VOTES? VOTES? Anybody have some votes to sell?

VOTES? VOTES? Anybody selling votes?

Even though the calendar has turned and it is now 2021, here in the United States there remains a crisis of the democratic and political systems. And it looks that a dozen or more Republican Senators are willing to contribute to the ruination of the 2020 election by rejecting the state certified results. This refusal has been qualified as a form of Constitutional loyalty, but it is nothing more than political avarice. That Senators would degrade the upper house is further evidence of the waywardness in the Republican Party during the Trump years.

Donald Trump has exploited each and every vulnerability within the political system while he continues to obliviate norms for decency, morality, and standards. During his time as president the country has become numb to childish name-calling, insults, and mafia style strong arming; all in the context of "alternative facts”. (We have Kellyanne Conway for that inventive phrase.)

The weekend call with Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger further revealed Trump's proclivity for manipulation, pressure, extortion, and falsehoods (lies) as he weasels around, looking for any dark hole through which he might overturn the election results. In his mind, applying pressure will get him the votes he wants.  

VOTES? VOTES? Anyone got any votes hiding under a pile of paper somewhere?

One must remember that Trumps many failed businesses were a result of poor management and on display each day since November 3, 2020 has been a management-style that brings disgrace to the Office of the President of the United States. The president has either been absent from the responsibilities of his office, delegating all COVID management to others; or he has been desperately seeking a way out of the reality rushing towards him on January 20, 2021.  His claim that his reelection was "stolen" from him is being echoed on strange programs imitating television news. Personalities pretending to be legitimate news reporters are repeating the claims, “The election was stolen. President Trump really won.”  Oh, really?  Well, really, what is being stolen is our democracy.

Donald Trump in all of his attention-seeking behaviors is turning the United States into a replica of his Atlantic City casino.  Donald Trump sounds like, ”Votes? Votes? Anybody know where I can buy 11,780 votes in a hurry? What do you need for just 11, 780 votes? Can we do a deal?  If not, I’ll threaten you if you don't find them! I'll throw a temper tantrum if someone doesn't tell me how to change the election results! I will insult, intimidate, and exert every unscrupulous means I can think of to get you to capitulate to what I want.”

And when his efforts fail, Trump has no compunction about cutting his losses while leaving others torched. Yesterday as the owner of his  casino, “I'll just file bankruptcy when I cannot pay the bills.” Today as the president of the United States,“I’ll bankrupt the country morally, politically, and socially when I cannot get reelected.”

And it just might be that Trump is willing to turn his version of bankruptcy to an extreme variety as January 20, 2021 nears. Certainly as more Republicans join his “casino efforts” he feels justified in gambling with the nations future. What does he care? He tells himself that he can just leave. Just like he left his casino in Atlantic City. He left his debts and his building, hollowed out as a testament to his business management. His once flashy game tables were reduced to quick sales while employees were left without jobs.
 
Those in his wake were 'losers'. And when he departs the White House, it will only be after he hollows out every bit of the executive power and prestige accessible to him as President of the United States. He will further degrade his office as he flails about looking for vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and like-minded 'others'. Others who are willing to exchange their integrity, ethics, morals, and self-respect for their few moments at a flashy gambling table. Trump-style is like shooting craps. You roll the dice hoping for the luck to bring you the money, the fame, and the power. Some are hoping to catch a ride to the top of the 2024 Republican Party presidential race.  

They forget at their own peril, anyone who plays with Trump die always ends up a loser. They are going to end up like the building which once housed the flashy casino in Atlantic City-today considered a hazard and scheduled for demolition.

Like a showman, “VOTES? VOTES? Anybody got any votes they want to sell?  I just need a few.  Only 11,780 votes.  Who’s got 11,780 votes for me?”

After his casino in Atlantic City failed, Trump simply went onto the next deal, looking for the next game to support his next facade as protection against his hollowness as a human being.  The money, the bravado, the bullying, it’s all a facade to ensure no one can see just how hollow a man he is.

It’s all a facade for this man.  The 45th president of the United States is a sad, depraved man who constructs one facade after another to gain attention and to deflect from his emptiness. And in the case of his political career, to gain supporters.  Those who rally to his causes are trapped in the illusion of a man who is strong, powerful, and able to exercise power in their interests.  It’s a facade and Trump himself may very well reveal that truth in January of 2021 as each crushing failure to overturn the election results of 2020 brings him closer and close to his own truth.