Waiting with Bated Breath

This election is giving me, and I think the majority of this country, anxiety. I saw a tweet that said, “Waiting for election results is like waiting for a grade on a group project. I know I did my part right, but I’m scared y’all messed it up.” If you’ve ever done a group project, then you know this feeling. I would guess that if you are reading this blog, it is likely you were like me and led the group and ended up doing the most work, which gives you the feeling that you will probably get a good grade. I almost always got good grades, unless you consider Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry or French History. I didn’t do as well in those classes. I’d also put American Literature II in that category, but I made a C in that class because I refused to suck up to the professor. He was a prick and only gave A’s and B’s to people who repeatedly told him how wonderful he was. Anyway, my point is that I am feeling a little better about the election, and as long as the counts are fair, I think Biden might win.  

 

As I am writing this post, Arizona is worrying me, but Georgia is looking better and better, but Georgia alone will result in a tie. We do not want a tie in the Electoral College. I know most people believe that the Democrats control the House of Representatives, and therefore, the election would go to Biden. However, if the election goes to the House, each state gets one vote, and the delegation decides how their state votes. There are a majority of Republican delegations in the House. While I think it is evident that Biden will win the popular vote by a large margin, I do not trust Republicans to do the right thing and give the election to the winner of the popular vote. It will go along party lines. Since the Senate, who chooses the Vice President, will still be controlled by the Republicans, Mike Pence will be the vice president no matter what happens. I believe that no matter who the House chose, a Republican Senate will vote for Pence. If the Electoral College is a tie, it will be awful.

 

We are already seeing Donald Trump calling legitimate and legal votes fraudulent; he will not go easily if Biden does get 270 or more electoral votes. He has said as much for months now, and he said as much yesterday in his treasonous speech. His cult followers are already hounding election centers to intimidate election officials into favoring Trump. If it is announced that Biden has the votes in the Electoral College, Trump is likely to call on his cultists to riot and will basically suggest a coup. I know that sounds extreme, but can you expect better of Trump? He has shown us already he cares nothing about democracy, the Constitution, or American institutions. 

 

As Claire McCaskill said last night on MSNBC, we can only hope that George Bush, the only living former Republican president, and respected Republican leaders such as Bob Dole will have to make a public display of congratulating Joe Biden on his victory. Trump hates Bush, so Bush alone will not accomplish what needs to be done. The country will need many of the spineless Republicans who have propped up Trump to save American democracy, by that I mean Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, and John Thune in the Senate and Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Liz Cheney, and even assholes like Matt Gaetz in the House will have to step up and denounce Trump’s usurpation of the United States government. Will they? Would they finally grow a spine and put country above party? I hope so, but I won’t hold my breath.

 

My point is that there will have to be Republicans who stand up to Trump. Hopefully, they do care about democracy because it’s obvious that Trump does not. Trump’s actions during this election are causing significant damage to the United States. They undermine his supporters’ faith in the country’s government. They also undermine the credibility of the United States around the world. And they force election officials, journalists, and social media platforms to choose between telling the truth and sounding nonpartisan; it is impossible to do both about Trump’s election claims.