“I can’t get to sleep. I think about the implications of diving into deep and possible their complications. Especially at night I worry over situations I know will be alright. Perhaps it’s just imagination. Day after day it reappears. Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear.” — Colin Ham
We have been watching this show for five years now. Norm after norm is shattered as we are stripped down to the bare bones of the constitution itself. One thing has come out of it. We know exactly what is on the books and what was simply “understood.”
There was a joke going around the house that Trump should be charged with misdemeanor treason. It’s like treason except it is a lesser charge because he’s incredibly bad at it. He’s trying to betray the United States and tear everything down, but his tiny little hands and tiny little brain won’t let him do it effectively. So, he fails repeatedly.
It is that failure that lulls everyone into a false sense of security. Yes, he is supposedly a billionaire, but that failure has been the failure that has defined his life. He has failed at marriage. He has had six bankruptcies. Trump magazine. Trump Airlines. Trump steaks. Trump wine. Trump University. It’s hilarious to see how some people hold him up as a business genius.
So, when the president attempts to overthrow the election it is rife with comedy. His team of lawyers has either been thrown off the case (Sidney Powell) or down and out with the virus (Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis). This is before Rudy brought forth a collection of haphazardly drafted lawsuits and half baked witnesses. In the meantime he has leaked gas and dripped something from his head.
His legal team is 1 for 48 in legal battles. To put this into perspective, if you stuck a bat in any of our hands and told us to go hit a big league pitcher we would probably fare better than that. When your efforts repeatedly make it into Saturday Night Live you know something is terribly wrong.
Yet, there are two inescapable facts that we have to consider. First, his legal defense fund has raised over 200 million dollars from various donors. He doesn’t have to spend a penny of it on his actual legal battles. He can pocket most of it or repay debts he has with the RNC. It’s even in the fine print. The whole thing smacks of an ad you used to see in the National Enquirer. The ad reads, “Avoid rip offs, send in five bucks.” You can just imagine a doofus in his MAGA hat saying, “I’ll send in ten bucks honey. We’ll be doubly protected.”
The second fact is that out of over 200 congress people and senators in the GOP, only 25 have acknowledged that Joe Biden won the election. Most have been non-committal. They keep saying that it is Trump’s right to exhaust all legal avenues. Some have gone even further and said that Trump actually won the election.
Meanwhile, no governing has taken place since November 3rd. Trump seems to be committed to leaving the White House, but he is refusing to attend the inauguration. That would be a first. In the ultimate middle finger salute, he plans on holding his own rally during the inauguration. That is obviously also a first.
None of this surprises most people. It’s been his modus operandi for over four decades. Some people kept claiming he would pivot at some point. He would pivot after the last election. He would pivot after he was impeached. He would pivot now that he has lost. He will pivot after he leaves the White House. Guess what. He’s not pivoting.
The most distressing thing about the treason, sedition, and attempted coup is not that all of it failed so miserably or that it happened in the first place. The most distressing thing is that others allowed it. They looked the other way. They didn’t speak up because they were afraid of a nasty tweet. They were afraid of being primaried. They were afraid of their funding running dry. They were afraid of losing his base.
What is most distressing is the knowledge that someday someone will come along that is better at all of this than Trump is. Someone will come along that is smarter. Someone will come along without the tremendous negatives in his personality and character. Someday someone will come along that knows what to do with the power when he or she gets it. If history is any guide, there won’t be anyone willing to stop them.
It’s easy to sit here as a Democrat and throw stones. Yes, I’ve never had to deal with the criminality on this scale. The worst our party has had to deal with are some tawdry sex scandals. If an authoritarian tried to take over our party I’m not sure how we would react. I’d like to think I’d defend democracy and the constitution. It’s just so sad to see so many people willing to flush that all down the toilet for a few pieces of silver.
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