The
road ahead is going to be perilous in America. Now that he has lost the election, he will become even
more dangerous. He is capable of doing anything to satisfy his malignant
narcissism, psychopathic dominance and malicious revenge. What will be at stake is our democracy;
therefore, he must be removed from office before January 20th.
Allowing him to remain in office until then “poses a clear danger of great harm
to the constitutional order and to our national security” (Lawrence Tribe).
We have all witnessed his mental instability (his impulsivity, remorselessness, gaslighting, conning, divisiveness, cruelty, irresponsibility, callousness, puerility, deranged tweeting and pathological lying); we have all witnessed his contempt for constitutional norms, his disconnect to reality, his grandiose delusions, and his disregard for the rights and safety of Americans for four years, but soon we will witness an intensification of his emotional and psychological deterioration. His demagoguery and authoritarian fantasy will continue to exacerbate and incite his base. His deceitful rhetoric and stranglehold on the complicit, treasonous Republican Party will intensify unparalleled political tribalism.
His
purges and propensity for sociopathic vengeance must be stopped before he
continues them in ways we have never seen before. Not only are American values and democracy in
serious jeopardy, our lives and safety are as well.
-Glen
Brown
P.S.
[If Trump is not charged with a crime for inciting an insurrection and perpetrating lies about the election, he and his cult will continue to destroy our democracy].
“I love getting even when l get screwed by someone… Always get even. When you are in business you need to get even with people who screw you. You need to screw them back 15 times harder. You always do it not only to get the person who messed with you but also to show the others who are watching what will happen to them if they screw with you. If someone attacks you, do not hesitate. Go for the jugular” -from Donald Trump’s book, Think Big.
ReplyDeleteWhat has Trump done since Nov. 3rd?
ReplyDeleteHe has falsely stated he won the presidential election every day. He has claimed electoral votes he has not won. He has deceptively stated the election was rigged. He ordered to stop the vote count and filed unsubstantiated lawsuits to stop counting votes in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He has also filed unsupported lawsuits to block Georgia, Michigan and Nevada from certifying election results.
He is spreading conspiracy theories through his deranged tweeting and, thus, inciting divisiveness across the nation. He continues to propagate debunked claims of election fraud, and he continues to lose the lawsuits he has filed.
While Covid-19 is raging across America, and hospitals are overwhelmed with infected patients, and Americans are contracting the virus and dying at record numbers each day, Trump also continues to golf.
Furthermore, he has fired officials from the Defense Department. He has allowed oil drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has sought options for attacking Iran. He has refused to give President-elect Joe Biden a peaceful transition of power; thus, he is jeopardizing America’s national security, exacerbating the pandemic in this country, and ignoring a failing economy for millions of struggling Americans.
“Trump’s recent firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and subsequent resignations from the department of four more top civilian officials – either in protest or under pressure – are raising alarms in Washington. All were replaced by people with questionable qualifications. One defense official described the situation to CNN as ‘scary’ and ‘very unsettling.
ReplyDelete“On Nov. 17, Trump also fired the cybersecurity director at the Department of Homeland Security, who had rejected the president’s claims of election fraud. Trump is reportedly weighing the additional termination of CIA director Gina Haspel as part of a late-term purge. The transition period between two administrations, especially ones that are ideologically opposed, can be a socially and politically unstable time. Trump’s refusal to concede increases that instability this year.
“Major personnel changes at America’s defense and intelligence agencies make it difficult for these departments to maintain the daily operations that oversee military forces and protect U.S. national security – much less follow strategic plans.
“A lapse in preparedness can be deadly. According to the 9/11 Commission, the unusually short transition period between the Clinton and Bush administrations – truncated by the dispute over the election’s outcome – resulted in some of the intelligence and policy deficiencies that allowed Al-Qaida to attack and kill close to 3,000 Americans.
“Political appointments have always influenced the American security apparatus. But this problem has intensified dramatically in recent years. If security and intelligence agencies make decisions based on narrow political considerations like satisfying the personal grudge or campaign promise of a president, it can put lives at risk.
“Trump’s latest Defense Department appointments have some necessary policy experience. But their main attribute appears to be loyalty to the president. Loyalty goes beyond partisanship. It means policy decisions may be subject to the personal interests of the president. For example, Defense Secretary Esper may have lost his job for opposing the sped-up withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan now underway. A withdrawal is in line with Trump’s 2016 campaign pledge to end ‘endless wars.’ One former CIA official described the Afghanistan troop drawdown as ‘reckless’ (The Conversation).
“...The official count of Americans dead of coronavirus has topped a quarter of a million. 250,000 Americans, lost. Governors, including some Republicans previously opposed to ordering measures to stop the spread of the virus, are now issuing mandatory mask requirements. New York City has reached a 3% positivity rate; schools there have closed, and will go entirely on-line tomorrow. That rate is far below that of the regions worst hit these days.
ReplyDelete“‘Right now, we are in an absolutely dangerous situation that we have to take with the utmost seriousness,’ Assistant Secretary of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Brett Giroir told MSNBC. ‘This is not crying wolf. This is the worst rate of rise in cases that we’ve seen in the pandemic in the United States and right now there’s no sign of flattening.’ The latest report from the White House coronavirus task force says we are facing ‘aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration.’
“And yet, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, maintains that no one in his department can coordinate with the incoming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration until the General Services Administration determines that Biden won the election. An administration official told CNN that department leadership had warned staffers not to communicate with Biden team, and to report any contact to the deputy surgeon general. Rick Bright, who was fired from the Trump administration for warnings about the dangers of coronavirus and who is now on the Biden team, told CNN: ‘We haven’t been able to sit down with the Trump administration at all, to be able to understand what plans are already in place, where the gaps are, where help is needed, and how we can make sure there's a smooth hand-off after January 20, where the bulk of these vaccines will be administered after that date.’
“Talking to frontline coronavirus workers, Biden said that Trump’s refusal to admit defeat is ‘the only slow down right now that we have.’ He pointed out that the lack of information means, for example, that his team has no idea how much personal protective equipment is stockpiled. ‘Soon we’re going to be behind by weeks and months being able to put together the whole initiative relating to the biggest promise we have with two drug companies coming along and finding 95% effectiveness, efficiency in the vaccines, which is enormous promise,’ he said. In a letter to the president, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association begged the administration to ‘work closely with the Biden transition team to share all critical information related to COVID-19.’
“Despite orders not to coordinate with the incoming Biden administration, a few Trump officials are quietly reaching out, according to CNN. As one put it: ‘Nothing that would get us in trouble…. Just an offer to be of help. They know what we mean, and what we can— and can-t— do or say.’ So far, nothing has come of these tentative offers.
“Trump appears to be doing all he can to cripple Biden’s administration before it begins. Officials have told CNN that Trump is withdrawing troops worldwide in order to box Biden in before he takes office. A senior official told CNN that the goal is ‘to set so many fires that it will be hard for the Biden administration to put them all out…’” (Heather Cox Richardson).