What Republican Senators Hawley, Cruz and the rest of the rat pack have decided is this: They will aid and abet Trump’s proliferation of the Big Lie about the 2020 election in order to advance their standing among the #MAGA they hope to inherit for the elections of 2022 and 2024. They have announced the abhorrent — that they will cause more chaos by challenging electoral college votes for Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 6 — to keep the lie alive because none have the stones necessary to tell their most Trumpie of constituents the truth: That Biden won the election, fair and square; there was no fraud, and it is time for Americans to accept the new president.
Allow me to summarize what happened here:
- Knowing he would not win reelection because of his hideous mishandling of the pandemic, Trump spent the summer spraying toxin about the coming election — that it was rigged against him, that mail-in voting was inherently susceptible to fraud. Trump did this knowing that the MAGA crowd was predisposed to hear and accept it, susceptible as they have become to conspiracy theories.
- Within hours of the polls closing on Nov. 3, Trump continued to complain that the election was rigged — that votes counted after Election Day were cast illegally or should not be counted, or some such nonsense. Importantly, he managed to get nearly 80 percent of Republicans to believe him.
- Trump and his surrogates lost their many challenges in state and federal courts, and state electors certified Biden’s resounding victory. But Trump continued to obsessively complain that the election was rigged and, more, that he had won reelection.
- The 140 House members and the rat pack of senators, led by presidential aspirants Hawley and Cruz, are in the game to exploit the minds Trump has warped. Instead of being champions of democracy, instead of being leaders, they are aiding and abetting Trump’s lie because that’s what the MAGA want to hear, and for their wholly self-serving, morally bankrupt words and deeds Hawley, Cruz and the rest of these Republicans should forever bear and share the title of seditionists.
This effort rises to sedition because there is no evidence of fraud or irregularities, no claim that a foreign power tried to tip the election one way or another, as there was in Trump’s victory in 2016. (If you still don’t believe Russia was engaged in trying to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, please read the Republican-led Senate report that made clear, once and for all, that it was.)
There is a mountainous distinction between being merely a representative man and an authentic leader — that is, an elected official who leads with words and deeds and does not merely reflect what he believes his constituents believe. There is risk in doing that, of course, but the distinction in the cause of righteousness — in this case, in the cause of keeping our democracy — is an honorable one. Hawley, Cruz and the rest have reached the depths of dishonor; they deserve infamy.
Here is the list of senators and senators-elect who have joined this seditious ploy:
Here is a list of House members who joined the rat pack:
Dan Rodricks 
There isn’t much question that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election. Before commenting further, I would note that historically, the US tries to influence elections around the world as well. We have interfered in politics in Chile, in Iran, in Israel, in Vietnam, in the Ukraine, and in other places, and occasionally, we give military assistance to one side or the other in another country, like ousting the head of Nicaragua, trying to overthrow Castro, and so forth.
But, is there evidence that these Russian attempts paid off by, say, throwing the voters of Wisconsin or Ohio or Michigan from the H. Clinton camp to the Trump camp? Hard to say.
Meanwhile, the Democrats in 2017 wasted a bunch of time in a sure to fail attempt in Congress to change the election result. See, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/no-trump-electoral-college-challenge-233294
It is interesting that VP Biden shouted down the attempted coup in 2017. That coup attempt was led by crazy left wingers, like Maxine Waters. This week’s coup attempt will be led by crazy right wingers, like Ted Cruz and Hawley. It will be a waste of time as well. (Wouldn’t it be nice if the Senators and Congresspeople could actually do something like correct the inefficiency in the delivery of the mail or the delivery of the vaccinations we so desperately desire? No…they have to posture for the cameras and the voters)
I believe that Biden was elected because many people were sick of the lunatic Trump and the crazy and extreme, non-fact based tweets. At least in part, many voters want to return to sanity, and the moderate incoming president represents a return to normal and to calm. Pres. Elect Biden has been accused of being boring, but, in my view, we could use a little boring about now.
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There were far more grounds in 2017 to question the election result than there are this year. And I don’t even remember anyone calling what happened then an attempted coup.
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We didn’t much like or want to believe the results of the 2016 election, but we accepted it, exercising our right for peaceful assembly and free speech to let the world know there were a lot of Americans who did NOT support Donald Trump. As for Maxine Waters…she did speak up and object to the Electoral College votes assigned to Bush from Florida, but that’s because there were more votes to count and a court, not the people, called the election. This was the Supreme Court, so the rest of us went back to business supporting Bush even though many of thought he was dumber than a box of rocks. He’s not looking so bad here of late you have to admit. If these folks are allowed to prevail, no election result will ever be accepted, and we might as well just appoint whomever has the loudest voice and strongest support from lawless thugs and anarchists as leader for life and be done with all the squabbling. And kiss the Constitution and our Democracy good-bye. Thank God we have a judiciary that works, and that our Courts of Law are the firewall to this nonsense.
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All just out for themselves…just like their buffoon leader. 🤡🤡🙄
Eileen 🥳🎉
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His phone call to the Georgia Sec’y of State this weekend may be a criminal act. See,
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-may-violated-state-federal-002039688.html
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The phone call to GA’s Secy of State was just the latest in a long series of criminal acts Trump committed both and after assuming the Presidency. For psychological reasons, he cannot admit defeat as he has long derided others as “losers.” The seditious cowards in Congress and their cheerleaders in the media are equally culpable for abetting Trump’s criminality and his many lies. In addition to undermining our democracy, the combination of criminality, compulsive deceit, incompetence, and narcissism (among Trump and the rat pack, too) has resulted in nearly 400,000 deaths, tens of millions unemployed, the cyber attacks on our nation’s security, the failure to address climate change, and the loss of our standing in the world. I am sure Putin, Xi, and other foreign despots are thinking: ‘well done, Donald.”
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Donald Trump is the undoubted LOSER
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