We should note that this is the talk of authoritarians
Jennifer Rubin puts it another (but related) way:
President Trump is back in the United States — and back to attacking democracy. He tweets:
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
I know, we’ve already seen the tweet, but it’s worth looking at twice.
We should note that this is the talk of authoritarians; it shows contempt for the office of the president, whom the Constitution designates to “to take care” that the nation’s laws are faithfully executed. It’s also a frightful peek at what he might do in 2020 should the vote not go his way.
You know, I think we’ve thought all this time (until Trump) that we were better than that. Not better as people, exactly, but better as a collective. Maybe it was just “better” in the sense of: because aware of what happened in Germany starting in the 30s. It’s not comfortable learning we’re not.
Trump’s appointment of an unqualified, radical political hack, Matthew G. Whitaker, as acting attorney general likewise shows his disdain for the rule of law and proclivity to impede or even crush the Russia probe. We should be worried that he is spoiling for a constitutional crisis that can rally his base.
Trump’s decision to revoke the press pass for Jim Acosta is a blatant violation of the First Amendment. (First Amendment guru Floyd Abrams confirms that CNN and Acosta would have a strong lawsuit, an option reportedly under consideration.) Once more, Trump violates his oath to preserve and protect the Constitution.
Can someone stop him? We don’t know.
“Must go with Election Night!”
Because for Trump, all that matters is what he sees on his TV. If the TV said that McSally was winning AZ-SEN, then she’s the new Senator, end of story.
Screechy, Trump seems to think all of this is a big reality show. It pains him when anyone tells him he has to follow a different script and tone down his act, and at the same time, he thinks he has absolute power, and it has shocked and horrified him to find anyone trying to put a single check on his power (and there haven’t been very many successful checks, but fortunately there have been some).
When they turn off the camera on Oscar night, you know who won, right? So why not on Election night? Isn’t it just a bigger version of the Oscars? He has such a limited worldview that nothing can penetrate unless it is on TV, and then he assumes it is “fake news” if he doesn’t like it.
Everything is a joke to Trump.
The media is complicit in distorting election reports. The ‘now its over’ wrap up has been inexcusable since 2000. All media outlets should have been braced for uncertainty in the light of widespread, blatant, election tampering this year.
Trumps ‘disdain for the rule of law’ is his personal defect. Like Milo’s ‘free speech,’ the issue is how many will abandon any trace of honor or duty to support it.