Somewhere, Aaron Burr, who was Thomas Jefferson’s
Vice President, is smiling. If he could be here, he’d gaze upon the likes of
Ted Cruz and he’d be proud. And that in itself is not something one should be braggadocios
about. Aaron Burr slayed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, though dueling by 1804. Burr
had been dropped by Thomas Jefferson on the ticket, so he opted to run for
governor of New York. He lost to his opponent; an obscure candidate named
Morgan Lewis. Burr claimed that his political rivals had staged an attempt to
rig the election so the lesser-known Lewis would win. This led to an exchange
of words between Hamilton and Burr, which led to the duel, which led to Burr
Killing Hamilton, who missed shooting Burr on purpose. Burr himself would later
stage a coupe against the United States, thought he’d be found not guilty, and
he’d then flee the United States.
Which brings us to 2020. After losing the election,
Donald Trump fulfilled a promise he had in 2015 when he was running against
Hillary Clinton. That if he lost, it was because the election was rigged and he’d
do whatever he could to delay the transfer of power. Trump was elected and
proceeded to destroy America’s relationship with our allies, some of which stretched
all the way back to when we were just coming out of British rule. Trump sided
with Russian president Putin at every turn almost, even butting heads with the
U.S. Intelligence Community when it was learned Russia was attempting a disinformation
strategy to turn the 2020 election in favor of Trump.
Many Americans, tired to the dissention and racial divide
Trump seemed almost orgasmic to see he created, elected Joe Biden. Trump
instantly claimed fraud, despite there being zero evidence. Nothing, zip, zero,
nada. Nothing to show any malfeasance regarding the election. Donald Trump
lost. Instead of being a gracious loser, he’s instead turned his attention on
doing what he can to remain in power, which includes convincing Republicans
like Ted Cruz to demand the electors not seat Mr. Biden as president, and
instead, declare the election null and void in a sense.
Let’s be clear, this is a war, declared by Trump,
with his minions like Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn and Tommy
Tuberville happily doing his bidding. It’s a war on democracy by a man who
views himself as a czar. With Cruz and his cohorts willing to hold democracy
hostage in order to ensure that Trump remains in power. Despite re-counts and
investigations that have shown there was no widespread voter fraud, Trump and
his band of devoted followers insist there was.
Trump in his last days in power is doing what he
can to sow the seeds of distrust in the democratic process. In his last days in
office, he’s doing more damage to the country than any terror cell overseas
could even dream of doing. He’s attempting to tear the country asunder, and he’s
using the myth of a rigged election to do it.
America has been through a lot, but this is a
first. A sitting president who declared war on democracy simply because he lost
the vote. He saddled himself with conspiracy fanatics like Lin Wood and Rudy Giuliani.
He’s driven a wedge between people in this country that will be very hard to
fix.
Then again, this is what despots do to remain in
power. He’s taking a page out of the playbook of men like Fidel Castro. We are
at a very dangerous juncture in this country, make no mistake about it. Joe
Biden won the election fait and square. Trump’s attempts to subvert the
election process laid forth by the founding fathers cannot succeed. Or the
America you once knew would be relegated to the dust bin of history, and a
brand new, unrecognizable country would be it its place.
I don’t think it can be explained any more bluntly
than that.
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