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America First in Trump world is not a statement of patriotism. It is a statement of perfidy and means not my country first but “Me First.”Instead of turning his energies to the pandemic or to millions of Americans in need, Trump is co-opting state legislators to change the election outcome.America First can mean my country before me. In Trump world, that can be devastating. Alexander Vindman, testified about Trump’s illicit actions in Ukraine and was forced out of the military. Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger refused to “game the system” to help Trump win and suffered death threats. DHL Security Chief Chris Krebs, reported the 2020 election was the most secure in history and was fired. A host of Inspectors General, ambassadors, and others have had careers upended for telling the truth. They put “America First” and thank God for them. Their patriotism is saving our democracy.
Tomorrow we are done with you. In the 2016 election, the American people were ambivalent, taking all too much for granted about our government. You read their mood and even though you lost the popular vote, you played the game well enough to win the electoral college. Well, Mr. President, those days are over. You won the presidency but you lost the country.
And now we’re back!!! And stronger and better than ever. So many of us have been anxious about this election, fearing that your chicanery would work and we would be stuck with your misconduct and crookedness in the White House for another four years. However, anxiety has given way to affirmation. You have awakened a democratic spirit so strong that your attempts to orchestrate the election outcome will fail because we have written the symphony and its sweet music is going to play through to the finale. I am just one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who phone banked or text banked or filled out post cards until the wee hours of the morning, or who marched and rallied, wrote letters, called legislators, organized advocacy groups, all of which resulted in a base of power too inalienable to overcome. We even have our own Proud Boys. Our proud boys are the young men and women who lost high school mates in a mass shooting. Instead of picking up a gun, they organized “March for Our Lives” and immediately began to advocate for gun control. Their numbers have grown. They are now a prominent interest group and they voted, Mr. President. You woke Americans up and we are going to walk you out. But, even if the worst happened, and your treachery worked to put you back into the highest office in the land, it won’t matter. Americans are aroused and vigilant and will never let you get away with breaking down our institutions of government again. Never. Regardless of party or gender or race or religion or ethnicity or economics, we are stalwart in our commitment to control our democracy. You don’t begin to understand what these long lines are about or why people are dancing in the rain as they wait to cast their ballot. Our democracy is stronger not weaker because of you. Our democratic values are expanding not contracting because of you. Our love of country is more firmly crystallized because of you. Mr. President, you are done.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miss bobble head, sitting to the right and behind Mr. Trump at his town hall meeting Thursday night, vigorously nodding in agreement with everything he said, is emblematic of a group I christen Qaknown (because they choose to be known. (public rallies and MAGA hats). They are a loosely knit organization of persons who have been galvanized by our president into his “base” of support.
They are anti-science, anti-media, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-intellectual, and, pro, not much. Qaknown is emboldened by having a leader who dismisses the media as fake news and denounces climate change; “it’s called weather,” says leader, Donald Trump. Qaknown supports Trump as he demeans immigrants coming from our southern border; thus, “we need a wall to hold them back”. He characterizes recent protesters for justice as thugs who are burning down American cities. Qaknown resents regulation, even mask wearing, because such edicts, they claim, interfere with freedom. Qaknown supporters buttress Trump’s reversals on environmental protections with their disbelief in the scientific evidence of harm to our water, air, and habitat. Finally, they snub their noses at academics, as intellectual elites who look down on them. Qanon (Q for the ringleader; anon for anonymous) is also a loosely knit organization of persons who support Trump but for different reasons. He is their declared champion, protecting America in a good and evil battle. They believe there is a satanic cult of liberals operating a child sex trafficking business out of Washington, D.C; cannibalistic Democrats who energize themselves by sucking a child’s blood. They believe that well known persons such as Tom Hanks and Pope Francis, among others are part of this criminal ring. Trump claims to know nothing about Qanon but refuses to denounce their conspiracy theories. He publicly supports a Qanon candidate running from the 14th Congressional District in Georgia; Trump campaign lawyers represent her. There are 24 Qanon candidates on the federal ballot in 2020. An alternative to those Q’s could be QandA. (ask questions; seek answers) QandA would rely on the facts. QandA would look to science for the necessary facts of how to combat the pandemic and how to protect the environment. QandA would cherish a free press as essential to democracy and study multiple media sources for the facts. QandA would respect the fact that immigrants have continuously contributed to America, raising the quality of its society, its people, and its economy. QandA would earnestly defend freedom as a fact of life in any democracy; freedom until it does harm to someone else. It is a fact that regulations ensure safety of our roads, bridges, consumer products, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the cars we drive, the water we drink. It is a fact that protests and police can be in sync; there is no disconnect between those who peacefully protest and law and order. Qanon is growing within the Republican Party. Qaknown is already an established base of the GOP. What about a QandA? It is time for Republicans to be ousted.
The President of the United States is plotting with Republican operatives, governors, state legislatures, staffers, his cadre of believers, to undermine election results. It is a clever plot. Create chaos on election day. Declare ballots invalid and the vote count unreliable. Proclaim the election rigged and substitute the electors chosen by the voters with a set of electors appointed by the Republican state legislature. Pennsylvania is working on this. Other GOP led states are considering similar actions. Not a peep out of a Republican. The President of the United States is calling for an Army of right wing extremist vigilantes to poll watch. The real purpose is voter intimidation and suppression. Not one word from a Republican. These groups of gun-toting thugs can be found on the streets of Portland and Chicago, Kenosha, Philadelphia, and other cities causing, disruptions and outright brawls. These vigilantes are warming up for civil war. That is what they will foment if given a chance. Not an utterance from a Republican. Silence from the Republican party as it obediently follows their President in making fun of masks and downplaying the pandemic. Silence from the Republican party as it rejects compromise on a stimulus bill that would keep people from dying, jobs alive, businesses open, and people working, Silence from the Republican Party as President Trump lauds Putin and denigrates our institutions and agencies. And now as the election approaches, when the most precious right Americans have is about to be exercised, SILENCE from the Republicans as Trump sows fear into the electorate and encourages intimidation and chaos at the ballot box. In the oath of office taken by State and Federal representatives each swears to protect the Constitution. Their silence injures our most precious document. Each swears their allegiance. Their silence is infidelity. They must go. These good old boys are our Founding Fathers; they are so because of their prescience in creating a system of checks and balances that protects us from being at the mercy of the Rogue (former Republican) Party.
The Constitution grants power to Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions in wondrous ways. We can amend the Constitution. Not an easy task but it can be done. The 26th Amendment was passed in a matter of months and overturned a Court decision, thus establishing a national voting age of 18. Congress can rewrite legislation that negates a Supreme Court decision. The 1991 Civil Rights Act reversed multiple Supreme Court decisions and broadened rulings on workers’ rights and employment discrimination. Congress can rectify past rulings of the Court by enacting new legislation. They could pass a new DACA law that explicitly protects Dreamers. They could easily write a bill that corrects the flaws in the Affordable Care Act. They could explicitly protect a woman’s right to choose. We are not helpless but we must capture control of the Senate, maintain control of the House and win the Presidency. A tall order but it can be done. Vote. Exercise your power. You are not at the mercy of Donald Trump or the Rogue Party or a conservative court. The power is in your ballot. Exercise it and you can right this ship after all. Mitch McConnell and his cadre of GOP Senators who stand for little and believe in less, are about to, yet again,
set aside their words, their promises, their pledges, and reverse themselves on the issue of voting to seat a Supreme Court justice so close to an election. Why are we not surprised? Mitch and his boys haven’t been principled in a long, long time. But we are happy to give you what you wish for because your actions will so negatively impact your sorry campaigns. We know that the American public overwhelmingly supports choice. The GOP will have to answer and defend their anti-abortion position at every rally, town hall meeting, in every telephone conversation and email. Then, there is the Affordable Care Act, another popular program that is already in jeopardy because of the GOP. There couldn’t be any clearer distinction between Trump and Biden on this issue. Remind the voters of what can happen to the ACA with a 6-3 conservative court. Try to explain your desire to get rid of coverage for pre-existing conditions. Be careful what you wish for, Republicans. This is going to backfire. Public opinion is not with you on the issues t hat will be decided by the Supreme Court in the coming sessions. And, there will be retribution for your dirty politics. Perhaps twelve justices in the future? You may possibly win the Court battle but you will lose the Senate and the Presidency. You have bitten off too much this time, Grand Old Party. You could delay the Court appointment until the people have spoken on who should exercise the appointment power for this seat. What a concept. Let the people decide. Does the voter want Trump to choose the justice or the winner of the 2020 presidential election? I think Americans have had their answer for a long time. Trump likes to compare himself to Lincoln. Can you imagine Trump saying even one of these Lincoln quotes?
1. Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure. 2. Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? 3. I didn’t like that man. I must get to know him better. 4. 5. we should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it. 5. 6. Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. 6. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. And some of the Gettysburg Address, words applicable today. "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. It is for us the living…to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they … have thus far so nobly advanced. —that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." OH, FOR SUCH LEADERSHIP AND THOUGHTFULNESS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Edmund Randolph, a participant at the constitutional convention, coined a phrase, “the foetus of monarchy” as the framers debated the issue of a one-person executive. The presidency is the fetus. As the presidency grows, it expands its power until it becomes a kingdom.
The American presidency expanded its powers with each 20th century crisis and earned the sobriquet of “an imperial presidency” meaning the office exercises more power than the Constitution grants. President Trump with his base of support and a co-opted Republican party has gone even further. He thumbs his nose at the power of the other branches, ignores subpoenas, appoints people without Senate confirmation, spends money without legislative authority, enthrones his family and all for self-aggrandizement. If Trump survives re-election, the “foetus” will deliver a monarchy and we will become subjects to King Donald. Expect to see GOP campaign commercials shortly that depict Donald Trump as a man with a quick and steady hand, averting a crisis of failed negotiations led by Nancy Pelosi and her “Democrat-led” comrades.
But, what do Trump’s executive orders accomplish? The extension of an eviction moratorium shields only about 1/3 of those who rent or own a building mortgaged with a federal guarantee. The renewed unemployment benefit shrinks to $400 with the feds contributing only $300 and the states, already reeling from the cost of the pandemic, having to cough up the rest. The payroll tax holiday does not help the unemployed at all and it will hurt Medicare and Social Security which rely in part on this tax for their coffers. There are already millions of unemployed not paying into those pots. A deferral of the tax to those working will reduce the Social Security and Medicare funds even further. Student loan payments are paused through December but of what help is that to a student? They will simply have a delayed but bigger debt. Students need debt forgiveness not deferral. President Trump says these orders, “will take care of pretty much this entire situation, as we know it.” Not so. · There is no $1200 stimulus check people was counting on. · There is no rental assistance. · There is no mortgage relief to prevent defaults and foreclosures. · There is no housing or food assistance. Food banks are overwhelmed; evictions are pushing families into the streets. · There is no assistance to States and local governments which are running out of money. · There is no assistance to schools with already tight budgets which are now mandated to provide PPE, a whole new delivery system of on line instruction, and a mandate to create smaller classrooms when face-to-face. · There is no debt relief or moratorium on debt collection. Trump has recently compared himself to Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln faced his national crisis that divided the country, he sought out dissent, appointed opponents to top cabinet level positions so there would be vigorous debate and was quick to admit a mistake or failure and move quickly to correct it. He did not run from responsibility; he recognized that the “buck stops” at the President’s desk. Lincoln had empathy and understanding for Americans and what they were going through. Our country is crying out for an Abraham Lincoln. We know Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Trump. You are no Abraham Lincoln. The world is asking what has happened to our democracy. Are you? Neither Trump nor his allies have authority to delay an election.
BUT picture this: • a handful of Republican controlled states have widespread protests and invite federal law enforcement into their cities to maintain law and order. And, as in Portland, their presence stirs up big trouble. • tweets fly alleging massive fraud from mail-in ballots. • registrars say the pandemic makes it impossible to staff polling stations and law enforcement officers say they cannot guarantee voters’ safety. • post offices say that mail-in ballot deadlines may not be met. If one governor or one county registrar refuses to carry out his duties, who will stand in? The Department of Justice? Attorney General Barr? Local Attorneys general? Do you expect Trump’s GOP followers to resist when they have abdicated for three years? It is imperative that we guarantee that this election take place. If we fail, our country will be lost. |
