The Congressional investigation into the January 6, 2020 Capitol Riot is unearthing all manner of evidence that ex-President Trump and his key advisors fomented the insurrection.
This is not really “news”, as everyone knows what happened and why (i.e. Trump lost the election and was pissed off). The most alarming aspect of the debacle was that our President felt he could encite a mob with impunity, threaten lawmakers, and rejigger the election results in his favor in plain sight. Once again, not surprising since we’re talking about Donald Trump.
A majority of Republican Congressman went along with the Trumpian scheme, claiming that the election had been “stolen”. Of course, all of those Congressmen had been elected in that very same 2020 election. “So, again, Mr. Congressman, what was wrong about that election?”
Had it not been for Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with the January 6th coup, Donald Trump would probably be enjoying a second term right now and a majority of American voters would be incensed and rebellious.
President Trump and his Oval Office conspirators devised a legal assertion that the Vice President, tasked with presiding over tallying of the certified electoral votes from each State on January 6th, could arbitrarily decide which States’ results could be counted and which States’ results (presumably those in States where Trump had lost the popular vote) should be rejected, causing the election to be thrown to the State legislatures (which had a Republican majorities). Those legislatures would then un-do their own State’s results certification and declare Trump the rightful winner.
Trump’s wet-dream scheme flies in the face of history: it would provide a “kingmaking” role to the Vice President, who is historically treated no better than a golf caddie by his President.
John Nance Garner, who was V.P. under Roosevelt in 1933-34, once commented that the Vice Presidency “is not worth a bucket of warm piss”. In other words, the job is fairly irrelevant, lacking power to do anything, window dressing, and not much more. The incumbent is in the position to step up in the unlikely situation where the President dies while in office. Other than that, he cuts ribbons, makes speeches supporting the Administration, drives in motorcades, and acts important when telling stories with his drinking buddies.
Ex-Governor of Indiana and ex-Congressman Mike Pence, a politician who took his Vice President role seriously (“to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”), knew that he had no such power. Not incidentally, he was the running mate of the President in the 2020 election, so for him to assume the role of actually overturning those election results, he would be helping to re-elect himself.
Of course, “self-dealing” is anathema to constitutional democracy and proper conduct by an elected official…unless you’re Donald Trump. Thank goodness that Mike Pence did the honorable thing and excused himself from the seditious plot: the man showed the class that his running mate did not.
Bad-loser, ex-President Trump still continues to loudly assert that V.P. Pence could have reversed the election results on January 6th. He’s publicly denounced his former V.P. as a “coward” on numerous occasions. Some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, egged on by the President, were shouting, “Hang Mike Pence!” Luckily, they didn’t get to him.
Yes, folks, shamefully all of this did happen.
I don’t think that Donald Trump does a lot of deep thinking about anything except how to screw women, golf, line his pockets, and keep public attention on himself. It’s just the way he is. On this particular subject, the Vice President’s supposed Constitutional “powers” to decide Presidential elections, Mr. Trump should probably cease and desist his assertions: at this point, he’s working against himself and the Republican Party.
Why?
Kamala Harris, the duly-elected Vice President, now enjoys those supposed powers that the ex-President asserts that his Vice President failed to use. In essence, according to the Trump doctrine, Kamala Harris now has the power to decide who becomes the next President in 2024.
That prospect shouldn’t sit well with the Republican Party base. The Vice President is a loathed California Democrat, a woman, and a daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, to boot, not exactly the type of character that the G.O.P. thinks should be making decisions in the United States. Many Republicans don’t even consider non-White citizens to be real Americans and feel that all Californians are the Devil’s spawn.
G.O.P. leadership is well-aware of this Trump-invented issue and seems to be willing to work with Democrats in Congress (no way, you say!!) to straighten out any areas of confusion. “Anything we can do to help!”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who would normally rather eat green flies than support ANY Democratic-sponsored legislation, will probably move Heaven and Earth to see a Rules clarification approved so that Vice President Kamala Harris will have no more than a ceremonial role in the 2024 election certification: back to “the bucket of warm piss” for her!
Of course, the Democrats could play McConnell-type hardball and threaten to play according to Trump rules.
Wouldn’t that be interesting?