To any of the 80+ million Americans who watched and witnessed Donald Trump’s words and actions over the prior four years with their eyes wide open, his post-election words and actions come as no surprise. We know him to be a vile, venal, corrupt, unethical, dishonest, mendacious, narcissistic sociopath who cares about nothing or no one but himself. His post-election treasonous behavior just locks in and confirms what we already knew.
Yes, treasonous. Here’s the dictionary definition of treason: noun 1.the offense of acting to overthrow one’s government or to harm or kill it’s sovereign. 2. a violation of allegiance to one’s sovereign or to one’s state. 3. the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.
Based on the above definition he’s exhibiting a classic, textbook case of treason by trying to overturn the results of America’s free and fair election through fraud, deceit, and coercion. He’s acting to overthrow the legal government headed by Joe Biden which would take power 1/20/21; this shows he has no allegiance to the state; and it’s a betrayal of a trust or confidence of his sworn oath of office, which is also a breach of faith, and treachery. Textbook.
This shameless criminal doesn’t even try to hide it anymore. In Michigan, a state he lost by over 150,000 votes, he first called the Republican officials in Michigan’s largest county who were responsible for voting to certify the results of the votes, and tried to have them vote against certification. When that didn’t work he summoned the Republican heads of Michigan’s Legislature to the White House to pressure them to get their Party to disregard the vote of the people and to appoint their own slate of electors to vote for Trump in the Electoral College. At the same time his lawyers were filing baseless lawsuits claiming fraud and Democratic cheating in the election.
And that’s just Michigan. He was also pulling shenanigans and filing baseless, empty lawsuits in several other swing states. E.g., in Georgia he attacked the Republican Secretary of State because he wouldn’t cheat and overturn the popular vote and make Trump the winner. He continues to attack the SOS, Brad Raffensperger, and has started including the Republican Governor, Brian Kemp, in his unhinged attack on democracy, stating that Kemp should illegally override Raffensperger and award Trump Georgia’s electoral college votes. This is so outrageous that even Gov. Kemp, a reliable Trump toadie in the past, refuses to participate in the crime.
My disdain for Donald J. Trump is limitless. My guess is that most of the 80 million Americans who voted for Joe Biden share my disdain for Trump. But my disdain is almost as great for those elected Republican officials who encourage, cover for, and enable Trump’s worst qualities and actions. One example of this are the Republican Pennsylvania Legislators who recently held a Kangaroo Court style hearing in a hotel conference room to try and figure out a way to overturn the will of the Pennsylvania voters and illegally award Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral college votes to Trump. Of course the deranged Rudy Giuliani and other lawyers from Trump’s bumbling shitshow of a legal team were there. One would hope that Pennsylvania voters remember this attempted coup when those Legislators are up for re-election.
Also distressing, and disdain-inducing, is the silence coming from most Congressional Republicans. These elected officials should be forcefully standing up and defending our democracy from the scandalous attacks on it from Trump and his cohorts. Their cowardly, unpatriotic silence is allowing tens of millions of Americans to continue to believe this was a rigged election, putting our democracy at risk and further dividing the country. The rest of the world is looking at us and either laughing or sadly shaking their head, seeing the great United States look more like a Banana Republic than the great democratic ideal that sets the tone for democracies all over the world. And all of this is making Vladimir Putin a very happy man.
So what should be done with Trump, Giuliani and all the others who actively tried to undermine and overturn the Presidential election? IMO, an investigation into these crimes needs to be opened no later than 1/21/21. The evidence against these traitors is abundant and manifest. Let’s use the Nuremburg trials for the Nazi’s as a template and hold these scoundrels accountable for their actions. Not only to punish them for their crimes, but to deter any future wanna-be despots from committing the same crimes. Because the next “Trump” might be smarter, with better lawyers than Giuliani and his gang that can’t shoot straight. The next “Trump” might have unethical allies in key positions in multiple swing states, willing to do his bidding. The next “Trump” might have corrupt Federal Judges willing to make dubious rulings in his favor.
The United States of America dodged a bullet this time but she is not bullet-proof. That is why she needs to ensure that a gun is never again pointed at her head by a would-be tyrant trying to make her his bitch. Now is the time for the United States to send a clear message: Try to overthrow our democracy and you will pay a STEEP price.