The election is over and I was hoping
that the divisive atmosphere that it created in our nation would simply
evaporate. However, I don’t think that Donald Trump is going to allow
that to occur.
Throughout Trump’s reign he has
consistently demonstrated the personality flaw of never taking responsibility
for his actions if the outcomes make him look like he has failed to accomplish
his goal.
Whether it was some of his failed attempts to control the national debt, the trade deficit, implement a national health care plan, successfully negotiate reducing the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran, complete his border wall, implement a consistent, structured foreign policy, effectively help alleviate societal unrest, and other missteps, he never internalized or uttered the words, “My approach was wrong and I take responsibility for the poor outcome.” Read his book, it is very evident this is not acceptable behavior for him.
In his four years of governing, according to Trump, if some of his endeavors failed, it was always due to nefarious outside causes. The stage was set for this pattern of behavior from the very beginning as evidenced in an interview following Donald’s 2016 election when he had begun his “Fake News” campaign. The newscaster asked him why he was trying to disparage the press. Trump, without hesitation, answered with a smile that he was doing it so in case “They publish something negative about me, no one will believe them.”
He never relented in his non-responsibility approach, and has now culminated it in his re-election loss. Donald Trump has masterfully turned his supporters into enablers to take up the cause that he never really “lost” re-election, but that there was a well organized, state-wide, systematic plot to rig the election that led to his defeat; coupled with individuals' willingness to commit felony, risk federal prosecution and jail time, to accomplish this. Donald Trump promises his supporters endless law suits to prove his case, knowing that he will not win any to change the election outcome.
But this is where the genius of Donald Trump’s convoluted behavior really shines. He will leave office on January 20th as the president who never really “lost” his re-election bid, because by his account, it was fraudulent. Evidence will bear this ploy out, because he will continue to Tweet, hold press conferences, and rallies, all focused on keeping the “fraud” notion front and center in the media. And his minions such as Attorney General Barr, Rudy Giuliani, and several Republican legislators will assist in his endeavor. Added to this will be the fact that he will never publicly concede, or congratulate the Biden/Harris team.
All this will serve as the battle cry of “fraud” for his supporters, and sadly, they will take the bait. They have even gravitated in droves to the new social media app, Parler, where supporters will no longer be restricted in posting non-factual information or all sorts of conspiracy and fraud theories.
President Trump will leave office on
January 20th no matter what his enablers hope he can do to prevent
it, with the irrational resolve among them that their hero never really “lost,”
as indicated by popular vote and electoral vote numbers, except for the fact of
“systemic fraud.” To them he is not a “loser,” which in Trump’s mantra is
the lowest form of existence there is, but instead an “innocent victim” bearing
no responsibility for this election outcome. With this attitude there
really is little hope of “Making America Great Again” for the deep fissures in
our society that festered and boiled over during the last four years will
continue to erode its very core; this will be Donald Trump’s real legacy.
