cocktails’ made with 151 rum.   And these same people were ‘shocked’ when Trump got falling down drunk on power and adulation and got out on the highway of American democracy and caused a massive multi-car pileup that killed 5 people.   So, to those that are all of a sudden resigning, bullshit!  All you are doing is leaving the scene of an accident that you are partially culpable for.

There has to be consequences for Trump for the carnage that resulted from his actions.  I sincerely doubt that Mike Pence has the spine to invoke the 25^th Amendment and try to gather the required Cabinet majority.  Although Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, and Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, resigned allegedly in protest, it would not surprise me if the real reason for the resignations was that they didn’t want to have to vote against Trump if the 25^th Amendment were invoked.   In any case, I don’t think invoking the 25^th Amendment will go anywhere.

I think it is highly probable that Trump will be impeached a second time.  Articles of impeachment have already been drawn up in the House of Representatives and will probably hit the floor on Monday with a vote on the floor likely to happen a day or two after that.   The question then is what will the Senate do?  Will they finally convict him or will they acquit him again and let him off to wreak more havoc?  I frankly think that even amidst the growing outrage among Republican senators, they will not have the spine to actually convict Trump.  They will argue that he will be out of office in a few days so what is the point.   The point is that if they had the courage to convict, Trump would never be able to hold office again.  If Trump is impeached and the senate once again fails to convict him, they will have to live with the consequences and it sure as hell didn’t turn out very well the last time.

Simultaneously, the top federal prosecutor in DC, Acting U. S. Attorney, Michael Sherwin, is looking at everyone involved in the events of January 6^th including Trump.  This may lead to more legal problems for Trump beyond what he is already facing when he gets out of office.   Whether it is via the invocation of the 25^th Amendment, an impeachment and conviction in the Congress, or criminal prosecution, I think and hope Trump’s political career is over. 

He, like so many people with substance abuse problems, just didn’t know when to quit!  Trump has demonstrated over the last four years that he will never admit that he has a problem, which is why it is imperative that others act to ensure that he cannot ever get ‘behind the wheel’ again on the highway of American democracy and cause more death and destruction.

No doubt we all saw the same thing yesterday.  For the first time in my life time, we witnessed what can be called no less than an attempted coup on American soil.  The only question I have is why are so many people shocked?  This was somewhat inevitable.  The GOP, Fox News and other ‘conservative media outlets’ have created a monster over the last four years – ‘FrankenTrump’ I like to call it – and then they wonder why they can’t control him and his supporters.   And let’s be clear, this was no ordinary protest, this was a group of Trump loyalists trying to stage a coup by storming the United States Capitol during a process being conducted by Congress which is normally mundane, relatively uneventful and a mere formality.

However, this year, due to Trump’s (and his sycophants’) unwillingness to accept the results of the election and continuing to pour gasoline on the flames of false conspiracy theories and get his ‘base’ all riled up, this is what we ended up with.  This is a huge stain on America’s reputation around the world that won’t be soon forgotten.  There should be no doubt left in anyone’s mind now that Trump will go down in history as the worst president in American history.  He should be held accountable.  Every member of Trump’s merry little band that breached the Capitol illegally should be held accountable.  And every Republican member of Congress who contributed to creating and enabling FrankenTrump should be held accountable.   

There will be those who will try to equate what happened in the US Capitol yesterday to the BLM protests as a way to mitigate and rationalize what took place.  It is a false equivalency.  The BLM protests stemmed from legitimate grievances about the disproportionate numbers of people of color who are killed at the hands of police.  And, yes, some of the protests did get violent which is never excusable but the large majority of the protests and protestors were peaceful.  The effort underway yesterday was to protest the results of an election that was conducted in accordance with laws, state constitutions, and the US Constitution.  All 50 states certified their election results.  Over 60 court cases were withdrawn or dismissed for lack of evidence of voter fraud.  The President, the enabling Congressional Republicans and the people who attacked the Capitol yesterday wanted to overturn the results of a legitimate election.  A similar effort in any other country would be called a ‘coup.’

I talked yesterday about the cost to America for Trump’s short sided foreign policies.  Domestically, his cult of fealty in the GOP has now led to a loss of the White House, a loss of the House of Representative and now, a loss of the Senate.  And yesterday, a failed coup to basically undermine democracy in this country.  I think the Republican Party is going to need to do some serious soul searching.  Are they going to get back to true Republican conservative principles or are they going to continue to follow Trump into the swamp of corruption and conspiracy?  People talk about the split between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party but right now, those pale in comparison to the schism running right through the GOP. 

After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the Capitol Building was retaken from the Trump-ites and Congress resumed the process of certifying the results of the Electoral College.  We can only hope that Congress can get through the certification process with no further violence and disruptions caused by Trump and his acolytes.  The result is inevitable, even if Trump won’t accept it.  Two weeks from yesterday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the next President and Vice President.  The only real question is how much more damage can Trump cause on the way out the door?  And from the looks of yesterday – a lot. 

There has been talk by some of invoking the 25^th Amendment in an effort to immediately remove Trump from office.   A couple of members of the House of Representative are already drawing up Articles of Impeachment with the same end goal.  It is highly unlikely that either of these things will bear fruit, partially because of the timeline and partially because there are still not enough Republicans who are willing to hold this president accountable.  Regardless, Trump will be a private citizen in less than two weeks and, if we’re all lucky, Twitter will continue to lock his account.

Regardless of the rhetoric coming from Trump and his kids, I personally believe they will be way too busy dealing with all of the legal and financial problems facing them to get too involved in future political efforts for a while.  I also believe that the Trump political brand has been seriously damaged which will hamper any future efforts by Trump or his kids to make a serious bid for elective office.  I think and hope that the Trump dynasty ended yesterday.

If there was any good news yesterday, it was simply that both Senate seats up for grabs in Georgia went to the Democratic candidates so it will be a 50 – 50 tie in the Senate but since Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, will be the President Pro Tem of the Senate, it will give the Democrats the majority they need to kick Mitch McConnell to the curb and hopefully enable Biden to actually get something done.  Good riddance to the ‘Grim Reaper’, Mitch McConnell.

It is very sad that the historic victories of Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff were so overshadowed by the senseless acts taking place in Washington D. C.  The fact is, it was a very sad day for the country.  There is no guarantee that we will ever regain what was lost.

Since the news today will be awash with coverage of the election in Georgia and the circus that will be taking place in Congress, I decided to address another issue today based upon something I read yesterday.  Most of the news coverage these days is about how Trump is undermining our democracy which I certainly agree with.  However, even when Trump leaves (or is dragged) out of the White House on January 20^th, his foreign policy over the last four years will have caused long lasting damage to this country.  And the true irony is that much of the damage will be to those people and parts of the country who have so rabidly supported him.  Joe Biden will not be able to repair this damage quickly, if at all.

Shortly after taking office Trump pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and launched a trade war with China.  He simultaneously began a campaign to offend, intentionally or not, our European allies while insisting on his ‘America first’ policy.  So, let’s look at the results of those decisions and what we are left with as part of Trump’s legacy.

According to a study by the Brookings Institute¹ the results of Trump’s trade war with China has been costly to America while not producing anything near the results that were promised, and which, most reputable economists doubted at the time. 

“A September 2019 study by Moody’s Analytics found that the trade war had already cost the U.S. economy nearly 300,000 jobs and an estimated 0.3% of real GDP. Other studies put the cost to U.S. GDP at about 0.7%. A 2019 report from Bloomberg Economics estimated that the trade war would cost the U.S. economy $316 billion by the end of 2020, while more recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia University found that U.S. companies lost at least $1.7 trillion in the price of their stocks as a result of U.S. tariffs imposed on imports from China.

Numerous studies have found that U.S. companies primarily paid for U.S. tariffs, with the cost estimated at nearly $46 billion. The tariffs forced American companies to accept lower profit margins, cut wages and jobs for U.S. workers, defer potential wage hikes or expansions, and raise prices for American consumers or companies. A spokesperson for the American Farm Bureau stated that “farmers have lost the vast majority of what was once a $24 billion market in China” as a result of Chinese retaliatory actions.”¹

In addition to the damage to the US that Trump’s trade war has caused, China took full advantage of the vacuum created when the US withdrew from the TPP.  This past November, the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was signed by 14 nations in the Pacific region, including such countries as Australia and New Zealand. 

And just within this past week, China secured a trade deal with the European Union.  This agreement still needs to be ratified but if it is, it will present a major obstacle to any long-term strategy to counter China’s increasing global influence.

“The agreement, if it is ratified, would theoretically loosen restrictions on European companies in China’s tightly controlled market,” wrote my colleague Emily Rauhala. “European companies would no longer be required to operate joint ventures with Chinese partners, for instance, or be forced to share technology.”

Experts in China viewed the developments as a significant win for Beijing. “The deal will deepen the economic ties between China and the E.U., with negotiating a free-trade agreement being the expected next step,” Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based daily. “And it will also thwart the U.S. plan to join hands with Europe and isolate China from the future of globalization.”²

This has been in the works for a while.  In January of 2017, a rail line from China to the U.K. was established.  There are now rail links between China and many European cities that greatly facilitate trade. “According to the Dutch BCI Global, about 150 trains run weekly on the China-EU-China route, covering 30 European and 16 Chinese regions.”³

In a similar manner, China is investing heavily in Africa.  “Some of the primary motivations that lie behind China’s push toward increased investments in African nations include the desire to secure a solid base of raw materials to fuel China’s own rapidly growing economy, the desire to increase China’s global political influence, and the major growth opportunity presented by emerging market economies in Africa.”⁴

While Trump was playing at being President and trying to bully China and bully Europe, the world was moving forward.  If Trump had any kind of strategic vision at all, he would have realized that the best way to counter China’s growing influence would be to build strong, broad economic partnerships in the Pacific, with our allies in Europe and in Africa.  He did just the opposite and America will be paying the price for many, many years.  During Trump’s presidency, America’s presence and influence on the world stage has waned and China’s has increased dramatically.

The game of ‘Go’ was invented in China some 2500 years ago and is more complex than chess.  It is a game of patience and long-term strategic thinking.  Trump, with his strategic horizon no longer than the next news cycle, is ill suited to play this game.  The Chinese are masters at it. If one were to view the world today as a giant ‘Go’ game board, it would be very clear, we are currently getting our ass kicked.   And once you get behind in this game, it is very difficult to recover.  The country can simply not afford another four years of ‘Trump-o-nomics.’

1. More pain than gain: How the US-China trade war hurt America (brookings.edu)
2. The E.U. China deal awkwardly came right before Biden’s presidency – The Washington Post
3. Over 10,000 freight trains ran between Europa and China in 2020 | RailUK
4. The 3 Reasons Why Chinese Invest in Africa (investopedia.com)

Today is the day when the control of the United States Senate will be determined as a result of the two runoff elections in Georgia.    Democrat, Jon Ossoff, versus Republican incumbent David Perdue.  And Democrat Reverend Warnock versus Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler.  The outcomes of these two races will determine which party controls the Senate and whether or not Mitch McConnell will remain as the Majority Leader.  If the Democrats prevail (an uphill battle), it will certainly make Joe Biden’s life a bit easier.  The Senate would be tied with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats but Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the Senate President Pro Tem and would be the tie breaking vote.  There is no doubt that there is a lot at stake.

However, given the latest revelation of the tape with Trump pressuring Georgia election official, Brad Raffensperger, to ‘find’ 11,780 votes for Trump to basically throw the state into Trump’s ‘win’ column and the Republicans, who not only rushed to Trump’s defense in spite of this egregious assault on democracy, but are planning to challenge the certified results from the Electoral College, I believe this election is about much more than the control of the senate.  I believe this election is about a willingness to tolerate and abet corruption in an ‘all’s fair in politics to retain power mentality’ – or not!

The call that Trump made to Raffensperger could just as easily have been made by Don Corleone or John Gotti.  This country does not need a mob boss in the Oval Office and right now, that is essentially what we have.  The sad part is, Trump isn’t even a ‘good’ mob boss.  No doubt Corleone and Gotti would be laughing their asses off at Trump’s ham-handed attempts to come across as a tough guy.   Trump is a failed businessman.  Trump is a failed president. And Trump is a failed mobster.  Trump is a con man, plain and simple, and his gig is just about up.

Had the Republicans had the backbones to convict Trump on impeachment charges, when he did this the first time with Ukrainian President Zelensky, we wouldn’t be here.  But the fact is, Trump got away with the egregious abuse of power when he tried to pressure President Zelensky to announce investigations into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.  This failure to hold Trump accountable, just emboldened him and that is what we are seeing now.  And those Republicans that are willing to challenge the results of the Electoral College, in spite of no credible evidence being presented to date in courts of law, to support those challenges, are no better than the lookout drivers waiting in the car for the bank robbers to emerge from the bank to whisk them away.  They are aiding and abetting criminal activity which is undermining the very foundations of our democracy.

It is quite clear that the Republicans are more than willing to engage in all kinds of activities that are unethical and sometimes illegal in a desperate attempt to cling to power at all costs.  To date, these have included gerrymandering, voter suppression, failing to hold the President accountable, challenging the results of a legitimate election, propagating provably false conspiracy theories and now aiding and abetting a President engaged in what is clearly unethical and most probably illegal election meddling.  I have argued before that Trump is desperate to stay in office simply because he will face significant legal and financial problems when he leaves.  His motivation is purely personal.  The Trump Republicans each have their own personal reason, but the bottom line is that they want to cater to Trump’s base and the political power that comes with it.  This is not about rigged elections, voter fraud, or any other nonsense.  This is about power and holding on to the ability to push an agenda that is primarily beneficial to the wealthy and to white, fundamentalist Christians.

All you have to do is look at all of the Republican members of the House of Representatives and the Republican members of the Senate who are jumping on the bandwagon to challenge the results of the Electoral College and ask yourself, how many of these individuals are anything other than white?  It is certainly not a very diverse group and, although there are a few white women involved, it is primarily made up of white men.   It is certainly not a representative group of the demographics that make up America today. 

Interestingly, most of the failed challenges to the election results that have been mounted to date by Trump’s legal team have involved challenging results from counties in the various states that contain large numbers of non-white voters.  Are you seeing a theme here?  That’s because there is a theme.  This whole charade by Trump, his legal team, and his Congressional supporters, if it had been successful, would have disenfranchised millions of non-white voters.  So, let’s be brutely honest here.  When distilled down to the raw, bare, ugly facts this whole thing is about white political power.  For Trump it’s about survival but, for all the other Republicans involved, its simply a power play to push an agenda that does not recognize nor represent the changing demographics of the country.

President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was faced with a similar problem and he made his choice as to which side of democracy he would fight for.  Perhaps the Republicans who are abetting Trump in this assault on democracy should read a little history and take a cue from Lincoln before they so quickly run down a rabbit hole that could certainly lead to a second Civil War if successful.   ‘We the people’ have voted in accordance with the US Constitution.  The results have been certified in every single state, Republican and Democrat.  The efforts to overturn this election are no less seditious than the opposition Lincoln faced.  It’s a truly sad day for America. 

The circus, led by the ever more desperate ringmaster, Donald Trump, continues.  The Washington Post obtained a recording of a call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, in which the president is asking Raffensperger to ’find’ votes to help overturn Biden’s win in Georgia.   In one excerpt, Trump said, “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”² Think about how extraordinary this is.  Never before in my life would I have imagined that a sitting president would so blatantly try to intervene in an election by basically asking someone to cheat.  Make no mistake about it, that is what this is. 

Remember, there have been three – yes, count them – three efforts to count ballots in Georgia and each and every one has been certified with the same result – Trump lost and Joe Biden won.  Period.  But Trump is so out of control that he feels no compunction about asking people to cheat on his behalf.  Now that this is out in the open, Trump and his spin doctors at Fox News, will defend this outrageous behavior by arguing that Trump was simply discussing potential voting irregularities in Georgia and voicing an opinion that they should be looked into.

This episode is eerily reminiscent of Trump’s call with President Zelensky of the Ukraine.  That call resulted in Trump’s impeachment and ultimate acquittal by the Republican-controlled senate.  Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine voted for acquittal and justified her vote by stating that she thought Trump had ‘learned his lesson.’  I wonder what Senator Collins would have to say now?  There is going to be so much spin coming out of Trump’s Republican supporters that it could have some small impact on the jet stream!

And speaking of spin, yesterday I finished a book,” HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of the Truth”², by Brian Stelter which was a very sobering read.  Given that Fox is one of the most watched networks and many people’s sole source for news, it is extremely disturbing that most of the solid journalists have left the network and the ‘talking heads’ have an incestuous relationship with Trump which has turned Fox News into nothing more than a Trump propaganda arm.  There is absolutely no doubt that by downplaying the severity of the pandemic in concert with Trump’s statements, Fox contributed to massive problem we have now.  There is also absolutely no doubt that the current thoughts by people whose primary news source is Fox that the election was ‘rigged’ and there was wide-spread voter fraud were fueled and hardened by the Fox talking heads continuously echoing Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories.  This is not journalism – it is propaganda!

In a previous post I used the term ‘FrankenTrump’ to describe the monster that has been created.  So, I was amused to read the following quote near the end of Stelter’s book.  “Trump is like Fox’s Frankenstein,” one of Fox’s stars told me.  “They helped make him and he’s out of control.  And no one knows how they will do once he’s gone.”²

Tomorrow there will be the much-anticipated runoff elections for the two senate seats up for grabs in Georgia.  It’s hard to imagine how this latest revelation could help the Republican candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who have been ardent supporters of Trump.  If either of the two Republican candidates lose, you can just imagine the wrath that Trump and his sycophants will unleash on Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, and Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger.  It will be ugly.  Ironically, if that happens, Trump and the Republicans will have no one to blame but themselves but, of course, they will find plenty of others to point their fingers at.

To punctuate the seriousness of what is going on with the Trump and Republican circus, all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense signed a letter published in The Washington Post declaring that the election is over.  The letter — signed by Dick Cheney, James Mattis, Mark Esper, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Robert Gates, William Perry and Ashton Carter — amounts to a remarkable show of force against Trump’s subversion efforts just days before Congress is set to count Electoral College votes.

“Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,” the group wrote.³

We are witnessing the biggest assault on democracy since the Civil War.  The 10 Secretaries of Defense listed above, who are both Democrats and Republicans, recognize the threat.  I only wish more Americans would recognize how close to the brink of tyranny we are. 

1. Washington Post: In call, Trump demands Georgia official ‘find’ votes to tilt election – CNNPolitics
2. HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of the Truth, Brian Stelter, One Signal Publishers/ Atria Books, 2020.
3. All 10 living former defense secretaries declare election is over in forceful public letter – CNNPolitics

The 117^th Congress will be sworn in today.  In the most recent election, the Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives but lost several seats to the Republicans so now their majority is only 11 seats.  That’s a fairly slim edge in a body with 435 members.   Control of the Senate won’t be decided until after the special election in Georgia for their two senate seats on January 5^th.  And then, of course, a joint session of Congress, presided over by Mike Pence, is scheduled to meet on January 6^th to certify and accept the results of the Electoral College vote which resulted in 306 votes for Joe Biden and 232 votes for Donald Trump.

According to press reports, 140 Republican members of the House of Representatives plan to object to the acceptance of the electoral votes from a number of states that Trump lost. [Isn’t it interesting that voter fraud is only alleged in those states that Trump lost?]  And now, apparently there are at least a dozen Republican senators who are willing to sign on to this circus and join them, in spite of objections from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.   It will force a debate on whether or not to accept the results from a given state.  Both the House and the Senate will debate this issue separately and then they must agree if the electoral college votes from a given state are to be rejected.   Since the Democrats control the House of Representatives, there is virtually no chance that they will vote to toss out any electoral votes and hand the election to Trump.  This circus will only delay the inevitable before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are officially certified as the winners of the election.  [We know that even after that, Trump will not accept the results!]

However, think about the following scenario.  What if the Republicans had won enough seats to regain control of the House in addition to controlling the Senate?   In that case, Republican House members joined by Republican Senate members would have the ability to toss out the slate of electors from any and/or all states and accept a separate slate of rogue electors for their given candidate to hand the election to Trump – in spite of the fact that Biden won the election convincingly by over 7 million votes.  If this is not an assault on a government ‘for the people, by the people’ I don’t know what is.

The real question is, “Is this how all future elections will be conducted”?  Will there ever again be an election in this country where candidates just live with the results?  After all, the precedent has now been set to not accept the election results (unless you like the outcome) and hope that the election is settled in the courts or in the Congress as opposed to being settled at the ballot box.  If this will become the new norm, whichever party controls Congress will essentially have a lock on power because they will be able to install a president from their party, regardless of the results of the election.

Since Republicans have already demonstrated a penchant for gerrymandering and voter suppression, those activities and more will continue to ensure that once in control of Congress, they will lock in that support.  Those efforts have already allowed Republicans to gain control of more state legislatures than the normal population and voting patterns would warrant.  It is no stretch at all to assume they will do the same thing to lock up the US Congress.

You can bet that Mitch McConnell is already looking past the 2020 election and the circus that continues by Trump and his supporters to try to overturn the election results.  He knows that Biden will emerge victorious regardless of the theatrics.  But Mitch, being the wily fox he is, is turning his attention to the elections in 2022 and 2024.  He knows, and his Republican colleagues in the House know, that if they can regain control of the House of Representative in the 2022 midterm elections and Mitch can retain (or regain if the Democrats win the Georgia elections on January 5^th) control of the Senate, they will be able to basically dictate who becomes president in 2024, because they will use every trick in the book to retain control of Congress.  The current games being played to overturn a legitimate election could very well be a dress rehearsal for what is to come in 2024.  And that could very well mark the end of democracy in America.

If you think that scenario is far-fetched and such blatant attempts to undermine the Constitution and democracy would be rectified in the courts, just remember that Mitch McConnell has been a busy little beaver pushing through conservative judge nominees to stack the Federal courts at all levels.  In the end, it’s all about the math:

[Republican stacked courts] + [Republican controlled Congress] + [President like Trump] = Tyranny

The Republican House members and the Republican Senators are cloaking their objections to accepting the Electoral College results in the language of ‘there needs to be an investigation because there are a lot of people that don’t trust the results of the election.’  This in spite of the fact that there have been 61 lawsuits (so far) brought in multiple courts in multiple states to try to overturn the results of the election and 60 of the 61 have either been withdrawn or tossed out of court due to lack of evidence to support the allegations.  The only case that was won was inconsequential and basically allowed some elections observers to stand a few feet closer to the ballot counters.  So, to date, in spite of all of these legal challenges, there has been no evidence to support Trump and his supporters’ allegation of wide spread voter fraud.  And yet they claim that people don’t trust the election results and there needs to be an investigation.

It’s like Trump and his supporters have been saying for months that someday there might be a fire at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue.  And then one day, they go in and pull the fire alarm, knowing full well there is no fire, that the sprinkler systems work just fine, and the building is perfectly safe.  Once the fire alarm goes off, they hold a press conference in front of the building on Fifth Avenue and say that, “People are concerned there may be a fire so we called the NYFD and, in the meantime, we are evacuating the building.   We intend to mount an investigation in the near future. 

The only reason there is so much mistrust of the election results is because Trump and his sycophants have been propagating lies for months.  It’s like a giant self-licking ice cream cone.  Ice cream cones are supposed to be a treat and taste good.  This one, on the other hand, tastes disgusting and should make any American who truly cares about democracy in this country sick to their stomach.

What a year!!  I’m not even sure how to wrap things up.  I’ve decided that I’ve spent enough brain cells this year talking about politics and the state of the pandemic-ravaged world so I’m not going to go down that road.  I think Heather Cox Richardson’s most recent post pretty well sums up the year so I will leave the politics and commentary to her.  The link to her blog is included below.  I decided to take a look back at the year through a more positive lens.

In spite of all of the challenges that I and everyone else faced this year, looking back, I have a lot to be thankful for.  First and foremost, I am thankful that my daughter, her mom, and my sister and her family made it through the year successfully dodging [so far, knock on wood!] the virus that has wreaked havoc on the world.   We are much more fortunate than those families who lost loved ones to this deadly virus.  I know that we are not out of the woods yet, but with the development of the vaccines, there is at least hope for 2021. 

I am thankful for all of the healthcare workers who tirelessly, and sometimes thanklessly, manned the front lines of this war to save the lives of others.  And, I’m thankful for all of the other essential workers who manned the grocery stores, delivered mail and packages, worked in warehouses, and kept the country running even in the face of daunting challenges and risks.

I am thankful for all of the staff, teachers and students who rose to the challenge of switching to remote learning when we had one week to make that change during spring break at MSU last March when I was teaching there.  Kudos to educators and students across the nation.

I am thankful during that same time period when NYU switched to remote learning and the virus was hitting New York very hard, that my daughter and her mom were able to come to my place in Montana for a few months to find refuge.

Once my teaching gig at MSU ended and my frustration level with the state of what was going on in the country reached a certain level I resurrected my blog and began writing a bit.  The silver lining of all that is that I rediscovered that I enjoy writing and intend to continue to do so – as long as it’s fun!  No novels on the horizon but, then again, I’ve had much crazier ideas!

During the summer, since I didn’t have anywhere to go, I was able to log hundreds of miles on my bicycle riding around the beautiful country-side outside of Bozeman.  I am thankful for the orthopedic surgeon who fixed my knee a year ago to allow me to be able to do that.  And I’m thankful that I’m healthy enough to be able to plan another bicycle excursion in 2021 [details to follow as they get solidified]

When Jordan and Francine headed back to New York in mid-July and since I didn’t have any big adventures planned, I threw myself into some serious work on the house.   I remodeled two bathrooms and my kitchen.  Had it not been for the pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have had so much ‘home time’ to work, so I’m thankful I got all of that done.

I’m thankful I got in to see the ophthalmologist quickly when the vision in my right eye went to hell and he was able to schedule the surgery two days later to repair a vitreous hemorrhage and partially detached retina.  He told me if he didn’t do it right away, I’d go blind in that eye.  I’m thankful I still have my vision.

Jordan and Francine returned to Montana towards the end of her fall semester at NYU.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner, made chocolates and other goodies, whipped up a delicious Beef Wellington for Christmas dinner, have had a lot of good conversation, and many drives around Bozeman at ‘deer o’clock to look at the wildlife during the time they have been here.  I am certainly thankful for all of that.  It has been great to have all of this quality time with my daughter before she heads back to NY for her final semester at NYU in a few days. 

I am thankful that I have a very tolerant and patient piano teacher who is willing to put up with an old geezer like me who has 10 fingers that don’t know how to behave themselves when faced with 88 piano keys.  And I am thankful there are no neighbors near by to hear all of the dissonant notes!

And I am certainly thankful that I am able to live in such a beautiful place where I can wake up every day, look at the mountains and hope that some of the local deer population decides to stroll through the backyard.

Yes, it was a challenging year.  However, when viewed in context, any challenges or irritations I faced during this year pale in comparison to those faced by millions of other Americans who lost family members and/or jobs and continue to struggle. I sincerely hope that the lives of all Americans will improve in 2021 and it will be the beginning of better times ahead. For me, I feel truly fortunate and humble for the life I have and thankful as we look forward to 2021. 

I think that’s a wrap for 2020.  I’m going to take a break for a couple of days.

Wishing everyone a Very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Letters from an American  (Heather Cox Richardson’s blog)

Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is probably wondering how he will navigate the upcoming mine field.   The House voted to pass the increase in personal stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 in accordance with what Trump said he wanted when he delayed signing the initial bill.  McConnell and many of his Republican Senate colleagues have been against the higher figure because, all of sudden, they are concerned with the associated increase in the national debt.  This seems a little disingenuous because the whole discussion of ‘increasing the national debt’ didn’t seem to be much of an issue when Trump and the Republicans pushed through the tax cuts in 2017 which led to a large increase in the national debt.  I guess the message is that if the national debt gets increased so large corporations can increase their profits and millionaires can increase their wealth then its OK, but if the national debt gets increased to help ‘Joe Average’ it’s not OK!  Whatever.  It will be interesting to see how McConnell and the other Republicans play this one.

The House also voted to override Trump’s veto of the Defense Authorization Bill so now McConnell and his Republican colleagues have to decide whether they wish to go against Trump by voting to override Trump’s veto or caving to Trump to try to make the changes to the Defense Bill that Trump wants.  This is really putting McConnell between a rock and a hard place.  There is little chance that the Democrats will agree to any of the changes that Trump wants and if the Republicans do not vote to override the veto, it puts the military and consequently the entire country at risk.  The Defense Authorization Bill has passed uneventfully for decades but now that we all live in Trump world and everything has become political, it’s a totally different game.   It will be interesting to see if McConnell and his Republican senate colleagues are more interested in collecting ‘Trump loyalty chips’ or more interested in the welfare of the military and the country.

McConnell’s final hurdle will be to see if he can keep his Republican senate colleagues in line on January 6^th when several Republican House members are planning to challenge the results of the Electoral College in some of the swing states that Trump lost.  If even one of the Republican Senators agrees to join the House challenge, it will lead to hours of debate and basically provide a political circus for the world to watch.  The chances that it will have any outcome at all on the installation of Joe Biden as the next president are essentially zero.  The participants will gather lots of ‘Trump loyalty chips’ but nothing else will be accomplished.  McConnell is trying to dissuade his Republican colleagues from participating but if he is successful, he will most certainly incur the wrath of Trump.  If any of the Republican Senators choose to participate in the circus, it will undermine and call in to question McConnell’s leadership and control of the Republicans in the Senate.   In either scenario, McConnell is going to get a bit bruised.  (It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!)

McConnell didn’t get to where he is by being stupid.  He is certainly very aware of the mine field that lies ahead.  He has a thick skin and probably a closet full of flak jackets, all of which will come in to play.  It will be interesting to watch.  And that is probably exactly what Trump is thinking.  He is angry at McConnell for acknowledging Biden as the President-elect and now McConnell is paying the price for not kissing Trump’s ring!!  None of the three challenges in front of McConnell had to happen.  This is all Trump’s doing.  Just another example of Trump creating chaos where none needed to be.   

In addition to the obstacles Trump has placed in front of McConnell, his sycophants in the Department of Defense are apparently not being fully cooperative and transparent with the incoming Biden team as one would hope.  The transition effort was already delayed due to Trump’s intransigence and that of his appointee at the General Services Administration but having anything less than full and transparent cooperation at this point in the process is a huge national security risk.  Apparently, Trump’s political appointees in the DoD care more about being awarded ‘Trump loyalty chips’ than they care about the United States of America.  Pathetic.

I do think that all of these antics by Trump are beginning to result in cracks in his grip on the GOP and perhaps once he’s officially out of office and preoccupied with fighting his personal legal and financial battles, his evil spell over the Republican Party will fade further and some in the party may find their spines and begin to stand up and move back toward true conservative policies.  Time will tell.

Right now, the inauguration will take place three weeks from tomorrow.   The next three weeks will be more like the political version of Cirque du Soleil than the peaceful transitions of power that have been the hallmark of American democracy for generations.  So, pull up a chair, get yourself some snacks and a beverage, and enjoy the circus!