WHAT SHOULD CONGRESS DO WHEN REPUBS IN THEIR RANKS WANT A COUP?

 Hey! As I mentioned in the last post, we're a week away from the electoral votes being counted in a joint session of the U.S. Congress. With that the 2020 Presidential election will be finalized and the final few weeks of the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's reign will begin. Normally a routing procedure most don't think about, this year has made this omnipresent in our minds over an election we're hoping to finally finish and move on from.  However, a few days before that the next session of Congress begins as all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate begins their new session. While this may seem unrelated most election cycles we're in a time where there's more linking them than one would think.

On December 10, 2020 126 Repub members of the U.S. House of Representatives filed a brief backing a lawsuit from Texas asking the Supreme Court of the US to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results in a handful of states where Joe Biden won the electoral vote, claiming there was some sort of fraud. Thankfully SCOTUS threw the case out (on the grounds that Texas had a "lack of standing:" and "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections." refused to hear it on December 11 but, by filing that brief, the Repubs have shown that, after four years of telling those on the other side that they "lost the election" in 2016 and should "get over it," some in the GOP were willing to do what they could to overturn a major election if they didn't get their way. 

Keep in mind this lawsuit was filed after the electoral votes reached the December 8 "safe harbor" status and days before the states certified their votes showing former vice president Joe Biden won more than the 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential election (he actually won 306). One would think this would be enough and things would get back to normal. However this continued as Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, TX) and a handful of would be electors filed a lawsuit against co-electoral vote inner Mikey and the electoral college in hopes of overturning the election.  In addition several Repub congresspeople and Sen. Joshy (a.k.a.: MO junior senator Josh Hawley) has said they were going to contest the electoral count on the 6th. 

In other words the Repubs are still trying to use a mix of legal action and Congressional shenanigans as a way to try and overturn an election so they can win. When reports of some in their rank wanting the military to seize voting machines or asking the Mad Fuhrer to use the insurrection act and suspend the constitution as his term nears it s end and it's apparent tbat they may actually want to get rid of our democracy or constitutional republic or whatever you wish to call it via a coup and make the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago the supreme leader.

Which leads to one question - WHAT SHOULD CONGRESS DO WHEN REPUBS IN THEIR RANKS APPARENTLY WANT A COUP?

The best thing that they should do is what Sen. Bill Pascrell (D, NJ) said in response and use the 14th Amendment forbidding members of Congress from engage in rebellion against the U.S. and refuse to seat them. However, while I know this would send a strong message I'm also aware that the establishment Democrats are most likely not going to do this out of some twisted idea of unity that seems to have the Dems doing all the work while Repubs continue to act in bad faith. However, if they do nothing it will continue to normalize said behavior form the Repubs, who will continue to break rules and twist the game to their advantage while refusing to let the country move forward. 

So, not seating them is most likely a non starter. I wish it wasn't but it probably won't happen. Still there has to be a way to hold these assholes accountable for trying to force an election result that the majority of the population doesn't want. Yes, ten or so of them aren't serving in the next session of Congress but what should be done with the wastes of sperm and eggs that are coming back. While I don't have the concrete answer there is one simple step.

TAKE AWAY THEIR COMMITTEE PLACEMENTS AND REMOVE THEM FROM ANYWHERE THEY COULD HAVE SOMETHING NEAR REAL POWER IN THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE.

Yes, it will be controversial. However, it is a way to send a clear message that may be very doable and limit the amount of whining that the Repubs will do about how they're persecuted and limit the complaints from the mainstream media that the Democrats aren't being civil. Also it would state that those who try and pull shit like this again will be moved to the back burner as soon as possible and kept there while those in the House and the Senate who want to get things done can actually do the work and try and make things better. 

It won't be easy. It will cause some drama in the media but it's an easy step and pushing these asshats, especially those who have been in office for a while, to the back burner would send a strong message and show the Democrats are capable of fighting a good fight. 

I'm not sure this will even happen.;I do hope that the House and the Senate make those trying to do a political coup responsible for their treacherous bullshit.

A COUP FOR THE NEW YEAR? THE MAD FUHRER OF MAR-A-LAGO AND HIS REPUB MINIONS STRIKE AGAIN

 Hey! so we';re about to enter 2021, which would be a typical changing of the year if it weren't for an election. Even for an election season this has been far from typical as machinations are afoot to try and force a change in the 2020 election result, eithe rby court decree or in the halls of Congress.

Yes, in the nearly two months since election day the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago still has refused to concede the election and admit that former Vice President Joe Biden will get his job at noon on January 20, 2021. From trying to pressure legislators in states where Biden won to numerous court battles on both the state and federal level the Mad Fuhrer's minions are doing their damnedest to try and keep their power and, in same ver extreme cases, further play footsie with a weird turn of christian theocratic fascism that seems to hold democracy in contempt.  

So far it's been at best an extremely uphill battle as states, after facing some pressure, certified their electoral college votes in mid December and sent them to Washington, DC for the Senate to certify on January 6 (about a week from today).  In normal times this will be a mere formality as the loser of the lection would've conceded long ago and the transition ould be well underway.  However, since the last four years under the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago haven;t been typical we probably shouldn't expect this last step to be quiet and/or non eventful.  

Already there are signs that a number of Repubs in the House of Representative plan to challenge the results and the electors' votes on the 6th. Several Senators have also implied that they may do so as well. The purpose of this is a way to force co-electoral vote winner Miikey to overturn the certification of the states that chose Biden and hand the election to electoral vote winner Donny , despite losing the popular vote by 10 million and the legal challenges in these states have almost always lost (there was one win in Pennsylvania and even that was unlikely to change the election result). Add to that a conservative legal group called the Thomas More Society joining with some of Donny's minions to sue co-electoral vote winner Mikey and the electoral college over this and things are truly reaching a level of the absurd.,  

As I said so far the legal challenges have been shot down almost instantly. I expect it's unlikely the Supreme Court will take up the latest filing from the Mad Fuhrer's legal team claiming alternate electors were officially chosen (in fact, when some people have claimed to be alternate electors they weren't officially chosen. In addition, some states were required to go with the popular vote winner and would be unable to do so). Like the previous filing with SCOTUS I have a feeling that this newest one will be refused more out of politicall savvy on the part of the new right wing justices Donny appointed rather than any integrity. Or, to quote Scott Soriano of Soriano's Comment, "They wouldn't willing fuck themselves."

This leaves us with the Congressional count on the 6th and the possibility of Repubs in either houses challening electors or the result. Odds are it's going to happen. However, so far it would have to be agreed on by both the House and the Senate to be taken seriously. Even though the Senat eis ontrolled (for now) by Repubs, the House is still controlled by Democrats and it's unlikely (though there may be conservative Dem who might try) they'd choose to overturn the will of the people. 

I left out the option of the military coup which may still have some very slight possibility as the Mad Fuhrer called for the military to seize voting machines just before Christmas. While his firing civilian leaders at the Pentagon is alarming and can be seen as planning for a coup, this step would've have to have been taken weeks ago. Also, there are reports that some in the Pentagon are meeting in secret for contingencies in case of violence in January over the election. Whether that's in case there's a call for a coup or to have to remove Donny from office come inauguration day is uncertain. However, military leaders have said they won't interfere in elections in this country. So, I won't say we shouldn't be worried but a close friend of mine who's a military history buff thought it was unlikely citing the military's dislike for the Mad Fuhrer among other things. 

So where does that leave us? We have one more step before the 2020 election is officially over. Odds are good that Biden will be declared the winner (Senate Majority leader Addison the Turtle has reportedly warned Senators against acting otherwise) though it's prudent to be aware and prepared for anything at this point.

In a truly just world those Repub Congresspersons who signed onto support that last SCOTUS request to overturn the election wouldn't be seated on ground that they supported a coup of sorts against a leader who, while not their guy, was democratically elected. Sadly, establishment Democrats in the House have probably been warned in advance against doing so by wealthy donors who care more about their tax cuts than you or I. Still, there needs to be some accountability for those who already tried to overturn this election as well as those who might try on the 6th. 

The last thing this country needs is a coup for the New Year>

THE MAD FUHRER OF MAR-A-LAGO'S ROAD TO ELECTION LOSS CERTIFICATION

 Hey! Sorry for not being on the blog more but a combination of a lot of hours at the paying job and family situations have kept me from doing this as often as I'd like. Also, when every day brings a new twist or turn it can be hard to keep up.  

In about a day and a half (Monday December 14, 2020) the final step of the 2020 Presidential election will take place when the electors chosen by each state will cast their votes in the election as part of the electoral college (something we've learned way more than we ever wanted to know about in the past two election cycles). While this comes with little fanfare most election years as usually the person who lost the election has conceded and it's merely a formality. However, with the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago refusing to concede (and taking forever before allowing the GSA to allow President elect Joe Biden's team to start the transition tasks) and many many lawsuits whose persistence is only matched by their lack of making a clear case of election fraud and it's clear that there might be a chance for fireworks on this front as well, 

Mainly this exists on two fronts. The first is the concept of a faithless elector who may change their mind as cast an electoral vote for the Mad Fuhrer in a state that Biden won. Theoretically if enough faithless electors do so than there could be some shenanigans. The problem here is that the votes are cast into envelopes that Congress won't read until January 6. In addition, while there were some faithless electors in 2016 on both sides the Supreme Court is allowing states greater leverage in requiring electors to cast the assigned votes. 

Then there's the pressure on Repub state legislators in states where Biden won (particularly in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona) to replace the assigned elector with an alternate hat would choose the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago over the assigned electoral vote for Biden. Normally this wouldn't even be thought of but since the Mad Fuhrer and his minions have proven themselves to be poor losers this time around it is something that needs to be taken into account more than a generally faithless elector.  

Should these be a concern? Maybe - but there are deadlines passed and measures in place that will likely prevent this from becoming too big of a deal. 

Several of the states being targeted by Repubs for choosing Biden over Donny (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada) require their electors by law to vote for the person who won the electoral votes for the state, While this doesn't prevent a faithless elector said person would be charged with a misdemeanor and pay a $1,000.00 fine as a result. Add to this, for example, that if a Repub state legislator in a state like Pennsylvania that has a Democrat governor chose to appoint their own electors the governor would simply overrule them and use the electors appointed to vote that way the state voted - and while it's still possible, it doesn't appear likely (though, as we've learned from this year, never say absolutely never on that front). More important in how this election and the electoral vote will occur is what occurred on December 8th 2020.

On December 8th the electoral votes reached safe harbor status - the time when all the state level election challenges (such as recounts and audits) are supposed to be completed, including any state level lawsuits. At this point the states should have certified all their votes and that Congress shall be compelled to accept their results. In other words, once all the votes are certified and safe harbor is reached then, while the faithless elector remains a possible issue [and somewhat expected] Congress has to accept who won which state's electoral votes. At that time, with the exception of a state level lawsuit in Wisconsin and Hawaii not finishing certification, Joe Biden had already reached ov er the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidential election. 

In most cases this would've likely been a done deal but the Mad Fuhrer's reusing to concede meant him and his minions and fans would continue with ridiculous lawsuits including two with the U.S. Supreme COurt. The first asked that the court overturn the electoral win for Biden in Pennsylvania. This was followed by a lawsuit from TX Atty General Paxton to challenge election laws in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin claiming the changes in rules to make voting easier allowed for voter fraud that was indetectable. SCOTUS refused to hear either case.  

And with that the 2020 election is closer to being done. The one obstacle left is on January 6,2021 when Congress will have a reading of the electoral votes where Repubs in either the Senate or House may challenge some of the electoral votes for Biden. While these challenges are likely to happen (and the Repubs will make a big show out of it) the face that Democrats control the House of Rep[resentatives means that it's unlikely, barring any unforeseen event, for the election result to be overturned at that level, especially given safe harbor nailing down the electors and their votes.

And with that the election will be over. Once again many of us will wish to scrap the electoral college and go with the popular vote (if we did that already this would've been over a long time ago). And many will move on tired from politics but while the office holder will most likely change the damage the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago has done to the Repub party will continue for a long time to come.