I’ve been holding off posting anything because I wanted to watch the outcome of Trump’s efforts to pull off a coup de etat following the election. I was anxious and am still worried that Trump would try to steal the election and usurp the results to ensure he stays in power. Surprisingly, state officials have acted responsibly, and the election, as of now, stands as it was called, Biden winning 306 Electoral votes. Unfortunately, very few Republicans call Trump out on his incitement as the dangerous practice that it is. Today, at least one Republican official in Georgia called out the President as the irresponsible fool he is.
“You have not condemned this language or these actions. …..and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this “
That pretty much sums the state of the election up now. It’s, on the whole, not a good news story, but in one awesome respect it is – Donald Trump was defeated through a larger turnout than we have seen in many previous elections. Joe Biden is the President-elect. That’s awesome news and is something to celebrate, as much of the world did almost a month ago.
Unfortunately, the Senate is still up for grabs, and the most destructive man in America, Mitch McConnell, won re-election. The House majority is now a razor-thin margin thanks to how down-ballot races went – and some truly vile people got elected to the House.
But Trump was defeated, and that is no small thing. It’s a good news story that has to be celebrated because for a few years at least, we are being allowed to turn the ship of state around and off the tracks taking it straight to authoritarianism and a one-party state. ( more on that in my next post.)
More importantly, a great many of the disgusting people who served as enablers for Trump will find themselves out of a job on January 20th. Especially this guy:
Also heading for the exits will be a whole host of other criminals and sycophants.
Steve Mnuchin
Betsy DeVos
Mike Pompeo ( The Worst Secretary of State – EVER!)
Wilbur Ross
Sonny Perdue
The list is long and not distinguished. One particular person I will be happy to see move on is David Friedman, United States Ambassador to Israel and unabashed cheerleader for Likud ( definitely NOT a part of his job description). Replacing him with someone more evenhanded and competent is an accomplishment unto itself.
And that is pretty much the theme we see from President-Elect Biden’s picks for key positions so far. Picking Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary is a masterstroke – it sends a big FU to Trump, and it gets someone in office who understands monetary policy. ( Something Mnuchin never did.) Likewise, picking Blinken for Secretary of State. Having an experienced diplomat can start repairing the State Department that literally experienced a huge brain drain, which was also underscored by our hapless foreign policy initiatives – making the world distrust us.
If nothing else is accomplished, at least getting positions filled with decent human beings and overturning a lot of Trump’s executive agenda will have made these past anxiety-filled months worth it.
And if the COVD Vaccine now coming into approval succeeds, the economy can come back. The coronavirus epidemic in the United States will go down as a needless tragedy that could definitely have been avoided. Dozens of Americans who could have done something, but did nothing, have blood on their hands. Starting with Donald Trump.
That alone is reason enough to get rid of him. The souls of 276,000 Americans who died needlessly demand it.
That is the good news about the election. We, the American people, have been given a chance to rebuild our shattered democracy. Whether we take it or not is the question that remains to be answered.
My thoughts on that, in part 2.
“It’s not complicated. Trump lost because a rock-solid American majority disliked and disapproved of him every single day since an Electoral College fluke installed him in the presidency despite a 3 million vote margin against him in 2016” – David Frum