Last night, the president declared a victory he has not won, accused his opponents of fraud, and ordered an end to ballot-counting.
“We’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop.”
It does not matter that he has neither the authority nor the ability to stop an election. What matters is that enough of his supporters — the same supporters who blocked traffic and threatened their fellow citizens — believe him.
And now, even the ability might be in question. An analysis by the Washington Post found that about 220 of Trump’s judicial appointees frequently ruled against loosening voting regulations, in cases of national emergency.
Like a pandemic.
Before Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation, Trump told reporters:
“I think this will end up in the Supreme Court. And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.”
Too often over the past four years we have dismissed his ranting on the basis of it being impossible. Unlawful. Absurd.
And too often over the past four years, that passivity has opened the door for him to do it anyway.
No, he can’t block ballot-counting or declare himself winner.
But he might. And he is.
Over the past few days there has been a shift in the in the populace; an audible crack and a gulf broader and deeper than the one we created in the four years leading up to last night. Something beyond tribalism. Something that looks very much like war.
The uneasy civility of soul-deep disagreement has been replaced by a new, manic hatred.
Civility is a treaty. It demands both parties’ cooperation, and requires they act in good faith.
When one side has shown itself willing to resort to lies, dehumanization, and violence — when civility is used to uphold the oppressor and silence the people, the treaty is nullified.
The next 77 days will be like nothing we have ever seen.
You're quite correct of course. These upcoming days will test all of our internal and collective strengths and weaknesses. This is new territory that, as Progressives, we aren't necessarily accustomed to. Many of us have had the experience of being outnumbered in both our ideology and identity, but this could be yet another example of the popular vote being overruled by the antiquated Electoral College system.
I did hope to one day live in a true representational democracy, but that could be a dream of the past. Now we have to figure out how to manifest the will of the people and fight in ways we've never had to fight before. But I don't think many of us want to go down the road of being unethical. I do fear those thoughts might be brewing...
Whatever the case, we must hold each other up and encourage resilience. We can no longer afford to let bickering over which group among us is the most oppressed. We must work as a team and be in it for the long haul.