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About this coming 3 November

About this coming 3 November

Last updated on: June 14, 2020 at 3:04 pm by Dan Peterson

About this coming 3 November 2020-06-14T15:04:40-06:00 Dan Peterson

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President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin at a summit meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, on 10 November 2017 (www.kremlin.ru)

For the first time, I’m leaning strongly to the view that Mr. Donald J. Trump will likely lose the presidency in November.

Does this please me?

Yes. I’ve always thought that he is morally, temperamentally, and intellectually unfit for the job.

And no. I’m not at all happy about the prospect of a Biden presidency. Although, in many ways, Republicans in Congress haven’t exactly covered themselves with glory under the Trump administration, I won’t be happy if the Democrats gain control of the Senate. Moreover, I was really, really hoping for many more conservative judicial appointments and for at least one more conservative justice on the Supreme Court. The remarkable Ruth Bader Ginsburg will likely hold on through the end of Mr. Trump’s term; it’s extremely unlikely that she would have been able to retain her seat on the court through a second term.

In the end, if the White House changes hands come next January, as I now think likely, it will be because Mr. Trump loses, not because Mr. Biden wins. Joe Biden is virtually invisible right now, and that’s probably working in his favor, as his very considerable flaws (personal, political, and health-related) are not being scrutinized. He will be elected, if he is elected, as the generic Democrat or, even more accurately, as the non-Trump or the anti-Trump.

Fierce denunciations from the retired four-star Marine Corps generals John Allen and James Mattis (the latter of whom served as Secretary of Defense in Mr. Trump’s cabinet from 2017 until his resignation in 2019) may well, in my judgment, represent the real beginning of the end for the Trump administration, though Mr. Trump’s erratic non-leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic was already making his personal defects, including his insecurity, pettiness, and vanity, painfully and inescapably visible even to many of those who have somehow managed to deny them for three or four years.

Mr. Trump is not a conservative. He never has been. He is a nationalist and a wannabe autocrat, among many other negative things:

“Trump falsely claims he has ‘total’ authority”

“Fox Host: Conservative Heads Would’ve Exploded If Obama Claimed Trump’s Total Authority”

“Federalism Flip-Flop Shows Trump Has No Ideological Framework: There is no Trumpism. There is only Trump.”

“Evangelicals Have Abandoned the Character Test. The Competence Test is Next: Christian political engagement is about more than an issue checklist.”

“The deep leadership flaw revealed by Trump touting his coronavirus press conference ratings”

“Has Anyone Found Trump’s Soul? Anyone? He’s not rising to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s shriveling into nothingness.”

“Trump’s Illiberal Internet Fairness Doctrine: His Section 230 executive order would circumvent the legislative branch and encourage the chilling of speech.”

“Trump’s ‘looting’ and ‘shooting’ remark draws outrage from all sides”

“Mitt Romney, others demand Trump explain firing of intelligence inspector general”

“Trump calls Romney a ‘LOSER’ following sharp criticism for firing inspectors general”

“Romney criticizes Trump clearing out peaceful protesters to make way for photo op”

“Trump invites all GOP senators to join economic recovery group — except Mitt Romney”

“Trump brands FBI top brass ‘human scum’, calls CNN reporter ‘brainless’, and says he’s ‘not a fan’ of Mitt Romney in freewheeling press conference”

“President Donald Trump calls Mitt Romney a loser — again”

“Trump hails himself ‘greatest of all presidents’ as Democrats meet to prepare impeachment charges”

A few Republicans are coming out and openly calling for Mr. Trump’s defeat:

“Former Sen. Jeff Flake won’t vote for Trump, says GOP better off if he loses reelection”

“The Lincoln Project: We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated: The president and his enablers have replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet.”

I understand their position. But I would be infinitely happier if there were a good and realistic alternative. Unfortunately, though, for a disenfranchised conservative such as I, there isn’t. Joe Biden is realistic, after a fashion, but not a good choice. Any good choice is an unrealistic one.

And so, on the morning of Wednesday, 4 November 2020, I expect to wake up very happy that Mr. Donald J. Trump has lost the election, and deeply depressed that Joe Biden and the Democrats have won it.

However, here’s something else to worry about: What if, as I currently expect, Mr. Donald J. Trump does fail to gain re-election?

“Will he go? A law professor fears a meltdown this November.”

Don’t laugh. I hope it won’t happen, but I wouldn’t be altogether surprised.

In a related development, Rep. Steve King’s defeat in the Iowa Republican primaries on Tuesday was resoundingly good news:

“House Cleaning”

“Coalition Politics and the Rejection of Steve King: Dumping him is an act of both political and moral hygiene.”

Finally, fearing that I haven’t yet offended enough people, I offer the following:

“The Sole Justification Offered for the Riots Is a Fiction: Rioters and their enablers claim that the present disorder is justified by an epidemic of police shootings of unarmed black men. But no such epidemic exists.”

The death of George Floyd does seem to have been quite unjustified and very arguably murder. I do not want anybody to accuse me of denying that, and I’m perfectly fine with indignant protests responding to the case. Moreover, I trust that I won’t be accused of racism, or said to be downplaying black anguish because I’m white or because I’m a Latter-day Saint. If the article above is incorrect, I encourage people to respond with numbers and facts that prove it so.

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