DECEMBER 11, 2020 – After a week of solitude and natural beauty that surround me in the Northwoods, I’m about to relinquish occupancy of the Red Cabin to our son and daughter-in-law who arrive later this weekend from New York. They’ll quarantine here until Christmas so that our family can celebrate together safely. I’ve hung the big star, strung with colored lights, on the back of the cabin to illuminate the weary travelers’ late-night arrival . . . in the midst of Advent. To the wooden posts and railings around the entryway next to the star, I’ve tied 101 pine boughs—pruned recently from 101 pine saplings in the tree garden—all for a cheerful welcome.
But as I glance at the news headlines, I relapse into a state of disgust and despair over the mob attempt to lynch democracy in broad daylight.
I learn that the Texas Attorney General is suing battleground states over their election results. I discover that an amicus brief in support of this frontal attack on democracy has been filed on behalf of 100 Republican members of Congress.
Bitter political contests and rotten tomatoes have been central to the American Experiment since vitriolic exchanges between Adams and Jefferson. But the mass-produced notion that “If you lost, it means you won”—peddled by leaders in government, distributed by prominent infotainers, and bought and resold enthusiastically by tens of millions of Americans—is altogether new. It’s also mortally dangerous to democracy. It has far too many citizens believing the election outcome was illegitimate. Democracy, however, depends on people’s faith in the system. Kill that faith and you kill democracy.
How will this end? Despite recounts and certifications, despite the lack of evidence, despite unfavorable and summary judicial decisions—including by the Supreme Court—Trump’s C-squad legal team and sycophantic surrogates continue to fan the flames of baseless conspiracy theories; that alleged (inconsequential) data points prove a pattern. Yet millions of Trump voters insist on drinking Kool-Aid from a tank of falsehoods. What happens after “Stop the Steal” subscribers hang the Supremes in effigy—along with the Republican Governor of Georgia?
The real fraud is in the claim of fraud. We learn that the fine print in the solicitation of money for Trump’s “Official Election Defense Fund” says that only contributions above $8,000 will be allocated to the effort to overturn the election. All the rest go to Trump’s “Save America leadership PAC” (established after the election) and the RNC. Of course, donations under $8,000 make up the vast majority, both in number of contributions and as a percentage of the aggregate dollar amount.
I wonder how many people who’ve made $50 or $100 contributions read the fine print. How many of them know that Trump can treat PAC money as slush funds to pay off his debts, pay his criminal defense lawyers in the days ahead, and support his fool’s gold life-style?
Back to Christmas cheer . . . All I want from Santa this time around is dissipation of my disgust and despair.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
