FREAK OUT FRIDAY – September 25, 2020

I remember the days when a week could go by and you wouldn’t even register the fact that we had a president, much less be aware of some stupid thing that he had said or done.  Unfortunately the past four years that hasn’t happened.  It seems not a week has gone by where Trump hasn’t found a way to lower the bar or one of his enablers has made an argument that just leaves you scratching your head and saying, “What?”

For instance, just today, Trump’s lawyer appeared before an appeals judge, trying to prevent the Manhattan DA from getting his hands on years of Trump’s financial records.  He contended that the DA’s warrant was overbroad.  At one point the judge reasonably asked, “Is there (any) request for documents that would not, in your view, be overbroad?” This was of course the attorney’s opportunity to present an argument as to what he considered permissible.  Instead he replied, “I think the answer is probably no, your honor.”  He literally would not tolerate or endorse ANY probe into Trump’s financial background:  not his tax returns, not his business records, nothing.  All the stuff that you and I would have to turn over if we were being investigated, Trump’s representatives believed Trump did not have to accommodate.

Meanwhile Trump has leftists and anyone who actually enjoys living in a democracy freaking out because he seems to be making it clear that he has no intention of relinquishing office.  His reluctance to do so certainly makes sense; there are enough investigations into his malfeasance to basically assure that he will probably end up in jail…something that I am convinced will never happen.  I am positive that if he winds up losing on November 3, and holding onto power seems hopeless, at some point in the next sixty days he’s going to head off to visit Saudi Arabia or Russia along with his entire family and will never return to the United States again.  Hëll, he might even leave Melania and Barron behind.  That could make it simpler, be less obvious.  

But so far he’s not the slightest bit interested in conceding that such a thing could happen.  When asked Wednesday if he would acknowledge that he had lost to Biden should the election skew  that way, he took a pause from his unsupported claims of voter fraud to state, “We’re going to have to see what happens.”  He then went on to say, “Get rid of the ballots and we’ll have a very peaceful..there won’t be a transfer frankly.  There’ll be a continuation.”  

“Get rid of the ballots.”

Once again, as he so often has before, Trump said the quiet part out loud.  Just as he did that time when he admitted that if we had genuine election reform and there was no voter interference, we’d never see another Republican voted into office.  Just as when he specifically said that his intention was to prevent the post office from doing its job and delivering properly mailed ballots. He admitted it out loud:  If we can just get rid of those annoying ballots that wanted to put Biden into office, he wouldn’t have to worry about the transfer of power because there wouldn’t be any.

Meanwhile Trump, six weeks out of election, is trying to bribe seniors by claiming he’s going to be sending out cards that will get them $200 off prescription drugs.  The $7 billion dollars required to pay for this undertaking is supposedly to come from savings that will come from Trump’s “most favored nations” drug pricing proposal.  Except it hasn’t been implemented yet, so the $7 billion doesn’t exist, and I’m reasonably sure that since Congress controls the purse strings, this is simply yet another empty Trump promise 

We are indeed so used to the unfulfilled promises that he makes that I think we’ve forgotten that he doesn’t really stick to anything he says.  That’s why, unlike many of my brethren, I do not give the slightest of dámņš over his reluctance to say that he won’t follow the wishes of the American public.  Because there is one truth about Trump that we must keep in mind:  He’s a bully.  And when faced with a genuine threat, a real fight, bullies always back down and run.

The election in Wisconsin some months ago, I think, put forward an indisputable truth:  Democrats have had enough and more than enough.  The GOP did everything they could to impede Democrats voting months ago and the Democrats STILL carried the day.  I think that’s what’s going to happen this time as well.  I think the will of Democrats is going to be so overwhelming that TV news is going to have no problem calling the votes.  I think it’s going to be a freaking landslide.  I think Biden is going to be elected by the largest majority in history, so much so that it won’t be necessary to count the mail-ins.  That Trump will be reduced to praying that the mailed ballots which he has been disparaging for the last year will save him, except they won’t.  I think, believe it or not, that Moscow Mitch McConnell spoke the absolute truth when he dismissed concerns that there wouldn’t be an orderly transition of power.  The reason he’s steamrolling forward with replacing RBG is that he’s convinced Trump will not remain in office and this is his last opportunity to stock the SCOTUS with a super majority, which has been his goal all along.  Indeed, he sold out democracy, his party, and his soul in order to achieve it.

I think we’re going to be rid of Trump.  Let’s just hope we’ll still have a country when he’s gone.

PAD