I hope it doesn’t escape anyone that the lawsuit that has been filed by the Attorney General of Texas asking the Supreme Court to basically overturn the results of the presidential elections by throwing our millions of mail-in ballots is not alleging ‘wide spread’ voting fraud.  Instead, it is arguing that the rules instituted in these four battle ground states to enable voter access during the pandemic are unconstitutional.   The reason they are not alleging fraud is because in over 50 lawsuits, the Trump campaign has not been able to provide any credible evidence to support their allegations.   The lawsuit by Texas is an implicit acknowledgement of the face that there was no voter fraud.  Hence, they are attacking the voting processes that are used in other states in a specious argument that this harmed Texas – because Texas didn’t like the results, i.e., Joe Biden won in those states. 

The hope for all of those that have signed on to this lawsuit is that the Supreme Court will hear the case and side with Texas and basically disenfranchise millions of voters in the four states named in this suit and toss out their legally cast votes.  It is hard to imagine that the Supreme Court would want to put itself into the position of being the body that overturned an election in which 7 million people showed a preference for Biden over Trump.  As I have stated before, there is no doubt a decision in favor of Texas and Trump would plunge this country into a constitutional crisis and potential civil war.  The Republicans obviously don’t care about such concepts as ‘democracy’ and ‘the peaceful transfer of power.’  They only care about power – getting it, keeping it and exercising it.

If the Supreme Court were to overturn the results of this election then there is a silver lining, so to speak.  In the future, both parties and every state could save millions of dollars in long drawn-out campaigns and preparing for complicated elections by just asking the Supreme Court to pick a new president every four years.  We could all go on about our lives and not have to spend months listening to and watching political ads on TV, many of which are filled with lies and propaganda.  We could rest secure in the knowledge that the wise justices sitting on the Supreme Court would have the best interest of all Americans in mind when they made their presidential selection every four years.   If they found a candidate they really liked, they could probably figure out a way to circumvent the current Constitution regarding term limits for president and we could have a president for life such as in China, Russia and my favorite, Belarus.   Great, let’s just save all of ourselves a lot of stress and let the Supreme Court select our presidents.!!

Although I didn’t post anything on this blog yesterday, I did write a Letter to the Editor of the Chronical when I heard that Montana had joined this ridiculous and dangerous lawsuit filed by Texas.  I don’t know if it will be published, but the full text is below.  I ask once again, what the hell has this country become?   Every day that passes with Trump still in the White House, we look more and more like a third world banana republic.

Letter to the Editor

It is an absolute travesty that Montana joined the other Republican led states in filing the amicus brief to the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the presidential election.  This is nothing short of a frontal assault on democracy.  I thought this was the land of ‘states rights’, ‘Montana values’, ‘smaller government’, where politicians continuously rail against ‘judicial activism.  The Trump campaign has lost something like 50 lawsuits because they have been unable to present any evidence of wide spread voter fraud that would stand up in court.  So, in the face of no evidence, Montana and the other members of this ridiculous lawsuit are asking the Supreme Court to just overturn the results of the election.  If that is not judicial activism I sure as hell don’t know what is.   This whole lawsuit brought by Texas is attacking the voting laws and procedures of 4 other states that Trump lost.  What happened to ‘states’ rights?’  I wonder how the Montana State legislature would like it if the attorney general of Nebraska tried to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court alleging that Montanans were doing it all wrong and they should be forced to do things the way they are done in Nebraska.  My guess is, the Montana folks would not take kindly to that.  So why the hell do we think we have the right to intervene in the election processes in other states just because we don’t like the results?  Obviously, all of the words tossed so easily around by Montana politicians like ‘states’ rights’, ‘Montana values’, ‘judicial activism’, and ‘court packing’ are just useful as campaign slogans.  Regardless of what the Supreme Court does, the stain on Montana’s integrity won’t fade easily.  Let’s hope democracy survives.

I wonder how long it will be before someone actually gets hurt of killed because of the continuing propagation of unfounded conspiracy theories about a rigged election and voter fraud.  This could be stifled quickly if the Republican leadership had the courage to put country before Trump.  But, alas, the Republican leadership are still searching for their collective spines.

Armed protestors gathered outside the home of the Michigan Secretary of Sate screaming falsehoods and obscenities with a bullhorn while she and her family, including her 4-year-old son were inside.¹ Why?  Voters in Michigan had voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump by about 150,000 votes.  It wasn’t even close.  Legal challenges were tossed out of court of no evidence of voter fraud and virtually all officials involved in the process attested to the fact that there was no evidence of wide spread voter fraud.  How would you like it if a bunch of armed protestors gathered outside of your house when your only ‘crime’ was doing your job?

The Secretaries of State of Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada have all received death threats because Trump supporters, egged on by Trump, will not accept the fact that Trump lost the vote in those states.  There have been over 40 lawsuits filed in multiple states and the Trump campaign has lost almost all of them for the same reason – they have yet to produce any evidence in a court of law to support their allegations.  “Chris Krebs, former director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, on Tuesday filed a lawsuitafter a lawyer for the Trump campaign said Krebs should be “taken out at dawn and shot.” (Trump’s lawyer has said he was just joking, but that’s no laughing matter in today’s political environment.)”¹ At what point, will some Trump supporting wingnut actually carry through on one of these threats?

To add to this madness, the Arizona Republican Party has retweeted posts asking if people are willing to sacrifice their lives to challenge the results of the presidential election.  This is beyond insane.  Don’t forget, there was already a group of right-wing idiots who plotted to kidnap and execute Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, because of her orders having to do with the coronavirus restrictions.  There are a lot of crazy, armed people out there and the longer President Trump and his sycophants continue this dangerous charade, the higher the probability that someone is going to actually get hurt.

The Republican leadership in Congress could put an end to this nonsense if they wanted to.  They obviously have chosen to let Trump continue to undermine democracy in this country based upon their own personal warped political rationalizations.   Whatever their reasoning, it is certainly not helping to portray the United States of America in a very favorable light around the world.  Once again, Putin and Xi must be laughing their asses off. 

I read an interesting article this past weekend by Fareed Zakaria, a journalist and columnist for the Washington Post, in which he made the point that the two-and-a-half-month lame duck session between when a presidential election is held and when a new president is sworn in is much longer than in most other countries.    When the constitution was written, there were obviously not things like the internet, airplanes and instantaneous communications so the founding fathers had to allow enough time in the election process for people to travel by the means available then.  It made sense to hold the election in early November and have the electoral college meet in mid=December just given the logistics.  The same can be argued for the 5-week window between when the electoral college votes and when the new president is sworn in.

We are now witnessing why this lengthy period between the election and the swearing in of a new president is not such a good idea in our modern world.   There are two major flaws now apparent in this process.  The first is simply what we are witnessing with Trump’s continued unfounded allegations of a rigged election and wide-spread voter fraud.  This is like an open wound that is continuing to fester.  In previous elections, this hasn’t been much of a problem.  However, with someone like Trump in the White House, he just continues to pour salt in this wound.  And, his supporters, just get more and more radicalized the longer this drags out.

The second problem is when there is such a vindicative individual as Trump in the White House, you have to be concerned about how much damage they can and will do on his way out the door.  We are witnessing this with his continued purge of government agency personnel and replacing them with Trump loyalists weeks before he leaves office.  In the business world, when some is fired, they are generally walked out of the building immediately to avoid these types of sabotage.  I really think the country (Congress) needs to look at this whole timeline and see if it stills makes sense in today’s world.  I think the Trump has shown that it can be a very dangerous 10-week period.

The Electoral College meets on Monday to finalize the vote of president.  Let’s hope that after Joe Biden is elected in the Electoral College that some of these spineless, silent Republicans will finally speak up before one or more of these rabid, irrational Trump supporters actually shoots someone.  If that were to happen, the blood would be all over the hands of Trump, his toadies, and the entire Republican leadership.  What a legacy to leave behind.

“In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.”
― Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

1. Protesters spent nearly an hour outside my home chanting about conspiracy theories. Here’s what I learned – CNN

The silence of the Republican leadership regarding Trump’s loss of the presidency is truly frightening.  After about 40 lawsuits challenging various aspects of the legitimacy of the election in multiple states, the Trump team has come up empty-handed.  And yet, the majority of Republicans in Congress have failed to publicly acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory.  Nothing like this has ever happened in my lifetime.  It’s a real headscratcher.  Then I read an opinion piece by Dean Obeidallah which made a lot of sense to me.  I have included the link below.¹ Obeidallah’s piece also meshes well with arguments outlined in Heather Cox Richard’s book, “How the South Won the Civil War,” which I am just finishing up.⁶ [I would highly recommend Richardson’s book for a thought provoking look at how we got to where we currently are.]

The short version of both Obeidallah’s essay and Richardson’s book is that the Republican Party has evolved into a party that is more interested in retaining power for a wealthy few than in preserving and protecting institutions like American democracy.  I know that’s a pretty strong statement but I got to thinking about some of the things we’ve witnessed during this last election cycle.

I’ll start here in Montana.  There was an effort this past summer and fall leading up to the election to gather enough signatures to get the Green Party candidates on the ballot here in Montana.  When it came to light that the Republican Party, not the Green Party, spent $100,000 on this signature collection effort there were a number of court challenges because it was obvious that the Republicans did not do this for some altruistic reason.  In fact, the Green Party disavowed the signature collection effort. The fact is the Republicans did it to syphon voters away from the Democratic candidates in the election.  The court challenges went all the way up the US Supreme Court where the court denied the Republican’s push to keep the Green Party on the ballot². 

That wasn’t the only occurrence like this.  In Florida, there were three candidates for state office that didn’t campaign, didn’t fund raise, didn’t do much of anything and yet they mysteriously landed on the ballot.  A current investigation is underway but it appears that these candidates were shills designed to syphon votes away from Democratic candidates for the state senate.  And if you think things like this don’t have any consequences, one of the races was extremely close.  The incumbent Democratic candidate lost by 31 votes!!  The fake candidate received 6300 votes which could easily have swung the victory.  There is currently a recount underway but who knows how this will ultimately come out.   The fact is, Republican dark money was once again trying to manipulate an election.

And then, of course, there is the presidential candidacy of Kanye West.  It is a well know fact that Kanye is a Trump supporter.  Who can forget the photos of Kanye in the Oval Office?  So, why would a friend of Trump run against him?  In the ‘normal’ world, Trump would have unleashed a Twitter storm against anyone who dared run against him.  No such storm happened with Kanye.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the whole candidacy was designed to syphon black voters away from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.    I guess this use of shill candidates has become a standard play in the Republican ‘hang on to power at all costs’ playbook.⁴

In addition to the use of shill candidates to draw votes away from Republican competitors, the Republican controlled state legislatures of many states have engaged in gerrymandering.  While gerrymandering has been engaged in to some extent by both parties, it is most prevalent in those states where the state legislature is controlled by Republicans. “Currently, rigged maps tend to be most prevalent, and most tilted, in states under Republican control. That is in part because Republicans did exceptionally well in the 2010 elections, giving the party far wider control of state legislatures, which oversaw redistricting after the 2010 census. The national Republican Party had poured money and expertise into state legislative races with the specific aim of gaining control over redistricting; the Democratic Party had not.”⁵

Finally, there have been subtle and not-so-subtle efforts to suppress votes by those groups, primarily people of color, who tend to vote Democratic rather than Republican.  The Trump campaign tried – unsuccessfully – to get thousands of mail-in ballots thrown out on bogus grounds.  This was nothing short of voter suppression.

Don’t forget, the Republicans have lost the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections.  We have had Republican presidents, including Trump, because of the vagaries of the Electoral College, not because they were popularly elected. You look at all of these factors in ‘the big picture,’ and it is clear that the Republican Party has become a party that is more interested in obtaining and retaining power by whatever means it takes so they can push an agenda that contributes to wealth disparity and racial injustice at the expense of democracy.  When you examine what is happening now in the post-election environment, it is easy to understand why Republicans are remaining silent.  We shouldn’t fool ourselves and think this is about democratic ideals – this is all about power.  Getting power.  Keeping power.  Exercising power.  Don’t forget the adage: ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  And that is what we are witnessing today.

“For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.”  Noam Chomsky

1. Opinion: Why Republicans still refuse to accept Trump’s defeat – CNN
2. Supreme Court denies push to add Green Party candidates to Montana ballot | TheHill
3. Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money (local10.com)
4. Kanye West takes out two full pages in New York Times to tout candidacy (msn.com)  
5.  What Is Gerrymandering? And How Does it Work? – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
6. How the South Won the Civil War, Heather Cox Richardson Oxford University Press, 2020

Seventy-nine years ago today, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, which led to the formal entry of America into World War II.  The war raged on for the next four years in both the European Theater of Operations and the Pacific.  It was the greatest threat to American democracy since the Civil War.  The leadership and the population of the country rose to the occasion and made tough decisions and major sacrifices that ultimately led to the United States prevailing.  Today, the country is at war against a virus that is ravaging the nation and the leadership and much of the population don’t seem at all interested in engaging in this fight.  And to make matters even worse, American democracy is under direct attack from the very president who was sworn in to defend the Constitution and protect the country. 

What is wrong with this picture?  The President of the United States – home of the free and land of the brave – calls the Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, and tries to convince him to call a special session of the state legislature to convince the legislators to essentially overturn the results of the election and nominate a new slate of electors who will vote for Trump in the electoral college.¹ And the Republican leadership just stands by with their collective thumbs up their butts and say nothing!!  If this isn’t an assault on democracy, I don’t know what is.  This is absurd.  Sure, Republicans and Trump supporters can argue that he has every right to exercise his legal rights to file lawsuits to challenge the election.  However, his legal team has been unable to provide any evidence of wide spread voter fraud in about 40 lawsuits that has stood up to scrutiny in a court of law.  Legal challenges are one thing.  But for a president to personally intervene in an election process is unprecedented and a true assault on democracy.

Let’s just assume that Governor Kemp was stupid enough to do what Trump asked him to do.  What exactly do you think would happen in Georgia?  Do you really think all of those people who turned out to vote for Joe Biden would just sit on their hands?  Georgia would come apart at the seams.  This place is looking more and more like Belarus after their recent ‘election.’   I, like everyone else in this country, have not seen anything like this in my lifetime – a United States president actively trying to interfere with the election process.

If that’s not enough, the country can rest easier now that Trump has appointed Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie to the Defense Business Board in support of the Pentagon after purging the board of its existing membership.  Mind you, Lewandowski and Bossie have no military experience at all, and their sole qualification is that they are loyal to Trump.  This is just like his purging of the Defense Advisory Board recently of the likes of Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger and replacing them with Trump loyalists.  This has tinhorn, ‘banana republic’, dictatorship written all over it. And the Republican leadership just remains silent.  ‘Pathetic’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.

In a week, the electoral college is scheduled to meet and vote for President of the United States.   Assuming things go according to the certified election results, the tally will be 306 to 232 electoral votes ensuring that Biden is the next president.  We should all expect some ‘rogue’ electors who will violate their pledges and crossover and vote for Trump instead of Biden.  That said, it is unlikely (I hope) that 38 electors would violate their oaths and go rogue, which is what would be required for Trump to emerge victorious.   Given that Biden’s lead in the popular vote now stands at more than 7 million votes, it is hard to imagine that sufficient numbers of electors would go rogue to allow Trump to remain in office.  As I have stated before, there is no doubt in my mind that the country would descend into what would essentially be a civil war.

Trump has to know what would happen if he were successful in convincing enough electors to go rogue and throw the election in his favor.  The fact is, he doesn’t care.  That should give every single American all the information they need to know about how much Trump cares about this country.  I have no doubt that he is perfectly willing to plunge this country into the greatest constitutional crisis and civil unrest since the Civil War – all in the name of his corrupt ego.

He probably has it all figured out.  He steals the election knowing that there will be widespread civil unrest.  He has installed loyalists at the Department of Defense who will be willing to carry out his orders under the Insurrection Act to deploy the US military to put down this unrest across America.  These troops would no doubt be aided unofficially by groups like the ‘Proud Boys’ who are to Trump what the brown shirts and black shirts were to Hitler and Mussolini.   He would more than likely declare martial law to suspend all kinds of rights and expand the power of the presidency.  Think that Trump hasn’t thought of this?  I’d be willing to bet large sums of money that he has.  Think that he wouldn’t try something like this?  I’m personally not willing to take that bet.

The one saving grace is that I sincerely doubt the military would back Trump up.  Virtually all dictators who come to power have the military behind them.  I don’t think the US military would back Trump if he tried to use the military to cement a grip on power that was not obtained legitimately.  And, having 38 electors violate their pledges to throw the election to Trump can hardly be considered legitimate. 

On Dec. 14^th, one week from today, the Electoral College, will convene and vote for the president and vice-president.  If the Electoral College does its job and elects Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, it will be interesting to see what Trump does.  You can just imagine the Tweet storm that will follow.  At least we will be one step closer to getting rid of this megalomaniacal potential dictator. 

Trump will, of course, continue milking his supporters of their money regardless of the outcome of the Electoral College vote, which to date has been more than $210 million.  This should provide Trump and his kids with enough cash to retire some campaign debt and embark on a nice post-election lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.  Perhaps there is a remake of the movie ‘The Grifters’ in the works.  This time, the story could take place in the White House.   OK, forget a movie remake.  We’ve been watching it in real time the last four years.  It’s time to change the channel!

1. Trump pressured Georgia governor to help overturn the election in call – CNNPolitics

This country is in a lot of trouble.  And, I’m not convinced that the damage inflicted by Trump on this country can be undone.   Yesterday, I saw the following Letter to the Editor in the Bozeman Chronicle.  I read it multiple times because the author and I must be living in two completely different countries – or maybe on two completely different planets.  [I have not edited the letter in any way and I have not included the author’s name] 

“Chronicle only out to smear our great president

So why is the chronicle looking for donations to fund journalists?  Never mind, I know the type of your so-called journalism.  Nothing more than another editorial to fit your political agenda to smear my president, Donald J. Trump.  He works and works for all people in this great nation.

Upwards of 72 million American’s voted for his re-election because we need him to keep fighting for the people.  You, on the other hand, want to divide our country while you promote hate, violence, community oppression, socialism and fake power.

Republicans across our nation are standing up to expose this 12 year hate culture in social media outlets and the elite’s incessant power grabs that hurt all Americans and does not unify our country.

Stop the hate, please, and step into American values of truth, justice, fairness and respect.

The call for public donations to fund journalists for your newspaper indicates to me that, indeed, your stabs at journalism was not fulfilled in the last 12 years.

Bitter about the Chronicle.”

I don’t even know where to begin.  There are so many statements in this letter that are provably false if someone were willing to look logically and rationally at facts and data.  But, in the case of this author, a train load full of facts, is not going to even make a dent in this belief.  It’s like trying to use scientific data to try to convince a member of the Flat Earth Society that the world is a globe.  It’s a waste of breath.

I have seen a number of elections in my life time but the unquestioning, rabid loyalty to Trump reminds me more of a cult than adherence to some political doctrine.  As a reminder, the Republican Party did not put forth a party platform at their convention earlier this year.  It was basically, ‘whatever Trumps wants to do.’ 

In addition to this letter that I saw yesterday, someone who used to work for me (who shall remain nameless) posted a comment on one of my Facebook posts that was nothing short of a hate filled rant – ending with ‘I HATE DEMOCRATS.’ [ I deleted it and blocked the individual from further posts on my page] What’s next? Am I going to start getting death threats for calling out Trump for what I believe to be are assaults on our democracy? 

I have stated on numerous occasions in these posts that I really don’t care if a candidate is a Republican, an Independent or a Democrat as long as they exhibit a level of integrity and the ability to put this country before their own self-interests.  I am not wedded to a particular party.  I am not wedded to a particular candidate.  What I am wedded to is a belief in the rule of law that is applicable to everyone, the principles of democracy including free and fair elections and the peaceful transition of power, people telling the truth, people exhibiting character and people who treat others with respect and dignity.   And, by all of these measures, Trump fails miserably, which is why I have continued to argue that he is not fit to lead this country and, in fact, is the biggest threat to democracy in my life time.  The fact that he espouses to be a Republican, is of little consequence to me.

The reason that this is so disturbing is that these rabid Trump followers have gone way beyond political discourse and the ability to have a reasoned, logical discussion and clearly articulate different points of view supported by facts and data.  Inconvenient facts are immediately labelled ‘fake news.’ And rationalizing corrupt behavior has become a fine art form.  If that weren’t enough, there are Trump supporters who are actively advocating violence.  Even Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, retweeted a post calling for martial law and discussing a ‘civil war.’  This is not politics.

So, in the whatever it’s worth department, I will not stop posting my opinions against Trump, against racism, against corruption, against abuses of power, against incompetence, or against anything else that I believe is a threat to our democracy. When I started these posts, I said that I was doing so because I could no longer remain silent.  And, in light of what I have discussed above, I feel it even more important to refuse to be silent.  This country and the democratic ideals under which it was founded are under assault.  And if any rabid Trump supporter wants to throw hate my way for what I say, that’s fine.  If any of these idiots choose to threaten me because of what I write, that’s fine to. I don’t intimidate easily and I won’t stop posting.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is not fake news.  It is a fact.

 “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.”  (Noam Chomsky)

It’s been a month since the election and the president has not yet conceded alleging ‘wide spread voter fraud’ and a rigged election.  The solution to this conundrum is really very simple.  I’m really surprised that Trump’s crack legal team led by Rudy Giuliani has not thought of this already.  All they have to do is produce some evidence that will stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.  I think they teach this in ‘Law 101’ but perhaps in the heat of the moment, Rudy just forgot about that lesson. 

If the Trump campaign has as much evidence as they claim to have, this should be a slam-dunk!  You would think after losing or withdrawing around 40 lawsuits in state and federal courts in multiple states that it would have dawned on Rudy and his colleagues that if they just supplied the courts with their overwhelming evidence of election fraud, their cases would be adjudicated much more favorably.  Alas, perhaps Rudy just doesn’t have any evidence.

Republican and Democrat election officials across all of the contested states have states that there is no evidence of election fraud.  And now, even the Attorney General, Bill Barr, has stated that the DOJ has found no evidence of election fraud.  [Note to Bill Barr – get ready to join the growing crowd under the bus!] Could it possibly be there wasn’t actually any election fraud? 

I actually have a theory as to why Trump is so convinced that there was election fraud.  There are the obvious reasons.  He continues to raise money for his leadership PAC as long as he propagates the myth of election fraud.  And, as I have discussed before, he and his family certainly face legal exposure when they exit the White House.  However, I think there is another reason why Trump is so upset.  I think his ‘plan’ backfired.

As you recall, Trump has been talking about a rigged election for months.  And for months he railed against mail-in ballots, stating, without evidence, that mail-in ballots are rife with opportunities for voter fraud.    He mucked with the US Postal Service by installing a Trump loyalist, Louis DeJoy, as US Postmaster, who immediately implemented changes that slowed down the mail delivery.  In the weeks leading up to the election, there was a great deal of fear, particularly among those that were going to vote against Trump (Democrats and Independents) that their votes would not reach polling places in time due to the slowdown in the mail system.  This led to a record number of early voters and mail-in ballots.  There was also fear of election day violence and Trump’s ‘poll watchers’ intimidating voters which led to a further increase in people using mail-in ballots.

I have this little voice in the back of my head that is whispering that it was the intent of the Trump campaign to scare ‘anti-Trump’ voters into using mail-in ballots with two objectives.  They were hoping that some ballots would not reach the polling places in time and would be thrown out.  They further assumed they would be able to challenge these mail-in ballots and get them thrown out.  And, that’s where the plan fell apart.   The fact is, if all of the mail-in ballots were thrown out, Trump probably would have won the election. 

Perhaps Trump’s campaign just figured that if they alleged wide spread fraud with mail-in ballots without providing any evidence, that judges would side with them and just toss out all of those ballots.   Fortunately, judges in this country including conservative judges appointed by Trump, have all followed the law, demanded evidence to support the allegations and when no evidence is produced, the cases are thrown out.   I think Trump is angry because his plan backfired.

I have discussed in previous posts how a standard tactic in authoritarian regimes is to pack the courts with sympathetic or corrupt judges and use their ‘pseudo-legal’ rulings to maintain and increase the dictators grip on power.   I really think that is what Trump was trying to do here.  Fortunately, the court system here is still holding solid against Trump’s continued assault on the rule of law and our democracy.  Let’s hope the system holds together for another 50 days.

There are, however, continued threats.  Apparently, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Advisor, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia and was recently pardoned by Trump, retweeted a post from some Right-Wing organization calling for Trump to declare martial law and force a re-do of the 2020 election under the direction of the military.  Think about that.  The former National Security Advisor of the United States, propagating information calling for martial law.  This is the stuff that dictatorships are made of.  This is dangerous stuff.  And amidst these assaults and continued delusions from the president and his allies, the silence from the Republican leadership continues to be deafening.

Fortunately, I don’t believe that Trump has the unwavering support of the military and, in fact, General Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has made it clear that the military is loyal to the Constitution.  That said, Trump has been actively purging the top ranks of the Pentagon and installing Trump loyalists, so don’t discount anything.  As I have stated before, I won’t rest easy until a moving van leaves the White House with all of Trumps crap in it.  Well, given that Trump is so full of crap, it might take several moving vans!  Nonetheless, I will be happy to watch the convoy leave 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  Until then, this man is so desperate, nothing would surprise me. 

Pardon me for writing this but the fact is, ‘pardons’ seem to be all the rage these days – at least in reported conversations around the White House.  Let’s see, where do I start?  It was reported yesterday that the DOJ is investigating a scheme in which alleged bribes were finding their way to the White House or related PAC in exchange for a presidential pardon.¹ According to the article, part of the filing, in heavily redacted form, was made public by the DC District Court.  Just when you thought this administration couldn’t get any more corrupt – surprise!!

I was wondering why the DC District Court would make this public but then it dawned on me that perhaps the court is firing a ‘warning shot’ over the bow of the ‘good ship Trump.’   Perhaps it was a message to say, ‘if you really go through with this, we’ve already got the goods and we are watching you like a hawk.” 

When you look back over the last four years of the Trump administration and add up all of the people who were associates of the president in one way or another, the number of them who have been indicted is pretty remarkable.  Given that, this whole alleged scheme should surprise no one.

There are also reports that Rudy Guiliani, the president’s personal attorney, has asked for a preemptive presidential pardon before Trump leaves office.  It is public knowledge that Guiliani is under investigation for some of his lobbying efforts and some of the efforts associated with trying to dig up dirt on Joe Biden from the Ukraine.

In addition to Guiliani, there are reports that Trump is exploring issuing preemptive pardons for all of his adult children and Jared Kushner.  If Trump were to do this, he would certainly couch it in terms of ‘self-defense’ with all kinds of bullshit about how the Biden administration would go after all of them for ‘revenge.’  Given that Biden will put someone in the Attorney General’s office who will actually operate with the independence that the DOJ previously (before Trump) operated, that allegation is a real stretch. 

Granting such pardons, however, is a bit of a slippery slope.  If he does grant pardons to his children, Guiliani and a few other close associates there is a large segment of the population who are going to view this as ‘proof’ that the Trump administration is, in fact, rife with corruption.  His most rabid supporters will believe the line that he is doing so to protect these people from political revenge.  However, these ‘preemptive pardons will have to have enough specificity about the alleged crimes that they will actually stand up against any future Federal charges.  Since these preemptive pardons are only good for Federal charges, you can bet that various state officials like the New York Attorney General will be looking at these pardons for clues to help their ongoing investigations.  The whole thing is just beyond sordid and a huge embarrassment to the United States.

Presidents in the past have granted some controversial pardons.  Ford pardoned Richard Nixon which was a very unpopular move.  Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a fugitive billionaire – again a very unpopular move.  Clinton also pardoned his brother, although his brother’s crimes were for relatively minor drug offenses.  The pardons granted previously, however, generally had to do with crimes that had already been committed and for which the individuals had been found guilty.

What Trump is allegedly considering, is granting pardons for his family and close associates for crimes which might have already have been committed but for which these individuals have not yet been indicted.  Of course, it would have been a waste of time to indict any of these individuals while Trump was in office because he would have just pardoned them immediately, e.g. Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, etc.

If Trump (or Pence) grants these types of preemptive pardons, it will completely undercut any statements that the United States makes about other countries and corruption.  There is a German based nonprofit organization called Transparency International that monitors and tries to rally support against corruption around the world.  Every year they publish something called the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and rank countries according to that index.   The top country (out of 179 ranked) in 2019 was Denmark followed by New Zealand.  These are the countries where the perception of corruption is the least.

At the bottom of the list are those countries where corruption is perceived to be rampant.  The bottom three countries on the list are Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.  That shouldn’t really come as a big surprise.  And, of course, Trump’s ‘friends’ don’t rank very well on this list as well:  North Korea (172), Russia (137), Phillipines (113).  And where is the United States?  The US is currently ranked 23^rd.  I suspect given all of this nonsense created by Trump about a ‘rigged election’ and if he ices that cake with preemptive pardons for his kids and close associates, that the US ranking according to the Transparency International CPI will fall further.

I and many others have talked about the substantial legal jeopardy Trump and his family face when he leaves office.  I have no doubt that there will be indictments coming for various and sundry financial crimes associated with the Trump organizations.   When Trump leaves office and the house of cards begins to fall, I believe this president, his family and his administration will be exposed as the most corrupt in American history.  I beg your pardon!

1. Justice Department investigating potential presidential pardon bribery scheme, court records reveal – CNNPolitics

None other than the National Review, the bulwark of conservative journalism, founded by William F. Buckley in the 1950’s, published an editorial yesterday that blasts the unwarranted and misguided legal maneuverings of Trump and his enablers to overturn the results of the election.  I have included the link to the entire editorial below, which is well worth the read.  My favorite paragraph is [the underlining is mine]:

“There are legitimate issues to consider after the 2020 vote about the security of mail-in ballots and the process of counting votes (some jurisdictions, bizarrely, take weeks to complete their initial count), but make no mistake: The chief driver of the post-election contention of the past several weeks is the petulant refusal of one man to accept the verdict of the American people. The Trump team (and much of the GOP) is working backwards, desperately trying to find something, anything to support the president’s aggrieved feelings, rather than objectively considering the evidence and reacting as warranted.”¹

My question is simply, if the National Review can call out Trump for all of this crap that is doing nothing but to weaken our democracy and recognizing that Trump’s team has produced virtually no evidence to back up his wild claims of voter fraud, why the hell can’t the Republican leadership find their collective spines and do the same thing?  I’m no psychologist but it sure seems to me that there is a somewhat ‘codependent’ relationship here.  Trump, being the egomaniac he is, craves adulation and to be the center of attention.  The Republicans, are addicted to power and recognizing they are the minority party, feed Trump’s ego so they can feed off of his ‘base.’   The whole thing seems pretty sick and certainly doesn’t seem like it’s in the best interests of the country.   And the really sad and somewhat ironic thing is that the ‘base’ are just pawns in this whole sordid exercise.

So, given that Trump’s team have lost or withdrawn almost 40 lawsuits and even Republican led states are certifying the results in Biden’s favor, I am getting less worried about Trump staying in office.  I think, in spite of the rhetoric, even he understands that his days are numbered.  The real question is, ‘how much damage will Trump do on the way out the door?’  He continues to purge top defense officials at the Pentagon and replace them with Trump loyalists.  With less than 60 days left in office, there is no rational explanation for this.  It’s certainly a gift to our adversaries – Putin, Xi, and every terrorist group in the world are loving it.

One of the findings of the 9/11 commission was that the delays in transition during the Bush-Gore fiasco contributed to the US vulnerability resulting in the terrorist attacks.  Recently, Iran’s top nuclear scientist was assassinated and Iran has vowed revenge.  No one has claimed responsibility but the attack has all of the hallmarks of an Israeli hit.   So, whether it was Israel or the US or even someone else, Iran will believe that the US at least knew about it and approved it, even if we didn’t carry it out.   So, instead of Trump doing everything he can to ensure the US defense posture is as strong as possible during the transition, he is doing exactly the opposite.  Why should we expect anything?  This has been a consistent pattern over the last four years.

On the good news side, today Biden and Harris began getting access (finally) to the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) which is a daily assessment provided to the president and vice-president from the intelligent agencies outlining potential threats and global issues.  It is widely known that Trump had little time for these briefings and didn’t really read them.  I am quite certain that Biden and Harris will not only read them but will welcome the assessments provided by the intelligence communities.   What a concept – a president making informed decisions based upon data provided by experts in their fields!!

And, another piece of good news, Biden will resume the daily press briefings that were abandoned by Trump because he didn’t like his press people to have to answer hard questions.   The icing on the cake is that the entire communications organization is composed of very talented women.   Jan 20^th can’t come soon enough.

So, a big ‘thank you’ to the National Review for standing up and calling out Trump for what he is.  The end of their editorial is much better than what I would write.

“Trump’s most reprehensible tactic has been to attempt, somewhat shamefacedly, to get local Republican officials to block the certification of votes and state legislatures to appoint Trump electors in clear violation of the public will. This has gone nowhere, thanks to the honesty and sense of duty of most of the Republicans involved, but it’s a profoundly undemocratic move that we hope no losing presidential candidate ever even thinks of again.

Getting defeated in a national election is a blow to the ego of even the most thick-skinned politicians and inevitably engenders personal feelings of bitterness and anger. What America has long expected is that losing candidates swallow those feelings and at least pretend to be gracious. If Trump’s not capable of it, he should at least stop waging war on the outcome”¹

1. Trump Election Fraud Allegations Disgraceful Endgame to 2020 Reelection Effort | National Review

I actually wrote some of this last Friday because I was very angry, but I decided not to post it and take a break in hopes that I would calm down a bit.   The sad fact is that I am still angry.  Why am I angry or frustrated or disappointed or all three?   The ongoing rhetoric and attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the election by Trump, his toadies and his supporters is quite possibly the most un-American thing I have witnessed in my life time.  And then you have all of the millions of people who exhibited completely irrational and selfish decision-making by travelling and gathering in large groups during the Thanksgiving holiday which will result in even darker days ahead for the Christmas holidays.

I have these feelings because I read about the health care workers who are fighting this war day in and day out and it’s like nobody seems to really care what they are going through nor willing to take a few simple steps to help them.  In spite of COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths rising across the entire country, and in spite of pleas from the CDC and other health professionals to not travel and not have large gatherings, millions of people chose to ignore those warnings.  Millions hit the airways and the roadways.  There is a 100 percent probability that all of this travel and these gatherings that people couldn’t seem to resist, will result in another surge that is likely to make the Christmas holiday even more grim. 

Hospitals are already getting stretched thin.  I read yesterday morning in the paper that nurses are commanding salaries of $5,000 to $8.000 per week in parts of the country because the shortage is so severe.  Some hospitals are already at capacity. What’s going to happen when the next surge resulting from Thanksgiving gets piled on top of these already stretched resources?   

The United States, the most powerful and technologically advanced country in the world, is ‘winning’ the COVID contest by any measure.   There are over 13 million cases in this country and over 266,000 deaths.  India, which is our next closest ‘competitor’, has 4 million fewer cases and half as many deaths and yet it has a population of three times that of the United States.  You have to ask, “What the hell is wrong with this country?”

I understand we’re all tired of living under the shadow of COVID and having to adjust our lifestyles.  I understand there are economic impacts on millions of people and businesses.  There is no doubt that we are in a war.  Then why the hell aren’t more people treating this like a war?   Why are people ignoring all of the warnings and selfishly willing to risk putting even more strain on an already overburdened health care system?  Why are public health officials getting death threats when they are just trying to do their jobs to keep their communities safe?  It boggles my mind and it makes me angry.

In some respects, what is going on reminds me of what was happening in this country during the Vietnam War era.  The country was bitterly divided.  The soldiers were sent to Vietnam because their country ordered them to do so and when they came home, they were welcomed by some and denigrated by others.   The health care workers and public health officials today didn’t choose to fight this war but have been thrust onto the front lines nevertheless.  And just like during the Vietnam era, the country is deeply divided between those who seem to be willing to abide by rules and guidance designed to help alleviate the strain on the health care system and those who just don’t seem to give a damn or, worse yet, blame health care workers for simply doing their jobs.  The mind set and treatment of the healthcare workers in this country, is really no different than how soldiers were treated when they fought in Vietnam.  It was a travesty then and it’s a travesty today.

As far as all of the ill-advised travel during this Thanksgiving holiday, I can only shake my head.  Given the millions of people who travelled, there is a 100 percent probability that some people unknowingly infected their friends and relatives.   The statistics show that some of those people will die.  Some projections are showing the death toll by Christmas will reach 300,000 or more which means even more strain on the nation’s health care system.   And, of course, we will get to witness this all over again for the upcoming Christmas holiday when another few million people will hit the airways and the highways. 

And it certainly doesn’t help that we have a president who seems to have completely abandoned his job and his spending all of his energy pushing baseless conspiracy theories and golfing.  Think about this for a second. Trump jumped all over Colin Kaepernick because he took a knee during the national anthem – calling Kaepernick, “un-American.”  He has labelled protestors, “un-American.”  He has labelled people who burn the flag, “un-American.”  He has labelled almost everyone who disagrees with him “un-American.” And yet he tramples all over the Constitution and shits all over democratic institutions like ‘free and fair’ elections and a ‘peaceful transfer of power,” under the guise of being a patriot – and people suck it up.

There was a small group of Trump supporters parading through downtown Bozeman yesterday waving their American flags.  What is wrong with people?  Trump is not a fucking patriot!!  He is doing everything in his power to undermine the democratic institutions that have stood the test of time for over 240 years.  Much of what Trump is doing is exactly what Mussolini did after he came to power in Italy.   The Trump ‘interview’ with Fox News anchor, Maria Bartiromo, over the weekend, was a lie-filled piece of propaganda which Mussolini would have been proud of.  “The press of Italy is free, freer than the press of any other country, so long as it supports the regime.” (Benito Mussolini)

So, for those who continue to help Trump propagate this bullshit about how the election was rigged and there was widespread voter fraud, I strongly suggest they leave their American flags at home and stop talking about patriotism.  They clearly have no concept of what patriotism means or what the American flag truly stands for.   The actions by Trump, his enablers and his supporters are a huge insult to the thousands of men and women who have fought and died to protect the democratic institutions and ideals that have been the hallmark of this country for generations.   

The sad fact is, it’s not going to be a very Merry Christmas this year.  Thousands more Americans will die because of an inept response by the Trump administration coupled with the selfish actions of millions of Americans who can’t seem to understand the concept of a pandemic.  And Trump will continue to endanger this country and its democratic institutions through his self-centered, reckless actions.  Yes, I’m angry.  I wish I didn’t care.  Unfortunately, I do.  Perhaps I should take up golf again.  That seems to be a popular way to deal with crises these days.

Once a con man, always a con man.  In spite of outlandish claims of wide spread voter fraud across the US, but particularly in those key battleground states that he lost, Trump’s crackerjack legal team has lost, had tossed out, or withdrawn over 30 lawsuits across multiple states for the simple reason that they have produced ZERO evidence of widespread voter fraud.  However, in a parallel effort the Trump campaign has sent out over 330 fundraising emails under the guise of challenging the legitimacy of the election.

Most donors don’t really read the fine print but if they did, they would see that the first 75% of the donation goes to Trump’s recently established (one week after the election) leadership PAC, Save America, up to the $5,000 limit (per person) and the other 25% goes to the Republican National Committee.  Only after the $5,000 threshold (per person) is reached are funds used for legal challenges. 

Further, since this is a ‘leadership PAC’ the rules are fairly loose as to how the money can be spent.  The fact is, these funds can be spent for personal expenses which is forbidden in a presidential campaign account.  Conceivably, the Trump family could draw salaries from Save America or use the PAC to host events at Trump properties thereby funneling the money into their pockets.  The fact is, this is providing Trump a slush fund that he has wide latitude how to use.    He could, in fact, milk donors with the promise of a 2024 presidential run for the next four years.  If I were cynical – which of course I’m not – I would think this is just another ‘con’ by the Trump family to get unsuspecting people to part with their money.  Remember Trump University?  Remember the ‘charitable’ Trump Foundation?  Remember Trump Airlines?  Remember the three bankrupt Trump casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey?  You get the idea.

One of the investigations underway with the New York Attorney General’s office has to do with the fact that the Trump organization wrote off $26 million in ‘consulting fees’ on their tax returns.  About $750,000 of that amount was apparently paid to Invanka Trump for her work as a ‘consultant’.  The sticky part is that while she was being paid as a ‘consultant’ she was also gainfully employed by the Trump organization.  I think the taxing authorities frown on individuals being both employees and consultants to an organization at the same time.  Since it seems like Trump’s crack legal team will be out of work soon, perhaps they can step in and help DJT and Invanka clarify this situation.  I’m sure the NY Attorney General will be all ears. (Don’t forget what I have previously posted about Russia and/or Indonesia!)

I have no doubt that Trump will continue to con his supporters after he leaves office but I believe, just like Bernie Madoff, one of these days, the Trump house of cards will come crashing down.  My guess is that today there aren’t many people, if any, who support Bernie Madoff or try to come to his defense or deny what he did.  I wonder how long it will take for many Trump supporters to come around once the charade starts to fall apart.  In the words of Rhett Butler, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!”  I’m just happy Trump got his ass booted out of the White House.

Based upon President-elect Biden’s early cabinet picks, it is clear he is intent on two things – 1) putting people in positions who actually have the experience and credentials to fill those positions and 2) creating a truly diverse cabinet that more closely resembles the demographics of the country.  It is also apparent that Biden will immediately try to repair all of the strategic alliances that Trump damaged.  And, I read that Emily Murphy, the head of the GSA, finally signed the paperwork allowing the formal transition to move ahead.  I guess better late than never.

One of the big questions remaining is how much damage will Trump do on his way out the door.   Since he has demonstrated upon many occasions that he is a very vindictive man and he cares more about Donald J. Trump than about America, it is not a stretch to think that now that he is being forced to come to grips with the reality that he lost the election, that he will do everything in his power to undermine Biden’s administration before they take office Jan. 20^th.  One would like to think that he would act more like a president than a petulant child but history would suggest that wouldn’t be a good bet.  Only 57 days left.

The other big question is how cooperative or non-cooperative will Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republicans be with respect to Cabinet confirmations and other Biden objectives.  If Mitch McConnell resumes his ‘grim reaper’ mantel, it’s going to make Biden’s road a bit rocky.  I guess time will tell.

At some point, I hope that all members of Congress remember that they are there on behalf of ‘we the people’ and ‘we the people’ are getting damned sick of grid-lock, partisan politics and a broken government.  I am still hopeful that at least some of them, in the absence of Trump, will remember how to spell, ‘COMPROMISE’.  Perhaps we should all write to our respective Congressman and suggest putting ‘I resolve to actually getting something done’ at the top of their list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2021! 

1. How Trump’s fundraising could benefit his post-White House political life – CNNPolitics