Since Trump’s Electoral College victory we’ve been told he won fair and square. The term “fair and square” means honestly, straightforwardly and without any doubt. Can we really say that in light of what we now know about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election? Given his tweets, his lies and the intelligence we now know of do we really believe he won “fair and square?” Let’s just admit the question: is Donald Trump the legitimate president of the United States? This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s the most important issue facing our democracy perhaps since its inception.
A Trump win was unthinkable before it happened. No one believed the American voters would really elect him to be the 45th president of the United States and they didn’t. She won the popular vote overwhelmingly but he won the Electoral College, an antiquated system originally designed to make adjustments in how population is counted for the purpose of electing our president to appease the rural slave states. Threatened with partisan Republican pressure and candidate Trump hawking the possibility of a rigged election President Obama said too little pre-election and then FBI Director James Comey said too much. Thanks to Russian hackers, well-timed WikiLeaks, voter suppression after the Supreme Court found Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to be unconstitutional with a 5 to 4 vote in Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 2 (2013) and the willful indifference of Republican leadership to Russian interference when presented with intelligence pointing to it we now have an inexperienced minority president with a dubious moral compass sitting in the Oval Office tearing this country apart and taking us so far away from our core principles it will take decades to recover if we ever do. He has no understanding of the presidency or history. He has no respect for the people he governs or our magnificent Constitution that makes us the most free people to ever walk the earth nor the blood spilled over generations to give birth to that freedom and to insure it remains a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. He cares only for himself. He will drag us into an oligarchy that will be the United States of America in name only. The Republicans who so resented our first black President turn a blind eye as long as Trump holds his rallies for his base stoked on fake news and the lies of their fake "hero", giving these Congressional Republicans cover to destroy every achievement of that president who was "other". Collusion with the Russians is no big deal as long as it prevented a president who was yet another form of "other”. There are reasons Vladimir Putin preferred Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton and none of them are born from his good will toward America.
As his inner circle shores up with heavy-hitter attorneys and Trump hires himself some lawyers, Special Counsel Robert Mueller assembles a Grade AAA legal team and investigates what could make Watergate look like a misdemeanor. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell leads the charge to repeal and replace Obamacare with a draconian nightmare of a tax break for the wealthy misnamed a health care bill Trump withdraws from the Paris Accord, weakens our standing internationally while he saber rattles in dangerous parts of the world and throws our long-standing alliance with Western Europe to the wind. The fact that Russia can attack our democracy so readily seems of little concern to him. Given his reaction to the precarious situation he finds himself in one has to wonder if Trump himself believes he won “fair and square.” Does he act like a man of clear conscience?
As Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell denied confirmation hearings to Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Obama’s pick to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13, 2016. McConnell’s rationale was that it was too close to a presidential election to allow President Obama to fill the open seat. Through nothing but inaction McConnell insured that seat remained vacant for almost a year to allow the new Republican president to make the appointment that rightfully belonged to President Obama. Almost as soon as Trump took office conservative Justice Neil M. Gorsuch speedily went through the confirmation process and now sits on the bench. McConnell is looking forward to using the nuclear option once again to fill the next empty seat on our highest court with a conservative justice, a court many of us feel is our last wall of protection against Trump and his minority base. After the Court’s recent ruling on Trump’s travel ban we can only wonder if we have any remaining line of defense. We do know one thing and that is Mitch McConnell can slow things down if he wants to. As Trump and the Republican Congress push their agenda at a break neck pace would not it be wise to put the brakes on and allow investigations regarding collusion of the Trump campaign with Russia and possible obstruction of justice by the new president to proceed vigorously to conclusion before he is allowed to reshape our nation any further. Should we not be certain this minority president is legitimate in the face of his sweeping changes? I know I have my doubts.