I picked the Biden-Harris ticket way back in January 2019 – when nobody thought Joe had a prayer, and Harris was just an exotic wonder.
Therefore, I feel obliged to go on the record now, especially given that the ghost of 2016 suddenly all pundits hedging their bets.
But I say to you, America:
Fool me once, shame on – me.
Fool me twice, shame on – you!
The reason, of course, is that I would’ve bet my life that most Americans were too savvy to elect a washed-up, reality-TV con man as president of the United States. And they were. Which is why Hillary Clinton ended up with nearly 3 million more votes. Yet, thanks to the plainly undemocratic verities of voting in the Electoral College, Donald Trump won.
But his black-swan election was such that the title to my commentary the morning after said it all:
- “WTF! President-elect Donald J. Trump?! America. What. Have. You. Done?” November 9, 2016
Sure enough, Trump has spent the past four years making every nightmarish scenario I warned about come true. Therefore, explaining why he should not be re-elected seems even more pointless than explaining why a grown man should not put his hand in that fire again.
Granted, millions of grown-ass Americans seem hell-bent doing just that. But I’m betting they now compose such a small, cult-like minority that even the Electoral College will deem each one too stupid for their own sake to vindicate.
So here’s to the restoration of “normalcy,” and to the end of America’s (and the world’s) four-year living nightmare with the presidency of Donald J. Trump.
But here are just a few points to bear in mind between now and Biden’s Inauguration Day:
- Trump has telegraphed his intent to steal this election either through voter suppression or judicial fiat. But I’ve already explained in commentaries – on August 6 with respect to the former, and on October 31 with respect to the latter – why: He. Will. Not. Succeed. Suffice it to know that, most politicians and judges see Trump as such a menace to democracy, they will be loath to do anything to help him get re-elected. Most notably, this will be the case with judges he nominated and politicians he cowered (especially if they lose their own bids for re-election; e.g., think Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina).
- Because of Trump’s threats to declare victory before all votes are counted, news syndicates will project Joe Biden as the winner at the earliest possible moment. This is why I predict I will have just cause the morning after this Election Day to hail America for doing the right thing.
- Much is being made about an article in the November 9 issue of the New Yorker, which posits a loser Trump holding the country hostage while he negotiates a get-out-of-jail-free card for all crimes committed before and during his presidency. Except that I advised him to do this not as a post-election plea but as a pre-election decree. Here is what I posited in “Karmic Irony: Trump Pardons Cronies but He and Kids End Up in Prison…,” August 4, 2020:
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Offer to resign by mid-October to spare the country any more of the unprecedented chaos and strife besetting this year’s election. In exchange, plead for DA Vance to drop all criminal charges against every member of his family, including his son-in-law.
But, to show some degree of remorse, make clear that all parties would be willing to pay reasonable fines for their alleged crimes … and promise never to run for public office.
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Unfortunately, further to this third point, Trump has shown time and again that he’d rather star in the midst of chaos and danger (of his own making) than settle matters quietly – in the best interest of all concerned.
Accordingly, his post-presidency will be one featuring him as the most popular criminal defendant in the history of the United States. This, as he faces trial on everything from tax evasion to sexual assault. But this buffoonish ring master will have it no other way.
And so I say to you, con Don:
Good riddance … hello comeuppance!
Related commentaries:
Biden-Harris… WTF… voter suppression… judicial fiat… karmic irony…