"Shooting Someone on Fifth Avenue" or Capitol Insurrection -- The GOP Stands Behind Their Chosen One

 

“In a key impeachment test vote this week, 45 GOP senators signaled that they plan for Trump to pay no price for inciting the most heinous assault by a president on the US government in history in the Capitol riot.”

– Stephen Collinson, CNN (January 28, 2021)

This news comes as the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday issued a rare threat bulletin related to domestic terrorism Wednesday warning of the potential for violence by extremists emboldened by the US Capitol attack.

(Stephen Collinson. “In the Republican Party, the post-Trump era lasted a week.” CNN. January 28, 2021.)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the direct threat of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia's 14th congressional district, who repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress, a CNN KFile review of hundreds of posts and comments from Greene's Facebook page shows. Pelosi said Greene should not be seated on the House Education Committee.

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Greene's views garnered fresh attention this week when CNN reported on a video showing her in 2019 accosting a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Greene has said that shooting, which left 17 dead, as well as the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 26 dead, including 20 children, were both staged events.

That's right, I have to repeat this craziness once more – “executing” Democratic politicians and calling Stoneman Douglas and Sandy Hook “staged events.” Greene is a subscriber of the QAnon pro-Trump conspiracy theory. For real – a United States Representative is still spouting this bullshit after the failed insurrection of January 6. It is stupefying. Have we entered the twilight zone?

Followers of "Q" often believe that the world is controlled by elite members of a secretive satanic child sex-trafficking ring. They think these plotters in the deep state tried to shoot down Air Force One and foil President Trump’s North Korea summit. They think a cabal of global elites, including top figures in Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and the intelligence agencies, are responsible for nearly all the evil in the world. And now they hold on to the belief that Trump is going to fix it all with thousands of sealed indictments, sending the likes of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama straight to Guantanamo Bay.

And, through it all, Greene has been embraced by conservative hard-liners. Once Trump called her a “future Republican star.” False narratives were pushed for weeks by Trump and his Republican enablers in Washington, and they still find a home in sections of the conservative media.

Get a good picture of this demented “star.”

In one post, from January 2019, Greene liked a comment that said "a bullet to the head would be quicker" to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In other posts, Greene liked comments about executing FBI agents who, in her eyes, were part of the "deep state" working against Trump.

In one Facebook post from April 2018, Greene wrote conspiratorially about the Iran Deal, one of former President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy achievements. A commenter asked Greene, "Now do we get to hang them ?? Meaning H & O ???," referring to Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Greene replied, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off."

After CNN reached out to Greene, her personal Twitter account posted a statement in which she did not deny that she liked posts and replied to comments but claimed that many people have run her Facebook page.

(Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski. “Congresswoman indicated support for executing top Democrats in 2018-2019 social media posts.” CNN. January 27 2021.)

And so, the Q faithful look to places like TikTok (which has a younger-skewing user base and has historically struggled to curb the proliferation of conspiracy theories) that host to the baseless belief that President Trump will be sworn into office on March 4th, 2021.

One TikTok creator says in a video that has also been shared by other Trump supporters (more than 78,000 followers, in a video that has 15,400 views) …

“Listen, patriots, y’all can relax. We’re going back to a republic come March. Trump will be back in the presidency but he will be the 19th president ’cause we’re not gonna be a corporation no more. We’re going back to the republic. Your boy will be inaugurated March 4. Period, point blank, end of story.”

Fruitcake Greene should have the House put an end to her political life. Her dangerous false narratives" are potential catalysts for future violent uprisings.

But, the bloody hands of the unrepentant Grand Old Party Power have no interest in distancing themselves from Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, QAnon, the Proud Boys, the White nationalist movement, or any other right-wing Tom, Dick, or Harry.

The Republicans have no conscience and no sense of justice. Trump has just discussed his plans to get involved in the 2022 congressional elections with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. Before Trump left for Mar-a-Lago on January 20, he promised to “be back in some form.” And, so it begins – with the loving embrace of the Republican Party.

Republicans will overwhelming vote to acquit Trump in February when the Senate holds an impeachment trial on a charge that Trump incited the riot. His allies have already stepped up attacks against Republican House members who backed impeachment – critics who may face Trump-backed challengers in Republican primaries next year.

The Republicans have no backbone for protecting democracy. They care only about their party united under a dark coalition and their reelection campaigns. Trump's approval ratings fell to record lows after the riot January 6. However, more recent surveys show him regaining support among Republicans. A Morning Consult/Politico poll this week said 50% of Republican voters say he should play a "major role" in the future of the party.

(David Jackson and Christine Stapleton. “Trump and Rep. Kevin McCarthy discussed 2022 election during Florida meeting as Trump allies target pro-impeachment Republicans.” USA TODAY. January 28, 2021.)

Is there any bit of responsibility left in the Republican Party? They created this whole alternate universe by electing Trump and supporting conspirators who aim to tear down our Constitutional foundations. Trump is out of office yet the party continues to support demagoguery, loyalty tests, and alternative facts. The GOP refuses to rebuild their party and abandon Trump.

In the end, Republicans will ignore how Trump tried to get state and federal officials to break the law and how his lies fueled the rage of supporters who attacked the Capitol, all part of this autocratic effort to stay in power. If the GOP would split into two smaller parties – pro-Trump and anti-Trump – the schism would guarantees that the larger Democrat Party will win a lot more elections.

Perhaps the pro-democracy Republicans’ best bet is to tell their seditionist fellow party members the truth about the 2020 election. The majority may listen to an intraparty debate to save the soul of the party in which Republicans vigorously defend the right to vote, even if it means losing elections.

Don't hold your breath for that to happen. Remember, Trump does not apologize or admit guilt. Instead, the GOP will put party over substance, party over ethics, and party over the responsibility to condemn anarchists and demagogues. They fear losing Donald Trump's base of fragile White Americans, a group that desperately fears losing what they consider “their America” – a country in which diversity and free thought do not exist.

So, the GOP will cook up everything in a nice, easily digestible, right-wing repast that includes traditional political party fare – Second Amendment rights, Right to Life religious tenets, “America First” jingoism, phony “law and order” power grabs, and lots of fraudulent boasts of Trump “I did” triumphs – and deliver it for immediate consumption to anyone hungry to convince themselves they are still “making America great again.” The aimless Republican Party could care less about who gobbles up the bureaucratic buffet. Militias and Qanon crazies – all extremists are welcome at the table still hosted by the criminal ex-president.

And the discordant beat goes on … come riot, conspiracy, or high water.

You Have No Constitutional Right To Vote: Protecting Our Fragile Democracy

 

“A march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina on October 31, 2020 ended in chaos after police deployed tear gas on a crowd that included children and the elderly. The painful images sparked comparisons to scenes of voter suppression in the 1960s.

“In some ways, not much has changed since that time. The simple act of casting a ballot is still fraught. Writing this off as merely a byproduct of the Trump administration is tempting, but the rot goes deep.

“Fragile Democracy: The Struggle Over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina – a new book by James L. Leloudis, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Robert Korstad, a professor emeritus at Duke University – takes a researched look at North Carolina’s fraught relationship with race and voting.”

(Sarah Edwards. “Fragile Democracy” Is a Galvanizing Look at North Carolina’s Long, Racist History of Voter Suppression.” Indy Week. Durham, N.C. November 04, 2020.)

Leloudis and Korstad, authors of Fragile Democracy, contend that America is at war with itself over the right to vote, or, more precisely, “over the question of who gets to exercise that right and under what circumstances.” Conservatives speak in ominous tones of voter fraud so widespread that it threatens public trust in elected government. Progressives counter that fraud is rare and that calls for reforms such as voter ID are part of a campaign to shrink the electorate and exclude some citizens from the political life of the nation.

Fragile Democracy tells the story of race and voting rights, from the end of the Civil War until the present day. It shows that struggles over the franchise have played out through cycles of emancipatory politics and conservative retrenchment. When race has been used as an instrument of exclusion from political life, the result has been a society in which vast numbers of Americans are denied the elements of meaningful freedom: a good job, a good education, good health, and a good home. This history points to the need for a bold new vision of what democracy looks like.

(James L. Leloudis and Robert R. Korstad. Fragile Democracy: The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina. 2020.)

Fragile Democracy shows how the nation has become deeply politicized in a partisan manner. The authors argue that white supremacist rule for almost a century did more than any other force to impoverish North Carolina and its people. Democracy is still under siege as efforts at voter suppression continue – the struggle to guarantee every citizen free access to the vote and the power to influence public policy rages on.

The Brennan Center For Justice at the New York University School of Law found that the North Carolina restrictive voting law cut back on early voting and registration, and imposed harsh voter ID rules. A federal appeals court found it was crafted to “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”

Weiser and Bannon reported that the North Carolina legislature passed gerrymanders so lopsided that multiple courts found them unconstitutional. When incumbent Republicans lost control of the governorship, legislators sought to entrench party power, passing a law that effectively put Republicans in charge of the state election board in perpetuity. The state’s GOP legislators even tried (unsuccessfully) to increase the size of the state supreme court to enable the outgoing governor to fill more seats.

(Wendy Weiser and Alicia Bannon. “Democracy.” Brennan Center for Justice. 2018.)

Voter restriction is not limited to North Carolina … not by a long shot. According to the Brennan Center for Justice (2019), since 2010, 25 states have enacted new voting restrictions, including strict photo ID requirements, early voting cutbacks, and registration restrictions.

The truth is the norms of constitutional democracy – the unwritten rules that curb power and prevent abuse – are regularly flouted. Many seemingly solid protections guiding our political actions and behaviors are flimsy. No laws prevented a president from hiding his taxes, from using the powers of government to bully news organizations or others that displease him, and from firing the prosecutors who investigated him. How about voting?

“Dark money now floods into all levels of our elections, including state judicial races. The Supreme Court gutted a century of campaign finance law and a half-century of voting rights protections, all by a slim five-to-four margin. A hostile foreign government manipulated the 2016 presidential campaign and tried to interfere with our voting systems.”

– Brennan Center for Justice

The ACLU reports … 

“Voting rights are under attack nationwide as states pass voter suppression laws. These laws lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right. Since 2008, states across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans – particularly black people, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities – to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. These measures include cuts to early voting, voter ID laws, and purges of voter rolls.”

“One-third of voters who have a disability report difficulty voting and only 40 percent of polling places fully accommodate people with disabilities.”

– ACLU

Democracy demands that all eligible voters can participate and thus have their voices heard. Across the U.S., too many politicians are passing measures making it harder to cast a ballot. The goal is to manipulate political outcomes, and the result is a severely compromised democracy that doesn’t reflect the will of the people.

“We should ask ourselves, who is afraid of a truly diverse electorate and government, and why? Elections should be about the voters not big money interests. It’s time to limit SuperPACs and secret donors to protect representative democracy.”

– The League of Women Voters (2021)

Some of the most rampant methods of voter suppression across the country include the following:

Voter ID Laws

Over 21 million U.S. citizens do not have government-issued photo identification. That’s because ID cards aren’t always accessible for everyone. The ID itself can be costly, and even when IDs are free, applicants must incur other expenses to obtain the underlying documents that are needed to get an ID.

This can be a significant burden on people in lower-income communities. Further, the travel required is an obstacle for people with disabilities, the elderly, and people living in rural areas.

A recent analysis shows that strict identification laws have a differentially negative impact on the turnout of racial and ethnic minorities in primaries and general elections. We also find that voter ID laws skew democracy toward those on the political right.

(Zoltan Hajnal, Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson. “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes.” The Journal of Politics Volume 79, Number 2. April 2017.)

Voter Registration Restrictions

Restrictions can include requiring documents to prove citizenship or identification, onerous penalties for voter registration drives or limiting the window of time in which voters can register.

The American Bar Association reports that some are seeking to exploit the voter registration process to make voting even more difficult for those least likely to engage by adding more requirements to voter registration or by recklessly removing potential voters from the voter rolls. These suppressive tactics are being challenged in court and are being dismantled in many cases. We must seek ways to make voter registration more accessible but also safe for those who are not yet eligible to vote.

(Terry Ao Minnis and Niyati Shah. “Voter Registration in Today's Democracy: Barriers and Opportunities.” American Bar Association. February 09, 2020.)

Voter Purges

Cleaning up voter rolls can be a responsible part of election administration because many people move, die, or become ineligible to vote for other reasons. But sometimes, states use this process as a method of mass disenfranchisement, purging eligible voters from rolls for illegitimate reasons or based on inaccurate data, and often without adequate notice to the voters. A single purge can stop up to hundreds of thousands of people from voting. Often, voters only learn they’ve been purged when they show up at the polls on Election Day.

The American Bar Association reports that a minority of states go further and engage in a practice that ought to be seen as glaringly unconstitutional – purging people from the rolls solely because they have skipped voting in several consecutive elections and they have not responded to a letter asking them to confirm where they live.

(Paul M. Smith. "'Use It or Lose It': The Problem of Purges from the Registration Rolls of Voters Who Don't Vote Regularly. American Bar Association. February 10, 2020.)

A recent Brennan Center study (2028) found that almost 16 million voters were purged from the rolls between 2014 and 2016, and that jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination – which are no longer subject to preclearance after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act – had significantly higher purge rates.

Felony Disenfranchisement

A felony conviction can come with drastic consequences including the loss of your right to vote. But different states have different laws. Some ban voting only during incarceration. Some ban voting for life. Some ban people while on probation or parole; other ban people from voting only while incarcerated. And some states, like Maine and Vermont, don’t disenfranchise people with felony convictions at all. The fact that these laws vary so dramatically only adds to the overall confusion that voters face, which is a form of voter suppression in itself.

“Across the country, one in 13 Black Americans cannot vote due to disenfranchisement laws.”

– ACLU

Due to racial bias in the criminal justice system, felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect Black people, who often face harsher sentences than white people for the same offenses. It should come as no surprise that many of these laws are rooted in the Jim Crow era, when legislators tried to block Black Americans’ newly won right to vote by enforcing poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers that were nearly impossible to meet.

As of 2020, an estimated 5.17 million people are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, a figure that has declined by almost 15 percent since 2016, as states enacted new policies to curtail this practice. One out of 44 adults – 2.27 percent of the total U.S. voting eligible population – is disenfranchised due to a current or previous felony conviction.

(Chris Uggen, Ryan Larson, Sarah Shannon, and Arleth Pulido-Nava. “Locked Out 2020: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction.” The Sentencing Project. October 30, 2020.)

Gerrymandering

Every 10 years, states redraw district lines based on population data gathered in the census. Legislators use these district lines to allocate representation in Congress and state legislatures. When redistricting is conducted properly, district lines are redrawn to reflect population changes and racial diversity. But too often, states use redistricting as a political tool to manipulate the outcome of elections. That’s called gerrymandering — a widespread, undemocratic practice that’s stifling the voice of millions of voters.

(“Block the Vote: Voter Suppression in 2020 American Civil Liberties Union. February 3, 2020.)

Of course, not all of the people were eligible to vote at the time of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Article I, Section 2 effectively excluded women, as well as many free African Americans and Native Americans. It also excluded some white men, who were barred from voting by property ownership requirements that were the norm in 1787.

The Constitution has never fulfilled the democratic promise we associate with it. Put simply—and this is surprising to many people – there is no constitutional guarantee of the right to vote. Qualifications to vote in House and Senate elections are decided by each state, and the Supreme Court affirmed in Bush v. Gore that “[t]he individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States.”

Jonathan Soros, senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, says ...

“Enshrining the right to vote in the Constitution would help resolve most of these cases in favor of voters. It would not make every limitation unconstitutional—it is the essential nature of voting, for instance, that there be a date certain by which votes must be cast in order to be counted—but it would ensure that these limitations are judged under the standard known as 'strict scrutiny,' meaning that governments would have to show that the restrictions were carefully designed to address a compelling interest of the state.

“We would come to find that many familiar aspects of our current voting system would not meet this standard and access to the ballot could be extended to millions who are now actively or effectively disenfranchised.”

(Jonathan Soros. “The Missing Right: A Constitutional Right to Vote.” Democracy. Spring 2013)

“When stripped down to their essentials, all definitions of democracy rest ultimately on the primacy of electoral choice and the presumptive claim of the majority to rule. The removal of certain political views from the electoral arena limits the choices that are permitted to the citizenry and thus calls into question the legitimacy of the entire democratic enterprise.”

– Samuel Issacharoff, Harvard Law Review (April 01, 2007)

Holding Trump Accountable -- Republicans Will Rebuke Justice

 

“In other democracies, a leader who tried to overthrow an election result and incited a violent insurrection might well be cooling his heels in prison by now.

“In this country, the job of policing the President falls largely on the legislative branch. For four years, it has failed dismally to carry out this task. Even after the unprecedented events of last week (January 6, 2021), it’s far from clear that Congress will prove up to the task now. But this time, surely, and for the sake of American democracy, Trump must be held accountable.”

– John Cassidy, author and staff writer at The New Yorker

Donald Trump must be punished for his part in encouraging and leading the riot on Congress on January 6, 2021. A President of the United States is not above the law. His actions caused a coup bent on destroying democracy. He is guilty of the charges of high crimes and misdemeanors for whipping up an insurrection and for disrupting the peaceful transfer of power.

Yet, it is possible that Trump could do, again, even in the face of all of this traitorous behavior, what he’s done over and over: evade the most serious consequences and emerge darkly emboldened.

Former Trump publicist Alan Marcus said …

“He (Trump) is fueled by grievance. This is his fuel. They just gave him high octane. If it were possible to find a form of overreach that could restore him on some level, a swing-state GOP consultant said of another round of impeachment, 'it’s this.'”

(Michael Kruse. “How Trump Wins Impeachment, Again.” Politico. January 13, 2021.)

It appears most Republicans want Trump to go scot-free. They fear for their own political futures even after the violent insurrection. Instead of punishing and purging Trump – swiftly sending him into well-deserved political exile – they are tempted to let the moment pass and allow Trump's corrosive control over the GOP – and, in turn, over the country – to persist.

(John Cassidy. “Trump Can’t Be Allowed to Escape Justice Yet Again.” The New Yorker. January 11, 2021.)

Or Republicans could act with resolve and save whatever face is left in their party. However, with many G.O.P. members already trying to shirk their responsibilities in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, how much less likely are they to answer the call in coming months? They will not. Instead, they remain indifferent and complicit in the crimes of Donald Trump.

USA TODAY reported …

“As the Senate takes up the House-passed article of impeachment, evidence of Trump's guilt is overwhelming: inciting anger among millions of followers for weeks with lies about a stolen election; exhorting thousands to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6 just as Congress was ratifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden; and resisting pleas to call off the insurrection.”

(Editorial Board. “Trump Senate trial offers Republican Party an escape from his death grip on its future. USA TODAY. January 21, 2021.)

Trump must be barred from ever holding public office again – something impeachment would do. However, legal experts say only a criminal prosecution could hold Trump fully accountable for his actions. He should face criminal charges for his reckless behavior.

Mary B. McCord, a former Justice Department official and Georgetown University law professor, says …

“The facts currently known warrant a criminal investigation of the president and others who were involved in inciting the insurrection at the Capitol. Whether charges should be brought will depend on the results of that investigation and considerations of prosecutorial discretion, but accountability is important in the face of such grievous and dangerous abuses of power and privilege.”

(David G. Savage. “How likely is it that Trump will face criminal prosecution after leaving office?” The Los Angeles Times. January 09, 2021.)

Many people wonder why the crooked, autocratic leader didn't give himself a pardon before leaving office on January 20. Here's why – doing so would mean Trump would then be seen as admitting he committed serious crimes necessitating that pardon.

David Savage, who has covered the Supreme Court and legal issues for the Los Angeles Times in the Washington bureau since 1986, reports: “The Justice Department is not likely to stand aside and allow such a precedent to go unchallenged because it might suggest that a future president with criminal tendencies could steal billions, sell national secrets or even murder opponents, and then walk away scot-free.

In fact, if Trump were to pardon himself, federal prosecutors might be more likely to charge him with a crime, some experts say. Doing so would then require judges and ultimately the Supreme Court to decide whether the president has an absolute power to commit crimes with impunity.

So, here we are on January 24, 2021. Trump's Senate impeachment trial will begin the week of February 8. The Senate will need 67 votes to convict him. If all 50 Democrats support a guilty verdict, they will need 17 Republicans to join them. The chances of that happening are slim and none.

Republicans will likely vote to let Trump go unpunished. They continue to fear his influence. Think of it. A president will escape all responsibility for his criminal actions. Perhaps charges will be pursued in courts. But, as we all know, his political allies will not hold Trump accountable. More insane division will come and Trump will persist in lying and power grabbing.

Consider the future actions of this Republican Frankenstein monster. The beast will not fade from existence and will likely roam the political arena, no matter the actions brought against him. It is GOP theater steeped in fear and divisive loathing.

Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime, New York-based Democratic strategist, says …

“He will continue to have this power. Because to his followers, he will be a victim of the powerful, who are now turning this into a racially diverse, non-white-male-dominant, non-blue-collar environment. He will be the hero of the put-upon who have been stabbed in the back … by those who run government. Which is how shame and disgrace become honor and a battle cry.”

This will be true, Sheinkopf said, regardless of whether or not Trump is still the president, regardless of whether he was impeached twice, and perhaps in some twisted way because he’s no longer the president and because he was impeached twice.

Sheinkopf says …

“What he represents to those who follow him is a very simple phrase, which is: ‘Look what they did to us again.’ And Trump is the guy that says, ‘Look what they did to me—now help me finish them off.’”

(Michael Kruse. “How Trump Wins Impeachment, Again.” Politico. January 13, 2021.)

After all good old Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, speaking in defense of the president, made a version of this very point. He warned the Democrats, “even if you are successful today, and were the Senate to convict President Trump, yours will be a Pyrrhic victory. For instead of stopping the Trump train, his movement will grow stronger, for you will have made him a martyr.”

Republicans have the power to stop the scourge. They will not and the monster will live to abuse, divide, and destroy once more. Donald Trump has proven to the nation that political affiliation is more powerful than justice. The GOP endorses a deranged leader because he has a loyal cult that votes for their party of White nationalists. It is too late to say “We're sorry” and too late to reverse the indelible damage inflicted by their brutish creation.

“Liberty, however, had been a useless gift to me, had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon me, I began to reflect upon their cause – the monster whom I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had sent abroad into the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a maddening rage when I thought of him, and desired and ardently prayed that I might have him within my grasp to wreak a great and signal revenge on his cursed head.”

– Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (1817)

The Coronavirus Is Mutating -- What About the Evidence?

 

“Right now, there is good evidence to show that when someone becomes infected with COVID-19, they typically shed virus for about 10 days. That's why the CDC asks people to isolate for 10 days after a positive test.

“But if these variant viruses mutate to prolong this period, 'they are shedding virus sooner and transmitting later, increasing the number of days [of being contagious],' Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and associate research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's School of Public Health, said.

“That could cause others to be infected, because you might not be quarantining when you should be and therefore exposing others unknowingly.”

– Dr. Sean Llewellyn, ABC News

Mutation is an inevitable consequence of being a virus – it is “normal and expected” according to Dr. Richard Kuhn – director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease and editor-in-chief of the journal Virology. It should not be exaggerated and not cause unnecessary fear.

Most of us remember the 1995 thriller Outbreak, in which a fictional Ebola-like virus rapidly mutates into a highly infectious strain capable of aerosolized transmission. Journalists and scientists are sometimes predisposed to draw upon these fictional views.

Mutations can result in a new “lineage” of the virus. This is not the same as a new strain. Tracking these lineages can be very useful for determining how a virus spread through communities or populations.

In recent months, new variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 have been popping up all over the world, and experts say even more will continue to be identified as this pandemic continues.

In the United States, variants have been found in California and the Midwest in recent weeks, and last month, new variants from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil were identified. There is strong evidence that two of the variants -- those that were first identified in the U.K. and South Africa -- are more transmissible. Now, scientists are racing to understand why.

(Sean Llewellyn. “Some COVID-19 variants spread more easily than original: Here’s why.” ABC News. January 22, 2021.)

These changes are random and most are unimportant, but each infection increases the risk of a mutation that could make the virus more infectious, deadlier, or just different enough to render vaccines and natural infections less protective, or treatments ineffective, said Dr. Robert Bollinger, a professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

(Karen Weintraub and Elizabeth Weise. “New strains of COVID swiftly moving through the US need careful watch, scientists say.” USA Today. January 22, 2021.)

On January 22, Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested there was early evidence suggesting that the UK, or Kent, variant may be more deadly, although government scientists stressed that the data so far is uncertain. Here's what we know so far.

Paul Nuki, Global Health Security Editor in London, reported that there is good evidence that the UK strain is more transmissible and some evidence the other two may be too.

The government’s chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, suggested it might increase the case fatality rate (CFR) by 30 percent. To put this in context, he said that out of 1,000 men in their 60s infected with the old variant, 10 would be expected to die, compared to 13 with the new variant..

Nuki said: “The maths of contagion is counter intuitive. A virus which is 50 per cent more transmissible will kill far more people than one which is 50 per cent more deadly as it infects so many more people.”

(Paul Nuki; Anne Gulland; Jennifer Rigby and Sarah Newey. “Covid-19 variants: Are new mutations more deadly, and will vaccines work against them?” The Telegraph. January 23, 2021.)

Theories about what leads the virus to being more transmissible (leaving one body in search for another) include the following:

1. Increased virus shedding

People who are infected with the variant could be shedding more virus through droplets of mucus and saliva in the air. Preliminary data from the U.K. suggests people infected with the new variant tended to have higher viral loads -- meaning they had more volume of virus in their noses, which could be measured using a nasal swab.

2. Prolonged virus shedding

In a related theory, scientists are investigating whether the new variant might somehow lengthen the number of days an infected person is contagious.

3. Increased environmental stability

Yet another idea – with no scientific evidence yet -- is that the virus might have evolved to be sturdier and better able to withstand the harsh environment outside the human body. This allows it to remain in the air or on surfaces for longer periods of time and remain infectious, making transmission from person to person easier. The common cold has done this.

4. Better able to "stick" to cells

One of the leading theories that has the most evidence behind it is the idea that the new, more transmissible COVID-19 variants are simply better at latching onto our cells. (However, it could be any one of these theories, and it could be a combination of them.)

ABC News reports that many scientists feel confident about this theory because the mutations they found in the U.K. and South African variants are in those little "spikes" on the outside of the virus. The virus uses those spikes to bind to a specific site on our cells called the ACE2 receptor.

(Sean Llewellyn. “Some COVID-19 variants spread more easily than original: Here’s why.” ABC News. January 22, 2021.)

Most experts think vaccines will still be effective, at least in the short term.

Dr. Julian W Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, says vaccines can be modified to be "more close-fitting and effective against this variant in a few months.” Tang says …

"Meanwhile, most of us believe that the existing vaccines are likely to work to some extent to reduce infection/ transmission rates and severe disease against both the UK and South African variants – as the various mutations have not altered the S protein shape that the current vaccine-induced antibodies will not bind at all."

(Helen Briggs. “Coronavirus variants and mutations: The science explained.” BBC News. January 06, 2021.)

And here in the U.S.? California Governor Gavin Newsom announced December 30 that the new strain, known as B.1.1.7 (the UK variant) was detected in the southern part of the state. It’s the second report of the UK variant in the US in as many days, following news that the variant was found in a male Colorado National Guard member in his 20s with no history of travel, a sign that the virus is spreading locally.

(Brian Resnick and Umair Irfan. “The new UK coronavirus mutations, explained.” Vox. Decembeer 30, 2020,)

UC San Francisco infectious disease expert Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, whose lab has been helping the state of California detect cases of the new variant, says …

“The virus is already very infectious at baseline, so I think the effectiveness of the public health response and individual responsibility to prevent spread has much more impact than a small degree of increased transmissibility.”

“The important thing is not necessarily to focus on the variants, but to focus on the virus overall – limiting the number of cases by controlling transmission and deploying the vaccine so that we can reach herd immunity” said Chiu.

(Nina Bai. “How Worried Should You Be About the New Coronavirus Variant?” University of California San Francisco. January 12, 2021.)

The virus is mutating. Is this mutation a major factor in the virus’s evolution? Time will tell, but the population must continue to take safeguards against infections – any infection, new or old. It is imperative that we watch the changes in the virus to defeat COVID-19. Of course, a speedy vaccine rollout would be helpful in stopping the mutations from developing so quickly.

Oath of Office -- A Recitation of American Allegiance

The inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861. The 1861 inauguration is believed to be the first ever photographed. Public Domain photo.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

– Presidential Oath of Office (Article II, Section One, Clause 8, of the United States Constitution)

Each president must recite the simple oath of office. The Oath of Office of the President of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the President of the United States takes after assuming the office, but importantly before exercising or carrying out any presidential powers or duties. 

This clause is one of three oath or affirmation clauses in the Constitution, but it is the only one that actually specifies the words that must be spoken (the only clause that specifies the actual oath language for a constitutional actor).

Article I, Section 3 requires senators, when sitting to try impeachments, to be "on Oath or Affirmation."

Article VI, Clause 3, similarly requires the persons specified therein to "be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution."

The Presidential Oath requires much more than that general oath of allegiance and fidelity. This clause enjoins the new president to swear or affirm that he "will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The clause does not specify who shall administer the oath, though it has been the common, but not universal, practice for the chief justice to do so. Overall, the presidential oath has been administered by 15 Chief Justices (one of whom – William Howard Taft – was also a former president), one Associate Justice, four federal judges, two New York state judges, and one notary public.

The Framers drew upon similar provisions in a number of early state constitutions in drafting the clause, but they plainly believed that a special oath for the president was indispensable. At the Constitutional Convention, when George Mason and James Madison moved to add the “preserve, protect and defend” language, only James Wilson objected, on the ground that “the general provision for oaths of office, in a subsequent place, rendered the amendment unnecessary.”

The prospect of George Washington’s becoming president cannot be discounted. The Framers perhaps desired an oath that would replicate the public values of the man who was presiding over the Convention. More significantly, because the presidency was unitary, there were no available internal checks, as there were in the other branches with their multiple members. A specially phrased internal check was therefore necessary, one that tied the president’s duty to “preserve, protect and defend” to his obligations to God, which is how the Founders understood what was meant by an oath or affirmation. As Justice Joseph Story noted in his A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (1842):

“A President, who shall dare to violate the obligations of his solemn oath or affirmation of office, may escape human censure, nay, may even receive applause from the giddy multitude. But he will be compelled to learn, that there is a watchful Providence, that cannot be deceived; and a righteous Being, the searcher of all hearts, who will render unto all men according to their deserts.

“Considerations of this sort will necessarily make a conscientious man more scrupulous in the discharge of his duty; and will even make a man of looser principles pause, when he is about to enter upon a deliberate violation of his official oath.”

(“The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.” The Heritage Foundation. Heritage.org. 2021.)

The Date

In 18th-century America it seemed reasonable to set aside four months between the election and the inauguration. This would provide enough time to tally the votes, to have the electoral college members send their ballots to Washington, and for the president-elect to organize the new government.

But, in the modern world of communications and politics, four months was an eternity in which crises could arise or the outgoing administration could do untold amounts of mischief. In 1933 the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution changed the date of presidential inaugurations from March 4 to January 20.

(“The Oath of Office. National Museum of American History. americanhistory.si.edu.)

Affirm or Swear?

The Constitutional language gives the option to "affirm" instead of "swear". While the reasons for this are not documented, it may relate to certain Christians, including Quakers, who apply this scripture literally: "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation" (James 5:12, KJV).

(Andrea Seabrook. “Oath Of Office: To Swear Or To Affirm.” NPR. January 18, 2009.)

Franklin Pierce was the only president known to use the word "affirm" rather than "swear” and he also broke precedent by not kissing the Bible. Herbert Hoover is often listed to have used "affirm" as well, owing to his being a Quaker, but a newsreel taken of the ceremony indicates that the words used were "solemnly swear." Richard Nixon, who was also a Quaker, swore, rather than affirmed.

By convention, incoming presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible while taking the oath of office. Most use a special family Bible, leaving it open to a passage that has particular meaning for them.

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with an altar Bible borrowed from the St. John's Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons lodge in New York, and he kissed the Bible afterward. Subsequent presidents up to and including Harry S. Truman, followed suit. Dwight D. Eisenhower said a prayer in the end instead of kissing the Bible in 1953.

Theodore Roosevelt did not use the Bible when taking the oath in 1901. John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law, with the intention that he was swearing on the constitution. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One.Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump each swore the oath on two Bibles.

(“Bibles Used in Inaugural Ceremonies.” webarchive.org. Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.)

The Very First – April 30, 1789

In 1788, the Confederation Congress scheduled the first presidential inauguration for the first Wednesday in March of the following year. However, the early months of 1789 proved to be unseasonably cold and snowy and bad weather delayed many members of the First Federal Congress from arriving promptly in New York City, the temporary seat of government.

Until a quorum could be established in both the House and the Senate, no official business could be conducted. Finally, on April 6, 1789 - over a month late - enough members had reached New York to tally the electoral ballots. The ballots were counted on April 6 and George Washington won unanimously with 69 electoral votes. Washington was then notified of his victory and traveled to New York City from his home in Virginia.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States. The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event.

(“George Washington's First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789.” The Center For Legislative Archives. 2021.)

At the auspicious moment marking the birth of the federal government under the Constitution, Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania observed that even the great Washington trembled when he faced the assembled representatives and senators.

Maclay added …

"This great man was agitated and embarrassed more than ever he was by the levelled Cannon or pointed Musket."

(“George Washington's First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789.” The Center For Legislative Archives. 2021.)

Geri Zabela Eddins of ourwhitehouse.org writes of the very first U.S. Presidential Inauguration …

“The inauguration of the new country’s first president provided the perfect incentive for a large-scale celebration that lasted over two weeks and spanned nearly three hundred miles from the coast of Virginia to America’s first capital, New York City. The festivities culminated with the inaugural ceremony on April 30, 1789, when the nation’s beloved General George Washington arrived in a carriage to the steps of Federal Hall. On this crisp, sunny day, banners and flags rippled across the city, while more than ten thousand cheering citizens crammed into the streets, peered through the windows of neighboring buildings, and gathered on rooftops to welcome Washington and witness his inauguration.

“The tall, stately Washington wore an American-made brown suit fastened with metal buttons emblazoned with eagles. He carried a ceremonial sword at his side. Washington strode up the stairs to the second-floor balcony that overlooked the city. From there he could see the thousands of spectators, which included the entirety of Congress assembled on a platform facing the hall. A table covered in red velvet was situated in the middle of the balcony, and on it rested a Bible. With Vice President John Adams at his side, Washington placed one hand on the Bible. Prompted by New York Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, Washington repeated the oath of office as required by the Constitution. Upon Washington’s completion of the thirty-five word oath, Livingston proclaimed, “It is done. Long live George Washington, President of the United States.” The crowds erupted into thunderous cheers and bells tolled throughout the city.”

“Shortly after swearing the oath of office, Washington addressed both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Senate chamber, then walked up Broadway with a group of legislators and local political leaders to pray at St. Paul’s Chapel. Washington’s inaugural day festivities concluded with fireworks exploding over the city.”

(Geri Zabela Eddins. “The Presidential Oath of Office.” Our White House. The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. 2021)

The Oath has been taken 72 times by the 45 presidents of the United States who have preceded Mr. Joe Biden. This numerical discrepancy results chiefly from two factors: a president must take the oath at the beginning of each term of office, and, because Inauguration Day has sometimes fallen on a Sunday, four Presidents (Hayes [1877], Wilson [1917], Eisenhower [1957], and Reagan [1985]) have taken the oath privately before the public inaugural ceremonies.

In addition, President Arthur took the oath privately following the death of President Garfield and again two days later in the Capitol. Grover Cleveland is considered the 22nd and 24th presidents, having served two nonconsecutive terms (1885-1889 and 1893-1897).

(“Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol.” Architect of the Capitol. 2021.)

The oaths administered to date have been taken place in the following locations:

• U.S. Capitol (55 occasions)

  • East Portico — 34

  • Hall of the House of Representatives — 6

  • Senate Chamber — 3

  • West Front — 8

  • East Front of Original Senate Wing — 1

  • President's Room — 1

  • Rotunda — 1

  • Vice President's Room — 1

• White House — 6

• Old Brick Capitol (1st & A Sts., N.E.; site of present Supreme Court Building) — 1

• Washington, D.C. (not in Capitol or White House) — 2

• Outside Washington, D.C. — 7

(“Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol.” Architect of the Capitol. 2021.)

Christine Hauser of The New York Times provides some more brief history of the oath: 

Lyndon B. Johnson was the first and only president to take the oath of office on an airplane, after John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. It was also the first time that a woman administered the oath: Judge Sarah T. Hughes of the Northern District of Texas swore in Mr. Johnson on Air Force One, using a Roman Catholic missal found on board, before the plane left Dallas for Washington.

The oath-taking of Barack Obama, who became the nation’s first Black president in 2009, had a unique twist. He was administered the oath twice by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.: The second time was on Jan. 21 in a do-over at the White House after the two men stumbled over each other’s words during the inauguration ceremony the day before.

“In 25 seconds, President Obama became president again,” The New York Times wrote.

(Christine Hauser. “Who Was the First New President to …?” The New York Times Jan. 18, 2021.)

Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate, Climbs Lofty Hills on Inauguration Day

 

                                                            Photo: Stephanie Mitchell

"We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
It can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
History has its eyes on us."

– From the Inaugural Poem “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman

After Joe Biden was sworn in as the nation’s 46th president, Amanda Gorman read “The Hill We Climb.” So many celebrated poets have preceded her in this tradition including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco. But, today, Gorman made history as youngest of these inaugural poets to offer her verse.

Gorman, just 22, overcame a speech impediment to become America's National Youth Poet Laureate. She already has an impressive resume as a poet. Liam Hess of Vogue said, “While still a teenage student in Los Angeles, Gorman spent her days devouring the works of Toni Morrison and furiously scribbling in her journals with the dream of one day becoming a writer.”

(Liam Hess. “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman on Her Career-Defining Address and Paying Homage to Maya Angelou. Vogue. January 20, 2021.)

In 2014, Gorman became the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and three years later she was named the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate.

A Harvard University graduate, Gorman was previously invited to the Obama White House and has been asked to perform for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Malala Yousafzai, according to her website.

(Staff. “Inauguration Poet Amanda Gorman Shares Powerful Message.” Black Entertainment Television. January 20, 2021)

Joshua Barajas of PBS News said: “She did it again (climbed a hill) by performing at the swearing in of Joe Biden. Gorman followed an excellent speech from the 46th president with a what may live on forever as the lasting highlight of the day.”

Gorman has previously said that she wants to run for president in 2036. She told PBS News Hour that she started writing the new poem – “The Hill We Climb” – in early January, shortly after being invited to present an inauguration poem. And, when pro-Trump insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, she was about halfway through her poem. Gorman said she knew that violence to be addressed, "I was like, 'Well, this is something we need to talk about."

Gorman confessed … 

“I don’t want to say that my poem took a drastic left turn because it was already going towards a location, but those events just solidified for me how important it was to have a poem about unity and the new chapter of America in this inauguration.”

(Joshua Barajas. “Amanda Gorman reads inauguration poem, ‘The Hill We Climb.'” PBS News Hour. January 20, 2021.)

Of writing the Inaugural Poem, Gorman said …

“The difficult thing about writing a poem like this is that you want to write it for a country, but you also want it to be accessible. You want it to be representative of all the colors and characters of people who might be watching it. Preparing for that [involved] reading the previous inaugural poems and trying to focus on what they do well.

“I’ve also looked to Abraham Lincoln or Frederick Douglass, who I love as a writer, or Martin Luther King, and the ways in which they used words to communicate the ideals of the nation in elegant rhetoric that [never] felt as if it was locked away in an ivory tower …

“2020—what a year. It was rough for all of us. As a public poet, people often don’t see the reality of my life. They see maybe a poem or a reciting and it’s great to hear that I can serve as a ray of light in [other people’s] lives.

“Sometimes it grabs the attention away from the fact that I, too am going through the same things and navigating darkness, as well. It was a really hard time when my school was shut down when the COVID wave in March crested. I wasn’t going to have a graduation and I wasn’t going to be able to say goodbye to my friends. But I was able to funnel that into a poem. It has been hard on all counts, but I’ve been writing my way through it.”

(Liam Hess. “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman on Her Career-Defining Address and Paying Homage to Maya Angelou. Vogue. January 20, 2021.)

Democratic presidents have traditionally celebrated poets by having them read an original piece at inauguration ceremonies. A powerful reading of her poem “In This Place: An American Lyric,” delivered at the Library of Congress in 2017, caught the eye of Dr. Jill Biden

The Associated Press reports that Gorman was contacted in late December by the Biden inaugural committee officials informing her that she’d been recommended by the incoming first lady.

An interesting aside: On Inauguration Day, Amanda Gorman wore a look by Miuccia Prada, a designer she admires for her intellect and long-standing feminist leanings. A story about an accessory was even more revealing.

Oprah Winfrey, a fan of Gorman’s, got in touch. When Angelou spoke in 1993, Winfrey had sent Angelou a Chanel coat and a pair of gloves to wear for the event. To continue the tradition, she sent Gorman a pair of gold hoop earrings by Nikos Koulis and an Of Rare Origin ring to wear for her own big day.

“Every single time I get a text from [Oprah] I fall on the floor,” Gorman says, laughing. It’s the perfect finishing touch to a look that came together with immense care and thought. “[Fashion] has so much meaning to me, and it’s my way to lean into the history that came before me and all the people supporting me.”

(Liam Hess. “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman on Her Career-Defining Address and Paying Homage to Maya Angelou. Vogue. January 20, 2021.) 

Gorman said “The Hill We Climb was an “incredibly daunting poem to write.” While composing it, she considered the different layers of stress on Americans now. She also said she trusted “in the knowledge and the faith” that she was made for the moment.

“It (the poem) was a hill I had to climb in itself. I wrote it with the idea that this isn’t the moment to say, 'Ding-dong the witch is dead,' and dance on the grave of Trump. It’s a real opportunity to unite the people of the United States and focus our gaze on the future, and the ways in which we can collaborate and move forward together.”

(Liam Hess. “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman on Her Career-Defining Address and Paying Homage to Maya Angelou. Vogue. January 20, 2021.)

There will be no relaxing in Amanda Gorman's near future. She says she feels as if she is “in the front seat of a Ferrari right now.” She is definitely journaling about writing more poetry about her experiences. In addition, Gorman is coming out with a poetry collection later this year and a children’s book in September called Change Sings. All of this at age22. You better look for this young lady's Presidential Campaign in 2036. The sky is the limit for the poet laureate.

The Greatest Threat to the U.S. -- Today's Republican Party

 

"The single greatest threat to the United States is not joblessness, foreclosures, another recession or skyrocketing debt or health care costs. Nor is it terrorism, China or declining influence abroad. No, the single greatest threat to our country is today’s Republican Party.”

– Sandy Goodman, Huffington Post contributor and retired producer for NBC Nightly News (June 21, 2011)

Does anyone remember what it was like in 2011 … before the election of Donald Trump, before the pandemic and the lockdown, before the attack on the U.S. Congress by right-wing extremists? It seems like ages ago. However, some observers were already warning us of a disaster in-the-making.

Back in June 2011, seasoned journalist Sandy Goodman called the Republican Party the greatest threat to the country. Goodman said then that the GOP was relentlessly pursuing a policy of “the American public be damned,” so that next year Republicans could regain the national political dominance they held from 2001 to 2006.

Goodman said …

“Their (the Republicans') sole, selfish aim is to complete the transformation of the U.S. to a government of, by and for the rich and the far-right.

In her article, Goodman said Veteran reporter Robert Parry, a retired correspondent for the Associated Press and Newsweek, accurately summed up that policy this way:

“Modern Republicans have a simple approach to politics when they are not in the White House: Make America as ungovernable as possible by using any means available … Control as much as possible what the population gets to see and hear; create chaos for your opponent’s government, economically and politically; blame it for the mess; and establish in the minds of the voters that their only way out is to submit, that the pain will stop once your side is back in power...

“Republicans and the Right... are well positioned to roll the U.S. economy off the cliff and blame the catastrophe on Obama. Indeed, that may be their best hope for winning Election 2012.”

(Sandy Goodman. “Republicans: The Single Greatest Threat to America.” Huffington Post. June 21, 2011.)

And also in 2011, good old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: “I wish we had been able to obstruct more.” McConnell had succeeded brilliantly in keeping his members in line in opposing what Goodman called “every important measure that’s good for this country including presidential initiatives for health care, financial regulation, economic stimulus and a dozen executive appointments and even more judicial ones needed to keep government functioning.”

Of course, Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney to win the 2012 Presidential Election. Romney hammered the poor economy but badly mishandled the immigration issue. After winning the primaries, most experts believe Romney should have embraced the sensible immigration reform bill put together by Republican Senator Marco Rubio. And, Sandy hit the Northeast and Obama took on the Olympian mantle of crisis leadership, aided immensely by hugs from the New Jersey GOP Governor.

Nothing like the good old days, huh? Still, Goodman's predictions did fully materialize … although it took a while.

Enter Donald Trump

Then, four year later, Trump emerged on the scene as the Republican candidate, and he defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The Republican Party won the majority in the House of Representatives while the Democrats kept their Senate majority.

The reason for the election win for Trump is greatly debated. Criticisms of Clinton are easier than explanations of Trump's victory. Many viewed their vote as a selection of the lesser of two evils. Trump was seen by many as a political reformer while Clinton was viewed by many as politically corrupt.

Working-class White people, particularly men and women without college education, deserted the Democratic Party in droves. Rural voters turned out in high numbers, as the Americans who felt overlooked by the establishment and left behind by the coastal elite made their voices heard.

To help achieve his victory, Trump relied upon a White wave of voters in the Midwest. There, Democrats did not find sufficient support, based in part on the lack of votes from Black and working-class voters. To his credit, Trump campaigned in states like Wisconsin and Michigan that pundits said were out of reach. And, it paid off. In the end, Clinton couldn’t rely on Obama’s natural connection to the nonwhite electorate.

Trump ran as an outsider, even against the powers in his own party. This outsider status came at a time when much of the American public reviled Washington (although not enough to keep them from re-electing most congressional incumbents running for re-election).

Then, of course, FBI director James Comey released his letter announcing that they were reopening their investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. What a timely service to Trump.

All of this led to a victory for Donald Trump. He moved into the White House and the Republican “brain” withered into unprecedented demise as it became trapped in the cult of their chosen leader.

In 2018 Charles P. Pierce wrote in Esquire …

“Not until the Republican Party as it is presently constituted has been wiped from the memory of man can a sensible, reason-based, science-friendly center-right party rise in its place. The Republican Party as it is presently constituted exists solely to launder corporate money, and its primary national imperatives are bigotry, plutocracy, and ratfcking. It doesn't believe in constitutional norms any more than it believes in climate science. The prion disease has progressed beyond all recall. The Republican Party as it is presently constituted needs to be put out of its misery before we are put out of ours …

“This is very much a national story, and it is a national story because it illustrates perfectly how fully the prion disease has destroyed the higher functions of the Republican brain. The Republican Party as it is presently constituted is the greatest threat to the American republic since Appomattox. It needs to die, fast and hard, and the ground salted so that it does not rise again.”

(Charles P. Pierce. “The Republican Party Is the Single Greatest Threat to the American Republic.” Esquire. December 03, 2018.)

So, the threat to America took wings in Trump's presidency. Voters disgusted with Washington politicians and with great aversion to the old establishment put an unqualified, narcissist autocrat in the highest office in the world. The results were predictably dire.

The Doomsday Clock – a globally recognized indicator of the vulnerability of our existence updated every year by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors (which includes 13 Nobel laureates) – moved to just 100 seconds to "midnight," closer to destruction than at any point since the clock was created in 1947.

Recent military actions, the demise of pacts freeing nations to deploy land-based missiles over ranges that leave little time for a response, and a growing number of disasters linked to global climate change resulting from the continued consumption of fossil fuel are among the major causes for this frightening step closer to the end of human existence as we know it.

Add to the mix Trump's failed pandemic response, his racist immigration policies, his standoffs with Black Lives Matter activists, and his significant encouragement of right-wing extremist groups under his watch, and Sandy Goodman's evaluation of the Republican culpability in the threat to our existence is right on.

And the majority of Republicans have remained loyal to Trump after all his bullshit – even after four years of his failed leadership and outrageous lies cements his rank as the poorest president of all time.

A Quinnipiac University poll out December 10, 2020, indicated that 77 percent of Republicans believe there was fraud in this election. And while most of the talk of fraud comes from Trump himself – he’s the spark – the fuel is all around us. And the momentum is fueled by fringe fiction, not facts.

Donald Trump has greatly exacerbated the threat of domestic terrorism. According to a CBS News poll conducted by YouGov from January 13 to January 15, 2021, more than half of all Americans say the greatest danger to America's way of life comes from their fellow citizens. Why? Those saying "no" to President Biden's legitimacy are the firmest Trump supporters, and 9 in 10 say they would vote for Mr. Trump again in 2024.

And, the denial of the election result fiasco thrills dictators like Vladimir Putin, who delighted in seeing Republicans make a the mockery of democracy. As the GOP became the biggest threat to our elections, Trump's GOP operatives in the trenches – citizens and elected officials – did the dirty work to make sure it happened.

In their effort to put Trump in the White House in 2016, the Russians played on American naiveté by spreading lies on social media and hacking into Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails. They accomplished their primary goal, but they lacked the political machinery necessary to control the outcome on a state-by-state level.

Right before the vote in 2020, Dahleen Glanton of the Chicago Tribune said …

“This time around, the Republicans are doing what the Russians could never accomplish. The GOP is engaged in an outright campaign to deny Americans an opportunity to vote.

“The biggest threats to Americans are the unfair restrictions and unnecessary requirements voters in Republican-controlled states are being forced to endure in the attempt to suppress their vote.

“The Russians and the GOP have succeeded in convincing us that our electoral process is flawed. Our doubts about the sanctity of the upcoming election have escalated nearly to the point of panic.

(Dahleen Glandton. “Column: Voters have more to fear from the GOP than the Russians this year.” Chicago Tribune. September 30, 2020.)

Trump remains the golden boy of the party. The CBS poll showed Republican Trump supporters overwhelmingly oppose him being impeached for a second time. And while most Americans consider Republicans who voted to impeach as "principled," these Republicans consider them "disloyal." Three in four of them want congressional Republicans to oppose Mr. Biden as much as possible, rather than find common ground. Violence and sedition surfaced in the infamous January 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” riot – this mob remains pissed and ready to inflict further destruction in places all around the country.

In December 2019 – before the 2020 election – Renée Graham of the Boston Globe said ...

“Trump had no issue trying to get a foreign government to kneecap a political rival and skew the election in his own favor. In modern political history, when has the GOP ever cared about the sanctity of our elections? For months, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has ignored a bill designed to protect elections, the House-passed “For the People Act,” which among many sweeping proposals, seeks to expand voting rights.

“Without fair elections, America can never be a democracy in full. That’s exactly what Republicans want. This, too, is a crime in progress, as the greatest threat to the Constitution thrives not in Russia, but as malfeasance stretching from conservative groups and state officials to the White House.”

(Renee Graham. “Russia isn’t the biggest threat to our elections. It’s Republicans.” Boston Globe. December 17, 2019.)

Sandy Goodman predicted the danger of the Republicans' threat to feed the rich and starve the poor, and, above all, make the nation ungovernable. “Control what you can” and “create chaos” and “blame President Obama” – this was the Republican game plan for the creation of their Frankenstein monster Trump.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live international news conference at 10 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, to announce the 2021 time of the Doomsday Clock. There is little doubt that the movement of the hands will show a terrifying response to the disaster that was 2020. And, there is no doubt at all that Republicans have pushed the world closer to oblivion with their dangerous policies and their ultra-dangerous, autocratic president.