A Writer's Notebook, Day Seven-Hundred-And-Fifty-Eight

 It seems quite clear to me that the actions of Republicans over the past few years, and in particular their recent behavior, have demonstrated a deep disloyalty to the notions of democracy that have long been hailed as the pillars of our system.  The fact that Lindsay Graham and others used claims about the "will of the people" as their reasoning for not allowing Obama to nominate Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court became a clear lie when they did the opposite this year after Ruther Bader Ginsburg's death, and that alone is enough to make clear that these are people who only care about democratic intent as a cover for doing what they wish.  At the moment, the fact that Trump is refusing to concede is a complete disgrace to all who have held the office of President in the United States before.  It is, in particular, a betrayal of George Washington's efforts to establish that office, considering that he stepped down at the time he did specifically to enshrine the import of having leaders in this nation who were not captivated by the office, would not seek to keep it for themselves, would willingly step down without animus.  Washington recognized the significance and import of those traits in any leader for this nation.  That Trump does not hold these qualities is unsurprising, as much as it does tarnish the office beyond what damage has already been achieved during his occupancy.

That is a matter of the President's behavior, and, though it does reflect upon his party, it would not be proper to claim that others are responsible for one man being incapable of accepting that he cannot have his way.  The Republicans who are outside the White House are not driving this, but, one must still recognize that their is a deep problem in seeing how those who eagerly collaborated with Trump are not acting to make clear their public acceptance of the elections forthright outcome.  For one thing, this begs the question of whether these are people who have any loyalty to our nation, or if they are loyal only to Trumpism, or, perhaps, only to what it can get them.  For another, it is clear that many citizens already question the legitimacy of this election, just as it is clear that no real evidence exists to support those claims.  Looking at the specific claims shows them to be baseless to the point of absurdity, and the underlying premise is ludicrous: the results followed an expected demographic pattern, as the procedure for counting votes leaves absentee ballots to be counted as a group at the end.  It was never a surprise Biden's win came from the vast number of Democrats who chose to vote via absentee ballot; this was entirely to be expected if one understood the facts.  It was so clear that the President himself worked as hard as possible to poison that narrative in advance of the election.

The truth is, those members of the Republican establishment who are not speaking out are making it clear that they would rather sew doubt about this election, and by extension the entirety of the United State's system of governance.   I am frightened that this seems as though it might well be a strategy for preventing any progress under the new administration.  It is easy to imagine Republicans, considering their behavior in recent years, utilizing doubt in Biden's legitimacy as an excuse for not working with Biden, undermining faith in his term and fomenting dissent and discourse amongst their base.  It seems clear that the real question is how the President-Elect will respond.  I fear him not stepping forward with a statement that makes clear the betrayal that is occurring, and I am quite terrified that he is walking into the trap of attempting to build bridges with people who are at present setting fires along the ravine.  It is necessary to make it clear that those who are sworn to uphold the Constitution, the individuals who govern this nation, refusing to acknowledge that the will of the people was carried out in this election is unacceptable.  Having those who have sworn an oath to the people, to protect our democracy, refuse to accept the outcome of the election is a statement that the democratic process is no longer safe.  They have a responsibility to their office's that requires them to protect these institutions, and failing to acknowledge the elections outcome at this moment in time is a betrayal of that responsibility.  I know that, in the time leading up to the election and in the days of counting that followed, I have felt a great deal of fear that the outcome might bring the end of true democracy in this country; watching what is unfolding now, it feels to me that many Republicans are still working to do that, even if it is not with Trump still in office.