You can be sure Trump has tried to figure out how he can decide the vote totals
by Tom Toles
Is there a level of outrage we haven’t arrived at yet? A few. Sure, U.S. journalists have been called the enemy of the American people, and sure, they have been physically assaulted while their assailants have been praised. But at least they are not being jailed here, or mutilated and murdered by goon squads. Yet. And while just about every standard for official corruption has been eroded in the current regime, interest groups aren’t yet carrying suitcases of cash directly into the Oval Office. As far as we know.
Then there is that election thing. You know, the one that President Trump threatened to not necessarily accept the outcome of if he didn’t like the way the outcome looked to him. And the one he said he got the most votes in or would have if the millions of votes he claimed were fraudulent had been subtracted from his opponent. And then there was his claim that his sparse inaugural crowds were the biggest ever, and he was probably thinking the most attractive, too.
Trump clearly pines for the prerogatives his autocratic friends have, and it must sting considerably for him to see that they are bigger dictators than he is. And how he must lie awake in his gold satin sheets thinking how beautiful it would be if he could personally select the number of “votes” that each candidate receives, including himself, just as the dictators do in real dictatorships. “Trump reelected with 98% of the vote!” Or would that be greedy? 97? Hell no, 99! And that’s being modest!
In the meantime, he can indulge himself in abusing the distortions of democracy that are currently at his disposal. Yes, most people voted for a center-left candidate, but he is free to repudiate all that and govern from the nationalist right. Only the rich wanted a tax cut for the rich, but that was reason enough to give them one. Anything else?
Oh, yeah, just the planet. Most voters support the conclusion of most climate scientists, and the conclusions of their own observations, that we are currently running the planet’s climate right into oblivion. They support action on climate for the reason that they want to protect some stability in Earth’s weather patterns so their kids can plan, and live safely, and have reliable food supplies, and not be forever plagued by new disease epidemics. That sort of thing. Policies that are supported not only by Democrats but also by independents.
But why give voters what they want, no matter how wise and vital, if you don’t have to? Fossil-fuel corporations are people, too; the Supreme Court said they are. So while Trump spends his time trying to figure out how to do away with the holy headache of real numbers in elections, he can at least do away with what voters actually want, which is the next best thing.
But maybe if enough voters turn out this time, we can actually deliver not only a message but also save a democracy in the process. And possibly even our planet as well.
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OCU
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