I'm Really Starting to Worry

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay 

Every day I see the polls that show Joe Biden leading Trump, in some cases by larger margins.  I should feel some degree of comfort for a substantial Trump loss in November, but I don't. I live with the knowledge that Trump has never in his life played by the rules.  Anything he has ever gotten has not been acquired honestly, including his election in 2016.  As his re-election is a mere 90 days away Trump is involved in numerous investigations, including rape, fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering, to name a few.  Most of the crimes he is being investigated for fall under the jurisdiction of New York State, therefore he cannot receive a pardon.  Once he leaves office he can immediately be arrested and could possibly spend the rest of his life in prison.  He is like a dangerous rabid cornered animal afraid of what may await him and his family.

Under normal circumstances, I would feel good that this disgustingly corrupt president will soon be voted out of office.  But these are not normal times.  Every day I see Trump and his minions attack our democratic institutions in an attempt to ensure his re-election and keep him and his family out of jail.  He has declared war on voting by mail and has installed a Trump mega-donor as the new Postmaster General, to destroy the United States Postal Service in an attempt to prevent voting by mail.  He is afraid that people who mail in their ballots will vote against him.

He has even floated the idea that he will postpone the election until the pandemic and its associated economic destruction have passed.  This would clearly be a violation of the Constitution, but I wouldn't doubt that he would try it.  

He has illegally sent federal troops to Portland and other cities to tear gas and arrest peaceful protesters who are merely exercising their First Amendment rights.  But he allowed white, armed militiamen to take over the Michigan state capital and threaten to hang the governor.  He has vilified the Black Lives Matter movement, as a symbol of hate, in an attempt to racially divide the country.  With over 160,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus he continues to attack the medical professionals and insists that families send their children to school during the pandemic. 

In his latest executive orders, he has signaled his intention to destroy social security, the safety net that millions of senior citizens rely upon for survival, and offered a mere pittance to those unemployed Americans trying to live during the pandemic.  His orders did nothing to stop the spread of the Trump virus or ease the suffering of the American people. The executive orders were nothing but propaganda stunts.

Our national intelligence agencies released information that once again there is evidence of foreign involvement in our elections. There is evidence that Russia, China, and Iran have a strong interest in who wins in November.  Intelligence sources point out that China and Iran favor Biden, while Russia favors Trump.  The difference is that while China and Iran may only favor Biden, Russia is actively interfering in our election process already. But Trump only attacks China and Iran for interfering!

In southern states, as usual, attempts at voter suppression targeting people of color, continue but rarely are met with resistance from the predominantly Republican local governments and local courts.  Since the Black and Brown vote may well be the deciding factor in this election, it is easy to see how Trump and the GOP want to diminish the influence of these usually Democratic voters.

It seems as though every morning I wake up to new evidence that Trump is trying to once again steal the election by suppressing the votes of those who oppose him and his administration.  All with the assistance of his master, Putin.  Ordinarily, I would be comforted by the fact that this is a two-party political system, a government of separation of powers, and an honest and effective justice department and judicial system.  But not this year!

First of all the Republicans in Congress have remained in lockstep in their support of every corrupt, unconstitutional, and illegal action Trump has taken to ensure he remains in office and continues to financially benefit from his office, while he vows allegiance to Russia. The Republicans are no doubt terrified of Trump's retaliation for showing any semblance of having any balls by holding him accountable for his actions.  They are not only terrified but I am sure most of them are financially dependent upon Russian money.  If we ever survive this attack on our country and Constitution there should be a Nureneburg-like criminal court to bring these traitors to justice.

Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this attack on our government is that our very own Justice Department has become the enemy of the American people acting as Trump's own Gestapo. Bullfrog Billy Barr is no longer the attorney general of the country, but Trump's enforcer tasked with protecting Trump at all costs.  Relying on the integrity of the Supreme court and the federal court system has become iffy at best, with some judges and even a Supreme Court justice owing their fealty to Trump.  I can no longer trust our judicial system.

As the election nears not even the press is willing or able to stand up to Trump and ask him questions that need to be asked.  Trump's attacks on the Post Office, Black Lives Matter, voting rights, his relationship to Putin, his rape allegations, his taxes, and most importantly his refusal to address Russia offering bounties to kill American servicemen in Afghanistan, all must be addressed until we get satisfactory answers.  His press conferences are no longer that.  They are campaign rallies and the major television networks allow him to get away with it.  Mainstream media helped him get elected in 2016 by ignoring Clinton and they're doing the same thing now.

I am not confident that we will have a new president in 2021.  Either Trump will refuse to leave if he is defeated, while Congress and the military do nothing or Trump will once again steal the election with Russia's help and the assistance of the Department of Justice. The period between election day and inauguration day will make the pandemic look like a cakewalk.  If Covid-19 doesn't destroy our country, Trump and the GOP will.