I wrote today’s post last night before the news broke about President and Mrs. Trump both testing positive for COVID. This news should be a wakeup call for us all. President Trump lives in a bubble – and he still contracted this insidious disease. No doubt the conspiracy theorists are busy at work this morning spinning all kinds of stories about how this came to be. However, the bottom line is that this virus does not care what kind of conspiracies theories are thrown out there. It doesn’t care what you personally think. It doesn’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, young or old. It is going to go about its business of efficiently infecting people, making many of them sick and ultimately killing some of them. The next time you decide to not wear a mask or flout social distancing guidelines or just do something stupid, you should think about President Trump who was living in a bubble – and the virus got him. We, as a nation, are not going to get our arms around this until we all start taking this seriously. Like I said, the remainder of this post was written last night.
I can’t believe I am writing this. This is the United States of America and here I am, for the first time in my life, reading headlines like: “Cities, states and businesses brace for election unrest in US”1 There is another headline in the New York Times about ‘election doomsday scenarios.’ This is insane. The following paragraphs are from the first article.
“Many of those tracking the potential security threats say red flags abound. For example, some experts interviewed by CNN pointed to increased online chatter among extremists about the prospects of armed and bloody confrontations on election day. After President Donald Trump told the far-right group Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” during the September 29 presidential debate, and then segued to saying “Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem,” members of the Proud Boys immediately celebrated online, updating their logo to feature the President’s “stand by” comments, and touting Trump’s comments as a signal of support.
“Authorities have also noticed the unprecedented consumer demand for guns and ammunition: Americans have bought a record $13.8 billion in firearms through August of this year, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which tracks retail sales. Ammunition sales through June have more than doubled, from a year ago, said NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva.
“The common calibers are very difficult to find; people are snapping them up,” Oliva said. Historically, he said, firearms sales rise during presidential election years, particularly if buyers worry that a change in administration may lead to new regulations.”1
Think about what is going on here. We have far-right and far-left extremists, both of whom are heavily armed, gearing up for a possible conflict stoked by none other than the President of the United States. Cities, counties and states are formulating plans to deal with conflicts that might arise during and after the election. And more and more citizens are buying guns. This is crazy. And it is due solely to one man – Donald Trump.
I know these election fears are real. My daughter and her mom were originally planning to leave New York and come here before Thanksgiving. Now they are planning to arrive at the end of this month because they don’t want to be in New York during and after the election. I know people who don’t own firearms who are wondering if they should. Is this really the country we want to live in? A country where the President of the United States is democracy’s biggest enemy?
There is only one reason we are in this position. It has nothing to do with the ‘fake news’ media. It has nothing to do with the Democrats. It is due to a man who tells a far-right group like the Proud Boys to ‘stand back and stand by’ rather than unequivocally condemning white supremacists and due to his constant and totally unfounded attacks on the American electoral system.
And speaking of attacks on the American electoral system, the Texas governor (Republican) issued a proclamation stating that there will be only 1 drop-off location for absentee ballots in each county!! Texas is bigger than Montana. In spite of the fancy rhetoric about being necessary to preserve election integrity, this is just blatant voter suppression. Harris County where Houston is, has a population of over 4 million people and an area of almost 1800 squares miles. And now it will have exactly one place to drop off absentee ballots. This is just another example of how the Republican Party has devolved into a party whose sole principle is to win elections at any cost – even at the cost of our democracy.
The Republicans in almost every state have filed numerous lawsuits to make it harder for Americans to vote. America already has one of the lowest voter turnouts for industrialized countries. You would think that if politicians really cared about democracy, they would do everything they can to encourage people to vote. However, as I stated previously, the Republican party (particularly the Trump Republican party) does not represent a majority of Americans so they are doing everything in their power to restrict access to voting with the sole goal to retain power at any cost.
Here in Montana, Trump and the Republicans sued to stop Governor Bullock’s order allowing counties to use mail-in voting from taking effect. A Federal judge ruled against them stating that there was no evidence of wide spread voter fraud from mail-in ballots in Montana. But, nonetheless, they tried to interfere with people’s ability to cast ballots in this election, even here in Montana with our three electoral votes.
One can hope that we are all wrong, the election will come and go, and life will just go on with no conflicts, unrest and legal misadventures. However, I believe that Trump knows that the only thing that stands between him and indictments and prosecution for financial crimes is winning reelection. Given that scenario, he is capable of anything and because of that, I believe this could get really ugly, particularly if it is a close election. I have never wanted to be wrong so badly in all of my life.
Trump’s playbook: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it and people will eventually come to believe it.” Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda for Adolf Hitler.
I can think of some other quotes like: “Hoisted by his own petard!” or “If you live by the sword you will die by the sword.” Through history people have been told “You reap what you sow”. I guess some people never listen.
Here is the irony. Trump has to isolate for at least two weeks. He will miss most of the debates. I’m sure he’ll come up with some excuse to still have rallies.