So far, Joe Biden has received more than 77.4 million votes, already 8 million more than Barack Obama received in 2008, and the number may eventually reach 80 million votes. Yet his vote total is “only” 5 million more than what Donald Trump has received so far. How can that be? Well, some people think that Trump is the “greatest” president since Abraham Lincoln--including Trump himself. Of course, Lincoln was trying to end both the division of the country and slavery; we can’t be sure that Trump would have wanted either if he had been around then, given his divisive behavior now. But given such commentary as what follows below, there is obviously plenty of room for Trump supporters to maneuver in their self-justifications:
There will be a price to pay. The ones who are jumping for joy now are jumping toward the horror they will be in for. I know the promises being made from the left to the American people will never come to be. My friends from all colors, races and religions, this is now our greatest fight since the civil war...The battle of righteousness versus Satan. Yes, Satan, because these leftists are evil, corrupt and they want to tear down this nation. We must not allow this...We must fight this corruption that has taken over and fight for the good that seems lost. Let us give our trust to God and fight now for Trump's victory because we all know this ballot count is corruption like they are, so let us not back down….Let us fight this fight as it is our last fight on earth. As Muhammad Ali said, 'It's not over til the last punch you have.' God bless."
Wow. This guy has really flipped; the next four years is going to be a “horror,” a fight to the death against Satan--figuratively, anyways. The only reason why anyone should take a clearly demented person like actor Jon Voight at all seriously is that he provides us with an extremely low bar in which to judge the level of rationalizations of Trump supporters, which goes from there to white racial grievance to gun rights fanatics and eventually to those who hide behind the fig leaf of “traditional” conservatism, like “fiscal restraint,” which has hardly been a Republican “virtue” since at least 2001. So it isn’t hard to “understand” why so many people voted for Trump, because he has excited the white nationalist and white grievance base as no president has done before, and he has attracted some minorities who actually believe his empty promises and attempts to refocus their own grievances toward other vulnerable groups, like immigrants.
For the Trump fanatic just as convinced that Trump is the second coming of Christ as the anti-Trump voter thinks he is by far the worst excuse for a human being ever to hold the office, how was it possible to lose, save for “fraud” and “cheating”? Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, who previously suggested that older people should just take one for the team during the pandemic and “volunteer to die” to “save” the economy, on Tuesday offered a $1 million reward “for information leading to an arrest and conviction for voter fraud.” Patrick claimed that “President Trump’s pursuit of voter fraud is not only essential to determine the outcome of this election, it is essential to maintain our democracy and restore faith in future elections.” Isn’t it odd that despite all the efforts of Republicans to destroy democracy through voter suppression and disenfranchisement, all of a sudden it is essential to “maintain our democracy”?
The only people whose “faith” should really be in question are those on the apparent winning side, as the losing side continues to whine and demand that the election result be overturned to satisfy them. If you want people to question the vote, then ask why nobody seems to know how many votes are left to count in Arizona, which keeps getting closer and closer for Trump. Just until there are enough votes to somehow pull Trump ahead in the count? Probably not, but it shows that these claims of “fraud” can cut both ways. Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has announced a "full, by-hand recount" of ballots in every county, despite the fact that Biden’s 14,000 vote margin isn’t really close enough to justify a recount. It is hardly likely that Biden’s lead will be erased by any significant amount; it is just an “excuse” to humor Sen. David Perdue, who has been making threats against Raffensperger and obviously wants to avoid a run-off in an extremely tight race between him and Democrat Jon Ossoff.
One thing that will truly call into question faith in the electoral process is the contemplation by Republicans to use the courts to block the certification of election votes in select states--meaning states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Republicans control both houses of the state legislature. By not certifying the election results, the state legislatures would theoretically be tasked to select the electors, presumably those who would vote for Trump. Elections law expert Edward B. Foley told the Washington Post that "For a state legislature to reclaim this power after voters have already cast their own ballots would be an even more egregious intrusion into the democratic process." It seems unlikely that Republicans would dare do this because of the blow-back, and for someone like Trump of all people; but given the coarseness of the rhetoric and lack of honesty from many Republicans we are hearing, anything is possible.
However, we are being assured by the “adults” in the room that after all these failed efforts to alter the election are done, and his sycophants have assured him that they have done everything they can for him, Trump will likely just head out to his Mar-a-Lago club for Christmas and stay there, rather than come back at all to the White House as a “loser.”
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