Editor of Commentary and former long time New York Post report John Podhoretz explained that he has been a conservative for 40 years and is now being put in a position of having to choose between being ostracized or getting onboard the train to Crazytown, getting there and then bombing Normaltown.
That's one way to put.
Rudolph Guiliani, the president's personal lawyer, is certainly the welcoming party into Crazytown after accusing the a dictator dead for 7 years of conspiring with the Governor of Georgia. Mr. Trump's legal team's press conference was widely panned, and that is kindly understating it. Yes, it was a shame that Mr. Guiliani had hair dye running down the sides of his face, but the real shame is that he's still wearing that NY Yankees championship ring. At this point, he doesn't really deserve to wear it (a stain on a great team) and besides, the Yankees have a policy of no facial hair.
Honestly, we're still trying to decide whether the President and Republican Leadership's denial and stalling of the inevitable is a threat to Democracy, but it's certainly a threat in other ways, namely in battling the Covid-19 pandemic. As we said last week, the president has given up on doing his job, which makes it more imperative that new leadership gets in the door a week ago.
In the past week, there have been over 1.8 new infection cases with Friday setting a single day record of 196,000 plus positive tests. There are over a quarter of a million people dead (256K+).
That's the threat. As the Secretary of State of Georgia said, "The numbers do not lie."
We would posit that we are in Crazytown and standing at the gate to the road back to Normaltown is being block by the President of the United States. As to the question of when, if the president has his way it will be as late (and as deadly) as possible.
NBC's Hallie Jackson explained that even if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were to come out say that Joe Biden is the president-elect that the rest of the Republican leaders would follow suit, but... This is would make little difference in the mind of the president. This speaks to the much discussed (including today's panel) of the hold that Mr. Trump has on the Republican party, and is his party, in which he'll be the kingmaker and is already talking of another presidential run in 2024.
We're quite skeptical of all that. A lot can happen in four years, and a lot will happen. Mr. Trump may continue to make a lot of noise and maintain his following, but the Republican power brokers will slip away from him and in another four years, who will he have to work with him? If a Biden Administration gets the pandemic under control and the economy gets better, i.e. displaying better competency in governing, are Americans going to go back to chaos? A truly American trait is that we're always looking forward toward the future. The downside of that is our sense of our own history is lost, long term and short term history.
In the immediate, Republican Senators such as Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has to "thread the needle" when it comes to explaining that the Biden transition team should have already started without acknowledging him as the president-elect. Some will ask, when will all this end? There is in fact a hard deadline of December 14th when all the states have to have by law their vote tallies certified. That's too long, but anything after that, when Joe Biden is officially certified as the winner, is unlawful in holding up a transition.
One last thing, give credit to both Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp and to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Slaoui did an admirable job is staying away from Mr. Todd's questions that leaned into the political and the transition. As he should; he's just trying to serve the greater good for public health, no matter the administration. Same with Dr. Fauci who implored us, once again, to wear masks, socially distance, wash our hands frequently and not to gather in large groups. What this column would call, doing the right thing.
It's going to be a while from now, but he did say that help is on the way. With that, we give you this song/ video clip goes out to Dr. Fauci and our healthcare workers.
(at least treat yourself to the first 3:40)
For our American audience, have a Great and Safe Thanksgiving! And the rest of our audience around the world, a humble thank you, and we wish all good health and safety.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Anna Palmer, Politico; John Podhoretz, Commentary; Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University
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