Devoid of Character in the Face of Defeat

 

Commentary on Post Election Nonsense

        Can we now agree that the recent presidential election has been subjected to closer inspection and analysis than any previous one? As an observer of politics for over 60 years, I can attest to the validity of that statement.

        That basic reality includes the fact that much of what Trump is now whining about is the direct result of his own unabashedly overt attempts to suppress the vote by tinkering with the US Postal Service to attempt to slow down and cast aspersions on mail voting.

        Finally, after an unprecedented number of closely observed recounts which have not only upheld and reaffirmed the original results but extended Biden's margin, it has become pretty damned clear that a sizeable majority of US citizens voted for change. (I might have voted for a half full dirty diaper pail rather than Trump)

        That said, the stalling and obfuscation now being engaged in by The Trump cast of idiots, led by one Rudolph "Noseferatu” Giuliani and including Trump, himself, as well as his cadre of relatively useless offspring, serves no one, least of all, the nation. Donald Trump had one last chance to evince even a scintilla of character. As yet, he has not.

        Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that some (too many) Republicans, in the Senate especially, remained silent while Trump’s hit squad attempted to undermine state results even in states where co-partisan Governors with far more character validated the Biden majority in their states.

        Trump lost clearly and convincingly, in the electoral college as well as the popular vote. Our (“Florida” for other readers) Senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have been, and remain, silent as the president claims, with no basis, that the election was stolen. They, especially Rubio, applauded as Trump attempted to make that case in court, where his lawyers were turned away again and again because they had no evidence. Then, as Trump then attempted to beg, cajole and bully, pressed state and local officials — the secretary of state in Georgia, legislators in Pennsylvania, the Board of State Canvassers in Michigan — to nullify the results, Rubio again, offered no objection.

        If Trump’s attempted coup has failed, it is not because he was jobbed or the election was “rigged’ (an odd term for one whose entire career has revolved around never playing on an even field) but simply because his defeat was so decisive — and because state and local officials, Republican and Democrats alike,  had the integrity and courage to resist Trump’s pressure, do their jobs and report honest results.

        But here’s the point, which speaks poorly for the GOP nationally:  Almost no Republicans on the national stage had the integrity or guts to offer backup for these local officials. Few, if any, gave the public any reason to hope that if Trump’s effort to steal the election state by state had gained traction, they would have stood against it.

         It wouldn’t have been all that difficult. Rubio, Rick Scott, or any other incumbent Senator or reelected Congressman could and in decency, should, have stated publicly, “My fellow Americans, this election was not rigged or stolen. There was no communist conspiracy to alter the results. We should be proud that, in the face of a pandemic, we turned out to vote in record numbers, and our votes were counted conscientiously and honestly by thousands of fair-minded Americans across the country.” Instead, many, if not most,  of them (except 2016 primary opponent Mitt Romney) simply followed the same canned, evasive, Republican script, legitimizing Trump’s conspiracy theories without repeating them word for word. Sadly and shamefully, as most of us know, poor character, concern for themselves vice the nation and, not to be under- estimated, their fear of a Trump “slash and burn” exit has stilled their tongues on the election’s obvious result and triggered the Republican carping we have seen over the past 4 years.

        Along with Tom Cotton (Ark.), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and other Republican senators, Rubio and others now are preemptively already disparaging the announced incoming Biden team. They are now in the opposition, after all. Apparently, the modus operandi checklist is/was: “Attempt to discredit the previous (Obama) administration after they’re gone, and attack the Biden one before it’s even sworn in. Above all, accept no responsibility. Blame everyone and anyone but ourselves.”  

          Next-Gen psychology texts, might well, under the topic of Malignant Narcissism, simply say: "Narcissism: The pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's idealized self-image and attributes.”

        “Malignant Narcissism: as above, accompanied by grandiose fantasies and behavior, such as a preoccupation with thoughts of personal success, power, little or no empathy for other people’s emotions or feelings and significant need for attention, admiration, and recognition.”  (Note: see Trump, Donald)

An appendix might include “Spineless: weak willed and  ineffectual”  (Note: see US Republicans, November and December, 2020)