Hijinx, Hijacks, and Highway Robbery

It's a Five Alarm fire, and the arsonist wants to be Fire Chief again

“We Have the Votes”

That’s the ex-president telling people not to worry. “Elect me, and you’ll never have to vote again, Trump Promises Evangelicals,” read the headline in the Baptist News Global, and virtually every other evangelical organ. At first utterance, that sounded like braggadocio, or an empty campaign promise, akin the old Infrastructure Week ruse, or replacing the Affordable Care Act. But upon further examination, and taken in context with everything else he’s said, its actual meaning is much more ominous.

The Wall Street Journal led with this: “’It Feels Very Dystopian.’ Republican County Officials Brace for Election Deniers—Again.” The article cites how law-abiding election officials in Maricopa County (Phoenix) are using metal detectors, hardening buildings, adding protection for their workers, and flying drones to keep a bird’s eye view on their surroundings. The Trump campaign has spent months lining up precinct captains, election boards, and state legislators, in an all-out effort to capitalize on what they learn from their failed attempts in 2020. They were recently slapped back by the courts in Georgia, where the election board controlled by Trumpians overreached very publicly. The problem elsewhere, like Arizona, is that the insurgents are misleading or silent.

“Fascist to the Core.”

(Credit: Morning Consult)

That’s what Mark Milley, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (ret.), our former highest ranking military officer, said to investigative reporter Bob Woodward of Watergate fame. Some are angry that Woodward waited months after the interview to let loose with this incredibly serious warning, but I like the timing. We spend so much time marinating in Trump’s abnormal behavior, that we are numb to it. But a warning like this, coming from the pinnacle of our military, combined with the forty-some former cabinet officers and staff who have all denounced Donald Trump as unfit, might, and I emphasize might, cut through the clutter of social media, and the seemingly impenetrable bubble of right-wing media. Remember, their silo is not just Fox News, it’s also Talk Radio, Elon Musk’s X, other social media platforms, and untold numbers of podcasts and websites.

“A Day of Love”

(Credit: Reuters)

In his continuing assault on memory and truth, the former president has—when not silently swaying to his playlist for thirty-nine minutes on a rally stage—recently taken to referring to the January 6^th insurrection as “a day of love.” I guess it wasn’t enough that he promised to release the people—"hostages”—he calls them, who beat Capitol Police officers with poles whose flags bore his name.

Watchdog groups are mobilizing their lawyers, preparing to meet the expected onslaught of frivolous lawsuits designed to slow election results, and force the issue into the Supreme Court or Congress, where the Trump can win. The big question is whether our election processes can withstand the siege they’re about to endure.

Organizations bent on decency and democracy are marshalling their forces. Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “good government” organization. Founded in the wake of Watergate by John Gardner, its sole mission is the protection of democracy. Its long-standing goal of honest, ethical, and transparent government remains elusive. As the Chairman of the Governing Board of Common Cause Georgia from 2011 to 2017, I was honored to fight the good fight in a place where it mattered. My friends and media colleagues in New York and Los Angeles begged me to move to one of those cities permanently, but I was disinclined. I always replied, “I’m in the South because this is where the fight is.” (It’s also where my heart was for nearly 40 years—we raised a family there, and revere the South for its contributions to culture, cuisine, the arts, and of course, humidity.

For Trump, A Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgement

That’s the headline in the NY Times. Will Election Day be Judgement Day? We’ll find out whether he’s a political genius who is secure in the knowledge that he doesn’t need to campaign conventionally, or whether he’s so convinced that the cheating landscape he’s planted over the last four years will bloom like madness in the Fall, and ensure his victory at the ballot box, in the courts, or in Congress, so why not sway to the tunes?

“Lawful but Awful”

That’s what legal- and election-experts are saying about Elon Musk’s illegal (See 52 USC 10307(c) govinfo.gov/content/pkg/US...) promise to give a million dollars a day to some lucky person who registers and signs his petition/pledge to support the Republican ticket. These are the same swell folks who made it illegal to give water to Georgians waiting in the interminable voting lines that cropped up after they removed drop-boxes and made voting by mail and early voting impossible for some. DOJ is investigating the legality of this scheme.

The wait is nearly over, or perhaps is just beginning.

©2024 Jon Sinton