Only Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Sadly, the first Presidential debate lived down to the expectations set for it. Defying physics – and the limits of human tolerance – it was “all heat, no light” for 90+ painful minutes. It is not likely to change minds, but it did bring into clearer focus the threat that lies ahead.

It seems increasingly certain that Trump will lose the election. But he’s made it clear that he does not intend to go quietly. The question is whether his lies and bluster about election fraud are meant merely as a salve to his ego (and his followers) to explain his defeat, or if he intends to fight tooth and nail to cling to power in defiance of the will of the people

There are certainly options available to Trump if he chooses the latter path. The Republican legislatures that control 8 of 9 swing states could seat Trump’s electors instead of Biden’s – claiming the popular vote can’t be trusted.   

That could, in turn, lead to a convoluted outcome in which the election ultimately goes to the House of Representatives, where each State delegation gets ONE vote. That could result in the election of Trump by the 26 State delegations with Republican majorities, even though Biden might still have a 5-10 million popular vote majority.

IF THAT IS NOT A DISTORTION OF DEMOCRACY, WHAT IS?

Whatever the course, the election is likely to end up before the Supreme Court. Trump has already made that appointment of a replacement to the late Justice Ginsburg specifically so that she might join in such a decision (presumably on his side).

If we want to avoid those risks – including the destruction of our Constitution—we must ACT NOW!

If we fail to act now, we face a likely period of widespread civil unrest across the country and conventional military intervention will be very little help or actually make things much worse.

To do that we must IMMEDIATELY get a case before the present Supreme Court to rule on the appropriateness of the President’s appointment of a 9^th Justice BEFORE the election.

Though success with the present Court is far from a sure thing, it could at least delay the appointment process until after the election.

If Trump wins –in whatever, whenever way—we would be back to square one, where we are today. No better- no worse.

Our democratic system is what is at stake.

We should whatever steps and risks necessary to save what we have and protect it from future Trumps.

The way to do that is hark back to ‘a person’s word is their bond’ of my youth. And, hold Senator Lindsay Graham’s to his widely seen and heard promise on TV that the denying a vote on Merrick Garland set a precedent for today.

“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president [elected] in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.”

 As the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee he spoke with more significance than most and ‘we the people’ have a right to rely on that.

The time is ripe for Senators and State Attorneys General to bring an emergency case on that point to the Supreme Court TODAY!