Will He Leave? September 2, 2019September 2, 2019 You remember this from Trump’s visit to London? My friend, venture capitalist Kevin Kinsella, wonders whether he ever will: Thinking the Unthinkable… Well, actually, very thinkable. Given this despicable, buffoon president’s penchant for autocracy and proposing unconstitutional measures, it is very probable that, when he loses on November 3, 2020 — he will scream fraud, illegal voting from bused-in illegal immigrants, all the usual tropes — and refuse to leave office until the fraud is “investigated” by a commission of his choosing. Even, if after the election, Trump says he will accede to the will of the majority, he will be lying. He has already proven he is incapable of thinking about anything but himself. He has told more than 12,000 documented lies in the course of his presidency. How naïve to believe otherwise now. He will retreat to his Twitterverse and go absolutely bonkers engaging in massive conspiracy nonsense, excoriating the “lamestream media” and hobnobbing with his toadies at Fox News, casting blame everywhere but himself. Trump will also have to contend with the imminent prospect of living in an orange jump suit for the rest of his life along with his children and supporters. Just before January 20, 2021, he will issue a call to arms to his supporters to descend on Washington to protect him from being physically ousted from the White House. Imagine a rag-tag army of his white supremacist base converging on Washington, armed with assault weapons (think Proud Boys in Oregon on steroids) glutting the streets and parks around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He will invite them to surround the White House and camp out on the Ellipse, the National Mall and Lafayette Park. He will invite the leaders of his most ardent support groups into Blair House. It would ultimately cause a horrific massacre, making Tiananmen Square look like a picnic. Just what Trump would want – a very public spectacle of his “base” being carted off to jail. Does anyone seriously think Trump will go “quietly?” As Americans, we must be fearful that as the beast becomes unhinged he would do irreparable damage to the country and the body politic through insane foreign adventures, despicable domestic escapades, or both, employing his power, improperly or illegally, which he has done dozens of times in his presidency so far. So what can we do? Immediately following Trump’s historic loss and galvanizing win for the people, the Congress needs to impeach and remove from office both Trump and Pence to protect our safety and the Constitution, but also to prevent a massive unending stream of pardons. Pence has been Trump’s mindless lap dog for four years – and he would begin the pardon process for Trump himself and the dozens of others who have broken the law, defied Congress, and debased the Constitution they took an oath to uphold. Trump’s judicial appointments must be stopped in their tracks. Although Nancy Pelosi would theoretically become president at that point, it would be far better that the House replace her as Speaker with the winner of the presidential election, simultaneously with the impeachment of Trump and Pence. The Speaker does not actually have to be a member of Congress and, in these dire circumstances, arranging the presidential election victor to be installed in the White House, two-and-a-half months early, enhances and accelerates the will of the people. Once in office, the new president will need at least two months to reverse all the illegal acts that Trump has caused and replace his despicable cabinet with honorable people who will bring democracy back to the republic. At the same time, Federal prosecutors – perhaps led by the ousted Preet Bharara, the former distinguished Attorney from the prestigious crime fighting force from the Southern District of New York, to bring Federal charges against Trump, Pence, Steve Mnuchin, Betsy Devos, Wilbur Ross, Stephen Miller, Scott Spicer, Sarah Sanders, and any and all enablers of Trump who engaged in illegal acts. As much as possible, a band of state’s attorneys general must cobble together state charges against any and all of the enablers so that, if any presidential pardons sneak through, We the People will have an alternative path to justice. If anyone reading this doesn’t think Trump would behave in precisely this way, you are hopelessly naïve. Every thought, act, lie of his presidency (and his 2016 campaign before that) compels any rational person to believe this is precisely what Trump will do. Reporters and analysts need to start asking Trump – today – what are his plans if he loses the presidential vote on November 3, 2020. Will he leave office in a dignified way, as all his predecessors have done? Or will he claim fraud – as he was preparing to do when, shocker of shockers, he was elected president by the Electoral College? And every Republican representative and senator needs to be asked, today, if they will vote to impeach/convict if Trump even hints that he might refuse to leave office. Our free press needs to do their duty here by asking these tough questions, over and over – if only to alert the American public that this outrage is coming down the pike. → I’m not sure how much of this I agree with. I inherited the happy gene, after all. But this much I know: > Putin is winning. > It’s all but treasonous that Republicans have blocked the paper-ballot safeguards that would assure the integrity of our elections — whoever wins. And outright treasonous that our commander-in-chief takes the side of our attacker over the warnings of the FBI and CIA. > Everyone who trusts the New York Times and CBS News — and science — over the National Enquirer and FOX News needs to persuade young people that this is their moment. Voting in 2020 — meaningfully easier than dying on the beaches of Normandy or leaping tall buildings in a single bound — is the way today’s 18-to-30-somethings can fight to protect democracy, decency, truth, justice, and the American way. So much is riding on them.