After kissing Donald Trump’s ass for more than four years, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally noticed his mouth was getting dirty. Said McConnell, shortly before all Hell broke loose:
We’re debating a step that has never been taken in American history, whether Congress should overrule the voters and overturn a presidential election. I’ve served 36 years in the Senate. This will be the most important vote I’ve ever cast.
…
But, my colleagues, nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale — the massive scale — that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break, when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence. The Constitution gives us here in Congress a limited role. We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids.
The voters, the courts and the states have all spoken. They’ve all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our republic forever.
Ya think, Mitch? Ya think? Ya think you might have thought about this a little before you played a leading role in getting this yahoo in the White House? You and all the rest of your Republican gang hired Donald Trump to commit all the crimes you had the desire, but not the courage, to commit yourselves. You have disgraced yourselves, that fraud you call a “party”, and your nation. You will live in infamy, along with that mess you call your leader. I know my advice, like yours, is coming a day late and a dollar short, but here it is: the next time a dude with a red face, horns, a Van Dyke, cloven hooves, and forked tail shows up asking you to sign a contract in blood, say “no”. You’ll be doing us all a favor.
Afterwords
Ever since the year 2000, Republicans have realized that they cannot win a presidential election honestly, so they have been searching desperately for a way to cheat. And now they have cheated the whole nation out of its belief that we were somehow “different”—different and “better”—than other nations. You know something, Republicans? It’s time to let the majority rule.
Special Bonus Afterwords—What I saw at the Trump riots: Not much
Quite by accident, I was near, but not at, the sacking of the U.S. Capitol yesterday, a couple of hours before it happened. About 11:30 AM, I left my apartment to take the Metro’s Red Line from Dupont Circle, heading for Union Station. I am comfortable taking the Metro these days because few people do: usually a car only has about ten people in it. Yesterday, however, the car had about fifteen or twenty and I felt that maybe I shouldn’t be riding the Metro.
It wasn’t until I got to Union Station that I saw MAGA people and remembered that there was supposed to be some sort of demonstration. The MAGA folks weren’t threatening at all. They looked a little “rural”, a little shabby, mostly dressed for cold weather, often with some sort of American flag—no Confederate ones—and a little lost. If I had exited the front of the station I probably would have seen the actual demonstration, but I didn’t. There’s a large office building east of Union Station that you can exit through, ending up several blocks from the station, at the intersection of F and 2nd Sts., NE, more or less at the foot of Capitol Hill.
I walked east on F to 7th St., and then headed south, ending up at Eastern Market, which is about seven blocks east of the Capitol, off of North Carolina Ave. I went there to buy country ham slices to make black bean soup. I saw no sign of any demonstration.
I rode back on a different subway route, which took me closer to the Mall, though underground, of course. There were many more people here, most of them MAGA types. When I got to Metro Center I transferred to the Red Line and saw many more MAGAs. There was no excitement, which is kind of unusual for a demonstration. There was no tension or hostility, no singing or chanting. A few people weren’t wearing face masks, but not many. I didn’t see any kind of racism, no one deliberately looking “dangerous”—no jack boots, no weapons of any sort—and no one who seemed to be looking for a fight. I was back in my place by around 1 o’clock, and the riot started somewhat after that.
The calm before the storm. Trump said he would lead the crowd to the capital but evidently stayed back to get a cheeseburger.