What the Hell Is Going On? To all the Trump true believers out there, waving your red-white-and-blues, proudly displaying your MAGA hats, screaming ‘Live Free or Die,’ what kind of uber-patriots are you fans really? America at this juncture is, as one columnist put it, ‘is going through its worst public health crisis since 1918[!]’ and needs desperately someone to lead us out of this mess. Instead, we have a President who basically is doing nothing at all right now, just sulking like a child as he occasionally moves from the White House residence upstairs to the Oval Office downstairs, brooding, incensed and vengeful, his legal gambits going nowhere.
Despite the sound and fury, observing the President’s behavior in the last couple of weeks lays bare some absolute truths about Mr. Trump: for one thing, he has no interest in governance, and probably never did; he presently is not lifting a pencil to perform his Presidential duties [he’s done virtually no official business of any sort since Election Day.]
His whole agenda for years has been focused on re-election, the affairs of the country be damned; he’s a lazy SOB, too – his only activity since November 3rd has been golfing at his country club in Virginia; Mr. Trump is vindictive and cruel; he’s been unscrupulous, cut-throat and dishonest seemingly his whole adult life; and, finally, he’s an incurious ignoramus about American history, its traditions and precedents [example: he pushed for a quick resolution as to the selection of the latest Supreme Court opening: why the rush? He thought erroneously that a stacked Court ultimately would back him in all of the contested states’ election legal disputes – nope, Mr. Trump, the business of elections is solely the responsibility of individual states.]
Some well-intentioned, earnest columnists talk of the grievous injury Mr. Trump has inflicted on his own ‘legacy.’ This legacy talk is a bunch of nonsense. Mr. Trump couldn’t give a flying you-know-what about his legacy. He doesn’t work that way, and never did: as many have pointed out, he operates like a day trader: whatever is in front of him at the moment is what he is concerned about. Legacy implies pondering one’s reputation years down the road. Donald Trump takes it one hour at a time; he doesn’t operate long-term. ‘Legacy’, and in fact any historical context, in that squirrel brain of Mr. Trump, are, as Bill Parcells, noted football coach, once asserted, ‘bunk.’
So, after all the unsuccessful moves in the state courts, and vote certifications confirmed in the next few weeks, at which point the election of Joe Biden becomes certain, what does the future hold for Donald Trump, in the upcoming weeks and years? What’s on his mind?
As far as concrete next steps, I don’t know. And President Trump may not know either. We know he’s seething that the election was ‘stolen’, and he’ll go to any steps to hold on to the Presidency. But I suspect he’s stumped at this point. Oh, sure, he and his consigliore Bill Barr are burning up the midnight oil conjuring up all kinds of nefarious stratagems to retain his office, including possibly utilizing the military, but his options are dwindling. One thing is certain: Donald Trump is sure to surprise us again going forward, and the surprise may indeed be shocking, another body blow to our democracy.
2024? To the Trump fanatics out there, down the road, his obstructive, infantile behavior will not be forgotten by most Americans. We’ve looked upon this ugly spectacle post-election, and are chagrined to say the least. Most Americans are astute enough to comprehend exactly what Mr. Trump is doing: making the task for Mr. Biden much harder, in the midst of a national emergency, and that memory will not be going away. Indeed, 2020, I think, is the high watermark for Mr. Trump.
We’re been reading in newspaper articles and observing on TV ‘wise’ – I use that word advisedly – pundits who beat us over the head with the certitude that the Trump voters are incensed that the election of Joe Biden is not legitimate, and that rage will fuel Donald Trump’s election bid in 2024, and his eventual re-election. But, these grandees of opinion never mention how angry the Biden Democratic and independent voters are right now, too. Citizens who voted for Joe Biden look at the post-election attempts to steal the Presidency from its rightful heir, and are absolutely furious. It’s insulting, to all Democratic 2020 voters, that American democracy is being basically hung out to dry by a bozo like our clueless President.
Memories of the tragedy and farce going on currently as to the election will not be forgotten, that’s for sure. Yeah, President Trump received 73 million votes on November 3rd, and those millions may be there for Trump in 2024. But 79 million in the same election voted for Joe Biden, and virtually every one of those voters will be motivated to vote against Mr. Trump in 2024, if he were to run. There’s a strong distaste for Trump in America that will linger for a long time.
Besides, by 2024, the electorate may well have dismissed Mr. Trump for the buffoonery antics he’s displayed during his term. With distance and time, I think, Trump’s going to be seriously diminished in the eyes of most Americans: for those reasons, I think he’s got no shot by 2024. Plus, the world and America may be in totally different places in four years, and the Trump ‘magic’ marginalized.
Let’s be clear what the Trump behavior constitutes: he’s putting the very well-being of the country at risk. He’s assaulted our country’s precious democracy. That’s heavy baggage even for Mr. Trump to carry.
Election Observations, Other than Trump…
Giuliani Thrives– Mr. Gripes is of the opinion that Rudy Giuliani is having one hell of a good time right now, despite the piercing criticisms coming his way. He was basically washed up as a public figure a year ago, and today he’s everywhere on television and in the press. He may very well reason, ‘Yeah, I was finished, no one cared a whit about what I thought about anything. Now look: Donald brought me back from the dead, so I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. I travelled to Bosnia, then to Slovakia, looking under every rock for evidence that would slam Hunter Biden, and kill his father’s chances; that didn’t happen, but, hey, I’m now lead attorney for Donald, and everyone all over the world is listening. They make fun of me – so what? I’m back throwing punches, and I’m as happy as a clam.’
Mr. Gripes has a little story to relate about Mr. Giuliani: a month or so after 9/11, I was walking through the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan: maybe there were 25 shoppers there on the first floor. Suddenly I’m hearing a soft murmur arising from the patrons there; the sound begins to get louder. What’s going on? It turns out Mr. Giuliani, alone, had just entered the store, looking for a gift. Slowly, every one of those shoppers stares at the mayor and starts to clap. This politely goes on for perhaps three minutes, at which point Mr. Giuliani slowly raises his right hand, the applause ceases, and he graciously thanks all of the patrons. It was a riveting moment, to say the least.
Indeed, Mr. Giuliani’s reputation has taken one hell of a hit since those times, and Rudy himself is a squalid mess as well, but I don’t think he really cares. He’s in the game again.
TV Bandits – One facet of our quadrennial election process that never has any losers, only extraordinary winners, is political advertising on television networks. It’s an abomination the amount of money that is spent on advertising during campaigns like the one we just endured. And, in the end, mostly pointless, too. The networks? They smile like Cheshire cats, and tote the millions to the bank.
In the Biden-Trump race just concluded, as of October 31, $1.5 billion [!] had been spent on national political ads. [And that figure doesn’t include digital advertising, another extraordinarily lucrative component of advertising revenues.]
Just a look at this example: In the Jaime Harrison-Lindsay Graham Senatorial race in South Carolina just concluded, Mr. Harrison raised and spent $107 million on advertising, including a monthly record in August of $57 million; Mr. Graham was at $72 million raised and spent, for a total of nearly $180 million gone up in smoke for a Senate seat in – not in Florida or California, but, of all places --South Carolina. What did Mr. Harrison gain from all those donations? He lost by 10%, a landslide for sure.
It’s my sense that most of these television ads are a huge waste of money. I live in a non-competitive state – and am not deluged with any of this advertising during election years. But, I can’t help feeling sorry for the inundation and onslaught, day after day, which other Americans have to endure. Do viewers, after perhaps initial interest, pay any attention to the advertising? It doesn’t seem possible.
The whole process of raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars is sick, and undermines on some level the legitimacy of our electoral system. There’s just too much money sluicing around.
And the money chase among elected officials never ceases: just yesterday, I received an e-mail from Nancy Pelosi, pleading for donations to the campaigns of the two Democratic Senate candidates running in the upcoming Georgia run-offs.
The e-mail from the Speaker began this way [I paraphrase a bit]: ‘My heart just sank. An hour ago, I received news that Mitch McConnell has recently raised $55 million that will be going to assist the Republicans in the Georgia contests. This news comes just after we [Democrats] raised $22 million for Georgia. We urgently need your donation.’
No wonder our system is broken.
November 25, 2020
By Jim Israel
