If your doctor diagnoses you with cancer and the next minute tells you that you don't need to worry because the cancer will eventually get tired of producing new cells and decide to leave on its own, you probably need to see a new doctor. Because if Donald Trump is elected president again, that doctor will be appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and he won't have time to see you anymore anyway.
But – also! – Cancer is bad, so expecting it to go away on its own is probably the stupidest thing a person can do. man thinking Hitler again did “a lot of good things” as president.
But here we are. It's been three and a half years since President Joe Biden won a free and fair election, and our country and Congress are filled with cancer. And in the world's greatest democracy, the probability of a patient dying is non-zero.
Of course, it is by no means a given, but just like real cancer, patients are getting sicker day by day, and many people who know better are just watching it happen. Amazingly, these people now make up about a third of our Congress.
According to the Associated Press report:
As Trump attempts to regain power, Republicans in Congress are increasingly likely to harbor doubts about him. Biden's victory Or denying that it was legal, or allowing his political transition. false fraud claims The foundations are being laid for a potential challenge to the 2024 results.
all A new report was released Tuesday. States United Action, a group that tracks election objectors, found that nearly a third of members of Congress supported Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in some way or questioned the credibility of the election. said. More people are hoping to run for House and Senate elections this year.
More specifically, States United Action found that 170 House members and senators out of 535 members of Congress are some form of election rejectionist. Meanwhile, the group determined that two new Senate candidates and 17 new House candidates fall into the same category. And the situation is even worse when you look at the Republican National Committee, which is currently in the hands of Trump's cronies: Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and prominent election denialist Michael Whatley. (In fact, the RNC is now ask explicitly If job seekers think the 2020 election was stolen. What do you think will happen if they say no?)
While boiling frog syndrome certainly applies here (we've become so accustomed to these villains' election boycotts that they barely register anymore), in reality we're talking about humans sitting in hot tubs inhaling psychedelic toad venom like strawberry fern dip. It's a little more similar. I don't know about you, but to me the last three years have felt more like hallucinations than history. But unlike congressional Republicans, we cannot afford to deny reality.
As the AP notes, it is particularly concerning that members of Congress are abandoning democracy as they consider their traditional role in maintaining it.
This problem is especially acute for Congress, which has a constitutional role as the final arbiter of the validity of presidential elections. It calculates the results of the Electoral College as scheduled on January 6, 2021, a date now recorded in history. violent attack on the U.S. Capitol By pro-Trump rioters.
Of course, as we all know, the clear threat Trump poses to democracy and the rule of law could have been dealt with immediately after Trump exhausted his legal remedies to contest the election results. In a healthy, functioning democracy, lawmakers from both major political parties would link arms against Trump's outrageous attacks on the election. Republicans in Congress have condemned Trump's baseless claims from the beginning and have made abundantly clear that he is not just lying, he is corroding the very foundations of our country.
Instead we got Republican officials. Spouting nonsense For example, “What are the downsides to humoring him for this short period of time? No one seriously thinks the outcome will change. He went golfing this weekend. It's not like he's planning how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on January 20th. He's been tweeting about filing several lawsuits, which he believes will fail. He will then leave with more tweets about how the election was stolen. .”
Ah, the classics.
Of course, many Republicans who would have felt appalled or reprimanded by Trump's brazen coup attempt are now enjoying the beautiful glow of Trump's sticky orange ID. In fact, roughly half of Congress supported fascism. tres chic.
This is why we cut out cancer as soon as it is identified. Because if you don't, you could end up sprouting a tumor that looks disturbingly like JD Vance.
Maybe he thought it would be better to be vice president than to get his hair stitched. trumpy bears In 18-hour-a-day work camps, Republican vice-presidential candidates are now auditioning for the role, telling the wild leader of a personality cult exactly what he wants to hear.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is the latest Republican to do so. telegraph his intentions Accept Trump's bullshit. When the red clay disgusting face is planted in November. On Sunday, he told Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” that he would not accept the 2024 election results because they could be “unfair.”
Hmm, if Trump loses, are there a 100% or 110% chance that the election was stolen?
Rubio joins other vice presidential candidates whose claims of election rejection have been particularly vehement. This includes Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York in January. refused to commit If you oppose Trump, certify the 2024 election results. When asked whether he would accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott said, “In the end, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump.” and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. refused to admit Former Vice President Mike Pence did the right thing in certifying the 2024 election. (Come on, Governor! That dog won't hunt. And not just because he keeps getting shot in the face.)
Of course, it speaks to how defensive they get when asked these questions, as if they know they are doing the devil's work.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said when he trump in pain About his actions on January 6th But it refused to support his conviction for impeachment. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina knew when. he said Immediately after Trump's clumsy coup, he said, “Except me, that's enough.” Former Attorney General Bill Barr said he knew when he did it. trump decided create a story About the 2020 elections to justify a government takeover.
Nonetheless, all three self-proclaimed patriots supported the cancer's return to Washington. Then again Trump is A fiercely charismatic, larger-than-life character with a smile that can light up an entire room. tiki torches.
Of course, anyone with 3 minutes to spare would agree that President Trump always If he lost, he planned to claim the election was stolen. in fact, Axios reported. In those days before election.
behind the scenes: Trump has been talking privately about this scenario over the past few weeks, outlining his plans to take the podium on election night and declare that he has won.
For that to happen, his allies expect him to win or hold a commanding lead in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Arizona and Georgia.
Why it matters: Trump's team is preparing false claims that mail-in votes counted after November 3 – legitimate tallies expected to favor Democrats – are evidence of election fraud.
Meanwhile, not a single shred of credible evidence has surfaced to suggest the election was stolen on Biden's behalf. We've seen a lot of outrageous and completely unreliable “evidence”, but so far the evidence has been costly. Fox News $787 million and rudy “Just say we won” Giuliani $148 million. That should have clearly demonstrated to every independent thinker that Trump is systematically undermining global democracy, lest they feel like he is actually a huge loser.
That's enough.
We were right to be appalled by Trump's rhetoric, and those who thought it was okay to “humor” Trump or fail to hold him accountable after January 6 (thanks, Mitch) were woefully wrong. Getting through this difficult time in our history requires restoring faith and trust in our democracy, and that includes calling out fascist rhetoric wherever we can. Because this slippery drug It has already pushed us dangerously over the edge.
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