It's come to this: a tweet that grudgingly acknowledges Biden won because the election was "rigged" is considered progress. At the rate this president is going through the seven stages of grief, President Kamala Harris will be running for reelection by the time he comes to terms with it.
Meanwhile, the lawsuits drag on, the conservative media spreads dangerous conspiracy theories that amp up his base and the entire Republican Party, sans a few brave soles, continues to indulge him. Worst of all, the incoming administration is unable to get up to speed because they have been denied vital access to government agencies.
This has become a national embarrassment. More foreign leaders have congratulated Biden on his win than Republicans. The world is watching the oldest example of representative democracy behave like a banana republic and they are rightly concerned.
It's disheartening to know that 73 million people thought this man was fit for office. That they not only voted for him, but agreed with his vision for the country - a vision that is insular, racist and completely devoid of even a shred of decency. Many of these people are our co-workers, our neighbors, our fellow congregants, our friends and, yes, our family.
Of all the things on Joe Biden's "To-Do" list, chief among them will be to, somehow, find a way to heal a nation that is deeply fractured and wounded. The Founders may have anticipated an autocrat like Trump when they wrote the Constitution, but it never dawned on them that such an autocrat would have so many enablers.
There is simply no excuse for what is going on here. America is being held hostage by a 74 year-old man-child who is throwing a temper tantrum because someone stole his binky. You literally can't make this shit up.
This has to stop. The GOP has to grow a pair and tell Trump what everyone not in a psyche ward or under the influence of hallucinogens knows full well: that he lost and he needs to get over it. He doesn't have to call Biden and actually concede - personally I don't give a shit if he shows up at the inauguration - but he does need to stop being a dick and direct his administration to cooperate with Biden's transition team. Every day that goes by that that doesn't happen is another day that Biden will have to play catch up on January 20. And with the Coronavirus now spiraling out of control and God knows what damage his cronies are doing at the Pentagon and State Department, the security of the nation is at stake.
Enough is enough! If Trump won't do the right thing, Biden should take legal action to force the GSA to release the funds his team needs to vet and staff his cabinet properly. During the now infamous Bush v. Gore legal case, the Clinton Administration's decision to play hardball with the Bush transition team was cited by the 9/11 Commission as one of the causes for the U.S. not being prepared for the attack. As scary as it might be to contemplate, the world is even more dangerous now than it was in 2000.
I'm not a parent, nor am I a psychiatrist, so I have no relevant experience dealing with spoiled brats or sociopaths. But I do know a thing or two about interventions, and right now this president desperately needs one. In 1974, Barry Goldwater went to the White House to inform Richard Nixon that his presidency was over. A few days later, he resigned.
I don't know who ends up drawing the short straw here - the logical choice would be Mitch McConnell - but someone has to step up now. The longer this drags on, the longer Republicans insist on "coddling" Trump, the more damage he will infect upon our fragile political system, much to the delight of our enemies.
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