Okay–as multiple sources have now reported, Donald Trump is refusing to commit to the peaceful transfer of power if he should lose.
For months now, Democrats have warned and worried about the prospect of Trump simply rejecting election results and proclaiming himself the winner– regardless of the vote tally. There have been credible reports of mail slowdowns, enlistment of “volunteers” prepared to intimidate voters at the polls, and similar suppression tactics.
Now, a carefully-researched article from the Atlantic has raised the stakes.
Barton Gellman writes that the Trump team is creating a plan to “work around” those pesky actual vote results in battleground states. If Biden wins a Red swing state, its GOP-run state legislature would announce that the vote was tainted and appoint Republican electors instead of the Democratic electors who won. (They would insist they were protecting the will of the people from those who were trying to rig an election.)
There’s a lot more detail, but such shenanigans would undoubtedly spawn litigation that would end up at the Supreme Court. Which explains the GOP’s frantic effort to confirm a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsberg right away.
The New Yorker is one of several outlets reporting on Trump’s admission of that motive:
One thing you cannot accuse Donald Trump of is trying to disguise his nefarious intentions. For months now, legal experts and Democratic campaign officials have warned that he may reject the results of this year’s election and pronounce himself the victor regardless of the vote tally. On Tuesday, Trump virtually confirmed that this is his plan. He also indicated that rushing through the appointment of another conservative to the Supreme Court is a key element of his strategy to stay in the White House.
The only thing that can short-circuit Trump’s subversion of American democracy is an absolutely massive turnout for Democrats on Election Day. That’s why my husband and I will mask up and vote early. That’s also why my youngest son just sent a contribution to “We Got The Vote” This is the organization raising money to pay off the fines of former felons in Florida so that they can vote in this election.
As most of you reading this probably know, in a Florida referendum, voters approved a change of law to allow former felons to vote. Republicans who control the Florida legislature and Florida’s despicable Governor refused to implement the mandated change, passing a measure that prevents ex-felons from voting until they pay off whatever fines they still owe .(Can we spell “poll tax”?) This is particularly egregious because not only are many ex-offenders unable to raise that money, the State of Florida doesn’t have the institutional capacity to tell them what they owe.
The organization “We Got the Vote” is raising money to pay off fines so ex-felons can vote. (As a nice “reward” for sending them money, they are a tax-exempt nonprofit, so donations are fully tax deductible.unlike political donations.)
Michael Bloomberg’s political operation recently raised more than $16 million from supporters and foundations to pay the court fines and fees for more than 30,000 Black and Latino voters in Florida with felonies, allowing them to vote in the upcoming election–and the Republican AG immediately launched an “investigation,” citing “potential election law violations.”
That donation didn’t constitute a violation of anything other than GOP electoral prospects, but as my son pointed out, that $16 million was only enough to cover some 32,000 voters– out of an estimated 700,000. Since Florida votes are going to be critically important this year–Trump can’t win without Florida–this seems like a good investment for those of us trying to increase turnout.
And turnout is definitely the name of the game this year. COVID or no COVID, Americans need to vote early. In states that count absentee ballots before Election Day–a list of states that doesn’t include Indiana–that means getting those ballots in ASAP. In places like Indiana that don’t start counting mailed-in ballots until Election Day, we need to put on our masks and find an early-voting site.
The only thing that will defeat the intended theft of this election is massive blue turnout.
For a vast majority of my 70 years, I have believed in the a United States Constitution. I still do, with all my heart.
Getting real is dealing with the REAL TRUTH. Why is it that Trump can’t win without the use of FASCIST tactics? He’s MISCALCULATED. He has no other choice.
You don’t wait for the election to prove that.
We continue to play from behind. You have to get ahead of the curve. The authors cited today are still behind the curve. The problem comes from the early teachings of Professor Howard Zinn, who taught at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Carol Polsgrove, a professor at the University of Indiana at Bloomington, recognized the potential problem stemming from Howard Zinn, years ago.
See: “Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement” by Carol Polsgrove (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2001).
This is Trumps greatest diversion. Everyone is wringing their hands over his repudiation of democracy and no one is talking about his culpability in the deaths of 200,00 Americans from COVID-19. That’s exactly the point. People have become terminally intoxicated with his bullshit.
Larry,
It’s a war. A WAR AGAINST AMERICA. There are always casualties in a war.
I, too, plan to mask up and vote in person on election.
Can’t believe people STILL refuse to wear masks…….or wear them improperly with noses uncovered in “protest” to somehow make a point. Whatever happened to public safety? Will the seat belt laws be the next to be spurned? Trump’s FAILURES with Covid are as blatant as his perpetuation of racism and bigotry in our nation. Too much destruction, too much division, too much pain and suffering. Bottom line………THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO!
See: “James Dobson’s War on America” by Gil Alexander-Moegerle (Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 1997).
We just can’t believe what has really happened to us. The media can’t tell the whole story, they’re too far behind. All they are doing is playing CATCH-UP, which they can never succeed in doing before it is too late.
The choir have heard the clarion call, but what about the rest of the congregation?
If you recall, I would say “if it’s time to time?”
You don’t need Howard Zinn nor anyone else see the signs, just open your eyes!
For some reason, to urge your fellow man to action, whether it be climate, civil rights, human rights, ethical behavior, compassion, empathy, the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes, it seems they need someone to follow.!?.!?
This is what happens when everyone is asleep at the switch! I recall years back, before 2015, I was posting on another blog called News Views, very liberal by any stretch. I said that the main issue would be the courts, and that if Hillary didn’t make it, the courts were definitely going to be the next major target. Vladimir Putin was aware of that fact, Donald Trump was aware of that fact, everyone else? They Seemed to be in a Lala land! They talked about everything but the courts. I pointed out that, it didn’t matter what else was done, if you had an independent court system, anything done out of scope of the law or the intent of the law, would be struck down, and that’s why the courts were so vital and should’ve been the rallying cry! I can repost articles that I had written 6 and 7 years ago on that very subject. So, you don’t have to follow anyone in particular, you just have to use your brain! Because, if people used their brain 5 years ago, this timeline would not have existed. There would be a lot more people alive from this covid 19 issue, we wouldn’t be talking about how the EPA, the CDC, the FDA, the FBI, are being systematically dismantled and politicized to the detriment of our existence!
With all of the protesting energy going on right now, which ends up turning into useless violence and finger-pointing, there should be mass gatherings for these young folks to get involved with the election process! But, again, the loudest and dumbest stupidity gets the action.
Would did Ernest Hemingway say? ” For whom the Bell tolls? It tolls for thee!”
When a person died, the church bells would toll, if you sit real quiet, early in the morning, or very late in the evening, you can hear those bells, and they are tolling, they are tolling for everyone!
MLK warned, John Lewis warned, they fought using peaceful protest to point out brutality. The imagery changed the narrative of what was going on. Just as violence in the name of protest changes the imagery of what’s going on!
That’s what I meant before in the other comments about never learning from history! Not only does mankind not learn from bad things, but neither do they learn from the good! Even if this country makes it through this current flirt with authoritarian white nationalist fascism, the whipsaw is going to be even more unpalatable for many.
If you look at the demise of the Babylonians, they were known to be as ferocious as a lion and quick as an eagle!
Or, the Medes and Persians, known as being a great bear! It was quoted to be driven by the edict “get up and eat much flesh!”
Or the Greeks/Macedonians, who are known as being swift as a a winged leopard because of the speed and ferocity at which it conquered its enemies.
Or the Roman Empire, which was called unusually strong with teeth of iron using them to crush it’s enemies and finishing them off by treading them under its feet. Interestingly, Rome was quite involved Britain, and even though they left, Britain had acquired a lot of knowledge from the Romans in empire building.
Or the British, basically vanquished the other potential world powers by using its Navy and some favorable weather to become king of the seas and spread its influence across the globe.
And lastly, Pax Americana, the most powerful nation on the planet!
What happened to all of these great powers of history? They were not conquered from the outside, they disintegrated from the inside, like a rot, pax Americana took over for the British, because without America its former colony, the British would not have survived the 1st or 2nd world war.
So, pax Americana, the great experiment, seems to have met its match because of the rot which infected every other mega power on the planet. So, like was mentioned earlier, corruption, incompetence, greed, ego, disintegration of families and social infrastructure, led to the demise of all of these, and is currently infecting the last power, like the rot which consumed previous powers.
What will rise from the ashes of this power? I suppose, will all have to wait and see.
I’m amazed anyone could be surprised by Trump’s moves here. He’s said the same thing for years. Wouldn’t commit to accepting results in the republican primary or 2016 general either.
LeBron James, with the help of some fellow athletes, also started a fund for this back in July. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/07/24/lebron-james-joins-push-to-turn-out-ex-felon-vote-in-florida-1303417
Howard Zinn would have been my hero in the fight for democracy, but he made a fatal error by arguing that racism was virtually the same in the North and the South. By doing so, he distracted most of the national media away from focusing their investigations on cities like Dallas and Jacksonville, when it came to the machinations, especially within the Southern Baptist Convention, in those two cities.
The media fell too far behind and still hasn’t caught up.
Zinn was from Brooklyn. His experiences in the “Deep South” came from his teaching at Spelman College, an historic Black college, in Atlanta. Atlanta was much more tolerant than the other major cities in the South, because of the liberal philosophy of the publisher of “The Atlanta Journal,” the major newspaper in that city.
Ralph McGill was the name of the Editor of the Atlanta newspaper, I was thinking about.
The Trumpet is the Master Illusionist, no real Magic in a sense, just a plethora of misdirection.
The GOP has built themselves into a con a huge con game. Cut taxes for the 1% and it will trickle down all the way to Hooterville. Blacks, browns and radical Anti-Fa types are coming to your gated community – Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War – The Dogs in this case being Reactionary – Neo-Confederate Militias.
As Bernie Sanders has recently said,
“No matter how rich and powerful you may be, no matter how arrogant and narcissistic you may be, no matter how much you think you can get anything you want, let me make this clear to Donald Trump,” Sanders said. “Too many people have fought and died to defend American democracy and you are not going to destroy it.”
“Trump’s strategy to delegitimise this election and to stay in office if he loses is not complicated. Finding himself behind in many polls, he is attempting massive voter suppression.”
Sanders went on: “Trump has also urged his supporters to become, quote, ‘poll watchers’, but what he is really saying is that he wants his supporters, some of whom are members of armed militias, to intimidate voters. We’re already seeing this in Virginia, where early voters were confronted by Trump supporters, and election officials in Fairfax county said that some voters and polling staff felt intimidated.”
Somehow The Trumpet’s massive criminal negligence in dealing with Corona does not register with his followers – The Trumpeters. The illusions and mis-direction is all The Trumpeter’s see and hear. Well what would you expect, The Trumpeters are uniquely susceptible to the simplistic, i.e., No Critical Thinking is Allowed.
I believe in the Constitution, I just don’t believe in the current government!
VOTE BLUE – STRAIGHT TICKET!!!
There is Good News out there — and God knows, I need some.
Good News #1: The “state legislature” route: Each state has a statute that electors are selected by the popular vote. To do otherwise would require each state involved to pass a statute before the election, signed in to law by that state’s governor, changing their laws to have the state legislature pick electors rather than voters — and to do so before election day. It tells you what some Trumpees are willing to do, but it isn’t going to happen.
Good News #2: Biden’s margin is solidifying. Even Fox News poll gives Biden a 9% lead nationwide. More important, Biden has a 5% lead in OHIO! That is a must win state that Trump won by 10%.
* NOTE: Ohio is a MUST WIN state for Trump. Without it, there is no way to winning. For Biden, it would be great, but none of his “win” scenarios rely upon Ohio going blue.
The DEMS are D-U-M-B. Bloomberg provided $100M to help win Florida. No doubt much of this will go into TV ads, phone banking, etc. – all marginally effective when most voters have already made up their mind. But….what if the money went to allow ex-felons to vote? Would they? As nearly all of them are African-American, might they vote DEM? Per my favorite Alaskan governor – “you betcha”!
The so-called opposition party to all this nonsense has done nothing but make this a fundraising opportunity. We are shuffling money to felons so they can vote in Florida. This wreaks of desperation. Reactionary!
Is the platform of the Democratic Party that weak? Are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris not sufficiently better than Trump/Pence? Do they need even more money for campaign ads to line the pockets of our Entertaintainment moguls?
RBG should have retired under Obama, but she didn’t want to. I’m guessing she and Hillary had plans under the Clinton administration, which never happened. We got Trump instead. This is a manufactured crisis by Americans for Americans.
The Entertainment Media has been lapping all this up to convert clicks and hits into profits. Super PACs are buying hit pieces against candidates.
Meanwhile, QAnon leads the way for those without critical thinking skills. I believe the Trumpians now have Hunter Biden in the center of a global human trafficking ring or linked with a Russian mobster. Who knows?
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think all this chaos is manufactured to keep Americans distracted from real events we are not allowed to see. Who is lining their pockets with QE? You would think all this chaos would have the stock market crashing to new all-time lows. So, who’s feeling the confusion, and who is getting rich despite it?
As always, follow the money trail in a society which places profits/income/cash above all else.
Todd – you just don’t get it. The people of the red state of Florida voted to let these folks vote. The money is going to the state to pay their fines. Think before you write…
Indiana only allows absentee ballots for people who have a reason they can’t vote in person. For example, I’m currently on chemo and have no immune system to speak of; getting COVID now would be a death sentence for me. I already sent in my ballot—I had no idea it wouldn’t be counted until Election Day. (I do hope my vote counts, even in a red state like Indiana.)
Millennials funding fines relief for felons in prison in Florida … so they can vote … perhaps vote out a neo-felon? Thank God it’s Friday. I always learn something new from Sheila. At least a refreshing alliteration to get me through the weekend without slander.
While Trump/Pence/Barr/McConnell spend all of their time trying to set up the perfect con of the entire country, Democrats must organize to overwhelm them on election day. This is our last opportunity to save the Constitution, to save our freedom, to fulfill the promise of liberal democracy. If we fail on Nov 3 we have fallen victim to what we always thought we had immunity against. It’s no longer about winning the election, it’s about survival of everything that defines us as a country.
Stephen,
I, mostly, agree with your legal analysis. States do have statutes tying the selection of electors to the popular vote. However, I certainly don’t agree with you that the legislature wouldn’t have time to change these laws before the election counting played out. Legislative bodies can waive rules and pass bills in a day. Many of the states in question have huge Republican majorities which will make it next to impossible for Democrats to stop the bill.
Also, it’s not clear the Governor has any say whatsoever in the process. The U.S. Constitution specifically talks about state legislatures deciding how electors are to be selected.
FYI, I totally agree with you about Ohio. It’s an overlooked state when it comes to analyzing the race. Biden is leading in many polls. If Trump doesn’t win Ohio, he’s done. That is if the election were a normal one.
Stephen,
Sorry…just now seeing another point of what you said. Why do you think the change in law has to be done BEFORE Election Day? There is nothing stopping states from changing their laws after Election Day, and before the safe harbor deadline by which states are to submit their slate of electors to Congress. Now, I know there will be litigation over this, but the law is definitely not clear cut (as far as I know) that any change in law must be done before Election Day.
NPR this a.m. trumpian party officials,including mcconnel said it will be a smooth transistion if Biden wins.. i suppose they feel they need to protect the incumbents,who are on the chopping block, want to project concern while trump demands his fame.ill believe it when mcconnel admits to being honest and takes the blame for pandering trump..plain and simple,they all are courting teason,or a coup..weve allowed these mistakes for representives by ignoring the principle need to question anyone correctly,prior to any one running for any position in governing/representaltion..the rnc/dnc need accountability and allow anyone to run,and be questioned before they take any canidate for election,from the majority of the peoples choice…forever after this travisty..maybe people like tom perez should be shunned like yesterdays trash..the whole field of incumbents whoever, need to be questioned by the public,now,non debate, with a full accounting of their actions,whether dem,or rep. corp types need to be voted out,since, they procure this appitite to deconstruct our democracy,for their,or anyones needs. monied intrests need to be taxed for the powers they purchaced with investors money,our tax dollars or any donation, or money for think tanks,and be counted and publically put on display..
no more beat around the bush answers to questions,or be removed from rolls.. people like mcconnel should be tried for deliberate disregard for the constitution the people and job as a representive.. the media should be held accountable for the circus they produce for profits,(taxed at 90%)over the deliberate intent it has caused(fox,newsmax,oan)..this is in full color here,theres no debating it…mcconnel is resposable with his hench people, for this travisty of a election,and what they have propagated in its run up to nov 3,,, any and all, violence produced from trumps rehetoric, should be made as a crime,and he alone,be charged with inciting riots,contempt and a coup… mcconnel,derlection of duty,be charged as a traitor,and his hench people,for the same dereliction of duty..we need to change a few things, we now see how and what becomes of the present goverment,when they deliberately incite violence and and try and throw an election for their own need of power.. we are being denied due process of a free society,and a constitution that forbids this power grab.. if the supreme court in any balance sees this election other than corrupt,they all need to be replaced with a citizen like court.
There is no guarantee that if you spend $1 trillion in Florida, especially paying fines for felons, the government can always tie that up in court and not let them vote this election anyway! So all that money would be and/or is wasted. The smart thing to do would be to bring BLM into the fold and have them work with the younger groups. Channel their anger in a way that will be beneficial and not create more disunity.
I know about the fruit of the hanging tree, they used to call it purple fruit, and the reason they called it purple fruit was because of the HUE of a black man or woman skin after they were hung. The seeds of the hanging tree where the bones that were left after burning or rotting of those hung on the tree! The anger is never far under the surface, and, you cannot compare that experience on the whole with any other groups experience in this country except maybe the 1st Nations. Other than that, the closest would be what happened the Jews in Nazi Germany!
You cannot include other groups especially those that are not ethnic in that experience. Because, for example, the gay community! Being gay was a very elitist type of thing! Especially in ancient Rome and ancient Greece. It had nothing to do with ethnicity, it had to do with status! Those who were gay and poor were ostracized from the elites. The hypocrisy was and still is astounding concerning that, but that does not compare with what’s happened concerning the African-American history in this country. Entire families ripped apart, the structure of the family unit nonexistent in African-American communities because it was that way for hundreds of years. Families could be disbanded at a moments notice at the whim of the owners.
Of course, the slaves weren’t executed, but they were hobbled if they tried to escape. Once in a while there would be an execution of a slave but that would be to set an example. But after Emancipation and during the beginning of the Jim Crow laws including the poll taxes, the KKK was formed, and the wholesale lynchings and murders took place because there was no financial loss to the white masters! It was open season and hanging trees blossomed with purple fruit across the South and even in New York City!
History is stubborn, hatred doesn’t like history, and humanity is too stupid to take a clue!
On the slightly positive (Republicans change their minds at the drop of a dime as long as it lands in their pockets) side of the election ledger, both McConnell and Liz Cheney have made relatively strong statements about how the transition of power must be both peaceful and in accordance with the Constitution.
Who knew that some Republicans actually believe (for today at least) that some parts of democracy are worth saving? Bernie is making election integrity his main focus until November 3 and I think Rachel Madow and Lawrence O’Donnell will do the same. This is the biggest story in America since the signing of the Constitution, and it must remain front and center to give everyone a chance to reflect on its impact on them personally. Trump’s ploy to have the Supreme Court declare him the winner is aspirational, but not very feasible even if his new justice gets her chance to say, “Thank you for my new job, Donald.”
At least as far one of the so called “Battleground States,” Pennsylvania. Even if the Republican controlled legislature passed legislation to change how the electors can be appointed, hopefully Tom Wolf, the current Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, would undoubtedly veto it. (As pointed out by Lawrence O’Donnell last night on MSNBC). North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan also have Democratic governors.
Of course, there is no way the totally unprincipled, Trump toady, imbecile DeSantis in Florida would do the same. On the other hand, Mike DeWine of Ohio has shown himself to be a bit more principled than most Trump party members. But counting on a veto from him is probably doubtful too.
Mr. Terrell, Thank you for the good news. But I think what Barton Gellman (and Sheila) is saying is that the state legislators will “break their own laws” and appoint whatever electors they want. It will be done in the name of saving us from the tainted vote. If that happens, there might be one more chance to save the election. The incoming Congress is supposed to declare (in a joint session) the winner of the Electoral College votes. And the incoming Congress can object to any state’s vote count if the objection is supported by at least one senator and one representative. Of course, it is not quite that simple, but the count could be in the hands of the newly elected Congress. I can’t say I really understand this, but I hope there is some truth to it! Vote and Vote Blue! (‘Cause I know of a LOT of votes my Blue vote will need to negate.)
Members of Congress can object to any state’s vote count, provided objection is presented in writing and is signed by at least one member of each house of Congress. An objection supported by at least one senator and one representative will be followed by the suspension of the joint session and by separate debates and votes in each House of Congress; after both Houses deliberate on the objection, the joint session is resumed.
Ms Kennedy, I neglected to delete my note quoted from Wikipedia about Members of Congress being able to object to any state’s vote count. If it is included, it needs to be cited. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College
If you “edit” these posts, please feel free to delete that paragraph that I copied and pasted and neglected to delete before submitting.
Apologies.
Lester is right, Todd, and I am one of the “Florida folks” who voted to allow ex-felons to vote. My side won decisively, but the reactionary Republican Florida legislature and their Trump clone governor decided to pass a retrospective ex post facto law requiring ex-felons to pay court costs etc. stemming from their trials. Those in jail and out of jail are still citizens and the latter are entitled to vote, and Florida Republicans in passing such legislation were exercising naked political power via such ex post facto legislation to keep mostly black ex-cons (and probably Democrats) from exercising their people-approved right to vote in a show of “Votes of the people do not count; votes of legislators count. We won. You lost. Get over it.” Poll tax in disguise? Sure looks like it, given the racial composition of such ex-cons.
It would take some half billion dollars to get all of the ex-cons in Florida registered to vote and with an end of registration looming (I think) on October 5, we need to get with it. Whether we succeed or not, I haven’t heard of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statute in question on grounds of deprivation of civil rights or whatever and if not I would be willing to contribute to a fund to finance such an endeavor, although with the current Republican legislature and our Trump clone governor, I suppose if we won that the legislature would come up with a new bill charging ex-cons board and room for their periods of incarceration which if unpaid would prevent such now-released citizens from exercising their voting franchise.
The solution? Elect a Democratic legislature and governor who will repeal this ex post facto legislation and supplant it with legislation specifically calling for an unimpeded right to vote for those who have served their time, which even by that time could include Trump and most of his cabinet as beneficiaries.
A bit off topic:
Just read that the far-right, militant white supremist group the “Proud Boys” applied for a rally permit in Portland for tomorrow (Saturday) estimating attendance of 10,000. Portland city officials reportedly denied the permit citing Covid concerns. Portland officials are, nonetheless, expecting large numbers of armed militia and far-right militants to come anyway, and Counter-protestors are planning counter rallies at the same time near by.
Has all the makings of massive violence. Of course, the stated goal of the “Proud Boys” and other white supremist groups is to start a civil war to “reassert white dominance.”
As if we don’t already have enough “s**t” to deal with.
Gerald Stinson:
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a lower court ruling that the Florida law restricting felon’s voting rights was not unconstitutional.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-florida-ex-felons-voting-restrictions/
Thanks, David F. Now I know. I will have to read the opinion, but it seems to me that the court (with its three dissenters) took a copout with its approval of a mere stay by the appeals court, and I wonder if the civil rights of the plaintiffs were in the mix on argument, or whether the case is limited to its facts etc. What’s next? A return to Dred Scott? Plessey v. Ferguson? Are we trekking back to the cave – or did we ever leave it?
Before you think well of Mitch et al for supporting an “orderly transition”….consider that he likely means from Trump term 1 to Trump term 2…. Words have meaning and his were rather obviously oblique…
Remember Trump’s courting of Vladimir Putin? It’s more nefarious than you thought. Trump wants assurance that Putin, Russia, and Russias nuclear arsenal will back him (Trump) up when he makes his dictatorial move on January 20 to take over American government.
John, “Not only does mankind not learn from bad things, but neither do they learn from the good!”
That is so easy to say; it’s been said a million times; it’s easy to remember…but it is often not true, depends on the lens you view history through, and it underestimates the enemy of our times.
The racists and their republican closet racists watched the historical equal rights events of the 1960s and the Nixon crimes of the 1970s and LEARNED a great deal. One, they learned from history that the racists and republicans of the 1960s were too conciliatory and not brutal enough; next time it will be different…like now. Two, they LEARNED from history that the republicans of the 1970s were too conciliatory, too respectful of the constitution, and too fair minded; next time it will be different…like now.
Maybe fifty years from now democrats will look at the history of America’s flop into dictatorship happening now and learn that we were too conciliatory, too fair minded, and not brutal enough…but it will be fifty years too late.
Larry,
Maybe I should’ve put, “mankind doesn’t learn to do good from bad” or, “the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth.” But the last quote is from Genesis 8:21. And most folks don’t like biblical quotations as I’ve discovered on this thread anyway.
“When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge becomes pleasant to your soul, 11 Thinking ability will keep watch over you, And discernment will safeguard you, 12 To save you from the bad course, From the man speaking perverse things, 13 From those leaving the upright paths, To walk in the ways of darkness, 14 From those who rejoice in wrongdoing, Who find joy in the perverseness of evil, 15 Those whose paths are crooked, And whose entire course is devious. Proverbs 2:10-15.”
That’s the way I look at it but, I think you might be right especially in your last paragraph.
Dictators manipulate elections; demonize any media that doesn’t agree with them; pack and use the courts and executive power to control elections and to punish political enemies, pardon political friends and even themselves; enrich themselves at public expense; install family members in government; quash peaceful public demonstrations; and when all else fails, refuse to cede authority to popularly elected opponents. Sound familiar?
John. Your are right. This is not a religious blog so who cares what quotes from the bible appear.
🙂 🙂 🙂 irvin
Nancy,
He has to be a DICTATOR. He thought he could preside otherwise, but he can’t. He misperceived, and, consequently, miscalculated. The only way he can be stopped NOW is turning his constituency against him. Extremely difficult, but not impossible.
Just going out and voting en masse may not be enough. The issue is whether the mass of Democratic mail-in votes will be counted. Remember 2000 and the recount that wasn’t allowed to complete in Florida? Imagine that, but on a much wider scale.
The problem is known as the “Blue Shift” or “Red Mirage.” Basically, Democrats are more likely to vote by mail and Republicans are more likely to vote in person. The in-person votes are counted easily the night of the election. It’s generally slower to count the mail-in votes for a variety of reasons, some based on differing processes among the states. (Aside: I’m Canadian, and it absolutely blows me away that you allow states to have different rules for how they handle elections, especially a federal one. It’s insane.) So, the initial results are expected to skew significantly towards Republicans–for initial results, I’ve seen numbers like 408-132 for Trump, for example–and then things swing back toward the Democrats as the count progresses.
This year, things are even worse than usual, as there will be even more vote by mail, and the counting process will surely take longer due to covid measures. Plus, some states are allowing extra time for mail-in voting, which is good, but also serves to extend the time until the counting completes. And that’s not even to mention all the recent messing with mail-in voting: the DeJoy post office debacle, the Pennsylvania “naked ballot” issue, etc.
Trump has trained his followers to look for conspiracy and duplicitousness, which is what this will look like to them. He’s clearly planning to claim victory on election night and try to work through the courts to stop the counting of the “fraudulent” mail-in votes.
This terrifies me. It’s a classic dystopian TV drama, but really happening. I don’t know how Americans can sleep at night these days.
“This terrifies me. It’s a classic dystopian TV drama, but really happening. I don’t know how Americans can sleep at night these days.”
John H; it is like waking up in a foreign country and not knowing the language. It is affecting the health of many; blood pressure, high stress levels, insomnia, exhaustion, confusion, paranoia and fear of not knowing what is coming next…but knowing that something will come to add to the chaotic situation. I consider life in this Trump administration to be a form of terrorism; we live in fear of our own government.