BRUCE EVANS • Guest Opinion
As a not infrequent commentator on things Trumpian and/or U.S. political, I submit the following for your readers’ consideration.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s behaviour since the election has been troubling. Do I believe the election was “stolen”? Kinda. But it’s only a hunch and would be subject to months of investigation in many jurisdictions to prove or disprove — a handy factoid for anyone who may have been inclined to engage in skulduggery. Pointing no fingers, though.
The fact that President Trump held out the possibility that the Electoral College result could be overturned by Congress on Jan. 6 is outrageous. Congress has the power to “count,” not “certify.” Way to go, Vice President Mike Pence.
Getting back to the stolen-election issue. The issue is less about physical counting than it is about hastily changing procedures without due process and proper authorization by state legislatures. In several states, governors and election executives authorized voting changes (mail-in ballots, harvesting, registration procedures, signature verification, etc.) that may only happen with a vote of the respective state legislatures.
By and large, this legal stricture was not observed. It will take months or years, if ever, to sort out allegations of illegal voter registrations, ballots appearing from under tables and many other apparent irregularities. Until that happens, there is little choice but to have a peaceful transition of power on Jan. 20. Ask Richard Nixon or Al Gore.
Did Trump help incite the violence on Capitol Hill this past Wednesday? His speech certainly was not helpful in preventing it. He has always been a master of bluster and hyperbole. But that was neither the place nor the time for it.
As with most of these situations, there is a small rump or lunatic fringe within (or surreptitiously injected into?) a larger peaceful and more sensible body.
Igniting that short fuse is not difficult, something President Trump should have not just avoided but actively discouraged.
Would it be too much to expect of human nature or the press to think that any mention would be made of the 95 per cent of protesters peaceably gathered on the Capitol steps or walking through Statuary Hall, taking care to keep within the borders of the rope lines?
Or showing any compassion for Ashli Bobbitt, the lady killed by a Capitol Police officer? I am reminded of the scene, from one of last summer’s BLM/Antifa “protests,” of a CNN reporter, standing in front of a building fully engulfed in flames and typifying the event as largely peaceful. Double standards, anyone?
The words and actions of the Democrat Party and the mainstream media in the aftermath of Wednesday’s events have largely not been helpful either.
Condemnation of the violence and even President Trump’s rhetoric? Absolutely. Partisanly comparing it to BLM protests and racializing the event? Reprehensible and even dangerous.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for the military to oust President Trump from the White House? Maybe seditious.
Characterizing Trump voters as deplorables and even sub-human (an ABC writer, who edited his words after pushback, just yesterday called for “cleansing” the Republican Party of Trump supporters)? Incendiary.
Calls for impeachment? A day late and a dollar short and a vainglorious attempt to accomplish a legally suspect gambit they failed in a year earlier.
All of these parties called for a rapprochement between the sides. Those words ring hollow as the calls for action noted here can serve only to widen the divide and up the odds of further violence by fringe elements.
A personal note. I have been a President Trump supporter since he was elected. I applaud his many accomplishments while in office, on fronts economic, social, military and many more. Operation Warp Speed on vaccine deployment was nothing short of spectacular.
As I have written here before, I occasionally cringed at his over-the-top statements and Barnum-esque manner at times. It is most unfortunate that he could not constrain his natural pugilistic instincts during the last few weeks. He would always have been remembered as a unique and polarizing personality; but with the passage of time and his absence from the field, I had hoped for more appreciation for his accomplishments.
I fear that is no longer possible. I also fear that there will be further discord and a widening divide within U.S. society. Based on their long-term track record, and especially their polarizing words of the last two days, I have no faith in the healing powers of a Biden-Harris administration.
Bruce Evans was born, raised and educated in Atlantic Canada — Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. After a Dal MBA, he had a career in project finance in several cities — Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, New York and L.A. — with a variety of international (Canadian, Japanese, French and Australian) financial players. He is happily retired in Arizona, volunteering, walking a dog named Charli and working to get a golf handicap moving south.