This was a sad and frightening week in a year that’s had more weeks that were once thought unimaginable. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lost her gallant fight against cancer in hopes of outlasting the Trump presidency. There couldn’t be two people more different. Could you imagine the outpouring of admiration and respect for Trump that has been shown to Justice Ginsburg? It came out in stark relief when Trump went to pay his respects to Ginsburg as she laid in repose at the top of the Supreme Court steps as dozens of her former law clerks stood down the steps paying honor to her memory. Trump stood stone faced behind a mask (a rare sighting) as the crowd chanted “Vote him out.” It spoke volumes about the state of the country. Trump later said he didn’t the chants. Everyone else did.
Of all the crazy, absurd things Trump has said over the last four years, none were as dangerous and foreboding as his continued attacks on the election and mail in ballots. When asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election he said, “We’re going to see what happens”… “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful-there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.” Think about that. Never in a our history has a president ever thought of saying anything like that. I submit, it’s treason. It’s been reported that in 2018 at a private fund raiser, Trump said this about the Chinese Communist Party ending the two term limit for its president Xi Jinping, “he’ll be president for life…I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”
The country is being held hostage by a sociopath, someone who can’t understand others’ feelings. They often break the rules and make impulsive decisions without feeling guilty for the harm they cause. It’s all about them. There’s no more important issue for Trump than personal praise and power. He’s desperate to hang on to that power because the worst thing for Trump is to be viewed as a loser. As the election gets closer and his fear of losing grows, he will become more dangerous. Even the spineless Republican Party leaders have meekly said they support a peaceful transfer of power. But they won’t call on the president specifically to knock it off. The Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We all have to be those good men and use the one weapon we have…vote and fight to make it count.
We were recently visiting family in Texas. There were many more Trump signs than Biden signs which was really no surprise given where we were. But there was a sign on one neatly mowed lawn that read “Jesus 2020”. Many view him as our savior. But even he cannot save us this time. That’s up to us.
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