2020

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Trump’s Doomed To Fail Legal Circus

This blog post is a week late because I had some technical issues with my site, however it’s still relevant because Trump and his lawyer Rudy are still lying and making attempts to overturn the election. Stick around for the end of this post because I decided to write Trump a letter.

Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 Presidential election with 8 million more votes than losers Donald Trump and Mike Pence.  They won decisively with an electoral college total of 306 to Trump’s 232.  This election was not close at all.  Biden and Harris won states and counties that democrats haven’t won in decades.  The voters of America were very clearly choosing to fire Trump and hire someone who can do the job of a president without the constant lying, daily scandals, and embarrassing incompetence. But even though the election was fair and voters made their choice clear, of course the loser Trump wants to pretend there was mass voter fraud and actually wants courts to throw out the entire election and declare him the winner anyway. 

His legal strategy was predictable.  Claim fraud where there was none.  Use the power of his office to pressure voting officials to co-sign the lie in front of judges he appointed, and declare himself winner.  That strategy may have worked if the vote was close.  But it was not close at all. No judge is going to throw out 8 million votes.  There’s no way the Supreme Court is going to disenfranchise 8 million voters no matter how many justices he has appointed.  The minute they do that is the minute our democracy dies.  Trump’s shamelessness and appetite for corruption has gotten him very far in life thus far.  But finally Judges around the country are saying HELL NO YOU ORANGE DIRTY LYING RACIST BASTARD YOU WILL NOT STEAL THIS ELECTION.  Maybe not in those words but close enough.

Here are a few of the cases Trump and Giuliani have tried and failed at so far.

Trump’s lawyers filed affidavits from election challengers in Michigan saying they were not close enough in the Biden and Harrisballot counting room to get a good view of the vote counting process.  They said they felt intimidated when they raised objections and asked to move closer than the 6 feet Michigan law allows election monitors to stand.  The judge asked the Trump attorneys were any of the witnesses claiming they saw fraud.  Trump’s attorneys had to tell the truth and answered no.  None of the affidavits presented claimed they witnessed any fraud.  They were only claiming there could have been fraud.  Of course the judge laughed and threw this case out citing a lack of evidence.

Then in Georgia Trump’s attorneys claimed the votes in the county with the largest percentage of African American voters should throw out all the votes because a poll watcher told them she saw a stack of 53 votes that arrived 1 hour after the 7pm election day deadline and she saw those ballots get mixed with the ballots that were on time. This was dismissed after democrat and republican poll officials all testified that all of the ballots they counted arrived on time and the poll watcher was either mistaken or not telling the truth. Even if the Trump lawyers got those 53 ballots thrown out, it still would not change the election results.

Then in Arizona the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in state court alleging voters’ ballots had been rejected because they contained “bleeds,” splotches” and “stray marks.” Election officials have said these claims are false. That case was dropped when Trump’s attorney filed a notice of mootness, which acknowledges the lawsuit was unlikely to change the election outcome. That was before the serious attorneys quit so now that Giuliani is in charge maybe they’ll refile this one.

So far none of the cases have any legitimate evidence of a vast multi state multi county conspiracy to commit fraud and steal the election for Biden. To throw out the results of a presidential election you need more than just rumor, affidavits and testimony. You need compelling evidence. So far Giuliani and Trumps shrinking legal team has presented none. That is why all of his legitimate credentialed lawyers who specialize in election law have all quit. These guys were getting paid huge sums of money and they said no. They weren’t going to destroy their careers and good names by presenting conspiracy theories with absolutely nothing to back them up. That’s the only reason Giuliani is now leading Trump’s doomed to fail legal fight; because no one else with sense will.

I kinda wish the democrats were able to fix elections because we wouldn’t have lost seats in the house and we’d gain the majority in the senate and then we could fix the huge mess Trump’s administration is leaving behind. I’m joking of course. I want both parties to follow the law and keep our elections fair. When Hillary lost to Trump a lot of democrats didn’t want her to concede. They didn’t want President Obama to invite Trump and his team to the White House and help him with the transition. But Secretary Clinton and President Obama did what was right. It’s ashamed that Trump doesn’t understand that. He’s too much of a narcissist to even realize what the right thing to do is. Maybe I should write Trump a letter and give him some good advice (a concept which is totally foreign to his staff and advisers).

Game Of Thrones Change

HBO’s biggest hit Game of Thrones just debuted the first episode of their 7th season this past Sunday.  I was a huge fan of the show from the very start.  I was hooked from the very beginning way back in 2011.  Before watching that first episode I hadn’t even heard of the book series.  I was a Game of Thrones newbie totally unaware of all the major plot twist, scandalous palace intrigue, and jaw-dropping cliffhangers.  Given how popular the books were I’m shocked I’ve managed to avoid spoilers (knock on wood).  For those who are loyal readers of my blog I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with politics.  This isn’t a review of the series and I wouldn’t waste your time by posting a blog just to gush about how great Game of Thrones is.  For me writing helps organize my thoughts flesh out ideas and find meaning within that process.  That’s exactly what I’m doing with this post.

After watching the first episode of season 7 I decided to go back to season one and watch it from the very beginning to see things I missed and to help remember some of the things I had forgotten.

Game of thrones change

King Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark

When I got to episode 7 of season 1 where King Robert Baratheon gets fatally injured during a hunting trip and names Eddard Stark as his successor, I was shocked at how differently I viewed the actions of Stark now in 2017 than I did in 2011.

Stark was the moral, always do the right thing type of character who believed in honor and fairness. His unflinching morality blinded him to the snakes and backstabbers who we’re all around him. When he was advised to take action immediately and order the detention of the dead King’s son and the king’s conniving wife before they try to grab the throne, nobel intentioned Stark refused to take the advice. He thought a written and signed letter by the recently dead King naming him (Stark) as his successor was good enough to protect him and he’d take the throne with no problems.

Watching it in 2017 I thought to myself, what a naive idiot.  If he wasn’t willing to spill blood and use his power to imprison the conspirators, he doesn’t deserve to sit on the throne and rule the 7 kingdoms.  Then I remembered how much I liked his character when I first watched this episode in 2011. Game of Thrones changeI admired him for doing the right thing and not stooping to the level of the evil Lannisters.  Even though his inaction eventually lead to his death I respected his decisions.  After realizing how much my view of him changed I wanted to know why.  What happened between 2011 and 2017?  What caused such a dramatic shift?  Then it came to me. Politics.

In 2011 Barack Obama was president and I was very optimistic about the President’s agenda and his ability to enact the ideas he campaigned on.  A black family living in the White House was very inspirational to me.  Then 2016 happened and winter finally came.  Trump vs Hillary was the most negative, dirty, and divisive presidential campaign I have ever witnessed.  Trump’s message was ugly, disingenuous, unpresidential, narcissistic and at times blatantly racist.  The lower he sunk Republicans seemed to cheer even louder. I just knew Hillary would win.  I thought there was no way Americans would reward his lies and nastiness by giving him the White House.  After I was proven wrong I think I became a lot more cynical and pessimistic about everything. Not just in politics, I mean everything everything.  When you’re disillusioned in that way you have to rethink your worldview to make sense of it all.  That’s why my opinion of Eddard Stark’s character changed so much.

Who knows how much of this is temporary.  I’m hoping after Trump’s term is up, America will come to it’s senses and elect someone who’s qualified for the job with a working (and frequently consulted) moral compass. I hope it’s enough to restore my faith in humanity.  I’ll let you know in 2020 after I rewatch season 1 episode 7 of Game of Thrones sometime after the election.

…to be continued.

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