Chief Justice Roberts Are You Listening? We The People Need A Peaceful Transfer of Power!
America is at a turning point — it’s the proverbial time to dance, cast away stones and build up
In the most consequential presidential election of our lifetime, Joe Biden lived up to the old adage, “third time’s a charm.” Biden, who has been running for president since 1988, actually threw in the towel in 2015 after the passing of his son, Beau. But then, in August 2017, following a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Trump made his infamous reference to “very fine people on both sides.” This deeply offensive remark propelled Biden to reconsider his presidential ambitions and run for a third time. The rest as they say is history!
It’s quite telling that Biden — a man of, by and for the people — was declared President-elect just as the incumbent president — a man of, by and for himself — decamped to a golf course. What better metaphor where an enthusiast of Wall Street makes way for an average Joe from Main Street?
Back in May, I had written to the New York Times, “It just cannot get any better than Biden-Harris.” On November 7, 2020 this winning ticket surpassed most expectations by garnering a record-breaking popular vote total, which is likely to exceed 77 million, once all the votes have been counted. We also elected the first woman — more significantly, a woman of color with many other distinguished “firsts” to her name — as vice-president of the United States.
Veni, vidi, vici — I came, I saw, I conquered or so the incumbent believed.
In the age of coronavirus, Trump would have us believe that he is Superman because he “conquered” the deadly disease and that he would come from behind to win reelection. But, in reality, it was slow and steady “Sleepy Joe,” who defeated “the Donald” — as first wife, Ivana Trump, used to call him. Now, Trump has to not only live with the reputation of being one of the worst presidents in U.S. history, but also with that ignominious Saturday Night Live moniker, “One Termer.”
The majority of Americans, who voted for Biden, might never be able to reconcile with the fact that over 71 million Americans still voted for Trump, warts and all. In fact, presidential historian, Jon Meacham, made this dire observation on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe:”
“Dignity and decency and democracy were on the ballot and they barely won. And that’s an important thing; they barely won.”
This comment speaks more to the kind of country we have become. One, in which, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” At least for some of those 71 million who will be “forever Trumpers,” but that’s a political reckoning for another day.
From worst to best birthday present in four years.
It so happens that I got the worst birthday shock of my life four years ago on November 8, 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidency. But after these arduous four years, our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end with the defeat of Trump. So, you can say, it’s the best birthday present that I got this year — with the 2020 presidential election turning out to be a turning, if not tipping, point.
Because, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, people poured out in the streets of many major cities across the country in a spontaneous celebration as soon as they heard the news of Biden’s victory. Watching people dancing in the streets reminded me of The Byrds’ classic 1965 song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
Turn! Turn! Turn!
We, as a nation, are indeed at a turning point. George F. Will’s recent op-ed, “America is battered, but a somewhat happy ending is in sight,” was aptly titled. Because the single most important issue — responsible for America’s current battered state and one which could contribute to its somewhat happy future — is how we are going to deal with Trumpism. Trump might be gone come January 20, 2021 but how much of Trumpism survives will determine how much and how successfully the nation will heal.
A heavily divided nation could probably come to terms on Trumpism when it comes to some of Trump’s economic policies. However, on just about everything else, Trumpism and its aggressive in-your-face style has been at the core of the deep fissure between the red states and the blue states. The 46th president’s biggest challenge will be to eliminate the detrimental aspects of Trumpism without further alienating either side. It’s not going to be easy to turn away from Trumpism, but it is essential for the revival of the republic.
The soul of our nation.
Joe Biden ran on the promise of restoring the soul of our nation. He believed that, under Trump, our nation had lost its way. So, he put the character of our nation on the ballot as well. And, the huge margin of Biden’s popular vote victory confirmed, that the redemption of our national character was a winning message. Hope began dawning in America on November 7, 2020, which happened to be a bright, glorious fall day across much of the nation. It marked the proverbial time to dance, cast away stones and build up. Starting on January 20, 2021, people expect honesty and integrity will be restored across America — from sea to shining sea. And, the whole world will breathe a collective sigh of relief because…
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
The last-ditch legal maneuvering.
Nonetheless, Trump is refusing to accept defeat and go quietly. Quite predictably, leaders from all over the free world congratulated President-elect Biden on his victory. The mayor of Paris, France tweeting “Welcome back America!” best summarized the global euphoria over Biden’s victory. Sadly, it was the world’s most prominent dictators — Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi, North Korea’s Kim, Turkey’s Erdogan — that remained silent in deference to Trump. Their silence is however less deafening than that of a majority of Republican leaders — at the local, state and Congressional levels. Many of them seem to be instead encouraging Trump to pursue legal recourse, even when there is no evidence of any widespread fraud or irregularities anywhere across the nation.
Trump doesn’t have a case, as he invariably never does, when he chooses to sue people — it’s his typical legal strategy to delay, deny, and discombobulate. Earlier in the spring, when the Justice Department filed suit to block the publication of Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton’s book, I had written to the Washington Post, in part:
“This Justice Department lawsuit is an example of how Mr. Trump will conduct himself — knowing his nature, scorched-earth tactics cannot be ruled out — in the remaining months before the presidential election.”
Peaceful transfer of power.
What, we the people, need to worry about are the scorched-earth tactics that Trump might deploy in the post-election period, now that he has lost. The firing-by-tweet of Defense Secretary, Mark T. Esper, is an ominous sign. Secretary Esper had previously indicated his reluctance to use the military for domestic law enforcement. A lame duck president out for revenge can be very harmful to our democracy. Let’s pray that our judicial branch will ensure that Trump does not trample over the Constitution to try and remain in office. A peaceful transfer of power — which entails an immediate start to fully funded transition activities and protocols after the election is called — is critical in this regard. Trump’s administrator of the General Services Administration has thus far refused “‘to issue a letter of “ascertainment,’ which allows Mr. Biden’s transition team to begin the transfer of power.”
So, Chief Justice Roberts, please do the right thing as soon as is warranted. We need our customary peaceful transfer of power, which has been a hallmark of this nation going back to our first president, George Washington. More significantly, we need to turn towards unity and healing as soon as possible. Finally, let’s all pray, that we have a peaceful transition and it never ever again comes to what we have witnessed in this tumultuous year.
