JaxPolitix

Reading time – 4:43  .  .  .

The election should be over – after all, it only takes 270 and it’s clear to all who’s won and who has lost. But this is going to be dragged through the courts for a while by baseless Trump lawsuits and fantasy charges of fraud. Trump’s anti-American histrionics and tweet storms won’t change the outcome, though, so we proceed.

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What Has Happened

Donald Trump has spent his entire life trying to prove he isn’t a loser because his father told him that being a loser is the lowest, most worthless thing. Yet who but a loser goes bankrupt six times, including bankrupting four casinos? CASINOS!

Not even the moral rot of lying, cheating, stealing, defrauding, and even compromising the security of this country is off limits for Trump’s bottomless neediness. He tried to turn this country into an autocracy to serve himself. He has spewed hatred at innocent people and has mocked disabled people and Gold Star families. He demeaned and defamed both our war dead and even our doctors during this pandemic and made this virus yet more deadly.

There has never been a low that is so low that Trump would not go there.

Now, though, it’s all caught up to him. The con is over. The jig is up. The American people have held him accountable and it’s plain for anyone to see that he is the loser. It’s the one thing he cannot handle, even as the truth is staring him in the face.

Trump-as-loser is an enormously satisfying thing for those of us who can still remember the meaning of words like “moral” and “decency” and “empathy” and “duty” and “protect and defend” and “loyalty” and “integrity.” We know right from wrong and we won’t tolerate any more of his wrong.

It’s our turn to take the reins, to make up with friends he offended (see the quote from Paris, France below), to put adversaries on notice and to re-balance our nation for the benefit of We the People instead of for Trump.

So, let us end this long dark night of our country with the familiar words of Glinda, the good witch of the north:

“Let the joyous news be spread,

“The wicked old witch at last is dead.”

It’s going to take many years to fix what Trump has broken and we begin the process right now.

What’s Next

Said Fintan O’Toole of the Irish Times In April, “If a new administration succeeds [Trump] in 2021, it will have to clean up the toxic dump he leaves behind.” So, we don our citizenry Hazmat suits and have at it.

I’m imagining that during the lame duck session President-Elect Biden will be preparing some executive orders to sign in the afternoon of January 20 for things needing immediate attention, like:

Restoring full status to the CDC and announcing steps to end this pandemic

Reinstating DACA protections and ordering ICE to stand down and to reunite with their parents all those children in cages at the southern border

Reversing the Muslim ban

Rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO)

Rejoining the JCPOA to make Iran stop nuclear weapons production

Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement so that we leave an inhabitable place for our grandchildren

Rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership so that we don’t cede all of the Pacific rim to the Chinese

Imposing sanctions on Russia for the Putin-led interference in our elections

It’s time to roll up our collective shirtsleeves and get to work repairing this nation. While President Biden is signing those executive orders, we Americans ourselves start by making peace with one another. See the chart at the bottom for the challenges we’ll have to overcome. And read this.

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Closing Metaphor

I’ve had a persistent vision of life since I was a little guy, this of a long wagon train moving west. The people in the wagons and on horseback and those walking are on a very long journey and all the regular things of life happen along the way. Sometimes someone dies and the wagon train must stop to bury the dead. Prayers are said, tears are streamed and grief is wailed. But when that is over, the people know they can’t stay and that there’s only one thing to do: move on. So, they once again mount their wagons and their horses and on they go toward their new frontier. Progress always means leaving something behind.

We have had much suffering over the past four years and not just from Covid. A major casualty has been our sense of national unity and a certain respect for one another. Some of our most cherished institutions, norms and values have been crushed. Some can be repaired; some may have to be buried. Regardless, there is only one thing to do: we must mount our wagons and our horses and continue on toward our new frontier.

The challenge for all of us is to make sure that everyone comes along. It may be difficult, but we are – all of us – bound to this wagon train and we are headed toward our new frontier together.

C’est la vie.

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Immediate reactions to the Biden/Harris win:

From Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris, France: “Welcome back, America.” She speaks for the world.

From David Hogg, survivor of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School and co-founder of Never Again: “Who’s ready to win GA?”

From Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman: “Congratulations to President Elect @JoeBiden and Vice President Elect @KamalaHarris. I am grateful for your willingness to continue to serve the American people. Now we can start to heal and rebuild.”

From Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York: “Who wants to dance?”

From Van Jones of CNN: You must watch this clip.

From Don Lemon of CNN: You must watch this clip.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky immediately sent congratulations to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris.

From most Republicans in Congress: crickets

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Ed. note: We need to spread the word so that we make a critical difference, so,

 

Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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