Showing posts with label recount. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recount. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Why Trump Must Be Disqualified Before Taking Office

On December 9, 2016, it has been revealed that Russia has been meddling in the presidential election in an attempt to help Donald Trump win.  At first it was thought that Russia was just trying to undermine confidence in our electoral system, but it now appears that they were attacking Hillary in order to help Trump.  That includes both illegal hacking as well as the creation and dissemination of "fake news", aka propaganda.  So why would they do that?  Well, Trump seems to have some explaining to do.  From his alleged business interests in Russia to his praise of Putin to his cabinet picks with connections to Russia to his foreign-policy platform that basically reads like the ultimate Putin wish-list, the Russian regime seems to really want Trump for POTUS--dare I say, as Putin's puppet in the White House?

And Republican Senator Mitch McConnell as well as FBI Director James Comey (remember him?) both allegedly knew about it and helped cover it up.  That's right--a foreign power (if not a foreign enemy) blatantly interfered with an American presidential election, and these two supposedly swept it under the rug in order to help Trump win.  Seriously.  It's beginning to look a lot like TREASON, everywhere Trump goes...

Therefore, at a minimum, Trump needs to be disqualified from the presidency before he takes office in January, and Hillary needs to be declared the winner by default.  Yesterday.  And there is apparently at least some precedent for doing just that, as federal courts have ruled for a 1994 local election in Philadelphia.

Imagine if it were reversed, that is, if instead Hillary had won by the skin of her teeth via the arcane math of the Electoral College system while losing the popular vote.  And then it were revealed that Russia or some other foreign power had meddled in the election to help her in like fashion.  Truly the Republicans would be up in arms about that, as they should be.  Yet except for John McCain and Lindsey Graham, they have been strangely silent for some reason.  Gee, I wonder why?

And Trump's reaction to this news?  He basically just attacked the messenger (i.e. discrediting the CIA in this case) without actually refuting the allegations.  Yep, that's real normal behavior for an incoming President.  Electors and Congresscritters, take note.

UPDATE:  On December 19, the Electoral College overall did end up rubber-stamping Trump's "victory".  Only six electors defected--four from Hillary, and two from Trump, thus no effect on the outcome.  But there is still a chance to disqualify him via the courts and/or Congress, though that window is closing fast.  After inauguration on January 20, 2017, the only legal option left would be impeachment, particularly via the Emoluments Clause.  He does have a ludicrous amount of conflicts of interest, including numerous foreign entanglements of which he refuses to divest.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Don't Fear The Recount

Listen, Donald, you ultimately brought it on yourself.  All of this talk about the election being "rigged" when you thought you were gonna lose, and had lost all three debates, claiming that you may not accept the results of the election.  Then when you surprisingly won by the skin of your teeth due to the mathematical quirks inherent in the Rube Goldberg machine known as the Electoral College, you gloated about your victory.  Even one of your own pollsters said that you literally won by FIVE FREAKING COUNTIES.  Then when you saw that Hillary had won the popular vote by well over 2 million votes, you had to resort to a debunked conspiracy theory to accuse the Democrats of voter fraud by non-citizens in a desperate and disingenuous attempt to explain away the fact that you actually lost to a woman in terms of the popular vote.  BIGLY.  And now you are not only disparaging the recent recount efforts, but you are actually trying to block it by literally making a federal case out of it a la Bush v. Gore.  Honestly, if you are so confident that you have won fair and square (while simultaneously being concerned about alleged skulduggery on the part of the Democrats), you should have absolutely nothing to fear from a recount, and in fact you should welcome it so as to ensure the integrity of our electoral system.  The fact that you are trying to block it will just undermine what little legitimacy you have left. 

We all know that if the situation were reversed, and you had won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College, you would not have conceded the election the next day like Hillary did, and in fact you would have been whining and demanding a recount immediately.  So don't give me that.  As you like to say, "Sad."

Congratulations, Donald, you have proven that it is actually possible to be both a sore winner AND a sore loser at the same time.  Seriously.  Keep digging your own grave, as you are doing a truly marvelous job of that.  Believe me.

Oh, and by the way, while there is no credible evidence of Democratic voter fraud in this election, there is indeed plenty of evidence of "irregularites" and "errors" in key swing states.  And practically all of these discrepancies are in one direction--yours.  Things that (should) make you go, hmmmm.