Almost four years ago to the day this editorial ran. It would have been a foolish statement for anybody to make, but Mick Mulvaney, who penned this editorial, was Donald Trump’s chief of staff for a while. Or was it “acting” chief of staff? I believe it was the latter. That last catastrophic year everybody was an acting this and an acting that, because nobody wanted to work for this fool and forever sully what credibility they had.
Michael Cohen knew the score. He predicted, when appearing before Congress, that if Trump was defeated that he would never leave office peacefully. And Cohen was not alone. Anybody who had been paying attention to Trump knew that accepting loss or defeat at all, let alone gracefully and with dignity, was simply not in his character.
That is tragic. If you recall the lovely concession speech that George H.W. Bush made to Bill Clinton, Bush got accolades from both sides of the aisle and from people all over the world. Descriptors like “patrician” “graceful” “classly” even “regal” were applied to H.W. America looked good. We stood for something in those days.
The transition was also classy. Photos of Barbara Bush, arm in arm with Hillary Clinton, were all over the news. And H.W. started the tradition of a president leaving a letter in the Resolute Desk for the incoming president. We are given to understand that that was the one tradition that Trump kept up. Joe Biden has not seen fit to disclose the exact contents of that letter. I would love to see it because as much as I’ve seen Trump shit on every other tradition and convention in our country, if he managed to be true to one of them, it would be a wonder to me.
Now we stand, again, where we stood four years ago this week. Again, Trump was on the GOP ticket. He’s not in a position to get a riot started at the Ellipse this year, although rumors are coming in from Trump world that his MAGA minions do intend to take to the streets and it “will be ten times worse.” Personally, I think that’s hyperbole, based upon the fact that a lot of the January 6 rioters are cooling their heels in prison cells right now. They felt comfortable coming to Washington because they thought that Trump would either protect them, pardon them, or at the very least pay for legal representation. They found out the hard way that he was not there in a crunch.
What happens next depends upon a number of factors:
- How big of a margin does Trump lose by?
- How early is the election able to be called?
- How much is the Boy Who Cried Wolf factor going to weigh in?
- How much support will Trump get from right-wing media? It’s an absolute he won’t get it from Fox News. That $787 million bite is all that the Murdochs are going to allow, unless I seriously miss my guess.
Remember, Trump’s stolen election ploy had the advantage of having never before been tried. That advantage is gone. The advantage of being in the White House and giving a speech at the Ellipse is gone. Basically, all Trump’s advantages are gone.
Nevertheless, Trump has been sending “the batsignal” to Proud Boys in recent days, wearing a black and gold hat and a black coat. And supposedly the Proud Boys are standing by.
Let’s see what the day holds. That is literally all that we can do now. And nothing is worse than waiting.
Sure, there are going to be those who will do something-march, break stuff, etc. I’m sure they’re just looking for an excuse. Without trump’s call-to-arms however, most of the ones saying “oh, it’s going to be 10-x’s worse” are just blowing hot air. It’s one thing for all these fools to be called to an event in D.C. and have the actual potus incite them to violence, insurrection, and treason. It is a whole other thing when the current President, state A.G.’s and D.A.’s, and the rest are NOT telling people to commit treason but instead are telling them F*ck Around and Find Out. It is much less welcoming for these fools when D.C. is all hunkered down waiting for stupidity to erupt.
IF however there is chatter out there by some (i.e. ginny-lookin’ at you), I hope receipts are being gathered up because this time there had better be trials for treason-no less is acceptable.
what r the proud boys proud of anyhow?
From the looks of it – stupidity.
Since the numerous right-wing TV stations will dish out whatever their viewers want, I think it’s certain that they will parrot Trump’s “voter fraud” bullshit. No specific accusations that might get them in legal trouble. But just enough to rile up the base, and cast doubt about the legitimacy of a Harris presidency. They have no shame.