dailykos--2020-08-27--Prioritizing the Clean Up: 11 ‘Nasty’ Consequences of the Trump Presidency

Despite its virtual format , Democratic National Convention felt inspiring , hopeful and unifying .
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris nailed their speeches .
Then , there was the fear-mongering , nepotistic , deranged spectacle and that was the Republican National Convention .
The fact checkers at the Washington Post summarized it as a “ firehose of false and misleading claims ” .
Donald J. Trump baited his supporters to chant “ 12 more years ” because he feels paranoid about Joe Biden and Obama spying on his campaign .
He blamed the U.S. COVID-19 “ plague ” and 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how the U.S. economy “ is coming up rapidly ” .
Yet another ethical rule ( the Hatch Act ) was flouted without any consequences .
Trump accused the Democrats of engaging in voter fraud with “ this whole 80 million mail-in ballots thing that they ’ re working on ” .
By the way , did you know that when a narcissistic sociopath engages in gaslighting behavior , they unconsciously project , or delude themselves into believing that they are being persecuted by the victim ( s ) of their abuse , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They are the abuser persecuting a victim or victims .
Anyways , this begets the question : What has Trump ( the abuser ) really done for ( or to ) Americans ( the victims ) ?
The facts suggest that there have been disastrous consequences which can be associated Trump being mentally “ unfit ” .
Twenty-seven esteemed psychiatrists and psychologists had previously sounded the alarm about the Dangerous Case of Donald Trump .
It was not just a politically motivated stunt when 70,562 mental health professionals signed a petition calling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution .
Despite these serious warnings , most ( but certainly not all ) Republicans have not come to grips with their leader ’ s psychopathology , i.e.
, executive dysfunction and being a ‘ malignant narcissist ’ – a classification that has four components : 1 ) Narcissistic Personality Disorder , 2 ) Antisocial Personality Disorder , 3 ) paranoia and 4 ) sadism , according to psychologists John Gartner , Lance Dodes and Justin Frank .
If Joe R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the United States on November 3rd 2020 ( which is certainly a given ) , they will have a ‘ nasty ’ clean-up job from January 20th , 2021 until January 19 , 2024 .
One of their first tasks will be to put together an all-star team in the executive branch .
They will simultaneously need to make a detailed inventory of the damage and create a prioritized to-do list .
Many critical questions will need the best possible answers .
What problems are the most time sensitive ?
Which of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and will have , the worst consequences ?
What problems can be solved more quickly , after considering America ’ s hyper-partisan environment ?
How should the U.S. federal government most wisely spend the taxpayers ’ money , and where should we spend the money first ?
In other words , what solutions are our best investments and generally have bipartisan support ?
How should we cut spending and what programs should be cut first ?
What initiatives or programs will save us buckets of money over time ?
How can we intelligently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what proposals should be rolled out first ?
Which problems are , in 2021 , quite frankly , a waste of our precious time and energy ?
Weigh and balance the answers to all the above questions .
After you have done that , try ranking our national clean-up priorities in my poll at the bottom of this article .
When you do this hypothetical exercise in ‘ executive function ’ ( i.e.
, using your working memory , cognitive flexibility , self-control , organizational skills , planning skills , prioritizing , paying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , regulating emotions and self-monitoring ) , it will hopefully dawn upon you that you need a highly qualified team to do some serious multitasking .
The truth most likely is that the United States can not afford to methodically fix one ‘ Trumpaster ’ at a time .
Instead , we will need quick-thinking multitaskers and good teamwork .
We need a unified group to be ready to rock n ’ roll on January 20th , 2021 – and considering Trump ’ s deteriorating psychopathology , maybe even before then .
Eleven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been clustered together and categorized below .
They include : ( 1 ) Escalating the global climate crisis and increasing the risks of harmful environmental pollution .
The USA is currently ranked # 1 ( by far ) in carbon dioxide emissions per capita from fossil fuel combustion .
Despite this fact , Trump ’ s narcissistic world view does not want to be bothered by scientific evidence ( which he does not seem to cognitively understand ) or the overwhelming consensus of climate crisis experts .
Thirty to fifty years from now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s escalation of the global climate crisis was the greatest sin of his Presidency .
It will have a far more disastrous , long-term impact than his mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis .
The Trump administration is responsible for reversing over 100 environmental laws ( 64 laws have been rolled back and 34 were in the process of being rolled back as of May 14th , 2020 ) .
Specifically , Trump has escalated the global climate crisis and environmental pollution in seven ways : 1 ) Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientific data about the risks and making wildly unqualified and inappropriate appointments to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , 3 ) Dismantling the Clean Power Plan , 4 ) Rolling back limiting methane emissions ( a potent greenhouse gas ) from oil and gas infrastructures , 5 ) Loosening emission standards for cars and trucks , 6 ) Blocking the rule to phase out inefficient lightbulbs , 7 ) Refusing to support bipartisan legislation to curb super pollutants from air conditioners and refrigerators .
Trumps awful decisions have not just had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living things on the planet .
( 2 ) A rise in authoritarianism and systematically eroding democracy : The USA is currently ranked # 25 in the world for its ‘ democracy index ’ .
The USA had to be recategorized as a “ flawed ” democracy when it used to be considered a “ full ” democracy .
The USA is currently ranked # 48 in the ‘ 2020 world press freedom rankings ’ .
Our U.S. democracy has undeniable been eroded because of Trump constantly attacking the constitutional rights of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , unwisely pandering to corporate and special interest lobbying groups & constantly fanning the flames of hyper-partisan politics .
Trump has repetitively and brazenly bypassed the laws of the U.S. Constitution like our right to free speech or right to vote .
He has steadily marched the U.S. further down the road of authoritarianism .
For example , at a campaign rally , Trump shockingly suggested , that if re-elected in 2020 , he should be allowed to run for President for a third term in 2024 ( a clear violation of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justifiable because of paranoia about his campaign being spied on by the F.B.I .
in 2016 .
Coincidently , a Republican-led Senate report on 2016 election interference laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian officials .
Colluding with a foreign government to help win an election is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution — and yet , thanks to the Republican-controlled Senate , Trump himself never faced any meaningful consequences .
In the spring and summer of 2020 , Trump ordered paramilitary-style federal forces against peaceful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violent rioters .
This is another violation of the right to free speech .
Trump ’ s love of authoritarian force has instigated violence , led to bloodshed and the protesters have been unconstitutionally detained without due process .
Trump has suggested that the presidential election should be postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic , because he proclaimed - without evidence - that a nationwide mail-in ballot system would create `` the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history '' .
Trump also appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General despite him having zero experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unsuprisingly , DeJoy and his wife have major conflicts of interest , since they both have assets between $ 30.1 million and $ 75.3 million in UPSP competitors or contractors .
Three months before the Presidential election , DeJoy fired 23 USPS managers , eliminated workers ’ overtime pay , removed at least 671 ( 10 % of its total ) mail-sorting machines from facilities across the U.S. – including 76 in California .
Thousands of curbside USPS mailboxes have been removed , allegedly in Democratic-controlled communities .
This was done for no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. postal delivery services , and thereby sabotage the November 3rd election in Trump ’ s favor .
Suppressing mail-voting also put thousands of lives at greater risk during the COVID-19 pandemic .
( 3 ) The negligent management of the COVID-19 crisis : On August 10th , 2020 , the USA is ranked # 1 for the total number of COVID-19-related deaths and # 8 for the highest death rate per 100,000 population compared to other nations .
Trump was wildly unprepared for & grossly mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trump ’ s ignorant failures illustrates his blame for this national disaster .
Researchers are projecting the deaths of over 300,000 Americans from COVID-19 by the end of December , 2020 .
Not only has the COVID-19 crisis devastated the U.S. economy , it has also added greatly burdened the U.S. health care , educational and social welfare systems .
The good news is that researchers have also predicted that if most Americans start wearing face masks in public , tens of thousands of lives could be saved .
Unfortunately , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mask .
Instead , he promulgated his own unproven , unscientific miracle cures for preventing and/or treating COVID-19 like hydroxychloroquine or the MyPillow guy ’ s plant-based oleandrin .
He remarked that scientists should explore whether inserting ultraviolet light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the coronavirus might help them to clear the disease .
“ Is there a way we can do something like that by injection , inside , or almost a cleaning ?
” Only 28 % of Americans trust information provided by Trump , regarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans have “ high ” and 21 % have “ moderate levels of trust ” – but 82 % of Republicans still approved of how Trump was doing on April 23rd , 2020 ) .
Oh , by the way , Trump ’ s pathological lying , unprosecuted crimes and his erosion of the U.S. educational system are on my clean-up list too .
( 4 ) A ‘ Trumpatized ’ economy ( increasing rates of poverty , near poverty , unemployment , economic disparity , home evictions , and an increasing national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Compared to other countries , the USA is currently ranked # 1 for its external national debt ( but Japan has the highest national debt-to-GDP ratio ) , # 17 in its business environment , # 4 for its labor force and # 2 in exports .
World homelessness is generally not ranked by country but the U.S. had 17 homeless people per 10,000 in 2019 .
The economic disparities widened in 2020 and there ’ s a rapidly accelerating rate or “ avalanche ” of unemployment and home evictions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the GOP ratcheted up an over $ 2.7 trillion budget deficit , $ 1 trillion of which occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic .
Two years after the Trump-GOP tax cuts , it became clear that the wealthy – the top 1 % -- were the MAGA beneficiaries , while 99 % of ordinary Americans were later threatened with cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits .
In 2019 , the national debt-to-GDP ratio was 107 % and it will almost certainly be higher in 2020 due to Trump ’ s negligent management @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The higher the debt-to-GDP ratio , the less likely the USA will pay back its debt and the higher it ’ s risk of default .
A study by the World Bank found that if the debt-to-GDP ratio of a country exceeds 77 % for an extended period of time , it slows economic growth .
The US economy contracted by 33 % between April and June , which was the worst quarter on record .
To the Trump administration ’ s credit , a new policy framework for artificial intelligence ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to balance a set of principles with the need for American innovation .
AI is already revolutionizing every sector of the economy .
Unfortunately , Trump never “ drained the swamp ” .
In contrast , he “ filled the swamp ” with greater numbers of special interest and corporate lobbying groups who tend to be focused on profits , rather than the well-being , privacy or rights of ordinary Americans .
Spending from lobbyists has increased under Trump , which will inevitably tilt our AI future towards benefiting the CEOs of big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American workforce .
This workforce never had its minimum wage raised , and never had its unemployment insurance or labor rights significantly improved under Trump and the GOP .
Making these changes could have lessened America ’ s economic inequities .
( 5 ) Increasing rates of uninsured & underinsured Americans without affordable , reliable and high-quality health care .
Among the 31 OECD countries with more reliable , but self-reported obesity data available , the U.S. ranks in last place .
The USA is currently ranked # 27 for investing in its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happiness ” , # 33 for lowest infant mortality rate ( compared to 36 other OECD countries ) , and # 38 in life expectancy at 78.9 years overall , 76.3 years for men and 81.4 years for women .
The U.S. health care and insurance system had major problems even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit .
The U.S. spends more on health care as a share of the economy — nearly twice as much as the average Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) country — yet has the lowest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 11 nations .
Without empathy towards the millions of Americans with acute and chronic health conditions – and without understanding the need to prevent future physical and mental health problems – Trump and the GOP unsuccessfully tried to completely dismantle , but did succeed in sabotaging the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ) ( ACA ) or Obamacare .
He pushed to dismantle the ACA even during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Repeatedly , Trump and Republicans jeopardized the legality of the ACA through the judicial system , including the ACA law ensuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans with pre-existing health conditions .
Then , in 2020 , Trump bizarrely proclaimed that he would “ save ” pre-existing conditions via his executive order when it was already a law clearly protected by the ACA .
Has Trump done anything good ?
He did sign bills aimed at lowering the costs of prescription medications .
However , the high cost of the U.S. health care system was never addressed in a systemwide manner .
This inflated price tag has multifactorial reasons , one of them being a worsening U.S. mental health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s likely not just a coincidence that rates of anxiety , depression and suicide increased after Trump was elected President in 2016 .
The worsening U.S. obesity epidemic is another big reason for bloated costs .
More than two of three U.S. adults are “ overweight ” , 43 % of U.S. adults are clinically obese and about 20 % of U.S. children and adolescents are obese .
Despite these facts , Trump promoted and proudly shared fast food and soda at White House events .
His administration made cuts to obesity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stamp programs for the poor , rolled back school nutrition standards and has never considered taxing sugary drinks – which could help to lessen obesity rates and provide revenue to support beneficial programs .
( 6 ) Escalating and never addressing the U.S. gun violence epidemic .
The USA is ranked # 1 ( by far ) in firearm / gun ownership with 120.5 civilian firearms per 100 persons .
Trump and other Republicans have stubbornly refused to even consider the evidence-based solutions recommended by experts from numerous medical professional organizations .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Annals of Internal Medicine the American Academy of Family Physicians ( AAFP ) , American Academy of Pediatrics ( AAP ) , American College of Physicians ( ACP ) , American College of Surgeons ( ACS ) , American Medical Association ( AMA ) , American Psychiatric Association ( APA ) and American Public Health Association ( APHA ) jointly recommended eight policies : 1 .
Enacting and enforcing universal background checks for firearm purchases .
2 .
Providing more research on firearm injury and death .
3 .
Preventing offenders of intimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Promoting the safe storage of firearms , particularly in homes with children , adolescents , people with dementia , people with substance use disorders , and the small subset of people with serious mental illnesses that are associated with greater risk of harming themselves and/or others .
5 .
Improving access to mental health care and caution against broadly including all individuals with a mental health or substance use disorder in a category of individuals prohibited from purchasing firearms .
6 .
Enacting and enforcing “ extreme risk protection order ” ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from individuals at imminent risk for using them to harm themselves or others , should be enacted in a manner consistent with due process .
7 .
Physicians can and must be able to advise their patients on issues that affect their health , including counseling at-risk patients about mitigating the risks associated with firearms in the home and firearm safety .
8 .
Enacting and enforcing a common-sense approach to reducing casualties in mass shooting situations must effectively address high-capacity magazines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their rapid and extended killing capacity .
Instead of embracing any of these eight policies , Trump publicly incited violence .
( 7 ) Eroding the U.S. public education system and budget shortages for early childhood programs .
One measurement says the USA is ranked # 30 in math , # 8 in reading , # 11 in science ( out of 64 participating countries ) .
A different measurement , the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment ( PISA ) rating system , says the USA is ranked # 25 for average @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( # 37 for math , # 18 for science and # 13 for reading out of 77 countries ) .
Trump has appointed wildly unqualified and corrupt people to govern the executive branch of government .
One of these people was Betsy DeVos , the Secretary of Education .
She had never was a public-school student , never worked as a teacher , never worked as a school district administrator or state level education bureaucrat .
During her four-year tenure , DeVos undermined the public education system by cutting education spending , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into everything from civil rights protections for many different students with disabilities or at-risk conditions to fraudulent student loans .
Trump and DeVos ’ s vision wanted to give more money or tax credits to for-profit-motivated private ( mostly religious ) schools and less money to public schools that desperately need more support .
Trump and DeVos ’ s vision never sought to increase public education and preschool teacher wages .
Beyond financially crippling public K-12 and secondary education programs , the Trump administration even proposed budget cuts to prenatal & early childhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ development programs have been proven to have a high ( 7-14 % ) annual economic return rate to society and can reduce the costs of health care and social service programs over time .
Unfortunately , Trump and DeVos never sought to reform and strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA ) .
They never supported the idea of the federal government paying for at least 50 % of the funding for children needing early intervention ( IDEA Part C ) and special education ( IDEA Part B ) programs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( or very affordable ) universal preschool .
These systemwide solutions have been proven to be high-yield investments , according to numerous economists – and could help to clean up many of America ’ s big messes .
( 8 ) Numerous violations to basic civil & human rights : The USA is currently ranked # 1 ( by far ) in the world for incarcerations per capita ( 715 per 100,000 people ) .
The USA is currently ranked # 23 in the overall “ human freedom index ” and # 53 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and steadily growing list of egregious civil & human rights violations .
One example of anti-social , racist , xenophobic behavior was how the Trump administration locked many thousands of immigrant children in cages & forcibly separated children from their parents at the Mexico-USA border .
The American Academy of Pediatrics ( AAP ) had to sound an alarm , stating that Trump ’ s policies were amounting to child abuse because “ toxic stress '' can cause irreparable harm , disrupting a child 's brain architecture and affecting his or her short- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least , all immigrant children who were removed or accidentally separated from their parents should be reunited .
The policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) should be revised asap .
In addition , Trump has appointed a long list of wildly unqualified , corrupt and right-wing people ( mostly white men ) to govern the executive and judicial branches of government .
Use of words “ unqualified ” and “ corrupt ” is not just a matter of personal opinion .
The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposed 66 of Trump ’ s confirmed nominees .
They also opposed 6 nominees whose names were withdrawn , 3 nominees whose confirmations are pending , and 4 nominees who were “ returned to the President and not re-nominated ” .
“ Serious concerns ” were raised about 9 other Trump administration nominations/appointments .
To Trump ’ s credit , the “ Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act ” ( known as the First Step Act ) was passed and signed into law with bipartisan support in 2018 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been done in the arena of civil and human rights because of Trump ’ s racist , xenophobic , sexist , misogynistic , anti-LGBTQ and religiously intolerant ( mostly Islamophobic ) statements and actions .
https : //www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/us/trump-appeals-court-judges.html ( 9 ) Restricting women ’ s reproductive rights , especially access to safe and effective birth control .
In comparison to 11 other high-income nations , the USA was ranked # 11 ( last ) for “ access to health care and health status ” .
The Trump administration has increased governmental restrictions to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to free or affordable birth control .
Employers were allowed to opt out of providing birth control coverage .
These actions can lead to multiple consequences .
They can increase the number of women seeking an abortion , the number of unplanned pregnancies and the number of ( oftentimes alcohol and/or drug-afflicted and/or domestic violence-exposed ) infants and toddlers who end up being placed into the foster care system .
If you are opposed to abortion for religious or moral reasons , it is your individual right to have that opinion .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ legality of specific types of abortion .
However , why would anyone want to cruelly restrict access to affordable and effective birth control ?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( ACOG ) https : //www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2015/01/access-to-contraception says that “ all women should have unhindered and affordable access to all U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives ” .
Nearly all U.S. women who have ever had sexual intercourse have used some form of contraception at some point during their reproductive lives .
Furthermore , oral contraceptive pills are also used to effectively treat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ovarian disease and other medical conditions .
Birth control is also one of the better long-term strategies to address the global climate crisis .
In 2020 , there are 7.8 billion people on our planet .
By 2100 there could be over 12.3 billion humans .
As the global middle class grows , people demand more meat , more clothing , more cars , more air conditioning , more heating , etc .
All these demands will escalate the production of greenhouse gases .
Affordable and effective birth control could decelerate our world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the GOP ’ s efforts to restrict women ’ s reproductive rights has a lot more negative consequences than one might initially think .
( 10 ) An international loss of trust and respect in U.S. world affairs and defense : The global approval rating of U.S. leadership sits at its lowest level for any of the past three U.S. administrations .
Across 32 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center , a median of 64 % say they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing , while just 29 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the USA is currently ranked # 1 ( by far ) in military spending , where it spends more money than the next top 26 countries combined ( 25 of which are supposed to be allies ) .
Not being respected or trusted by numerous nations , foreign leaders and global organizations ( e.g.
, the World Health Organization , North Atlantic Treaty Organization , World Trade Organization , European Union , North American Free Trade Agreement , Group of 7 Summit , Group of 20 Summit , et cetera ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ generally consider Trump to be a sick joke .
In fact , foreigners are routinely saying that they feel “ pity ” for Americans .
Trump is wildly incompetent and seems morally compromised .
He allegedly ignored written briefings / good intelligence that Putin and the Russian government was offering bounties to Taliban terrorists to kill American troops in Afghanistan .
After Trump received written ( and surely verbal ) briefings about this in February , 2020 , he bizarrely offered Putin an invitation to rejoin the G-7 and come to the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also frequently disparaged or insulted female world leaders while praising male authoritarian leaders like North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin .
He pleaded with Xi Jinping [ China ’ s President ] to ensure he ’ d win ” reelection [ in 2020 ] and to just “ go ahead ” with concentration camps inside China , according to the former National Security Advisor , John R. Bolton .
He has turned his back on our NATO allies we have embraced for 75 years .
Trump has belittled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all who oppose him — including his own appointed government agency heads , respected military leaders and war heroes .
After coming forward and testifying , Lt. Col. Vindman ’ s decorated military career in the Army came to an unfair end — because of Trump ’ s brazen lies and a sociopathic `` campaign of bullying , intimidation and retaliation ” .
( 11 ) Getting closure on numerous criminal and civil investigations related to the Trump administration : As of May 13th , 2019 , Trump himself was the subject @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , state or local criminal or civil investigations and this number has surely increased .
For the Trump administration as a whole , the number of investigations has gotten so large that the Associated Press has set up a “ Trump Investigations ” website to track them all in real time .
Trump has brazenly undermined the rule of law , obstructed justice , and issued pardons and commutations to personal cronies who helped cover up his misdeeds .
The Manhattan district attorney ’ s office is investigating Trump and his company for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.
” Trump has persistently refused to make his federal and state taxes available for public scrutiny despite him saying ( before being elected President ) that he would be fine with releasing all of his tax returns .
Very serious allegations linger that Trump engaged in “ dubious ” tax schemes and “ outright ” tax fraud ( a federal crime ) .
Granting executive clemency ( pardoning or commuting the sentences ) to 25 or more individuals charged or convicted of federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President this power , Trump has egregiously abused this Presidential power with self-serving and politically motivated favors like as in the cases of Roger Stone or Michael Flynn .
In the Mueller report , Trump was impeached for extorting a foreign power ( Ukraine ’ s leaders ) to attack a political opponent ( Joe Biden ) .
Highly credible and trustworthy sources such as Lt Col. Alexander Vindman , testified in the House impeachment hearings that , in a phone call on July 25th , 2020 , Trump make “ inappropriate '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blatantly tried to coerce a foreign country to investigate a political opponent .
Trump obstructed Congress on 11 episodes ( a federal crime ) , according to the Mueller Report .
Under Trump ’ s orders , the report ’ s redactions and its supporting material was placed under temporary `` protective assertion '' due to “ executive privilege ” .
Suspiciously , there were many missing documents , testimonies and other evidence that was never reviewed by the Republican-controlled Senate to conclusively determine if Trump had `` coordinated or conspired with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' .
More recently , a nonpartisan watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee ( FEC ) alleging Trump ’ s 2020 reelection campaign broke the law by “ laundering ” $ 170 million in spending in an effort to conceal payments to people close to the Trump family and campaign .
Trump ’ s pathological lying , malignant narcissism , antisocial and paranoid behavior are serious problems .
While he has been President , 84 % of Trump ’ s statements have been found to be untrustworthy or deliberately misleading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mostly false , 35 % false , 15 % “ pants on fire ” lies ) , according to PolitiFact on August 22th , 2020 .
This is clear evidence of pathological lying .
Compared to any other modern U.S. politician , Trump is , far less truthful .
Numerous times daily , he has made highly offensive , blatantly racist or ridiculously misogynistic statements to people ( children included ) in public statements , especially on Twitter .
There is more than ample evidence of Trump behaving as a narcissistic bully in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Twitter .
For example , Trump made derogatory statements about the Swedish teenage climate activist , Greta Thunberg , after she was congratulated for being named Time Magazine ’ s 2019 Person of the Year .
Trump spitefully Tweeted , “ So ridiculous .
Greta must work on her Anger Management problem , then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend !
Chill Greta , chill !
” Trump has been notably absent from the funerals of American heroes like Republican Senator John McCain or Democratic Congressman and civil rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychologically incapable of behaving respectfully to anyone who has disagreed with him .
Instead of rising to the occasion and paying his respects , he was selfishly Tweeting about issues related to himself .
Where are the consequences for all these crimes and awful behavior ?
Trump is always saying he wants “ law and order ” .
We should give it to him .
In summary , America .
Is .
Not .
Great .
Again .
In fact , it ’ s a ‘ nasty ’ mess .
A daunting task @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crew .
The above list of consequences related to Trump ’ s presidency need to be cleaned up .
Perhaps , you could help out Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by thoughtfully prioritizing which of the above 11 disastrous consequences are the most in need of “ a cleaning ” , like ultraviolet light or a disinfectant like Clorox , as suggested by Trump .
Specifically , what problems need to be cleaned up first , second and third ?
Please sound off by answering the poll below .
If you think my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or you have some other insights , please mention them in the comments section .
Most importantly , make absolute certain that you are registered to vote .
Vote as soon as possible per your state ’ s early voting rules .
Vote long before November 3rd !
Just imagine what other consequences could happen if an unfit malignant narcissist like Trump gets reelected to a second term as President .

The content and tone of the debates — two debates between Joe Biden versus Donald J. Trump and one debate between Kamala Harris versus Mike Pence — were foreshadowed by the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Biden and Harris offered hopeful, inspiring, intelligent messages with a unifying spirit. Trump, Pence and the Republicans offered more fear-mongering, pathological lying and a deranged spectacle. The fact checkers at the Washington Post summarized Trump’s speech accepting the Republican nomination as a “firehose of false and misleading claims”. CNN’s fact-checkers also concluded that Donald J. Trump “serially lied” at both of his debates and his town hall meeting. At the Republican convention, along with his authoritarian rallies, he baited his rabid supporters to chant “12 more years” because he feels entitled to three (or more) Presidential terms. Without any evidence, Trump has remained paranoid that Joe Biden and Obama spied on his campaign. He blamed the U.S. COVID-19 “plague” and 2020 economic downturn solely on China. He accepted zero percent responsibility. He boasted misleadingly how the U.S. economy “is coming up rapidly”. Ethical rules (like the Hatch Act) have been repeatedly flouted without any consequences. Bizarrely, Trump has accused Democrats of engaging in voter fraud with “this whole 80 million mail-in ballots thing that they’re working on”.
Expect more of the same, disordered and criminal behavior, like tax fraud or cheating during the election or disputing valid election results, until he is out of office and subsequently put behind bars. Please be aware that when a narcissistic sociopath engages in gaslighting behavior, that person is unconsciously projecting, or deluding themselves into believing that they are being persecuted by the victim(s) of their abuse, when in fact the opposite is true. That person is the abuser persecuting a victim or victims. This begets the question: What has Trump (the abuser) done to Americans (the victims) over the past four years?
The facts suggest that there have been disastrous consequences which can be associated Trump being mentally “unfit”. Twenty-seven esteemed psychiatrists and psychologists had previously sounded the alarm about the Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. It was not just a politically motivated stunt when 70,562 mental health professionals signed a petition calling for his removal under article 4 of the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Despite these serious warnings, most (but certainly not all) Republicans have not come to grips with their leader’s psychopathology, i.e., executive dysfunction and being a ‘malignant narcissist’ – a classification that has four components: 1) Narcissistic Personality Disorder, 2) Antisocial Personality Disorder, 3) paranoia and 4) sadism, according to psychologists John Gartner, Lance Dodes and Justin Frank.
If Joe R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris are elected the President and Vice President of the United States on November 3rd 2020 (which is certainly not a given), they will have a ‘nasty’ clean-up job from January 20th, 2021 until January 19, 2024. One of their first tasks will be to put together an all-star team in the executive branch. They will simultaneously need to make a detailed inventory of the damage and create a prioritized to-do list. Many critical questions will need the best possible answers.
What problems are the most time sensitive? Which of Trump’s actions have had, and will have, the worst consequences? What problems can be solved more quickly, after considering America’s hyper-partisan environment? How should the U.S. federal government most wisely spend the taxpayers’ money, and where should we spend the money first? In other words, what solutions are our best investments and generally have bipartisan support? How should we cut spending and what programs should be cut first? What initiatives or programs will save us buckets of money over time? How can we intelligently and fairly increase tax revenue, and what proposals should be rolled out first? Which problems are, in 2021, quite frankly, a waste of our precious time and energy?
Weigh and balance the answers to all the above questions. After you have done that, try ranking our national clean-up priorities in my poll at the bottom of this article. When you do this hypothetical exercise in ‘executive function’ (i.e., using your working memory, cognitive flexibility, self-control, organizational skills, planning skills, prioritizing, paying attention, understanding different points of view, regulating emotions and self-monitoring), it will hopefully dawn upon you that you need a highly qualified team to do some serious multitasking. The truth most likely is that the United States cannot afford to methodically fix one ‘Trumpaster’ at a time. Instead, we will need quick-thinking multitaskers and good teamwork. We need a unified group to be ready to rock n’ roll on January 20th, 2021 – and considering Trump’s deteriorating psychopathology, maybe even before then.
Eleven disastrous consequences of the Trump presidency have been clustered together and categorized below. They include:
(1) Escalating the global climate crisis and increasing the risks of harmful environmental pollution. The USA is currently ranked #1 (by far) in carbon dioxide emissions per capita from fossil fuel combustion. Despite this fact, Trump’s narcissistic world view does not want to be bothered by scientific evidence (which he does not seem to cognitively understand) or the overwhelming consensus of climate crisis experts. Thirty to fifty years from now, historians will generally agree that Trump’s escalation of the global climate crisis was the greatest sin of his Presidency. It will have a far more disastrous, long-term impact than his mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis. The Trump administration is responsible for reversing over 100 environmental laws (64 laws have been rolled back and 34 were in the process of being rolled back as of May 14th, 2020). Specifically, Trump has escalated the global climate crisis and environmental pollution in seven ways: 1) Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, 2) Disregarding scientific data about the risks and making wildly unqualified and inappropriate appointments to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 3) Dismantling the Clean Power Plan, 4) Rolling back limiting methane emissions (a potent greenhouse gas) from oil and gas infrastructures, 5) Loosening emission standards for cars and trucks (including trying to ‘Trump’ California’s authority to set its own tailpipe emission standards), 6) Blocking the rule to phase out inefficient lightbulbs, 7) Refusing to support bipartisan legislation to curb super pollutants from air conditioners and refrigerators. The Trump administration’s repeal or weakening of over 100 environmental regulations is estimated to have a large, detrimental effect on future U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Rhodium Group, a research and consulting firm. Sadly, Trumps awful decisions will not just have a negative impact on Americans, but on all living things on the planet.
(2) A rise in authoritarianism and systematically eroding democracy: The USA is currently ranked #25 in the world for its ‘democracy index’. The USA had to be recategorized as a “flawed” democracy when it used to be considered a “full” democracy. The USA is currently ranked #48 in the ‘2020 world press freedom rankings’. Our U.S. democracy has undeniable been eroded because of Trump constantly attacking the constitutional rights of the free press, shamelessly encouraging voter suppression, unwisely pandering to corporate and special interest lobbying groups & constantly fanning the flames of hyper-partisan politics. Trump has repetitively and brazenly bypassed the laws of the U.S. Constitution like our right to free speech or right to vote. He has steadily marched the U.S. further down the road of authoritarianism. For example, at a campaign rally, Trump shockingly suggested, that if re-elected in 2020, he should be allowed to run for President for a third term in 2024 (a clear violation of the Constitutional). He believes this is justifiable because of paranoia about his campaign being spied on by the F.B.I. in 2016. Coincidently, a Republican-led Senate report on 2016 election interference laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian officials. Colluding with a foreign government to help win an election is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution — and yet, thanks to the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump himself never faced any meaningful consequences. In the spring and summer of 2020, Trump ordered paramilitary-style federal forces against peaceful protesters – not just lawless vandals and violent rioters. The right to free speech is meaningless to Trump if it ever involves expressing negative opinions about delusional, narcissistic self. He has brazenly condoned lethal “retribution” by police against violent protestors — without allowing them to have a fair trial first. Trump’s love of authoritarian force has instigated violence, led to bloodshed and the protesters have been unconstitutionally detained without due process. His attack on free speech also includes asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to remove liability protections for social media services in order to punish FaceBook, Google, Twitter and other online platforms for perceived acts of political (i.e., anti-Trump or anti-conservative) bias. Trump wants to open up libel laws so that he can potentially sue media organizations. He is incessantly tries to bend (or break) the rules in his favor. He has suggested that the presidential election should be postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, because he proclaimed - without evidence - that a nationwide mail-in ballot system would create "the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history". Trump also appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General despite him having zero experience working at the U.S. Post Office. Unsuprisingly, DeJoy and his wife have major conflicts of interest, since they both have assets between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in UPSP competitors or contractors. Three months before the Presidential election, DeJoy fired 23 USPS managers, eliminated workers’ overtime pay, removed at least 671 (10% of its total) mail-sorting machines from facilities across the U.S. – including 76 in California. Thousands of curbside USPS mailboxes have been removed, allegedly in Democratic-controlled communities. This was done for no logical reason other than to disrupt the U.S. postal delivery services, and thereby sabotage the November 3rd election in Trump’s favor. Suppressing mail-voting also put thousands of lives at greater risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. His corrupt brand of authoritarianism is shameless. In a highly unusual legal maneuver, Trump’s DOJ moved to replace Trump’s private lawyers and defend him against a defamation suit brought in state court by the author E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s. So the Attorney General William Barr and the DOJ does Trump’s bidding instead of working on behalf of all U.S. citizens.
(3) The negligent management of the COVID-19 crisis: On August 10th, 2020, the USA is ranked #1 for the total number of COVID-19-related deaths and #8 for the highest death rate per 100,000 population compared to other nations. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were wildly unprepared for & grossly mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to other developed countries. A detailed timeline of Trump’s ignorant failures illustrates his blame for this national disaster. Researchers are projecting the deaths of over 300,000 Americans from COVID-19 by the end of December, 2020. Not only has the COVID-19 crisis devastated the U.S. economy, it has also added greatly burdened the U.S. health care, educational and social welfare systems. The good news is that researchers have also predicted that if most Americans start wearing face masks in public, tens of thousands of lives could be saved. Unfortunately, Trump isn’t a fan of wearing a mask. Instead, he promulgated his own unproven, unscientific miracle cures for preventing and/or treating COVID-19 like hydroxychloroquine or the MyPillow guy’s plant-based oleandrin. He remarked that scientists should explore whether inserting ultraviolet light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the coronavirus might help them to clear the disease. “Is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?” Only 28% of Americans trust information provided by Trump, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic (23% of Americans have “high” and 21% have “moderate levels of trust” – but 82% of Republicans still approved of how Trump was doing on April 23rd, 2020). Trump has been criminally deceitful. He was warned about the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic in written briefings from his national security team in January and February of 2020. In audio interviews with the journalist, Bob Woodward, there is indisputable evidence that Trump understood the severity of COVID-19’s threat to the USA. Instead of being truthful to the American public, he deliberately dismissed or downplayed the threat of COVID-19. In February and March of 2020, his administration did not follow the recommendations of the CDC and other public health experts. Trump continued his pattern of dismissing or downplaying the threat in the fall of 2020. Trump’s corrupt, politically appointed communications aides demanded the right to review and make deceitful or unscientific changes to the CDC’s weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, in what officials characterized as an attempt to intimidate the reports’ authors and align the reports with Trump's statements, including the president's claims that fears about the outbreak are overstated, or stop the CDC’s weekly reports altogether. An unprecedented editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine stated U.S. national leaders took a “crisis and turned it into a tragedy”. The number of people dying in the US from COVID-19 since May 10th, 2020 is on average 50% higher than eighteen other developed countries, after adjusting for population size, according to an October, 2020 JAMA article. Finally, Trump’s repeated statement “that doctors—in the midst of a public health crisis—are overcounting COVID-19 patients or lying to line their pockets is a malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided charge”, according to the American Medical Association.
(4) A ‘Trumpatized’ economy (increasing rates of poverty, near poverty, unemployment, economic disparity, home evictions, and an increasing national debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio). Compared to other countries, the USA is currently ranked #1 for its external national debt, #17 in its business environment, #4 for its labor force, #2 in exports and #1 for the number of billionaires. World homelessness is generally not ranked by country but the U.S. had 17 homeless people per 10,000 in 2019. The economic disparities widened in 2020 and there’s a rapidly accelerating rate or “avalanche” of unemployment and home evictions. To temporarily spur economic growth, Trump and the GOP ratcheted up an over $3.1 trillion budget deficit, $1 trillion of which occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic. This $3.1 trillion www.npr.org/… because of a massive increase in spending and a decrease in tax revenue, especially corporate tax revenue. Two years after the Trump-GOP tax cuts, it became abundantly clear that the wealthy - the top 1% -- were the MAGA beneficiaries (especially the top 0.1%) while 99% of ordinary Americans were later threatened with cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits. In 2019, the national debt-to-GDP ratio was 107% and it will almost certainly be higher in 2020 due to Trump’s negligent management of the national budget and COVID-19 pandemic. The higher the debt-to-GDP ratio, the less likely the USA will pay back its debt and the higher it’s risk of default. A study by the World Bank found that if the debt-to-GDP ratio of a country exceeds 77% for an extended period of time, it slows economic growth. The US economy contracted by 33% between April and June, 2020 which was the worst quarter on record. In October, 2020, the U.S. national debt was projected to be larger than the entire U.S. economy! To the Trump administration’s credit, a new policy framework for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies was proposed that attempts to balance a set of principles with the need for American innovation. AI is already revolutionizing every sector of the economy. However, Trump never “drained the swamp”. In contrast, he “filled the swamp” with greater numbers of special interest and corporate lobbying groups who tend to be focused on profits, rather than the well-being, privacy or rights of ordinary Americans. Spending from lobbyists has increased under Trump, which will inevitably tilt our AI future towards benefiting the CEOs of big corporations and away from benefiting our future American workforce. This same workforce never had its minimum wage raised, and never had its unemployment insurance or labor rights significantly improved under Trump and the GOP. On September 23rd, 2020, Moody’s analytics concluded that Biden’s economic proposals would result in a stronger U.S. economy than Trump’s.
(5) Increasing rates of uninsured & underinsured Americans without affordable, reliable and high-quality health care. Among the 31 OECD countries with more reliable, but self-reported obesity data available, the U.S. ranks in last place but #1 for deaths related to a lack of insurance, #1 for medical debt and #1 for prescription drug prices in comparison to other developed nations. The USA is currently ranked #27 for investing in its healthcare system, #19 for “happiness”, #33 for lowest infant mortality rate (compared to 36 other OECD countries), and #38 in life expectancy at 78.9 years overall, 76.3 years for men and 81.4 years for women. The U.S. health care and insurance system had major problems even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The U.S. spends more on health care as a share of the economy — nearly twice as much as the average Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country — yet has the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rates among the 11 nations. Without empathy towards the millions of Americans with acute and chronic health conditions – and without understanding the need to prevent future physical and mental health problems – Trump and the GOP unsuccessfully tried to completely dismantle, but did succeed in sabotaging the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (ACA) or Obamacare. He pushed to dismantle the ACA even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Repeatedly, Trump and Republicans jeopardized the legality of the ACA through the judicial system, including the ACA law ensuring that insurance companies would provide coverage to Americans with pre-existing health conditions. Then, in 2020, Trump bizarrely proclaimed that he would “save” pre-existing conditions via his executive order when it was already a law clearly protected by the ACA. Has Trump done anything good? He did sign bills aimed at lowering the costs of prescription medications. However, the cost of prescription medications increased during Trump’s presidency and the high cost of the U.S. health care system was never addressed in a systemwide manner. This inflated price tag has multifactorial reasons, one of them being a worsening U.S. mental health epidemic during the Trump Presidency. It’s likely not just a coincidence that rates of anxiety, depression and suicide increased after Trump was elected President in 2016. The worsening U.S. obesity and opiate epidemics are other big reason for bloated costs. More than two of three U.S. adults are “overweight”, 43% of U.S. adults are clinically obese and about 20% of U.S. children and adolescents are obese. Despite these facts, Trump promoted and proudly shared fast food and soda at White House events. His administration made cuts to obesity prevention programs, deep cuts to SNAP/food stamp programs for the poor, rolled back school nutrition standards and has never considered taxing sugary drinks – which could help to lessen obesity rates and provide revenue to support beneficial programs. Counter to Trump’s claims, the opiate crisis also got worse in 2019 and 2020 during his administration.
(6) Escalating and never addressing the U.S. gun violence epidemic. The USA is ranked #1 (by far) in firearm / gun ownership with 120.5 civilian firearms per 100 persons. Trump and other Republicans have stubbornly refused to even consider the evidence-based solutions recommended by experts from numerous medical professional organizations. In 2019, in an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Physicians (ACP), American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Medical Association (AMA), American Psychiatric Association (APA) and American Public Health Association (APHA) jointly recommended eight policies: 1. Enacting and enforcing universal background checks for firearm purchases. 2. Providing more research on firearm injury and death. 3. Preventing offenders of intimate partner violence from owning firearms. 4. Promoting the safe storage of firearms, particularly in homes with children, adolescents, people with dementia, people with substance use disorders, and the small subset of people with serious mental illnesses that are associated with greater risk of harming themselves and/or others. 5. Improving access to mental health care and caution against broadly including all individuals with a mental health or substance use disorder in a category of individuals prohibited from purchasing firearms. 6. Enacting and enforcing “extreme risk protection order” (ERPO) laws, which allow families and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from individuals at imminent risk for using them to harm themselves or others, should be enacted in a manner consistent with due process. 7. Physicians can and must be able to advise their patients on issues that affect their health, including counseling at-risk patients about mitigating the risks associated with firearms in the home and firearm safety. 8. Enacting and enforcing a common-sense approach to reducing casualties in mass shooting situations must effectively address high-capacity magazines and firearms with features designed to increase their rapid and extended killing capacity. Instead of embracing any of these eight policies, Trump publicly incited violence at numerous (over 54) instances throughout his presidency. His impulsive, authoritarian and callous comments to communities stricken by gun violence predictably results in more violence. His irresponsible rhetoric has not only condoned right-wing extremist militias and white supremacists to “stand by” if he loses the election, but it also may have played a role in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s Governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
(7) Eroding the U.S. public education system and budget shortages for early childhood programs. The USA is ranked #1 for student debt and one measure says the USA is ranked #30 in math, #8 in reading, #11 in science (out of 64 participating countries). A different measure, the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rating system, says the USA is ranked #25 for average scores in math, science and reading (#37 for math, #18 for science and #13 for reading out of 77 countries). Trump has appointed wildly unqualified and corrupt people to govern the executive branch of government. One of these people was Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education. She had never was a public-school student, never worked as a teacher, never worked as a school district administrator or state level education bureaucrat. During her four-year tenure, DeVos undermined the public education system by cutting education spending, championing school privatization, and weakening oversight into everything from civil rights protections for many different students with disabilities or at-risk conditions to fraudulent student loans. Trump and DeVos’s vision wanted to give more money or tax credits to for-profit-motivated private (mostly religious) schools and less money to public schools that desperately need more support. Trump and DeVos’s vision never sought to increase public education and preschool teacher wages. Beyond financially crippling public K-12 and secondary education programs, the Trump administration even proposed budget cuts to prenatal & early childhood programs. High-quality prenatal and early childhood development programs have been proven to have a high (7-14%) annual economic return rate to society and can reduce the costs of health care and social service programs over time. Unfortunately, Trump and DeVos never sought to reform and strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They never supported the idea of the federal government paying for at least 50% of the funding for children needing early intervention (IDEA Part C) and special education (IDEA Part B) programs. They never supported the idea of free (or very affordable) universal preschool. These systemwide solutions have been proven to be high-yield investments, according to numerous economists – and could help to clean up many of America’s big messes.
(8) Numerous violations to basic civil & human rights: The USA is currently ranked #1 (by far) in the world for incarcerations per capita (715 per 100,000 people). The USA is currently ranked #23 in the overall “human freedom index” and #53 in gender equality. A very lengthy and steadily growing list of egregious civil & human rights violations. One example of anti-social, racist, xenophobic behavior was how the Trump administration locked many thousands of immigrant children in cages & forcibly separated children from their parents at the Mexico-USA border. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had to sound an alarm, stating that Trump’s policies were amounting to child abuse because “toxic stress" can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child's brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. At the very least, all immigrant children who were removed or accidentally separated from their parents should be reunited. The policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be revised asap. In addition, Trump has appointed a long list of wildly unqualified, corrupt and right-wing people (mostly white men) to govern the executive and judicial branches of government. Use of words “unqualified” and “corrupt” is not just a matter of personal opinion. The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights has, after doing exhaustive research, formally opposed 66 of Trump’s confirmed nominees. They also opposed 6 nominees whose names were withdrawn, 3 nominees whose confirmations are pending, and 4 nominees who were “returned to the President and not re-nominated”. “Serious concerns” were raised about 9 other Trump administration nominations/appointments. To Trump’s credit, the “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act” (known as the First Step Act) was passed and signed into law with bipartisan support in 2018. To his detriment, much damage has been done in the arena of civil and human rights because of Trump’s racist, xenophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ and religiously intolerant (mostly Islamophobic) statements and actions.
(9) Restricting women’s reproductive rights, especially access to safe and effective birth control. In comparison to 11 other high-income nations, the USA was ranked #11 (last) for “access to health care and health status”. The Trump administration has increased governmental restrictions to women’s reproductive rights and decreased access to free or affordable birth control. Employers were allowed to opt out of providing birth control coverage. These actions can lead to multiple consequences. They can increase the number of women seeking an abortion, the number of unplanned pregnancies and the number of (oftentimes alcohol and/or drug-afflicted and/or domestic violence-exposed) infants and toddlers who end up being placed into the foster care system. If you are opposed to abortion for religious or moral reasons, it is your individual right to have that opinion. Many people agree to disagree on the legality of specific types of abortion. However, why would anyone want to cruelly restrict access to affordable and effective birth control? The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that “all women should have unhindered and affordable access to all U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives”. Nearly all U.S. women who have ever had sexual intercourse have used some form of contraception at some point during their reproductive lives. Furthermore, oral contraceptive pills are also used to effectively treat a wide variety of menstrual disorders, polycystic ovarian disease and other medical conditions. Birth control is also one of the better long-term strategies to address the global climate crisis. In 2020, there are 7.8 billion people on our planet. By 2100, there could be over 12.3 billion humans. As the global middle class grows, people demand more meat, more clothing, more cars, more air conditioning, more heating, etc. All these demands will escalate the production of greenhouse gases. Affordable and effective birth control could decelerate our world’s overpopulation problem. Trump and the GOP’s efforts to sharply restrict women’s reproductive rights will result in a 6 to 3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Any form of a safe abortion will be banned for any reason (e.g., instances of rape, incest, the mother’s health being at risk, a likely nonviable or severely disabled fetus). Restricting women’s reproductive rights is associated with an avalanche of negative consequences to women, families and society as a whole.
(10) An international loss of trust and respect in U.S. world affairs and defense: The global approval rating of U.S. leadership sits at its lowest level for any of the past three U.S. administrations. Across 32 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center, a median of 64% say they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing, while just 29% express confidence in him. Meanwhile, the USA is currently ranked #1 (by far) in military spending, where it spends more money than the next top 26 countries combined (25 of which are supposed to be allies). Not being respected or trusted by numerous nations, foreign leaders and global organizations (e.g., the World Health Organization, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, World Trade Organization, European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement, Group of 7 Summit, Group of 20 Summit, et cetera). Foreign leaders and citizens across the globe generally consider Trump to be a sick joke. In fact, foreigners are routinely saying that they feel “pity” for Americans. Trump is wildly incompetent and seems morally compromised. He allegedly ignored written briefings / good intelligence that Putin and the Russian government was offering bounties to Taliban terrorists to kill American troops in Afghanistan. After Trump received written (and surely verbal) briefings about this in February, 2020, he bizarrely offered Putin an invitation to rejoin the G-7 and come to the White House for a meeting. He has also frequently disparaged or insulted female world leaders while praising male authoritarian leaders like North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He pleaded with Xi Jinping [China’s President] to ensure he’d win” reelection [in 2020] and to just “go ahead” with concentration camps inside China, according to the former National Security Advisor, John R. Bolton. He has turned his back on our NATO allies we have embraced for 75 years. Trump has belittled, berated, and ruined the careers of all who oppose him — including his own appointed government agency heads, respected military leaders and war heroes. After coming forward and testifying, Lt. Col. Vindman’s decorated military career in the Army came to an unfair end — because of Trump’s brazen lies and a sociopathic "campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation”.
(11) Getting closure on numerous criminal and civil investigations related to the Trump administration: As of May 13th, 2019, Trump himself was the subject of a whopping 30 Congressional, federal, state or local criminal or civil investigations and this number has surely increased. For the Trump administration as a whole, the number of investigations has gotten so large that the Associated Press has set up a “Trump Investigations” website to track them all in real time. Trump has brazenly undermined the rule of law, obstructed justice, and issued pardons and commutations to personal cronies who helped cover up his misdeeds. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating Trump and his company for bank and insurance fraud, i.e., “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.” Trump has persistently refused to make his federal and state taxes available for public scrutiny despite him saying (before being elected President) that he would be fine with releasing all of his tax returns. He engaged in “dubious” tax schemes and “outright” tax fraud / evasion. The New York Times reported Trump paid no income taxes for most of the past two decades (due to reporting massive losses to his businesses and very shady tax deductions). His ‘hush’ money payments to porn stars far exceeded the money he paid in taxes. There has also been a long-standing auditing battle with the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.). Unsurprisingly, he has received substantial amounts of ‘conflict of interest’ money from foreign sources. So Trump is by no means a ‘law and order’ President. He himself is a criminal who has granted executive clemency (pardoning or commuting the sentences) to 25 or more individuals charged or convicted of federal crimes. Although the Constitution grants the President this power, Trump has egregiously abused this Presidential power with self-serving and politically motivated favors like as in the cases of Roger Stone or Michael Flynn.
In the Mueller report, Trump was impeached for extorting a foreign power (Ukraine’s leaders) to attack a political opponent (Joe Biden). Highly credible and trustworthy sources such as Lt Col. Alexander Vindman, testified in the House impeachment hearings that, in a phone call on July 25th, 2020, Trump make “inappropriate" political demands of the Ukrainian president or blatantly tried to coerce a foreign country to investigate a political opponent. Trump obstructed Congress on 11 episodes (a federal crime), according to the Mueller Report. Under Trump’s orders, the report’s redactions and its supporting material was placed under temporary "protective assertion" due to “executive privilege”. Suspiciously, there were many missing documents, testimonies and other evidence that was never reviewed by the Republican-controlled Senate to conclusively determine if Trump had "coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election interference activities". And then, many months later, the bipartisan (and Republican-chaired) Senate Intelligence Committee’s report provided damning details about the extent of cooperation with direct links between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence operatives. Therefore, Trump repeated lied about there being “no collusion”. He is like a mob boss with no regard for ethics or laws. For example, Trump offered General John Kelly the job of F.B.I. director but demanded loyalty only to him (and not to U.S. Constitution or what’s best for the country). Special counsel Robert Mueller never learned of this information because the president's lawyers intentionally limited the scope of the Mueller team's two-hour interview with General Kelly.
Trump’s 2016 tax records indicate that he concocted more than $21 million in “highly unusual“ payments from his Las Vegas hotel to other Trump companies, and then paid himself in cash. If these payments to himself were not used for actual business expenses, and were used to get a tax deduction, then that would definitely be illegal. In 2020, a nonpartisan watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) alleging Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign broke the law by “laundering” $170 million in spending in an effort to conceal payments to people close to the Trump family and campaign. The main point is that Trump’s pathological lying, narcissism, antisocial and paranoid behavior are connected to many different criminal activities.
While he has been President, 84% of Trump’s statements have been found to be untrustworthy or deliberately misleading (13% half-truths, 20% mostly false, 35% false, 16% “pants on fire” lies), according to PolitiFact on September 23rd, 2020. This is clear evidence of pathological lying.
Compared to any other modern U.S. politician, Trump is, far less truthful. Numerous times daily, he has made highly offensive, blatantly racist or ridiculously misogynistic statements to people (children included) in public statements, especially on Twitter. There is more than ample evidence of Trump behaving as a narcissistic bully in his insulting statements to the press and on Twitter. For example, Trump made derogatory statements about the Swedish teenage climate activist, Greta Thunberg, after she was congratulated for being named Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year. Trump spitefully Tweeted, “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, chill!” This advice comes from a man who has allegedly sexually abused at least 24 women since the 1970s.
Trump has been notably absent from the funerals of American heroes like Republican Senator John McCain or Democratic Congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis because Trump is psychologically incapable of behaving respectfully to anyone who has disagreed with him. Instead of rising to the occasion and paying his respects, he was selfishly Tweeting about issues related to himself. On video, Trump’s made viciously callous remarks about the late Sen. McCain, who spent over five years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war. “He’s not a war hero, I like people who weren’t captured.” After Sen. McCain’s death, multiple anonymous sources informed the Atlantic that Trump said, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral. What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser”. When he canceled a visit to the graves of 1,800 American soldiers at the Aisne-Marine American Cemetery near Paris, the reason was because Trump allegedly did not want to get his hair disheveled in the wind and rain. Because he lacks empathy, he did not understand the point of visiting a cemetery “filled with losers” and “suckers”. Not only has Trump continuously behaved as an anti-social, narcissistic bully, he has — without any signs of remorse — encouraged his supporters to commit crimes. For example, at his campaign rallies, Trump has boisterously encouraged his supporters to be physically violent towards minorities and peaceful protesters. He has urged people in North Carolina to vote twice both via the mail and in person and therefore commit voter fraud as a way to test mail-in voting systems. In her last days, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg told her family her “most fervent wish” is that the person elected on November 3rd be the person to fill her Supreme Court vacancy. Without any sense of decency or morality, Trump baselessly claimed that Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family and the Democrats made up this fact. Ruthless and shameless!
In summary, America. Is. Not. Great. Again. In 2020, the USA ranked #28 out of 163 countries in the Social Progress Index, which was inspired by research of Nobel-winning economists, and collects 50 metrics of well-being — nutrition, safety, freedom, the environment, health, education and more — to measure quality of life. The USA slid further downward in the rankings compared to any other country and is one of only a few nations in which its citizens are significantly worse off than when the index began in 2011. A daunting task now lies ahead for the next janitorial crew. The above list of consequences related to Trump’s presidency need to be cleaned up. Perhaps, you could help out Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by thoughtfully prioritizing which of the above 11 disastrous consequences are the most in need of “a cleaning”, like ultraviolet light or a disinfectant like Clorox, as suggested by Trump. Please sound off by answering the poll below.
If you think my list above missed a major problem, or you have some other insights, please mention them in the comments section. Most importantly, make absolute certain that you are registered to vote. Vote as soon as possible per your state’s early voting rules. Just imagine what other consequences could happen if an unfit malignant narcissist like Trump gets reelected to a second term as President.
Author: Kevin P. Marks MD FAAP


dailykos--2020-08-26--We Now Know That White Supremacy Groups Are Responsible For Much Of The Violence Blamed On BLM

I am not here to start up conspiracy theories , I don ’ t have to because reporting and arrest records back up the fact that groups like Boogaloo , Proud Boys and other white nationalists are behind much of the violence that we have seen in American cities following police shootings .
Instead of posting ten links to various articles , here ’ s links to a couple but there are many more : We first got an inkling how pervasive this was during the riots in Minneapolis , where social media accounts associated with most of the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups .
Now let me wander in to conspiracy theory territory for a moment while acknowledging that I have no evidence of any wrongdoing .
Make no mistake that the shooting of Jacob Blake was an execution .
It took place in Kenosha Wisconsin , a battle ground city in a critical state for Trump .
I will be very interested to learn more about who this officer is that unloaded his gun in to the back of an unarmed black man who posed no threat .
What ’ s not a coincidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Kenosha along with similar fires , looting and violence that followed peaceful protests during the day in other cities .
This has led to extensive media coverage as the violence again returns following the shooting of an unarmed black man and subsequently blamed on “ protesters ” .
This is overly simplistic and lazy reporting given what we have learned from arrests in other instances that points to Boogaloo and other groups .
The public is then left to believe that the violence is being incited by Black Lives Matter .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property .
The reality is that BLM denounces those acts .
That this is the primary theme of the RNC convention is most certainly a coincidence .
I am not suggesting any coordination .
I suspect that tonight the RNC speakers will amp up the fear considerably around the events in Wisconsin .
The media must begin to question and accurately report on who is actually creating the violence .
The public must understand fully the circumstances , especially in light that it ’ s being used for political purposes by the Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked before for the Republicans .
Remember that Michael Dukakis was up by 8 points over George Bush in the summer of 1988 before the GOP played the Will Horton racist card .
Dukakis admitted later that he thought the public would see through it .
Democrats have a history of losing elections because of that attitude .
George W. Bush , a draft dodger who started two wars , was able to win re-election when his party effectively painted his opponent , Silver Star recipient John Kerry , as some kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead here and be a loud voice against social injustice , every minute of every day .
It ’ s the right thing to do and it will help them win .

I am not here to start up conspiracy theories, I don’t have to because reporting and arrest records back up the fact that groups like Boogaloo, Proud Boys and other white nationalists are behind much of the violence that we have seen in American cities following police shootings.
Instead of posting ten links to various articles, here’s links to a couple but there are many more:
www.courthousenews.com/…
www.ellwoodcityledger.com/...
We first got an inkling how pervasive this was during the riots in Minneapolis, where social media accounts associated with most of the people arrested were linked to right wing extremist groups.
Now let me wander in to conspiracy theory territory for a moment while acknowledging that I have no evidence of any wrongdoing. Make no mistake that the shooting of Jacob Blake was an execution. It took place in Kenosha Wisconsin, a battle ground city in a critical state for Trump. I will be very interested to learn more about who this officer is that unloaded his gun in to the back of an unarmed black man who posed no threat.
What’s not a coincidence is that armed militias began pouring in to Kenosha along with similar fires, looting and violence that followed peaceful protests during the day in other cities. This has led to extensive media coverage as the violence again returns following the shooting of an unarmed black man and subsequently blamed on “protesters”. This is overly simplistic and lazy reporting given what we have learned from arrests in other instances that points to Boogaloo and other groups. The public is then left to believe that the violence is being incited by Black Lives Matter. That angry black people are the ones destroying property. The reality is that BLM denounces those acts.
That this is the primary theme of the RNC convention is most certainly a coincidence. I am not suggesting any coordination. I suspect that tonight the RNC speakers will amp up the fear considerably around the events in Wisconsin. The media must begin to question and accurately report on who is actually creating the violence. The public must understand fully the circumstances, especially in light that it’s being used for political purposes by the Trump administration.
Fear of the other has worked before for the Republicans. Remember that Michael Dukakis was up by 8 points over George Bush in the summer of 1988 before the GOP played the Will Horton racist card. Dukakis admitted later that he thought the public would see through it. Democrats have a history of losing elections because of that attitude. George W. Bush, a draft dodger who started two wars, was able to win re-election when his party effectively painted his opponent, Silver Star recipient John Kerry, as some kind of war traitor. Democrats must take the lead here and be a loud voice against social injustice, every minute of every day. It’s the right thing to do and it will help them win.


dailykos--2020-08-26--The Ultimate Constitutional Crisis: What If Trump Refuses To Leave The Whitehouse?

Donald Trump has made clear that he may not accept the results of the election unless he wins .
He has directly stated that the only way he can lose is if the election is “ rigged.
” To summarize , Trump will accept the results if it is not rigged , but if he loses it was rigged , so he will not accept the results if he loses .
Trump ’ s statements prompted reporters to directly ask Press Secretary McEnany whether Trump would accept the election results if he lost .
Here ’ s how it went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week the only way we lose this election is if the election is rigged .
It begs the question : Does the president believe there ’ s any circumstance under which he can lose the election fairly ?
” McEnany : “ The president believes he ’ s done a great job for the American people , and he believes that will show in November .
He believes that voter fraud is real , in line with what we see all across the country , particularly with mail-in ballots which are prone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president saying if he doesn ’ t win this election , that he will not accept the results unless he wins ?
” McEnany : “ The president has always said he ’ ll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath .
So what if this happens ?
What if Trump loses the election and refuses to accept the results ?
Let ’ s look it over as it could play out with the presumption that no matter how strongly Trump ’ s position is repudiated he sticks to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does .
America does not really have “ an ” election for President .
Rather , we have 50 elections in all the states with those elections deciding which candidate will get each state ’ s slate of electors .
Constitutionally , this does not have to even be done by elections .
Per Article II , Section 2 of the Constitution each state is free to appoint its electors in whatever manner the state legislature chooses .
In theory , Alabama could assign its electors based on the winner of the Alabama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as established by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore , if a state legislature chooses to assign electors by election then it is bound by that choice and the elections must be fair .
Each state has its own process for certifying the election results .
Generally this culminates with the Secretary of State for each state certifying which candidate won and receives his chosen slate of electors for that state .
Federal law requires that each state Governor also certify the results .
Under Federal Election Commission rules states have until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is in this about one month interim that Trump could still legally challenge the election results in specific states as occurred in Bush v. Gore .
Trump might challenge the mail in voting process he so despises ( except when he , his family , and press secretary do it ) demanding that certain ballots not be counted .
However , such challenges would have been resolved within six or so weeks after the election because other deadlines are looming , some mandated by the Constitution .
By law , the electoral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and send them to the President of the Senate .
The Constitution expressly empowers Congress “ to determine the time of choosing electors , and the day on which they will give their votes.
” Article II , Section 4 .
This Constitutionally empowered statutory deadline for the electoral college to cast their votes is December 14th .
Congressional Certification of the Election And The Objection Process This brings us to the crucial point in the process .
By law , on January 6 both Houses of Congress convene in joint session .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ its composition established by the election in November .
As mandated by the 12th Amendment the electoral college results from each state are counted and “ the person having the greatest number of votes for President , shall be the President ” ( so long as it is a majority of the votes ) .
That “ shall be President ” part does seem rather clear .
However , there is a process for members of the Joint Session to object to the electoral college votes of a particular state .
For example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members of Congress to object based on vacuous claims that Obama was not a natural born citizen , none did .
The process for such objections is laid out in 3 U.S.C .
§ 15 .
The law prohibits a member from merely standing up and objecting by speech ( debate is prohibited by law during the joint session ) .
Any such objection must be submitted in writing , signed by at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate , and state “ clearly and concisely , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the objection .
When this happens , the joint session is then temporarily suspended , with each House of Congress returning to their own chambers .
In these separate sessions each House of Congress can debate the objection , and then separately vote on it .
Both the Senate and the House must separately vote to sustain the objection for the objection to succeed and the challenged electoral college votes not be counted .
Such objections have been filed twice .
The first was in 1969 when objections were filed to disqualify the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from North Carolina who voted for George Wallace even though Richard Nixon won the state .
Both the Senate and the House voted to reject the objection .
The second such objection is more on point to the current case and occurred in 2005 .
Claiming voting irregularities in Ohio , Representative Tubbs of Ohio and Senator Barbara Boxer of California sought to disqualify Ohio ’ s electoral college votes .
Once again , both the Senate and the House voted to reject the objection .
There has not been a case of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate , but if there were the objection would fail and the electoral votes challenged would be counted .
Since the votes are cast by the newly elected members of the House and Senate this process does suggest another reason why the Congressional elections are vital in this coming election .
As discussed above , the certification by the joint session of Congress , after all objections considered , ends the matter .
Per the 12th Amendment , so long at it is a majority of the electoral votes , “ the person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President , shall be the President.
” No court would have jurisdiction to determine otherwise .
[ I ’ m not going to get into if neither candidates gets a majority and the decision devolves to the House of Representatives voting by State ] .
The New President And The End Of Trump ’ s Term So what happens if Trump throws a tantrum and refuses to leave the Whitehouse ?
The answer here is quite simple and includes the ultimate Constitutional deadline .
The 20th Amendment is quite clear : “ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shall end at Noon on the 20th day of January.
” So no matter what Trump does , or does not do , his term ends on Noon of the 20th day of January .
Period .
At that moment he is no longer Commander in Chief and he no longer controls the military .
His status in the Whitehouse changes , simply put , to trespasser .
The new President would order the Secret Service to escort him out , and they would .
The messy process would be a stain on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he cares , but the Constitutional crisis would end right there .

Donald Trump has made clear that he may not accept the results of the election unless he wins. He has directly stated that the only way he can lose is if the election is “rigged.”
To summarize, Trump will accept the results if it is not rigged, but if he loses it was rigged, so he will not accept the results if he loses. Trump’s statements prompted reporters to directly ask Press Secretary McEnany whether Trump would accept the election results if he lost. Here’s how it went.
Reporter: “The president said this week the only way we lose this election is if the election is rigged. It begs the question: Does the president believe there’s any circumstance under which he can lose the election fairly?” McEnany: “The president believes he’s done a great job for the American people, and he believes that will show in November. He believes that voter fraud is real, in line with what we see all across the country, particularly with mail-in ballots which are prone to fraud.” Reporter: “Is the president saying if he doesn’t win this election, that he will not accept the results unless he wins?” McEnany: “The president has always said he’ll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath.
So what if this happens? What if Trump loses the election and refuses to accept the results? Let’s look it over as it could play out with the presumption that no matter how strongly Trump’s position is repudiated he sticks to his guns because that is what he does.
The Election Process
America does not really have “an” election for President. Rather, we have 50 elections in all the states with those elections deciding which candidate will get each state’s slate of electors. Constitutionally, this does not have to even be done by elections. Per Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution each state is free to appoint its electors in whatever manner the state legislature chooses. In theory, Alabama could assign its electors based on the winner of the Alabama v. Auburn football game. However, as established by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, if a state legislature chooses to assign electors by election then it is bound by that choice and the elections must be fair.
Each state has its own process for certifying the election results. Generally this culminates with the Secretary of State for each state certifying which candidate won and receives his chosen slate of electors for that state. Federal law requires that each state Governor also certify the results. Under Federal Election Commission rules states have until December 8 to report their results.
It is in this about one month interim that Trump could still legally challenge the election results in specific states as occurred in Bush v. Gore. Trump might challenge the mail in voting process he so despises (except when he, his family, and press secretary do it) demanding that certain ballots not be counted. However, such challenges would have been resolved within six or so weeks after the election because other deadlines are looming, some mandated by the Constitution.
By law, the electoral college is required to cast their votes and send them to the President of the Senate. The Constitution expressly empowers Congress “to determine the time of choosing electors, and the day on which they will give their votes.” Article II, Section 4. This Constitutionally empowered statutory deadline for the electoral college to cast their votes is December 14th.
Congressional Certification of the Election And The Objection Process
This brings us to the crucial point in the process. By law, on January 6 both Houses of Congress convene in joint session. This is the new Congress, with its composition established by the election in November. As mandated by the 12th Amendment the electoral college results from each state are counted and “the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President” (so long as it is a majority of the votes). That “shall be President” part does seem rather clear.
However, there is a process for members of the Joint Session to object to the electoral college votes of a particular state. For example, in 2009 and 2013 Birthers urged members of Congress to object based on vacuous claims that Obama was not a natural born citizen, none did.
The process for such objections is laid out in 3 U.S.C. § 15. The law prohibits a member from merely standing up and objecting by speech (debate is prohibited by law during the joint session). Any such objection must be submitted in writing, signed by at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate, and state “clearly and concisely, and without argument” the grounds for the objection. When this happens, the joint session is then temporarily suspended, with each House of Congress returning to their own chambers.
In these separate sessions each House of Congress can debate the objection, and then separately vote on it. Both the Senate and the House must separately vote to sustain the objection for the objection to succeed and the challenged electoral college votes not be counted.
Such objections have been filed twice. The first was in 1969 when objections were filed to disqualify the vote of a “faithless elector” from North Carolina who voted for George Wallace even though Richard Nixon won the state. Both the Senate and the House voted to reject the objection.
The second such objection is more on point to the current case and occurred in 2005. Claiming voting irregularities in Ohio, Representative Tubbs of Ohio and Senator Barbara Boxer of California sought to disqualify Ohio’s electoral college votes. Once again, both the Senate and the House voted to reject the objection.
There has not been a case of split vote between the House and the Senate, but if there were the objection would fail and the electoral votes challenged would be counted. Since the votes are cast by the newly elected members of the House and Senate this process does suggest another reason why the Congressional elections are vital in this coming election.
As discussed above, the certification by the joint session of Congress, after all objections considered, ends the matter. Per the 12th Amendment, so long at it is a majority of the electoral votes, “the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President.” No court would have jurisdiction to determine otherwise. [I’m not going to get into if neither candidates gets a majority and the decision devolves to the House of Representatives voting by State].
The New President And The End Of Trump’s Term
So what happens if Trump throws a tantrum and refuses to leave the Whitehouse? The answer here is quite simple and includes the ultimate Constitutional deadline. The 20th Amendment is quite clear:
“The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at Noon on the 20th day of January.”
So no matter what Trump does, or does not do, his term ends on Noon of the 20th day of January. Period. At that moment he is no longer Commander in Chief and he no longer controls the military. His status in the Whitehouse changes, simply put, to trespasser. The new President would order the Secret Service to escort him out, and they would. The messy process would be a stain on Trump’s legacy, not that he cares, but the Constitutional crisis would end right there.