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As Electors Finally Meet, Donald Trumps Moment of Truth Approaches
Last edited Sun Dec 18, 2016, 05:28 PM - Edit history (2)
As Electors Finally Meet, Donald Trump’s Moment of Truth Approaches
The post-Clinton Democratic Party may be the last institution standing that can hold the charlatan who’s about to become our next President to account.
Michael Tomasky
12.17.16 12:01 AM ET
And so after everything—the relentless lies, the twisted misogyny, the mocking of a disabled man, the racism open enough to have won the enthusiasm of white supremacists, the invitation to a foreign adversary to find and leak information damaging to his opponent, and all the rest of it—we’re hitting the point of no return. The Electoral College meets Monday, and unless he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue in the meantime, it’s done. The electors are going to certify him as the next president.
As they do so, the electors will not be doing their job. Lots of people by now have written pieces, like this very good one by Peter Beinart, explaining that the Electoral College was created precisely to prevent a demagogue from taking office. This was the design even if such a move went against the will of the people. But in this case it wouldn’t even be doing that, as Hillary Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Trump.
They’ll be joining a long list of people who didn’t do their jobs this past year. The list starts with the Republican Party and Reince Priebus. As Trump went from one outrage to the next in 2015, the Republican Party should have and could have found a way to stop him and unify behind one of the other candidates, all of whom, even Ted Cruz, fell within the scope of normal and weren’t utter demagogues who made their contempt for the Constitution plain. Priebus is now rewarded with a big important job, but for a president who’s already not very popular and who will be besieged by scandal from the moment he says “so help me God.” Indeed, a couple more juicy CIA leaks between now and January 20 might persuade a majority of Americans that the very concept of Trump as president is illegitimate before he even starts the job. Priebus will now be saddled with all this, and if there’s a just God up there somewhere he’ll yet get the deserts* he’s earned.
The Democratic Party didn’t do its job. There is no way that an incumbent party with a popular president and a good (not great but certainly good) economy should lose an election. The Clinton campaign—I’ll get to it next—may have made some jaw-dropping tactical errors in Michigan. But after the auto bailout and what Obama did to save that state’s economy, losing there should have been a bullet-proof impossibility. Obviously they all took it for granted, but that’s really bad messaging that the Democratic Party, starting with Obama, didn’t make sure—and not just during this campaign, but on an ongoing basis since 2010—that Michiganders knew that the Democrats saved GM and Chrysler and the Republican Party was ready to let them die.
The post-Clinton Democratic Party may be the last institution standing that can hold the charlatan who’s about to become our next President to account.
Michael Tomasky
12.17.16 12:01 AM ET
And so after everything—the relentless lies, the twisted misogyny, the mocking of a disabled man, the racism open enough to have won the enthusiasm of white supremacists, the invitation to a foreign adversary to find and leak information damaging to his opponent, and all the rest of it—we’re hitting the point of no return. The Electoral College meets Monday, and unless he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue in the meantime, it’s done. The electors are going to certify him as the next president.
As they do so, the electors will not be doing their job. Lots of people by now have written pieces, like this very good one by Peter Beinart, explaining that the Electoral College was created precisely to prevent a demagogue from taking office. This was the design even if such a move went against the will of the people. But in this case it wouldn’t even be doing that, as Hillary Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Trump.
They’ll be joining a long list of people who didn’t do their jobs this past year. The list starts with the Republican Party and Reince Priebus. As Trump went from one outrage to the next in 2015, the Republican Party should have and could have found a way to stop him and unify behind one of the other candidates, all of whom, even Ted Cruz, fell within the scope of normal and weren’t utter demagogues who made their contempt for the Constitution plain. Priebus is now rewarded with a big important job, but for a president who’s already not very popular and who will be besieged by scandal from the moment he says “so help me God.” Indeed, a couple more juicy CIA leaks between now and January 20 might persuade a majority of Americans that the very concept of Trump as president is illegitimate before he even starts the job. Priebus will now be saddled with all this, and if there’s a just God up there somewhere he’ll yet get the deserts* he’s earned.
The Democratic Party didn’t do its job. There is no way that an incumbent party with a popular president and a good (not great but certainly good) economy should lose an election. The Clinton campaign—I’ll get to it next—may have made some jaw-dropping tactical errors in Michigan. But after the auto bailout and what Obama did to save that state’s economy, losing there should have been a bullet-proof impossibility. Obviously they all took it for granted, but that’s really bad messaging that the Democratic Party, starting with Obama, didn’t make sure—and not just during this campaign, but on an ongoing basis since 2010—that Michiganders knew that the Democrats saved GM and Chrysler and the Republican Party was ready to let them die.
* Yes, "deserts," and not "desserts." I looked it up.
From now on we're going to have to provide our own leadership.
Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
republicans? The ones who pass laws restricting their successors when they lose? Those people?
Comrade Casino (R) will be a very useful idiot.
