“Stand Back, Standby”: A Grave Threat To Peaceful Transfer of Power.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Chris Wallace of Fox News asked Donald Trump during the presidential debate if he is willing to ask “militia groups” and “white Supremacists to stand down”, Trump responded “Proud Boys stand back and standby.” This is code words for be ready to fight. Is Trump leading the country towards a civil war?–
Reprinted from Haiti Observateur
The tradition of a peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America may come to an end next January. For more than three centuries, the tradition of transferring power between U.S. presidents and their successors has been a cause for celebration and the envy of many other nations where transfer of power has often been marked by violence and deaths.
This tradition now faces an existential threat with the emergence and election of Donald Trump as the U.S.’s 45th President. Since his election in 2016 Mr. Trump has not only encouraged hate, racism, and extreme partisanship, but has questioned the legitimacy of our institutions and our most cherished and coveted democratic standard.
Recently, he expressed, without so much as a scintilla of evidence, that voting by mail is fraught with fraud and even encouraged people to vote twice to offset the imagined threat. He refused, as recently
as this past Thursday, to say whether he would concede, should he lose the election. He has made it clear that his lost could only be the result of fraud. During one of his campaign events, he went as far saying that he would consider issuing an executive order that Joe Biden cannot be president.
During an interview recently a reporter asked him whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power and his response was “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens, you know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster… Get rid of the ballots and we’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. And you know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”
Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power draws the ire of several high profile Republicans including his enabler Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who said “The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a Trumpist told Fox News: “If Republicans lose we will accept the result. If the Supreme court rules in favor of Joe Biden, I will accept that result.” Florida Senator, Marco Rubio tweeted Thursday “As we have done for over two centuries we will have a legitimate & fair election. It may take longer than usual to know the outcome, but it will be a valid one. And at noon on January 20, 2021 we will peacefully swear in the President.”
Even Rep. Liz Cheney, (Wyo), the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted “The peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental to the survival of our Republic. America’s leaders swear an oath to the Constitution. We will uphold the oath.”
Despite Republican push back against Trump, he has nevertheless challenged the integrity of our voting system and championed the notion that it is rigged. For there is no way he can lose, if the system were not rigged. Forget that the great majority of the citizens blame him for the dire situation facing the country, with more than 200,000 mortalities attributed to the pandemic of the age. Forget that, according to his own acknowledgement, as disclosed in Bob Woodward’s book “RAGE”, he knew, as of February, that COVID-19 posed an unparalleled threat to the nation. Instead of taking preventive measures on a national scale, he lied to the people about the severity of the virus, asserting that he did not want to “create panic.” And he thinks the voters will forgive him for being responsible for all these deaths and reward him with four more years!
But there’s no minimizing that his rhetoric about “rigged election” does, as intended, inflame the animosity of the president’s ardent supporters. Fueled as they already are by the perceived threat to their cherished way of life, the “norms” that his presidency has ignited, such as calls to arms by some members of his administration, we cannot rule out the violent civil uprising predicted by certain analysts were Trump to lose the election, as practically all polls indicate.
But this is not — and cannot be — the America in which we want to live. Remember the great guidance and foresight of our first President, George Washington who, despite counsel to the contrary, voluntarily stepped down from the presidency at the end of his term. If history teaches us anything, the avoidance of anarchy, of tyrannical or monarchical leadership on which our democracy is based should always be the guiding principle for our survival.
Nevertheless, if Trump remains true to his expansive and pervasive violations of constitutional and societal norms, a post-election state of unrest may be inevitable. To be expected is the violent reaction of extreme radical groups that espouse alt-right and white-supremacist views. However, the actions of a minority should not negate the beliefs of those who strive to adhere to the principles established by the founders of this still great nation. Belief in decency and the rule of law by the Majority of Americans will – and must prevail!
Whoever loses the presidential election must gracefully conceded and bring the country together. The ideals that hold this nation together are much more important than our differences. May God save and bless America!
