The blue wave everyone was hoping for in Election 2020? Well, it hit a red wall.
American democracy hit the guardrails, and precariously careened back and forth across a slippery slope.
And almost plunged down the embankment of insurrection and domestic terror.
These are my thoughts on the election, the state of our union, and our future.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, I was becoming cautiously optimistic that Joe Biden would easily secure 400 electoral votes.
That optimistic attitude came to a screeching halt on Election Night.
While I was happy that there were a lot of states that went blue, I was disappointed that Texas and Florida stayed red.
The days immediately after Election Day were agonizing, waiting for the votes to be counted in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and here in Arizona.
At the Maricopa County election headquarters in downtown Phoenix, Trump supporters gathered, some of them carrying signs that said “Hang on patriots, hold the line, God wins.” Elections staffers had to be escorted to their cars after their shifts were over to be protected from the crowds.
In the downtown areas of San Francisco and other cities, stores and office skyscrapers barricaded their plate glass windows with panel after panel of plywood, bracing not for a Category 5 hurricane, but for any eruptions of civil unrest that might possibly flare up as the results came in.
In Pennsylvania, a group of people were arrested, having driven from Virginia with an SUV full of weapons and ammunition. It is unclear whether the downtown Philadelphia convention center, where thousands of votes were being counted, was a target.
On Saturday, November 7, five days after Election Day, the Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News and other news outlets called Pennsylvania for Joe Biden, presumably giving him enough electoral votes to claim victory.
Celebrations literally erupted in the streets of New York City, and in Austin, Texas.
As the weeks went by and votes were counted, recounted and certified, the Trump administration stubbornly held its ground and refused to concede to Biden. Trump repeatedly stated publicly that votes were counted illegally, and many of his followers believed him, coining the chant, “stop the steal.” Trump and numerous Republicans nationwide launched several attempts to subvert the election and overturn the results, alleging widespread voter fraud and trying to influence the vote counting process in swing states. The state of Georgia was a particularly strong target as they took an exceptionally long time to finish counting, and then recounting - twice - the presidential vote. The Associated Press did not officially call Georgia for Biden until November 13, two weeks after Election Day.
Trump actually telephoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2 and personally pressured him to change the state's vote totals and “find 11,780 votes” to put him over the top and turn the election in has favor, remaining in power. Raffensperger released the tape of the call to the news media the next day. This phone call was cited in the second impeachment trial held against him, and on January 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president in our history to be officially impeached twice by the House of Representatives.
The Trump legal team, led by former New York mayor, “America’s Mayor,” Rudy Giuliani, whose reputation (after largely being regarded during most of his mayoral tenure as being absolutely hostile to the interests and needs Black and Brown communities and to the poor and working class of his city, with major officer-involved deaths occurring on his watch) catapulted as it was into iconic status after the events of 9/11, took a major plummet as he eventually became known as a major Trump supporter, promoter, loyalist and defender, filed several dozen legal complaints, making accusations of fraud. But when the lawyers had to admit, in court, that their arguments had no merit, and that there was no evidence of voter fraud at all, case after case - over 60 of them - was either dismissed (some of the judges involved were actually appointed by Trump) or withdrawn altogether.
The Trump appointed administrator of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, acting in accord with Trump’s refusal to concede and to take legal action, refused to provide millions of dollars in Federal funds to the Biden transition team to access government offices and resources to begin planning for a peaceful transition of power. Only when Democratic members of Congress threatened a subpoena to have her testify under oath as to why she was breaking with precedent, and possibly Federal law, did she, two weeks later, release the funds and allow the process to start, being careful to also state in her official letter that she and her family were the subject of death threats for her refusal to act.
Analysts and experts went on news programs proclaiming that American democracy passed a major stress test with Donald Trump, culminating in his refusal to concede and allow a smooth and peaceful transition of power. They said that the “guardrails” of our democracy kept our nation from quite literally falling off a cliff.
But how long could this tenuous truce last? Joe Biden, as of Thanksgiving 2020, in addition to a final electoral vote count of 306 (the same as Donald Trump’s EV count in 2016) received a popular vote of 80 million, the highest popular vote total for any candidate in the history of this republic.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, received 74 million votes, far surpassing his vote total of 2016. That means 74 million people liked Donald Trump - and everything he and his Republican Party stated for - enough to call our national unity into continuing question.
How long could this tenuous truce last?
We got our answer, and the answer was rooted in the ongoing Cold Civil War we are mired in.
In late October, as the campaign was beginning to draw to its dramatic close, several vehicles flying Trump flags tried to force a Biden-Harris campaign bus off a highway in Texas, forcing a Democratic campaign event to be canceled and the FBI to launch an investigation.
On October 8, the FBI announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of planning to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, and violently overthrow the Michigan government. There were violent clashes at the state capitals in Wisconsin and Oregon.
All of this culminated in the so-called “revolution”, the domestic terrorist insurrection, the attack on the United States Capitol Building in Washington on January 6, where thousands of pro-Trump supporters, several outfitted in paramilitary gear, encouraged to storm the Capitol by Trump himself just moments before (speaking in person at a “Stop the Steal” and “Save America” rally on the Capitol lawn, declaring he would "never concede" the election), breached and overran woefully inadequate barriers and completely overwhelmed a curiously and shockingly understaffed “skeleton crew” force of Capitol Police, physically attacking officers, returning sprays of pepper spray with their own bear spray, actually scaling the walls of the building, smashing windows and ramming open doors to force their way inside, literally breaking into the offices of lawmakers and defiantly occupying them (a laptop computer was allegedly stolen from the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - where an Arkansas man was photographed sitting in her chair with his feet nonchalantly propped on her desk), and forcing Congress to go into immediate recess with lawmakers hastily evacuated (the joint session of Congress was just beginning the Electoral College vote count to formalize Biden's victory - normally an unremarkable formality) and a few of them literally fearing for their lives. Five people (including a member of the Capitol Police) died and at least several thousands of dollars in damage was done, including damage to some valuable works of art in the building. The rioters also apparently destroyed a display honoring the life of African American congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis.
An actual gallows, with a rope and a noose, was erected outside the Capitol building, presumably to “hang Mike Pence,” referring to the Vice-President.
In my estimation, this insurrection was as shocking as it was inevitable, certainly because of the defiance of Trump and his efforts to overturn the election and remain in power, but also because of what this represents, and I believe the seeds of this were sown as early as 2008, when Barack Obama, the first man of African descent, the first man to identify as an African American, was elected to the highest office in our nation and proclaimed the leader of the free world. This was too much for that percentage of White Americans who feel that America is somehow their exclusive nation and that the accomplishments and achievements of racial and ethnic minorities somehow mean that they lose some of their power and “White privilege.” To them, any win for a minority is an unacceptable loss for them - a “zero sum game.”
This idea has played out in the succeeding years in an increased amount of hate crimes against minorities, and instances of police brutality and several heavily publicized officer-involved deaths of African Americans, giving rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, the resurgence of the “antifa” movement and the concurrent rise of white nationalist backlash movements led by groups like the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers. Reports of white nationalist ideas and attitudes infiltrating law enforcement and military also became a troubling concern.
That is what all this was about. I’m frankly surprised the January 6th insurrection didn’t occur in 2008 after Obama’s election. This is all an attempt to preserve white supremacy in America and keep this nation from becoming the true multiracial and multiethnic democracy it should be, and that the natural forces of progress are leading it towards. Arguably, the election of Trump in 2016 was such an attempt, an attempt to “make America great again,” translated as making America a nation where White people could have total and complete control and power again - especially over the very lives of those ethnic and racial minorities that they despise and regard as enemies to be somehow defeated - in order for them to survive.
Such attitudes are frankly disturbing, troubling, sad, and unacceptable.
For Trump’s part, the day after the insurrection, he gave a televised speech calling for calm, for tensions to be reduced and condemning the actions (essentially throwing his “patriots” under the bus after publicly praising them in the immediate hours afterward) and without mentioning Joe Biden by name, said that “a new administration will be inaugurated on January 20” and that his focus will be on “ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.” This came after several high-level administration officials, including Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (serving by this time as special envoy to Northern Ireland) resigned in protest of the insurrection.
A single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" against the U.S. government and "lawless action at the Capitol" was introduced to the House of Representatives on January 11 and on January 13, he was the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Of course, he was previously impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (The trial in the Senate is scheduled to start on February 9, while this comes too late to remove Trump from power, it could permanently disqualify Trump from ever holding public office again in the United States.)
And on January 20, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States - after as many as 25,000 National Guard troops were deployed to protect the Capitol, three times the number activated for recent inaugurations.
What did we learn from this crazy election of 2020???
If this nation doesn’t get its act together RIGHT NOW and start GETTING ALONG, start treating ourselves with mutual friendship and respect, as members of an American FAMILY rather than enemies, regardless of race, religion, sex, political party, favorite brand of soda, etc., we are DONE as a nation. Period. We won’t HAVE a nation to argue over because the split will be complete, which is what our foreign adversaries WANT. They WANT us angry and fighting each other!
That means Republicans and Democrats in Congress as well as the executive branch and the courts/SCOTUS need to do THEIR part in making sure “tensions” are “dialed down.” That means as a society we STOP trying to turn the clock back to 1956 and we allow for some “socialism” if that’s what most Americans want and where progress is taking society.
That means White people (at least a percentage of them) actually start believing that “Black Lives Matter” and allow racial minorities to have some of their “privilege” without getting pissed off and becoming neo-nazis and carrying tiki torches and AR-15s because a woman or a Black person or an immigrant is getting ahead in life. Or because someone says “wear a mask” in the middle of a pandemic where people are still getting sick and dying and doctors and nurses are getting burned out.
That means people in America’s heartland and rural areas find ways to be relevant and competitive in the 21st century, and people in our major cities pay attention to the heartland, from where we get our food and a lot of our energy.
ALL SIDES are mutually angry at one another and our nation is being torn apart, because we disagree on what kind of nation we will be and to whom it rightfully belongs.
History is filled with the bullet holes, mass graves and “peace monuments” of nations that failed to learn this lesson.
I strongly believe there is a segment of America not so much afraid of Biden becoming president, or even of Obama becoming president in 2008 and serving two relatively successful terms in office - but of what all of that represents to them.
America is changing. America is becoming more Black. It is becoming more brown. More female. More Muslim. More gay. More lesbian. More atheist. More “millennial.” More technological. More sophisticated. More urban. More Brooklyn. More Atlanta. More Hollywood. More Oakland. More Portland. More Seattle. More Chicago. More DC. More San Antonio. More Tucson. More Houston. More Miami.
Earlier in this election journey, I actually wanted Kamala Harris to be the nominee. I wanted America to embrace a female president who identifies as a Black woman of partial South Asian descent. I wanted that acknowledgement, but was once again disappointed when Harris had to end her campaign after not catching on. At least now, she is our Vice President.
The changes happening in American society, the emergence, the perseverance, the resiliency and the ongoing small victories of Black and brown people, are changes that are ongoing, and unavoidable. They are also unacceptable to a certain percentage of the population that wants the nation “the way it was” when minorities were by and large denied the rights and privileges they assume are theirs and theirs alone.
This is why, also in this crazy election year, when they had a chance to embrace change, Mississippi refused to elect Mike Espy, one of the nation’s most competent and experienced African American government officials, and kept Cindy Hyde-Smith. This is why Kentucky refused Amy McGrath and kept Mitch McConnell. This is why North Carolina is keeping Thom Tillis. This is why Texas is keeping John Cornyn.
This is why Amy Coney Barrett was hastily rushed onto the bench as a justice of the Supreme Court.
America has been a nation ruled under the spoken, and unspoken, conventions of white supremacy for all of its history. That has been challenged every generation of this nation’s history, and people have died because of those challenges. Our nation has had many race riots and massacres over the years, and change makers such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and some of the early Black Panther members were assassinated, because Blacks and other minorities dared to say “I AM A MAN” and “Black Lives Matter” in the face of those who said “no you are not and no they don’t.”
The events of Wednesday, January 6th - the Capitol Hill "revolution”, the breach of the United States Capitol, could have been ten times more powerful and meaningful if it was 1) nonviolent 2) multiracial 3) a true call for economic justice for Main Street and the 99 percent.
But no, Black Lives Matter and Antifa are the "enemy".
LBJ once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
This is still true today, and how sad.
Working people and middle-class people of ALL races and ethnic backgrounds should be the BEST friends and the STRONGEST allies for justice and equality. But far too often, Americans allow themselves to be brainwashed into racism, bigotry, fear and conspiracy theories.
This fear translates DIRECTLY into who we vote for and what political parties and policies we support.
There are reasons most Black people vote for Democrats and the White vote is mostly Republican depending upon which region in the country you look.
And this fear - fear of Black people, Hispanic people, whatever, “taking over” America and making our nation “socialist” - led DIRECTLY to that disgraceful, unacceptable, infuriating and tragic scene on Capitol Hill
And as I mentioned, it was that scene that temporarily interrupted the certification process of the electoral college votes for the Biden/Harris ticket - an event that normally barely merits a two-minute mention on the evening news, but itself was a subject of controversy since at least a few Congressmen and Senators, led by the likes of Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz made motions to challenge the electoral votes and call for some sort of audit. This after over 60 court challenges by the Trump legal team to the vote in states such as Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania were almost immediately rejected by Federal judges, some of whom, as I mentioned above, were appointed by Trump himself.
That attitude has NOT gone away.
Either Americans finally learn the hard lesson of acceptance and equality for ALL of its people, or we may very well NOT have an America for fight over any longer.
I have said previously on Quora that America may very well break up into separate mini-nations within 25–50 years if the different “sides” find each other’s positions so unacceptable that compromise is no longer possible, and actual armed conflict between each side becomes a clear and present danger.
Every time I am hopeful we have avoided that cliff, something happens to disappoint me. Something like the recent election results, and the run-up to them.
Some people say “Democrats just want to scare you while maintaining control of you. How many people have they helped?” I counter that argument with the realization that Republicans also want to scare Americans - into seeing one another as enemies instead of fellow citizens and family, and that their unique brand of “maintaining control” is best for keeping “socialism” out of government and letting the “free market” decide everything from who gets to see a doctor to who gets hired for jobs, and if it’s cheaper to build that automobile plant in this country or not. It’s Republicans and the conservative movement that want to “conserve” the way things were in a bygone era that cannot return, just on account of simple demographic changes that cannot be avoided.
Yes, people of all races and ethnicities do want to live the best possible life in a country that rightfully belongs to everyone. I suspect that some shred of common ground can be found on that fact. It is my hope that reasonable Americans can find that common ground again, not let the politics of fear or control make us hate and despise one another, and that we take a look at history and recognize - and work to correct - the historical wrongs that were done in the name of officially disrespecting and hating those of a different color of skin.
I am drawn to the poem recited at the inauguration by Amanda Gorman, the National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. The poem ends with these lines:
When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Are we really brave enough, as Americans in this multiracial democracy, to be the light of a new dawn?
America rightfully belongs to ALL of us. Regardless of race, color, gender or any other difference we have no control over. The sooner we swallow our pride and, at long last, learn that critical lesson, the sooner we can move forward together as ONE American nation and work together to solve the issues we face and confidently build a future in which we can credibly be looked upon by the rest of the world as a TRULY “great” nation.
