After four, very long years of having Trump and the Republicans in power, you think I would be able to bounce back from bad news more quickly.
But it turns out that finding out just how fragile our democracy is, truly does make me pause.
This past Friday, the Washington Post set out to ask every Republican member of Congress three questions:
- Who won the presidential election?
- Do you support or oppose Donald Trump’s continuing efforts to claim victory?
- If Joe Biden wins the majority in the electoral college, will you accept him as the legitimately elected president of the United States?
Now, before we get into the results, let’s look at this exercise for a minute. They reached out to every member of Congress on December 3, exactly ONE MONTH after the election. An election which Joe Biden clearly won, both in the popular vote and electoral college votes. The Trump campaign currently has a win-loss record of 1-46 in the courts.
Having peaceful transfers of power are a foundational element of democratic governments. Recognizing the winner of elections is part of that process. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that any government official who won’t acknowledge what happened on November 3, doesn’t really care about peaceful transfers of power, or democracy.
So what did the Washington Post find? Of the 249 Republicans in Congress, only 27 acknowledged Joe Biden’s win.
That’s it. 27 members of Congress were able to acknowledge the plain and obvious truth about the presidential election. 222 did not. A month after the election.
My eyes are fully open to just how dangerous the Republican party has become, not just under Trump, although he certainly accelerated where they were already headed. 222 current members of Congress are too scared or unwilliing to publicly acknowledge the truth. Whether they are scared of Trump or scared of the MAGA voters does not matter to me. What matters is that they refuse to acknowledge the truth and in so doing, they allow a destabilizing conspiracy theory grow deeper roots in our country.
I wanted to reflect on this today because, for me, it really illustrates just how important it is for those of us who believe in democracy to stay in the game beyond 2020. Our country can’t afford for us to disengage as citizens. Not when we have the vast majority of one party who would so easily toss aside our Constitution and our 244 year history as a nation out of cowardice or cynicism.
Fighting against this cancer in our government is a long-term necessity, but in the short-term, I implore you to help the Democrats win the two Georgia Senate seats next month. At least if we win those, we will have the majority (however narrow) and can make some substantial progress to strengthen our democratic institutions under President Joe Biden.
I updated my Georgia post with some new opportunities just this past weekend, so do check it out. I’d also be grateful if you shared it! –> How To Help Win the 2 Georgia Senate Runoff Elections
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I did a similar post last week, based on the WaPo survey and like you, I was horrified. I immediately wrote to the republican senator for my state, Rob Portman, who did take time to respond, but his response was basically explaining to me how elections work. Never mind that I have a BA and an MA in political science and pretty much know how elections work! I think it’s time for the GOP to step back and re-assess their values, if in fact they have any left. But then … it’s time for the people of this nation, the 73 million who voted for Trump, a would-be tin-pot dictator, to reassess their values, as well.
What I’m concerned about is that they either don’t realize how sideways they are with reality, or they don’t care and any tactic that keeps them in power is fair game. I heard Jake Tapper refer to “MAGA media” ie that information loop that actively shields those 73 million from correct information and instead feeds them lies and conspiracies.
They don’t care. They know … they just don’t care. They have sold their souls and their consciences downriver, my friend.
Some are too ignorant to realize, but I believe the majority simply don’t care. MAGA media is an apt description for Fox, Breitbart and now NewsMax.
TokyoSand, the silent spineless ones are the ones who disappoint me the most. They are abetting a fraud against the United States of America. These diligent and beat-up Republican election officials and judges who have been pushing back need air cover. The only voter fraud going on to any magnitude resides in the White House. It is that simple. Keith
I agree, Keith. It really is that simple. Also, you can call me Tokyo.
Tokyo, thanks. Many of these folks know he lost and is lying, yet they are scared of his base. If they are not challenged, they will go on believing the deceitful outgoing president. Keith
You’re so right!! We MUST stay in this game. One political party only wants to do what it has to do to keep power. Nothing else. That’s not only pathetic, it’s downright dangerous.
It really is dangerous. They have made it clear that they are perfectly happy to kick democracy to the curb to stay in power. We can’t let them do that.
NO. We will not!
Isnt it a good thing that he looked in to the voter fraud issue, even 1-46? We just cant allow unchallenged fraud to run rampant. Besides, hundreds of sworn statements are hard to ignore. Also, the 70 million people who SUPPORT the President. It’s not like he is doing this without support. Half of the country supports him! Another thing, to be fair (since that is important) is that none of the challenges are illegal or something.
I almost forgot, but wasn’t “not my president” a trending statement in the beginning of Trump’s Administration? Did many Democrats not attend the inauguration? Please don’t let your hatred blind you.
Should allegations of voter fraud be investigated? Absolutely. As rare as it is, it is illegal and should not be tolerated. That said, judge after judge after judge found that the Trump campaign brought no evidence of massive fraud to the court, which is why they dismissed the cases often with prejudice. Meanwhile, our legal system is predicated on the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty. Trump, and many of his allies, have repeatedly spouted off unfounded allegations to sow doubt and undermine the 80 million people who voted for Biden. That is undemocratic. They’ve gone far beyond the idea of voter fraud and are explicitly demanding state legislators and state executives overturn the will of the voters, simply because they don’t like the results. Interestingly, they’re not interested in overturning the will of the voters in their own elections, just the presidential one. It’s well past time for Trump, Republican leaders, and their supporters to acknowledge the results of the election.