If You’re Under 88, It IS “The Most Important Election of …” Yada, Yada

 
“Most Important Election of …” Yada, Yada

Many people have been decrying the overuse of the declarative noun-phrase “most important election of our lifetime.” They think it’s like word inflation: it doesn’t mean (or buy) what it used to. The Atlantic called for its permanent retirement in 2012. Can I just say they’re all dead wrong this year. If you’re under 88 years old — born after America was desperate for FDR to pull her out of The Great Depression, then later, depending on him to steer our nation through the heating up and boiling over of World War II — then this IS the most important election of your lifetime.

We can retire the phrase after the existence of the-United-States-as-we-know-it is no longer threatened.

Some independents, apathetics, and even “progressive babies” (Disclaimer: I’m a progressive, albeit one who doesn’t want our country to burn down) still like to profess there’s no difference between the candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They grouse that “nothing ever changes” or “all politicians are on the take.” They plan not to bother voting. Or they will “protest-vote” (because they detest “lesser-evil” voters) for some alternative candidate, a third-party vote that might produce a coveted progressive party and president someday. Down the road. In a few decades. Maybe.

 
Apples to NO Apples

These guys say that Biden-compared-to-Trump is just another apples-to-apples comparison, the juxtaposition of two pieces of the same distasteful fruit (these guys don’t like apples) from the same politician bushel basket.

But this isn’t apples-to-apples. It’s not even apples-to-oranges. It’s apples to NO apples (— thanks to Dr. Lipi Roy). It’s having a recognizable America after 2020 or not. If Trump is reelected, the country likely will be damaged beyond repair.

Historically Unprecedented

Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to the declarations of nearly two dozen top-top generals, several formerly in Donald’s administration. Listen to the pronouncements of 230-plus former members of George W. Bush’s (R-Texas) administration; 70-plus former national security officials of various Republican administrations; 500 former Cabinet secretaries, generals, admirals, senior NCOs, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders of both parties; 100 former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) staffers; 30 former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) aides; 400 video statements by Republican and former Trump voters.

And hundreds — I mean, hundreds — a historically unprecedented number — of other luminaries from the president’s own party who are supporting the opposition candidate in November, to stop the frightening, horrendous damage President Trump is doing to our country. It doesn’t matter if some on the list are Never-Trumpers from 2016. It doesn’t matter if some are GOP moderates (unaffectionately known as RINOs: Republicans in Name Only). It doesn’t matter that plenty of them are solid-right staunch conservatives. It doesn’t matter if some are dead. What matters is that they’re all from the president’s own party, and they all desperately want him out of office. Unprecedented.

Virtually all these Republicans are pro-life Christians who want more conservative judges. They all dislike som. Almost all of them hold traditional conservative policy values — which I disagree with but still can respect. But they also all know that none of these things matter if we allow an aspiring autocrat to tear down the institutions and moral foundation of our country’s government, until there’s nothing left to fight for.

Just This Week

In my occasional “Just This Week” feature, I highlight political nuggets from the previous seven days’ headlines. The following are four terrifying Trumpian developments, any single one of which would have exploded GOP legislators’ heads in the pre-Trump era. Today’s Republican senators, representatives, and other Trump apologists, however, simply turn their heads and pretend they “just doesn’t see” (— thanks to Bob Dylan). Meanwhile, the rest of us (thinking, caring people) continue drowning in a never-ending tsunami of legitimate outrage.

— Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump lawyer, has been a witting or unwitting Russian asset, feeding (pro-Putin) anti-Biden propaganda to the president, as acknowledged by the intelligence community. Trump was warned of this but ignored the warnings because he loved the information.

— Dr. Scott Atlas (NOT an infectious disease expert), a new Trump Coronavirus Task Force member who has consolidated control, told the country that masks don’t work, thrilling the president but horrifying every legitimate medical and scientific health expert in America, who already are fearing major surges even with precautions in place.

— Trump is calling on Attorney General William Barr to investigate (and potentially indict) — before the election — his presidential opponent Joe Biden based on propaganda fed to him by witting or unwitting Russian asset Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer.

— 545 separated migrant children (of the 5,400 separated for months in 2018) are in danger of never seeing their parents again because the Trump border patrol lost track of those (probably deported with no record) parents.

Enjoy.

Meet Russian Agent Giuliani

“The intelligence agencies warned the White House late last year that Russian intelligence officers were using President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani as a conduit for disinformation aimed at undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential run. … Mr. Trump shrugged it off. …

“Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani have promoted unsubstantiated claims about Mr. Biden that have aligned with Russian disinformation efforts. … [A] meeting [occurred] on Dec. 5 between Mr. Giuliani and Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian member of Parliament who takes pro-Kremlin positions. The Treasury Department recently labeled him ‘an active Russian agent for over a decade.’”

(Barnes, Julian E. & Schmitt, Eric & Haberman, Maggie; “Trump Said to Be Warned That Giuliani Was Conveying Russian Disinformation”; The New York Times; 10/15/2020.)

White House Says Masks Don’t Work

“Twitter removed a tweet from top White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas for questioning the effectiveness of masks in combatting COVID-19. Atlas’ tweet read ‘Masks work? NO’ and preceded several others that questioned the use of face coverings in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement to The Hill, Twitter said the doctor’s tweet ‘was in violation of our COVID-19 Misleading Information Policy’ that ‘prohibits sharing false or misleading content related to COVID-19 which could lead to harm.’”

(O’Reilly, Andrew; “Twitter Removes Top White House Coronavirus Adviser Tweet Claiming Masks Don’t Work”; FoxNews.com; 10/19/2020.)

Trump Calls on AG Barr to “Lock Him (Joe Biden) Up”

“President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Attorney General William Barr to immediately launch an investigation into unverified claims about Democrat Joe Biden and his son Hunter, effectively demanding that the Justice Department muddy his political opponent and abandon its historic resistance to getting involved in elections. … Trump for the first time explicitly called on Barr to investigate the Bidens and even pointed to the nearing Nov. 3 election as reason that Barr should not delay taking action. ‘We’ve got to get the attorney general to act,’ Trump said in an interview on ‘Fox & Friends.’ ‘He’s got to act, and he’s got to act fast.’ … Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University, suggested that Trump’s pressure campaign on Barr has moved into uncharted territory for presidential politics.”

(Madhani, Aamer & Long, Colleen; “Trump Ups Pressure on Barr to Probe Bidens as Election Nears”; Associated Press; 10/21/2020.)

545 Migrant Children Feared Permanently Separated From Parents

“Lawyers appointed by a federal judge to identify migrant families who were separated by the Trump administration say that they have yet to track down the parents of 545 children. … The Trump administration instituted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in 2018 that separated migrant children and parents at the southern U.S. border[, then] later confirmed that it had actually begun separating families in 2017. … [M]any of the more than 1,000 parents separated from their children under the [2017] pilot program had already been deported before a federal judge in California ordered that they be found.

“‘It is critical to find out as much as possible about who was responsible for this horrific practice while not losing sight of the fact that hundreds of families have still not been found and remain separated,’ said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.”

(Ainsley, Julia & Soboroff, Jacob; “Lawyers Say They Can’t Find the Parents of 545 Migrant Children Separated by Trump Administration”; NBCNews.com; 10/20/2020.)

Joe Biden compared to Donald Trump? This isn’t apples-to-apples. It’s apples to NO apples. It’s having a recognizable America or not. ■

COVID-19 Deaths

02/06/2020 — U.S.: 1  |  World: 620
10/22/2020 — U.S.: 222,220  |  World: 1,132,321
Conservatively estimated Trump malfeasance deaths: 111,110 (50% of total U.S. deaths)

The United States accounts for 4.2% of Earth’s population, 20% of world COVID-19 deaths.*

“After Refusing Debate #2 w/ Biden, Trump Does Competing Town Hall: 1) Spreads Dangerous COVID-19 Lies (‘We have cure’); 2) Admits to $400M in Debt, Calls It ‘peanuts’; 3) Won’t Condemn QAnon (‘They support me’); 4) Blatantly Lies About Virus Death Rate; 5) Says He’s Been ‘pro-mask’; 6) Won’t Disavow Herd Immunity; 7) Won’t Say if He Was Virus-Tested on Debate #1 Day, Still Blames Gold Star Family WH Meet-and-Greet for His Infection; 8) Says ‘Covid-active states are conspiring against me’; 9) Maintains Obama Spied on His Campaign; 10) Won’t Commit to Peaceful Transfer of Power” (10/15/2020)
“U.S. Intel: Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Was Used as Russian Asset, via Pro-Russian Ukrainian Politician, to Feed Biden-Disinformation to Pres.; Trump Was Warned by FBI, CIA, Ignored Warnings” (10/16/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Top Trump Task Force Dr., Scott Atlas, Tweets ‘Masks don’t work’” (10/17/2020)
“NY Post Hunter Biden Hit Piece so Suspect, Author Wouldn’t Put Name on It; Article Widely Believed to Be Russian Propaganda Fed Through Rudy Giuliani, Which WH Was Warned About” (10/18/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Twitter Pulls WH Adviser Dr. Atlas’ ‘Masks don’t work’ Tweet as Dangerous” (10/19/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Trump Calls Dr. Fauci ‘disaster,’ Says U.S. Done Caring About COVID-19” (10/19/2020)
“PANDEMIC: 3rd Wave: WH Reverses, Allows CDC Guidelines of Masks on Public Transit” (10/19/2020)
“GOP Sens. Sasse, Cornyn Continue Republican Flight From Losing Trump Campaign; Mid-Level WH Aides Begin Inquiring About Positions After Trump Loss; Trump Incensed at News Story” (10/19/2020)
“Trump Continues Calling on Attorney General Barr to Arrest, Investigate, Jail Joe Biden” (10/20/2020)
“PANDEMIC: 3rd Wave Surges: Trump Continues Serial Superspreader Rallies in Hot States” (10/20/2020)
“Trump Walks out on ’60 Minutes’ Interview Over Tough Questions, Attacks Interviewer” (10/20/2020)
“545 Separated Migrant Children’s Parents Can’t Be Found, Likely Permanently Separated” (10/20/2020)
“NYT: Trump Tax Returns Expose Chinese Financial Accounts Reaping Him $25M in 2017” (10/20/2020)
“Trump Intimidates Debate Commission, Moderator in Days Leading Up to Debate #3” (10/20/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Dr. Scott Atlas Consolidates WH Virus Task Force Control: Shoots Down WH Efforts to Up Testing, Continues Pushing Deadly Herd Immunity Policy, Says Masks Not Needed” (10/20/2020)
“PANDEMIC: 31 States in WH ‘Red Zones,’ i.e., Cases Surging; Trump Does Superspreader Rallies in 3: Wis., Minn., N.C.; WH Suppressed Own Reports While Trump Continues Playing Down” (10/20/2020)
“Unqualified Trump Appointee DNI John Ratcliffe Makes Live Statement Claiming Iran Election Meddling to Favor Trump; Plays Down Russian Meddling; Widely Believed to Be White House Spin” (10/21/2020)
“Barack Obama Campaign-Debuts for Biden in Pa. w/ Systematic Takedown of Trump” (10/21/2020)
“ECONOMY: 22M Jobs Lost Since Feb., Worst Since WWII; ½ Returned; 50% GDP Rebound” (10/22/2020)
“PANDEMIC: U.S. Has 4.2% of World Population, 20% of World COVID-19 Deaths” (10/22/2020)
“PANDEMIC: U.S./World: 8.3M/41.3M Cases; 222.2K/1.1M Deaths; 7:11 a.m. ET” (10/22/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Conservatively Estimated Trump Malfeasance Deaths This Week: 2,658” (10/22/2020)

*(Redlener, Irwin, MD, Columbia University National Center for Disaster Preparedness director; MSNBC’s Deadline: White House; 10/1/2020.) (Gupta, Vin, MD, MPA, MSc, University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation professor, global health policy expert; “Dr. Vin Gupta: 70% of Lives Could Have Been Saved if Trump Acted on COVID-19 Earlier”; MSNBC.com; 9/23/2020.) (Glanz, James & Robertson, Campbell; “Lockdown Delays Cost at Least 36,000 Lives, [Columbia University] Data Show”; The New York Times; 5/20/2020.) (as conservatively extrapolated from COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; 10/22/2020.)

Trump Corruption Chronicles — We Must Never Forget