Month: November 2020

While Donald Trump is ranting and raving about how he will never give up trying to prove election fraud, we can already feel the air around the Democrats. They know they have won, so they have only one thing left to do. Hand a victory to the Republicans.

Our political system is an abusive relationship. The GOP beats the Dems around for as long as they can. They gaslight. They verbally abuse. They slap us across the face in blatant disregard for the rules they create. Then, when the Dems score some form of victory, the GOP plays the victim and demands the Dems play nice with them while they work through their emotions.

In the meantime, the GOP is just using that time to plan their further abuses. The Senate approval of Cabinet postings has long been considered a political formality, so long as the candidate is just plain not qualified. However, Mitch McConnell has already stated that he plans on dictating who he will accept even in these positions. I am fairly certain that he will only consider Republicans acceptable. It is just another way the GOP, and McConnell personally, has held the country hostage for well over a decade now.

Do the Dems fight back? No. An abusive boyfriend is better than no boyfriend at all, apparently. In fact, the Dems are already trying to find ways to give the GOP a pass.

Today, I read an article that suggests we should forgive the GOP and then work to help them build their self-esteem through building up their economies. In this way, they will stop being taker states and start becoming giver states, and they will feel better about themselves. The article uses the rebuilding of Germany and Japan after WWII.

However, the article completely leaves out the insanely germane fact that, before there was rebuilding, there was a reckoning. We (the Allies) imprisoned and, in many cases executed, the leaders of both nations. We also held to account the most egregious actors in each country to account. Only after this happened did we help rebuild their economies. In this way, both countries have been staunch allies ever since.

But, the Dems say things like, “heal the nation.” They use words like “unity.” They give the GOP a pass. The GOP doesn’t even pretend they won’t do it again. But, for some reason, the Dems cannot accept that the whole ‘hug your bully’ strategy has never worked in the history of the world.

What the Dems seem to be glossing over is that the next autocrat that takes power in the GOP will be much worse than Trump. Why? Because they will be smarter than Trump. Power will not come by accident. This person will learn from the mistakes of Trump.

Our democracy cannot survive the next attempt.

I did not want to really get into anything during the vote. The whole point of this blog was to remind people of who Trump really is. I asked myself if I wanted to continue with this, and the answer is yes.

Aside from anything else, Trump will be in office for the next almost three months. It is safe to assume that the interregnum will be the darkness before the dawn. There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal.

First, Donald will NEVER concede the election. He will fight it, tooth and nail, until he is dragged from the White House. Do not doubt for one minute that he will pack up and leave voluntarily. Ironically, I expect Melania to leave long before Jan 20^th.

The biggest problem right now is that Trump was not truly excoriated by the nation. In fact, Trump may well have won this election. Fully half the nation seems to still be behind him. I can only imagine that, without the pandemic, he may have won a second term by a landslide.

Because of this, a large percentage of his cult-like followers will never accept that he lost this election through anything but cheating. We have all seen the protests at ballot counting stations. Chants of “stop the steal” echo in every location.

These political zombies have also turned on Faux News since they called Arizona for Biden. Even the Proud Boys have announced that ‘stand by’ is now over. So, there is a very strong possibility that we will descend into violence in many areas of the country.

Even with all this, Trump is stoking the fire. He is doing everything he can to delegitimize the election. I never thought I would live in a country where the President worked to damage democracy and our democratic institutions.

I could talk all night about this, but I don’t want to bring down the joy. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the President and Vice-President elect. This is a good start.

Celebrate for now. But, be ready for what comes until inauguration day.

There is little more I can say at this point that has not been said a million times. Today’s column is going to be short and sweet.

Tomorrow is our official election day. VOTE!

Do not be intimidated by the fake Trump poll watchers. They will try. If, for some reason, you are denied the ability to vote, ASK FOR A PROVISIONAL BALLOT TO FILL OUT. GET A RECEIPT.

If you can, take someone else to your polling place so they can vote.

Finally… Breathe. There is nothing more we can do at the moment.

Maybe, go to the grocery store and stock up for a couple of days. Violence is probable. Stay home on November 4th.

May the odds be ever in our favor. See you on the other side.

In two days, the actual election day will be upon us. I used to look forward to election day. It filled me with excitement for what may come. Honestly, that stopped sometime around the Clinton administration. I finally had to admit that I was voting against someone instead of voting for someone.

This year is no different. I am voting against Donald Trump. I have discussed this before, but, Biden is not meant to be a fix to our national problems. He is just supposed to return us to our previous course. It is easier to fix a corrupt democracy than it is to fix a corrupt dictatorship.

But, before we get there, we have to move past the election. We will not move past the election without violence. The violence has already begun. Anus Tangerinus is absolutely encouraging it.

It starts with him calling for his supporters to “poll watch.” What he wants is for armed militias to show up at the polls to intimidate Biden voters. There was actually a security company that was recruiting military veterans to “guard” the polls. Luckily, that was shut down.

But, it has not stopped Trump from his rallying cry. There are militias that are flat out stating that they are currently training to bring harm to non-Trump supporters and voters. Believe them when they tell you what they are trying to do.

This is all political violence. Psychological violence. But, the stakes are raising. A convoy of vehicles in Texas attempted to run a Biden campaign bus off the road on its way to a rally near Austin. At least one Biden campaign vehicle was damaged when a Trump supporter’s vehicle collided with it.

Then, a large group of Trump supporters shut down a highway in New Jersey with a road block. I find this ironic considering they have previously spoken out against BLM protesters shutting down roads. I suppose it is just another case of do as I say and not as I do.

Early voting is over as of today. This means we have one day to gird our loins and prepare for election day. I expect voter intimidation. I expect violence. More violence. We cannot forget police officers who pepper sprayed a crowd of voters who were marching to a polling place in an effort to encourage voting. Several arrests were made. Why? Who knows?

Trump will not go quietly into that good night. Trump has a new plan to declare victory on election night. This will do nothing but create more confusion and violence. This is what he wants.

When Biden does not acquiesce to this, Trump’s supporters will riot. It will only get worse as numbers begin ticking towards Biden as votes are counted in the days after. There will be calls that the election is being stolen. An election is not over until all votes are counted.

As well, Trump has an army of lawyers who will challenge any result that is not positive for his campaign. In this, he hopes to put the election into the court system. This way, he is banking on a conservative Supreme Court to hand him back the presidency. Biden has his own army of lawyers, but this would all be fraught with peril.

We must all be ready for this. We must be ready for the violence. We must be ready for the intervening months between the election and the inauguration of, hopefully, Trump’s successor.