The Home Stretch

The work is just beginning

Courtesy Allison Bailey Photography

We’ve come full circle after nine years. We started with being able to get away with shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue to calling for the execution of an opposing politician.

I don’t know how many people this latest monstrosity will move. I hope that enough will be moved to make a difference. But where Trump supporters are concerned take nothing for granted. The reality is that some portion of his posse will be just fine with this. That tells us all we need to know about what we confront.

Kamala Harris has to win this election. Period. We have reached the point where largely everything that can be done has been done. She has been everywhere, saying what needs to be said. I don’t know what more she can do.

This is a divided country. We can live with them but they are unable to live with us. It isn’t enough to oppose abortion for yourself and your loved ones. You must mandate its illegality for the rest of us, threatening the lives of women everywhere. It isn’t enough that you want to live under a dictatorship. You demand that we live under one as well.

And it isn’t enough that you don’t believe any election is fair unless Donald Trump wins it. We must accept your cheating quietly and without complaint or we too are threatened with violence.

This country is big enough to accommodate two responsible political parties. It has for many years. It is not big enough to hold a sane party and the Trump party. If they win, it will be years before we have a fighting chance to restore comity and sanity. If they win, our civil liberties are in danger, as are future elections. If they win, we will no longer be able to speak out as we do here without real fear of retribution. Make no mistake: these people monitor everything.

I believe Harris will win. Perhaps I believe that because I have to in order to maintain my own sanity. But my head and heart tell me she has the upper hand. When she does win, I do not believe he will be able to steal the election. He was in power last time and failed. He will this time as well. There are plenty of Clinton, Obama and Biden judges waiting for him. As for the Supreme Court, they know they risk irrelevancy if Trump wins. He and Vance both have said that they would ignore unfavorable rulings. The Court has no more credibility to lose, and does not want to be sidelined. Any case that comes before it without law and fact on its side will either be rejected or denied certiorari. I know many will disagree, but I truly believe this.

What worries me more is the reaction of the Trump mob after the inauguration. We cannot be prepared enough for them. They are armed and as such, potentially very dangerous. President Harris must be willing to use the fullest extent of the law to bring them to heel.

To end on an optimistic note, while these people will remain among us, excellent, compassionate government for a good number of years will render them far less relevant. So the task before is to elect Kamala Harris and help make sure she is successful. That is the best antidote to the poison Trump has unleashed for nearly a decade.