The Election Ends (sort of)

The election is finally over. Or mostly. There are still some states counting votes. A slew of lawsuits are being launched, up to ten I read. Should be an interesting transition.

We had some friends over for drinks/snacks on Saturday afternoon – people that live a floor above us and are part of our little Covid bubble. They have children so we had the TV on in the background while the children played in the other room. I normally wouldn’t have the TV on but we were following the election coverage and I thought there was a chance that they might announce something important. At 7:25pm local time they announced that Biden was going to be the 46^th president of the US.

It was a relief that the call was made, even for many Republicans. There was no question, even before the announcement, that the Trump was not going to follow it up with a concession speech. It’s likely he never will. Though he refrains from presenting any evidence of fraud, he will likely go to his grave insisting that there was, at least publicly. I saw one of the president’s team on the BBC this morning admitting that they don’t have any substantive evidence, at this point, that could possibly be substantial enough to overturn the election results. But, he said, the president has a constitutional right to move forward with investigations (and delays). When asked whether exercising this legal right was good for America or even the Republican party, he simply referred back to it being allowed under the constitution.

His niece, Mary, feels that Trump’s father put a high value on winning during his childhood, so much that losing anything was considered shameful. As such, he wasn’t taught how to do it. It breeds a certain insecurity in someone. Obviously no one likes to lose. I would say that most of my youth I was a terrible loser. But, with age, people can mature and not be so full of themselves – accepting that it’s not the end of the world. Some are able to do this with more grace than others. We’ll see if the president can muster up the courage to do what most feel he won’t.

I read yesterday that he plans on hitting the road again to do some more rallies, supposedly to generate public support for his legal cases. He’s even raising money (50% going to campaign debt). You can tell that the rallies have been the highlight of his political career, maybe even his whole life. He can’t get enough of the adoring crowds. I’m not an extrovert but I suppose I can imagine the appeal for someone who is. But I’m not sure how that will help. I suspect it is more to take advantage of the dwindling opportunity to be in front of crowds as a standing president. He’ll likely continue some sort of rallies post-presidency but it won’t ever be quite the same.  In any case, the White House will increasingly be an uncomfortable place to hang out once the transition teams start doing their thing.

Also between now and the end of the year, Mary Trump said he’ll likely break everything he can (pardoning inappropriately and signing a ridiculous number of executive orders). He might, but almost everyone who has been fired from his/her job tends to not work that hard between notification and end of contract.  Whether or not he’ll let Ms. Biden in to measure for curtains remains to be seen. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, seems to think he’ll just head to his place in Florida for the holidays and never return. Protocols be damned.

The question then is, what will he do thereafter? Speculation abounds. Cohen suggests he’ll start his own media company and spend almost all of his energy blasting Biden and his administration, continuing is tirades on Hillary and Obama. The cult-like following he has will provide him the backing necessary to keep it alive though it’s likely to diminish over time. All the while his legal counsel will be busy initiating and fending off lawsuits regarding his personal affairs. Not how I would want to spend my retirement.

There are not-so-subtle hints that Don Jr. is laying the foundation to throw his hat into the ring next election. Even though his dad was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was crass and plain-spoken in a way that somehow appealed to his constituents. Don Jr., at least so far, seems to lack any charisma and plays mostly the privileged white kid that Trump supporters would have beaten up in high school. Will they nonetheless hitch their wagon to him in the cherished legacy of his father?  It will be interesting. We know Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney and others are likely to throw their names in the hat as well. Rubio? Cruz should know better by now.

Anyway, back to patriarch of Trumpism. I was thinking that he should initiate a reality show. His family and entourage might be rather entertaining to follow, now that the Kardashians have stopped whatever it was they were doing. I’m only partially joking. I honestly think both they and their fans would love it. Even their enemies. In fact it seems like we’ve all been watching a reality show over these past four years. The media has sort of made caricatures of the gang at the White House. Everyone seems to be unable to talk about much else. As much as people say they’ve had enough, and can’t wait to not talk/think about them, my guess is that many would get sucked right back in. And it may be a better fit for them than ruling the free world. The harmful consequences on the poor would be much less – would cost them just a few hours staring at their TVs rather than their healthcare.

And then there’s the presidential library. He won’t allow an opportunity to put his name on a building pass him by.  After seeing his place in NY, I doubt that the library will be very tasteful. For someone who is not so keen on books, it may be that the sign out front will need to have the word “library” in quotes. But he will definitely want a monument to himself.

However Trump decides to spend his time, much to the chagrin of his enemies, and many of his fellow Republicans, he likely won’t go away. He’ll need to be relevant. His people, who seem to accept anything he says or does without question, will give him that relevance. He can talk about his celebrity power in groping women. He can insult an American hero like John McCain. He can publicly mock a disabled man. He can call immigrants rapists. He can call racists good people and foster division in American in a way that no president has ever done. He can brazenly fail to come up with, or execute, a plan to manage the pandemic that has killed thousands. Etc. And nearly half of the US are somehow okay with this – particularly Christians who are supposed to have some sort of moral compass. It boggles the mind. God help American and God help the new president as the new chapter begins.

Election Day...Three

We’re in day three of the elections. It was predicted that the count would last several days. While we all knew it was coming, I think the assumption was that it wouldn’t be as painful as what we’re experiencing – that we’d have a better idea of the direction in which things were going. At the time I’m writing this, the result is still anyone’s guess. I read on Twitter this morning a woman bragged that she grew up in Brazil where they could know the results of the elections within a few hours after the polls closed. Another woman responded by saying, “I grew up in Lebanon. We knew the results even before the polls opened.”

I suppose this would all be a lot more fun if the stakes were not so high. There’s a feeling that whichever side you’re on, your world (particularly in the US but not exclusively) will change in fundamentally different ways. I called my mom last night and she said that on election day she went to buy some groceries. The woman at the check-out said that they were inundated with shoppers earlier in the day loading up on supplies in the case that Biden would win the election. They had heard on social media that there would be chaos if Democrats took the White House.

It would be easy to poke fun at people that are so easily manipulated by conspiracies but there is obviously a dangerous element to this. I have some experience in managing situations where there are angry people with weapons. It usually doesn’t end well. I used to say, if you think lots of guns and small government are the best way to run a society, come to Burundi and you’ll change your mind. I’m not necessarily a fan of big government but I do believe that the lower tiers of society need to be adequately cared for, particularly in the areas of health care and education. And no, that’s not socialism. It's agonizing to hear politicians throwing that word around without having an understanding of what it is.

“Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism.” -Earl Warren, former Chief Justice, US Supreme Court (1891-1974)

And it’s not a concept that should be embedded in any specific political party platform. It’s simply what a society should do for its citizens, like the fire department or the police department, and politics should be focused on other things.

“To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged.” -Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007)

I’m still stunned that Christians in America, the bulk of the president’s supporters, seem to disregard Christ’s teaching on advocating for the poor or the refugee: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

I do believe leaders will be held accountable for misleading their constituents but I also believe people are responsible for their own actions. Many of the poor and disadvantaged in the US are supporting a president that is actively harming their own well being. It boggles the mind. Jesus never mentioned gay marriage or abortion. He said blessed are the peacemakers. This afternoon I’m hearing about Trump supporters threatening violence against polling stations, including the Pennsylvania Convention Center where election votes are being cast. Christians are either among those who are doing the threatening or they are silent. It’s an abomination.

“When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues justify punishing the sick and the poor. But poverty is neither a crime nor a character flaw. Stigmatize those who let people die, not those who struggle to live.” -Sarah Kendzior, journalist and author (b. 1978) 

Regardless of how this comes out, it will be a tough road ahead. The president has gone full African dictator and the sheeple in Congress and supporters around the country seem unwilling to denounce anything he says or does. The psychological grip he has on supporters is surreal. Will the elections be the snap of the fingers that awakens people from the hypnosis? Will people muster the integrity to critically evaluate the actions of even the leaders they support? Will people recognize the cognitive dissonance between what they say they believe and what they do in practice? Sadly, most will not. But if enough people with integrity rise up, maybe, just maybe, the country can regain its footing. Regardless, it will be a bumpy ride ahead.

 

Election Day

It’s election day in the US. Happy to have not been in the US these past few weeks. The barrage of ads has been like no other year. I occasionally record some shows/sporting events from an online US television access and I have the pleasure of clicking past all of the, often nasty, political advertisements. Though I don’t watch them, I know they’re there. Almost everyone is twisting realities. It’s painful viewing.

As everyone probably knows, the world is watching. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, US foreign policy has been somewhat of an ongoing train wreck the past few years – certainly as viewed from abroad. I’ve mentioned in the past that the reputation of the US has taken a beating under this administration. I realize there are many in the US that could care less about that but in making America great again, that would have been a good thing not to neglect. There is a sense that, with the exception of a few key areas, the administration showed very little interest in partners and allies around the world. When major events happened, the US was nowhere to be found. When tragedies happened, condolences were not expressed for the victims. It’s been a complete disregard that has been felt throughout the world. The leadership vacuum has been filled by China, Russia, France, etc. This is eroding US power on the world stage and the loss of the hard-fought leverage will no doubt harm US interests in the long term, if not the short term.

One of the key issues is the president’s disdain for multilateral mechanisms, including the WHO (in the midst of a global pandemic), the Paris Agreement (as the climate unravels), NATO, the Iran deal, and others. While this has been tragic, it can, and should, be undone in the near future. It’s okay to be tough on NATO to get members to pay a greater share, but while the lack of respect for the institution was popular with Putin, it was viewed with disdain, and sometimes fear, by US allies. It’s okay to express displeasure with the management of WHO, but you don’t remove funding during a pandemic with hundreds of thousands of people dying. And there’s nothing okay with pulling out of the Paris Agreement.

Though there are loads of questionable policy decisions, the aspect of the train wreck that is closer to me has been the president’s lack of interest in Africa. Not a single visit to the continent. President Obama visited six African countries during his presidency. I was critical of several of George W. Bush’s foreign policy decisions but the man was generally kind to Africa and visited ten countries. Clinton’s team missed the warning signs in Rwanda leading to the genocide and ignored some other things but he recognized it (after the fact) and nonetheless visited eight countries (and visited many times after his presidency). Carter, Bush Sr. all visited the continent. But President Trump never saw fit to make the trip. The only thing I can think of is that he doesn’t have much respect for “sh**hole countries” to use his own term. I read the other day someone saying that he’s essentially been focusing on making America great again and not seeing how Africa is relevant to that end. And, related to that, he has been focused on his core and his re-election almost since his election.

In any case, it’s short-sighted. Africa has the fastest growing economies in the world. Many countries, particularly China, are aware of this and have invested heavily. The US is missing out on a huge growth opportunity. Though many of these newer partnerships are exploitative, many others are mutually beneficial. Economies on both sides are benefiting. Better to create jobs than to give aid.

There’s a lot at stake. There will be a lot of drama over the next few days. And no, I’m not going to stay up to watch the results. Who knows how long it will take to see how this comes out. May the best man win. And I truly mean that.