“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
* Trump legacy update: “No, it’s not over. We keep going. … We have numerous local cases. We’re, you know, in some of the states that got rigged and robbed from us.” We’re, you know, not exactly surprised by this classless, perp-walk-and-talk presidential exit.
* The Trump “Jericho March” rally on the National Mall was called a “prayer rally.” We know in whose name the followers prey.
* Last week’s mainly maskless, Valdosta campaign stop was more “Stop the Steal” and fight forTrump than Georgia senatorial endorsement. Trump, unsurprisingly, mainly used his cult pulpit to rally for his own Oval Orifice cause. He even resorted to a Cold War-era gambit by pulling out a piece of paper and reading a list of his electoral successes, including the false assertion that he won Georgia and the White House. Nice try; Joe McCarthy would have approved.
* “The Trump staff is scouring for last-minute decisions and regulations and executive orders that could polish Trump’s legacy. This would be one.” That was Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, referring to Kennedy assassination documents that have yet to be published. They must all be declassified by Oct. 26, 2021. If Trump passes, then President Biden will release the remaining JFK files.
* Speaking of the presidential “legacy,” Trump, in unprecedented fashion, has been fast-forwarding federal executions on the way out. Executive orders/Execution orders: Hope they’re separate piles.
* Once again, Richard M. Nixon never looked so presidential.
* Upsides to the Trump presidency are manifestly missing. But there is this: the Trump White (Grievance) House has helped focus more attention on an electoral system that undemocratically enables minoritarian candidates. Trump went 0-for-2 in the popular vote. The one person/one vote-nullifying Electoral College is now approaching Trump University for 21st-century relevance.
* Imagine that just a month from inauguration, conceding defeat is still an issue for the incumbent loser–in an election where the electoral vote was 306-232 and the winner received 7 million more (popular) votes.
* The Congressional run-offs in Georgia will determine the partisan balance in the U.S. Senate. Money, surrogates and Supreme Court scenarios have been pouring in. But there is still a time-tested variable at play: Turnout dynamics for run-offs can be game-changing—from local to national. Just ask Bob Buckhorn—or Rose Ferlita.
* “Well, they’re Christmas parties.”–That was the partier-in-chief confirming that the White House will, indeed, continue holding indoor, largely maskless parties this month. Of course, it will.
* In the aftermath of this unprecedented presidential election, we have seen a lot of numbers in the highest-turn-out election–66 percent–in more than a century. Before we get carried away about voter engagement and motivation, let’s not forget that one out of every three eligible voters didn’t bother to vote in the most consequential election for American democracy since 1861.