The 2024 presidential race may answer a question none of us knew we would ever ask: What can 70,000 disgruntled Republicans on one phone call do to save humanity?
I ask this question as Donald Trump is calling on the God Squad this week for pontification, gesticulation, inspection, detection, rejection of reality and, in an attempt to avoid the putrefaction of his presidential campaign less than a week after the end of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, emancipation and exoneration. Appealing to the almighty above (or wherever the deity dwells), Donny Darko claimed that if Jesus were counting votes, he’d win California. I guess he’s admitting it will take a miracle for him to win California (credit to Mark Hamill who tweeted this). From my point of view, “Jesus Counting Votes in California” sounds like an Eagles song, or maybe a Lynyrd Skynyrd effort.
But where Trump really needs divine intervention is in court. His luck has been fairly spotty so far, but he always does manage, like the cats his vice-presidential candidate JD Vance hates so much, to land on his tiny little feet. He’s scheduled to face sentencing for his 34 felony convictions in Manhattan in a little more than two weeks, and Jack Smith, the federal special counsel who still resembles “Coach Beard” from Ted Lasso and is Trump’s personal man-eating shark wrapped in the law and a two-piece suit, filed a superseding indictment in federal court this week.
In other words, as we head into the final nine weeks of a historically arduous presidential campaign that has already had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie, Trump, the GOP nominee who is already a convicted felon, is once again being charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. However, the charges are now being presented in such a way as to accommodate the recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion (written by friends and fans of the convicted criminal nominee) that gives a sitting president immunity for “official” actions as determined by the Supreme Court.
“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions,” the special counsel’s office said in the filing.
Trump’s immediate response to his latest criminal indictment was to ask his social media followers for more money. I’m shocked. Well, shocked that it took him more than five minutes to do so, anyway. A bit later, Trump whined that the DOJ was engaging in election interference by indicting him so close to the general election. I guess he conveniently wants us to forget that in 2020 he called on Attorney General Bill Barr to indict and lock up Joe Biden for imaginary crimes just a month before that election.
His actions, of course, are typical of Donald Trump and the MAGA party; deflection and rejection of facts, topped off by a juicy and salacious accusation. The Trump menu never changes. But, it appears a lot of people are tired of that menu — especially former and current Republicans. Former Tea Party Republican Joe Walsh, whose run for president against Trump in 2020 could be measured in “Scaramuccis,” said he was on a phone call three weeks ago with “well over 70,000 Republicans” who want to dump Trump. He and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger were on a phone call wherein they became charter members of the “Republicans for Harris” movement.
“Yeah, it’s amazing and it’s indicative of something. The party is shrinking. A lot of Republicans like me have left. Some like Adam [Kinzinger] are hanging on, but they won’t vote for him,” Walsh said. “And look, Harris needs us. In the margins in a few states, we can help make a difference. But it goes to show we can never normalize Trump. He is an existential threat to this democracy and a lot of Republicans are prepared to vote for a Democrat for the first time because of that.”
Recent polls show Trump losing steam — and while Trump has, as Walsh pointed out, historically done better at the ballot box than in political polls — his recent flaccid public appearances and Vance’s never-ending gibberish have contributed to the sudden realization that the Trump bubble is bursting. The New York Times, Reuters, Newsweek, Washington Post and, yes, even Fox News have noted the continuing surge in popularity of the Harris-Walz ticket following the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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Trump continues to flail about, claiming that Harris is responsible for every bad and dangerous thing on planet Earth, except for climate change because Trump doesn’t believe in it. Everything else is on Harris, including athlete’s foot and horseflies. Meanwhile, he’s letting his New Jersey golf club be used to host an event celebrating a mob attack on police officers at the Capitol. Yes, he’s hosting a gala for Jan. 6 insurrectionists, while at the same time telling us Harris and Walz are communists who are avoiding the press.
So, Harris and Walz will sit down for a tandem interview with Dana Bash on Thursday. Sure, that has nothing to do with Trump. It’s all a coincidence. As CNN reported, “It occurs as the candidates embark on a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia and marks the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation" since Joe Biden left the race on July 21.
Meanwhile, both the Harris and Trump camps continue their criticism of the media as they fence around their debate scheduled for Sept. 10. Trump, of course, hates ABC News, calls all of us fake media and says the media is colluding with the Harris campaign to deny him a second term in the Oval Office.
The Harris campaign, or more precisely many of its supporters, have recently joined in, objecting to a pair of New York Times opinion pieces published with the headlines, “Joy isn’t a political strategy” and “Trump can win on character.” Mind you, these are merely opinion columns, but for some Harris supporters, they prove the Times is biased and loathsome.
I usually enjoy reading opinions different from mine. I understand that opinion columns in the Times and other newspapers reflect the views of the writers, not the publication. The conservative movement used to feature people like William F. Buckley, whose opinions may have been obtuse but were grounded in facts and reason. What the New York Times showed us this week is that those who support Donald Trump are as morally and intellectually bankrupt as he is. For that, I suppose I should thank the paper of record, for it is obvious there are absolutely no intellectuals on the far right — just those who insult, berate and emotionally torture their readers. My question for the Times is this: If there is no better voices for Trump available, can we see an opinion piece about that?
What gets lost in this Trump fanfare is the fact that the U.S. government still must function and handle some contentious international problems that are at least as existentially challenging as the Republican nominee. Trump, of course, has limited his discussion of those issues to praising Vladimir Putin and other authoritarians.
Benjamin Netanyahu remains a divisive character — almost as divisive as Trump himself, while Putin is still trying to crush an independent Ukraine. The war in the Middle East is becoming increasingly problematic. U.S. Navy vessels have been fired upon. Rockets have been launched from and fallen on parts of Lebanon. The whole area is threatening to explode into a cataclysm of violence, death and pain. Hamas and Iran seem intent on fanning the flames. Netanyahu is ignoring the cries of innocent civilians in Gaza and pro-Palestinian protesters at the DNC in Chicago continued to yell “Genocide Joe has to go,” even though Joe already went.
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The war in Ukraine had a little twist recently as Ukrainian forces invaded a few miles into Russia. As White House national security communications adviser John Kirby reminded reporters this week, Biden is still dealing with this particular threat to humanity while the Democratic Party deals with Trump.
“That’s the job and we’re going to continue doing it,” Kirby said.
Other officials, on background, expressed concern about whether Biden can get a ceasefire in Gaza before he leaves office. Although they remain hopeful, with the sunset on the president's term fast approaching, they see little change coming on American policy in either Ukraine and Gaza — at least if Harris is the next president.
That, of course, is a huge “if” — even though things are looking better for the Democrats every day. “I think the biggest effect is in Gaza,” I was told on background, “If Bibi wants a deal, Trump can’t get it done. [Netanyahu] knows his best bet is while Joe is in office.”
I wonder if the Israeli leader agrees. On Ukraine, I was told, “Whether or not Joe is in office won’t make a difference in our long term efforts — I hope.”
Hope — that's a big part of the Democratic dialogue these days. So is “joy,” “patriotism” and chanting “USA.” That’s a lot different from the Republican chants of “Mass deportation now.”
With a newly energized Democratic electorate, there is a renewed sense that the race against Trump is winnable and the future will be brighter without him. No one should forget that phone call with 70,000 Republicans. Republican votes matter more than ever before — and that’s exactly what scares Donald Trump.
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