A Crank Calling
Happy New Year to those who still follow the Gregorian Calendar. To those who adhere to the Trumpian Calendar, 2020 doesn’t really end until noon on January 20. Between now and then, we’ll get a heavy dose of antidemocratic acts from a desperate, deranged president, and his enablers who continue to betray American democracy, but who—especially with this last sick, faux-attempt to overturn an election by the Ted Cruz-led dirty dozen of power-hungry, seditious Senators jockeying to excite the most rabid activists in a brainwashed base—have actually added a valuable course correction to historians reviewing this era. It was never just about Trump. He grew out of a festering rot; and his departure will not halt its growth, though, it will thankfully deprive it of the nonstop supply of too-fresh fertilizer. Let’s not feign shock at what’s taking place. This whole presidency has been a slow motion attack on democratic norms and an affront to basic decency. The new, dangerous variant of the “perfect” phone call is a natural evolution of his tenure. Lies, mobsteresque strong-arming, and desperate pleas have long been the the calling cards of Trump phone scams. It’s just that now, instead of trying to falsely increase book sales, juice his rank on the Forbes list, or cheat his way out of paying off a debt, he’s curb stomping democracy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he called Brad Raffensperger collect. WaPo: ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’: In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor.
+ There were 18 attempted calls from the White House to GA secretary of state’s office. (A reminder that we need tougher telemarketing restrictions.)
+ “This is sedition, plain and simple. No amount of playacting and rationalizing can change the fact that the majority of the Republican Party and its apologists are advocating for the overthrow of an American election and the continued rule of a sociopathic autocrat.” Tom Nichols in The Atlantic on the senators turning American democracy into a mockery: Worse Than Treason.
+ “Former Defense Secretary Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton, wrote on Twitter that the idea for the statement originated with Cheney, a Republican who served under President George W. Bush as vice president and President George H.W. Bush as secretary of defense.” In Op-Ed, 10 Ex-Defense Secretaries Say Military Has No Role In Election Dispute.
+ Romney calls out his colleagues for their disgraceful attack on our election: “I could never have imagined seeing these things in the greatest democracy in the world. Has ambition so eclipsed principle?” (I think that question has been sufficiently answered.)
+ And for some bonus debasement, Trump to give Reps. Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes Presidential Medal of Freedom.