October 8, 2020

In a recent post I talked about how the magazine, Scientific American, had made a presidential endorsement (Biden) for the first time in its 175-year history.  Yesterday, the New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial that was signed by all of its editors calling for the American electorate to vote the current administration out of office based upon their handling of the COVID pandemic.  In their words,

“This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy,”…. “Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment,” the editorial says. “When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.”

When you add to this the parade of senior government officials who have served in the Trump administration and former Republicans like, Gen. Colin Powell, who are abandoning Trump right and left and endorsing Joe Biden, you have to ask yourself why?  Why is it that all of these organizations and individuals are turning on this administration?  Everyone, even those that continue to support Trump, know in their gut why?  We are all tired of having an irrational liar for a president. Trump continues to damage America and there is no doubt that he has damaged America’s standing in the world.  It’s just that simple.

Another metric to gauge how toxic Trump has become is to just look at how Republicans down ticket are trying to distance themselves from him.  Here in Montana, several of the Republican candidates used to talk about Trump in their political ads and how they stood with President Trump.  I have not heard one ad in recent weeks in which a candidate even mentions Trump.  That’s pretty telling.

I’ve also noticed that I see more lawn signs here supporting the Democratic slate than Republican candidates.  In Montana, that’s pretty shocking.  I’m pretty sure that Trump will still take Montana and get our three electoral votes but there is definitely a political shift going on.  In 2016, when I rode my bicycle along Route 66 from Chicago to Albuquerque, NM (and then rejoined the group in California) I should have known something was afoot because I saw Trump signs all across middle America.   There is a political shift going on even there.  Iowa is viewed as a tossup this election.  Arizona could very well flip blue.  Even Texas is in play which is why the Republican party there is doing everything they can to suppress the vote.  Association with Trump has even put Lindsey Graham’s South Carolina Senate seat into play.  Lindsey Graham is one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the Senate and now he is fighting for his political life because of his association with and continued unquestioning support for Trump.

If Trump were doing such a great job, why would all of this be happening?  Again, the simple fact is – he has failed miserably across many dimensions as I pointed out yesterday.    Hopefully, the facts, data and truth will be strong enough to overcome the tidal wave of propaganda and lies which will lead to a new administration, and we can once again live in a country that is truly a beacon of light for the rest of world. 

I watched the debate between Kamala Harris and VP Mike Pence last night and it was certainly more in line with a ‘debate’ than the debacle between Trump and Biden.  I doubt if it changed anyone’s mind.  Each candidate got in a few shots.  I think that Harris certainly held her own and Pence was often on the defensive trying to defend Trump’s policies, particularly with respect to the coronavirus.

For me, the most troubling answer of the night was when Pence was asked what he would do if Trump loses the election and refuses to concede to Biden.  Pence basically side-stepped the question and that is troubling.  Trump won’t state categorically that he will accept the results of the election.  VP Pence will not make that statement.   Attorney General Barr has been increasingly talking about mail-in voter fraud, despite little to no evidence that it is a problem.  National Intelligence Director, John Ratcliffe, is selectively releasing previously classified information meant to benefit Trump in a politicization of the intelligence community that is unprecedented in American history.  And, Republicans around the country are using the courts to suppress voting efforts.   It all points to a concerted effort on behalf of the Republican Party (now the Trump Party) to get prepared to contest this election, regardless of the results.

Throughout Trump’s business career, his go to strategy was to sue people in order to wear them down, bury them in paper, and delay decisions in hopes that, in the end, people would just give up and settle.  He has used the same strategy in the White House.  Tax returns, documents, subpoenas for testimony of government employees – you name it, Trump has kept the attorneys very busy with this ‘sue first’ strategy.  We should expect no less with this election.  The bottom line is that the only real danger to this election is Trump and his coterie of toadies.