Commentary
Dammit, Mr. President, you went too far.
After chronicling your four years of accomplishments while suffering assault after assault on your presidency, even from within our government, I can understand your frustration, however, I’m afraid your legacy is doomed. You went too far.
You had a 52 percent approval rating on Election Day, and 56 percent of the voters believed they were better off than when Barack Obama left office. You had the loyal support of some 74 million people, even after November 3, 2020.
You were told by advisors that if you received 10 million more votes than in 2016, you would win handily, and when Joe Biden mysteriously won, you just couldn’t let it go. You didn’t want to disappoint your supporters by conceding.
You were prescient, warning of a rigged election when mail-in ballots were used more widely than ever. States used the pandemic as a convenient means for people to vote by mail. Surely, if they could go to the grocery store, they could have masked-up and distanced themselves in a voting line.
A number of states, like Pennsylvania, illegally changed voting deadlines. Concern over voting machine manipulation grew. The results across the nation were disastrous as irregularities became known.
To make matters worse, Attorney General Bill Barr told you that there was insufficient evidence to indicate that these irregularities made a difference in the outcome of the race.
Being a fighter, you simply couldn’t concede, for to do that would mean you lost, and you fervently believed that you had won.
In two rally appearances in Georgia, where you appealed to Georgians to vote for Senators Loeffler and Perdue, you said, “We will not bend, we will not break, we will not yield, we will never give up, we will never back down, we will never surrender.”
You had to be energized when you learned that Rasmussen Reports found that 73 percent of GOP voters supported the Senate effort to reject the Electoral Count, and just 22 percent opposing.
Not everyone in the party wanted to participate in the Electoral count rejection process. “If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral, and we’d never see the whole nation accept the election,” cautioned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
There was no hope that the election results would be overturned. Yet, you took to the stage at Wednesday’s march at the Washington Mall with more bravado as you encouraged supporters to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol building. I don’t believe that you foresaw the vandalism once they reached there. Conservative protests were generally peaceful, not disruptive.
The thousands of people, many of whom travelled far to get to Washington, enthusiastically walked to the Capitol, cheering and waving American and Trump campaign flags.
When they went up the steps, a number of bad actors who had infiltrated the throng, took advantage of the lack of security and breached the building, bringing the Electoral count process to a halt and vandalizing the treasured building.
Not for a minute do I believe the man shown slamming a metal barrier into a Capitol door was a Trump follower just because he was wearing a MAGA cap.
Even in your appeal to your supporters to “go home peacefully,” you again felt the need to say “the election was stolen from us.”
I was disappointed to hear you assail Vice President Mike Pence when he denied that he had the authority to reverse the election. He has been loyal to you to the end. In one of his last speeches, in a Milner, Georgia church, that loyalty was felt as he asked people to vote for Senators Loeffler and Perdue to “save our country.”
You kept your promises and, in many ways, made America great again, Mr. President, however, I have come to agree with Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, who wrote, “Trump Threw It Away … he stole an easily winnable election from himself with his lack of discipline.”
Weeks ago, I said that you would graciously transition out of the White House, but I didn’t foresee this delay. With your social media accounts suspended, your aide Dan Scorvino had to post your statement that “there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”
Not satisfied, Joe Biden’s “Unity Enforcers,” Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, have now called for your immediate removal from office, and suggested another impeachment trial.
I don’t know what the future holds for you and the Republican party. With our 2020 gains in the House, the 2022 midterms looked promising, however, there are consequences. I’ll address my prospects for the future soon.
In the meantime, with the Democrats now in full control, things look pretty grim, but I cannot give in and I plan to be here doing my thing.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
