Trump’s Final Days

I can hear the voice of my grandmother reverberating from her grave:  Trump is a shanda.  Shanda is the Yiddish word for a person who commits a shameful act.  As a child growing up, I would know some political figure had committed an act of skullduggery, when my grandmother would yell out this word.  Make no mistake about it, Trump has committed that act and worse when he incited a crowd of followers to reject the election results resulting in them violently storming the Capitol.

Mr. Trump (at this point, it is difficult to call him President) by his actions has managed to alienate many of his followers.  I believe Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who led a group of senators challenging election results that designated Mr. Biden as the winner, have lost credibility in the eyes of their foes and allies.  Furthermore, Mr. Trump’s outrageous actions insisting that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger overturn the presidential election results in that state allowed for a democratic victory, a first, for its two senators.  That is to say, it was the last straw that ended the chances of the two Republicans, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, to win the runoff race for positions in the U.S. Senate.  Rather than declaring themselves separate and opposed to Trump’s latest actions, they chose to back the President, a misjudgment that apparently did not help them.  Thank goodness that in the eyes of the American public, there are occasions when political opportunism fails. 

There are some brave souls whose character stood out in the face of the bizarre and troubling events of the day.  One of them was Senator Mitt Romney, who apparently was booed and nearly assaulted by some of Trump’s supporters on the plane flying from Utah to Washington.  His defense of American democracy in his speech at the Capitol after the rampage was most notable.  He repeatedly has shown how his integrity, values and love of country supersedes partisan interests.

However, most importantly, the strength of our country’s democracy provided by the Constitution did not permit  Trump’s seditious behavior to suppress the rule of law set by the electoral results that declared Biden the victor.  It was sobering to see, in the wee hours of the morning, Vice-President Pence, with the assistance of Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, certify the electoral vote count from each state, confirming Mr. Biden’s election victory. 

We can judge a person much better by their losses rather than their gains.  Trump’s refusal to accept defeat does not bode well for him or anyone who wishes to be considered a leader.  Hopefully, Mr. Trump’s shandas have exhausted the patience of the American public.  Let us hope and pray that Mr. Biden can put to rest the uneasiness of these past four years and begin a new era of civility in American politics.