The Washington Post: A Civics Lesson for Trump
Most American eighth graders have to pass a test over the United States Constitution to move on to high school. It's a fun year, really, with many schools actually taking their eighth grade classes to Washington, DC on a field trip to help make understanding the constitution clearer and easier, and to give, in some cases, an opportunity to actually talk to lawmakers.
So most eighth graders apparently know more than at least one former President about the constitution. They know that after losing an election, a former President has absolutely no constitutional standing whatsoever to be "reinstated." Former President Trump must have been absent from class or not paying attention on the day that was brought up in his eighth grade civics class, or he would not be making such ridiculously ignorant statements in public. Then again....
Unofficial, Unauthorized Audit Against Federal Law
Trump seems to think that the bogus "audit" of ballots in Arizona will not only lead to the discovery of "massive voter fraud," but will also somehow bring about his "reinstatement" as POTUS. So far, the only thing the "cyber ninjas" have done is mess up the ballot boxes. They claimed that the voter registration database had been "deleted" when, in fact, they didn't have someone who was sharp enough to figure out the instructions given to them on accessing it. They are supposed to be "auditors" but they've had to be shown, by county officials, more than once how to identify boxes by number and how to account for the ballots stored in them. Seems like they need to hire a couple of eighth graders to raise their collective intelligence and figure out how to audit an election.
Aside from the fact that the number of Arizona Republican senators who now think this was a really bad idea is growing by the day, and the fact that 82% of Arizona voters are opposed to this waste of tax dollars aimed at finding something that doesn't exist, the most recent Trumpie to declare this whole "election fraud" claim a scam is Cory Lewandowski, Trump's first campaign manager back in 2016. He, along with Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who has admitted in court testimony in a private lawsuit that they had no "real" evidence of massive voter fraud, have completely undermined Trump's claims.
Audits of elections must be conducted by certified auditors who represent all of the political parties with candidates on the ballot. There are specific procedures required for handling voting machines, vote counting machines and for handling the ballots. The constitution puts specific dates in place for making sure that all ballots are verified, counted and the results certified, for the dates that the electoral vote is certified and when the electors gather to cast their votes. What's happening in Arizona now violates just about every legal statute in place.
But Trunpism is a cancer that is eating away at our democracy and Trump-supporting state legislators, ignorant of constitutional law, are helping to keep this cancer flourishing. There is no provision or authority that would lead to the "reinstatement" of a former President who lost an election in a landslide. That was Trump's description of his 2016 win, and since Biden won exactly the same number of electoral votes, and bested Trump by more than eight million popular votes, it's accurate to say Trump lost in a landslide of authentic, legally cast, real votes.
First, the "Cyber Ninjas" who have been engaged as the auditing firm are not auditors. It's really hard to be sure what they are, except a scam to collect money from those not smart enough to hang on to it, like the Republican members of the Arizona senate. Hiring them will go down in history as one of the most grossly negligent, incompetent, idiotic political moves of all time. And in Arizona Republican legislative history, that is saying an awful lot. Even hard core right wing members of the Arizona senate are now complaining about how stupid and ignorant they look as a result of this move. So instead of perpetuating the stupidity and confirming the image, why not put a stop to it?
Second, when they were given access to the ballots, voting machines and counting machines, they demonstrated total and complete incompetence in how to operate and handle them. Did the state senate not know that there is a federal law prohibiting anyone not certified to conduct the election from having access to the machines, counters and ballots? Were they ignorant of the fact that allowing unauthorized access to the machines means that those machine can now not ever be used in another election because of the risk, and in this case the almost certainty, that the machines would be altered in one candidate's or party's favor? If they were ignorant of the law, they should be recalled. If they weren't they should be arrested and charged.
No Such Thing as "Reinstatement"
No matter how many times the ballots in Arizona, or any other state, get taken out and played with, there is no power to change the election. They can look until the paper disintegrates or the electronic chips wear out, there was no massive voter fraud and Trump, and anyone else who declares that there was, is lying. But for the sake of discussion, let's just say that the Cyber Ninjas and their magic "bamboo fiber detection device" found something that looked suspicious. Yeah, I know these people are nut jobs and they see things no one else does, but let's suppose just so we can put the constitution to the test.
The Constitution provides for the states to conduct elections, count ballots and choose electors who actually elect the President. All of those dates have passed and all of those things have happened, including the certification of both the popular vote in each state and the electoral college vote. Joe Biden is President, and his term ends January 20, 2025. Any vote "irregularity" found in the dead ballots now is inconsequential as far as the constitution is concerned. Courts have already ruled in the cases Trump filed before he left office on what evidence Powell and Giuliani presented, determining that they had nothing credible. Then Powell admitted, under oath, that they were taking expected "political" advantage which included fabricating evidence and paying people to lie on the outside chance a court would at least stall the vote counts or certification. Nothing wrong with that, according to her, lying is just "politics."
The only way a sitting President, once elected, can be removed from office is through impeachment and that's not going to happen. The other way, death, is a possibility for any President but if that occurs, the constitution provides for the Vice President, not a former, defeated President, to take office. The election is over, has been certified, in many cases by Trump-supporting Republican office holders, most notably in Georgia, and the resulting Biden victory can't be undone. It's not likely that Biden and Harris will step down and appoint Trump to take their place, so his claim of "reinstatement" is just another one of the thousands upon thousands of lies that this dishonest jackass has told in his lifetime.
So there are some conclusions we can draw here. By making the claim that he will be "reinstated" in August, Trump is declaring himself to either be less educated and informed than eighth graders who study the constitution, or he is thinking that some kind of insurrection or coup, such as the "Myanmar-style" military overthrow advocated by the traitor Michael Flynn, will happen. Either way, it makes Trump look insane and demented and it is also proof that Trump is an anti-American, anti-Constitutional, anti-patriotic enemy of the American people. Seems he learned a few things from his friendship with the Marxist Communist dictator Kim Jong-Un.
At any rate, the ballots have all been audited and counted, and recounted, legally, by firms who regularly do audits and know what they're doing. This was the most accurate election in history, due mainly to the large number of mail-in ballots which relieved the pressure on voting locations and led to fewer actual complaints. Trump gets an F in Eighth Grade Constitution and US History, and an F in conduct for lying about the election results and perpetuating a surge of anti-American, anti-Republic, anti-Democratic legislation and activity.
Sometimes, there are silver linings in dark clouds and the silver linings in this one are shining brightly. This kind of activity just alienates more and more voters. Trump lost in a landslide by his own definition in 2020. He has about as good a chance at being re-elected President as the Cyber Ninjas do of finding that some of the ballots their magic camera is examining were dipped in green cheese from the moon. Although I wouldn't be surprised to hear them make that claim.
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