President Trump says he won the election.
This is a lie.
Eighty million voters attest to it.
For us to make this his last lie, we need to overcome the second lie with which he justifies the first.
The second lie is that he lost because of a huge "Democrat" conspiracy theory.
It is this second lie that is truly dangerous, because it is believed by a large majority of his followers and they will believe it long after he is gone.
The legitimacy of our electoral process is at stake. The existence of our democratic republic is at stake. Which other means do we have to ascertain the will of the people but our vote?
How to Combat This Lie
There is no easy way to combat a lie. Time does that. What we can do and must do is to prevent its spreading. And the best way to reach this goal is to stop the lie at its source. We have to stop President Trump repeating this lie.
Donald Trump is a bully. The bully cannot stop by himself or, sadly, herself. An entire book, now translated into eight languages, gives a fairly comprehensive treatment of the topic.
We recommend three solutions to let the poisonous effects of the second lie gradually disappear into thin air, where it came from: a short run, a long run, and a bridge solution.
The Short-Run Solution - a First Form
A first form of the short-run solution can be implemented, as suggested in previous posts, if (at least) five brave Republican Senators are ready to march into the Oval Office and respectfully request President Trump's resignation well before January 20, 2021. The sooner the better.
For his good; the good of the party; the good of the nation. We have urgent work to do, much work to deal with a crumbling economy in the midst of an assault by the COVID-19.
We must say "enough" to President Trump's antics and those of his violent followers. People are dying because of them. People are unnecessarily suffering because of them. People's lives are being unjustly threatened because of them.
Dangerous issues of national security call for his immediate removal.
This short-run solution might be facilitated, if advanced with the offer to Mr. Trump to establish a Truth, Reconciliation, and Restitution Commission. This offer might be accepted by Mr. Trump not only because it might keep him in the limelight for a few more months, but especially because it would give him the opportunity to put forward his own version of the facts but constrained not by a political context, but by a quasi-judicial context.
The nation might agree to let him get away with much, if we are spared much deeper damage to our civil life and our democratic institutions during the remaining days of his presidency.
The fuel of hatred "on both sides" will be poured into an honest effort, on both sides, to distinguish truth from falsehood. This will be the basis for just and lasting reconciliation.
It would not be a bad thing to show the world that we can learn from lessons learned by a country such as South Africa. We can add a touch of American pragmatism. The process of truth and reconciliation will not be hurt by a good sprinkle of restitution of ill-gotten financial gains.
Second Form - Another Tack: A Congressional Letter
With the certification process of the 2020 US election results now completed and now that we have President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (quasi)-officially certified, all pretenses about the illegitimacy of the victory going to the Biden-Harris Team go by the wayside into the deep recesses of our frightened collective memory.
The second lie has (quasi)-officially been declared a lie.
But Donald Trump does not stop repeating the lie; therefore he must be forced to stop it.
It is time for action. Should he not resign, with five Republican Senators firmly on board, the US Congress can adopt a slightly different tack; without participation from at least five Republican Senators the US House of Representatives should proceed alone.
Since they pay his salary in our name, we ask our Congress to establish this emergency procedure: The Congress can order President Trump to work together with President-elect Joe Biden at least on the Coronavirus Plan and ask all appropriate members of his administration to work on it. The core message of the Congressional Letter should be this:
"Work with the Biden-Harris Team
or
YOU ARE FIRED."
The will of the people has already been clearly expressed. More than 80 million people have expressed their decision to fire Donald J. Trump. To let him personally hear this proclamation might spare the Republican Party a resuscitation of his specter in 2024.
Firing the President
The constitutional procedure to "fire" a president is the impeachment procedure. It has been tried and failed. There is no time now to prepare for such a procedure
Creative lawyers will have to intervene. The House of Representatives, upon a majority vote, might simply send a letter of dismissal to President Trump. Being Donald Trump he should get the message that he has indeed been fired.
The legal penalty that the House of Representatives might impose is the withdrawal of the President's salary. The Congress can easily justify this action for lack of work or, more strongly defined, for working against the interests and the expressed will of We the People.
If this proposal should not reach the desired goal that President Trump stop spreading lies about the legitimacy of the election, the moral slap will be strong enough to resound into the consciousness of the people. If nothing else, this procedure might give pause to a future president who might also be inclined to preside over the affairs of this country by spreading lies.
Why the Republican Restraint
What is the fear of Republican Senators to pursue either one of these resolutions? One fear, of course, is the effect of the virulent tongue of Donald J. Trump on their reputation.
Senators should remember the rhyme: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me."
This fear will turn out to be totally unfounded if they make it clear that their action calls them to put nation above party. And, truth to tell, if they do take this action, they might indeed save the last vestiges of their proud party from total extinction. Hence, the long-term solution.
The Long-Term Solution
There is absolutely no fear for their political future to become real, if Republican Senators arm themselves of the particularities of a suggested long-term solution. This involves a program of economic development that truly favors everyone - MAGA people included, if not MAGA people primarily. What we need to carry out is a true Revolution from the Center.
Thus, Republican Senators will have to make a convincing case that they and not Donald Trump have a deep interest in the common good.
This is going to be the topic of a next post.
The Bridge Solution
Ever since I learned of the presence of Russian investments in Kansas, investments that almost certainly are favored by the friendship of President Trump with Mr. Putin, the bridge solution to our current problems burst into my consciousness: The five brave Republican Senators might even have the open or tacit support from Senator Mitch McConnell if they can offer him a watertight assurance that the Fed will henceforth be investing in Kansas. How? Through their sponsorship of a proposed national monetary policy.
And what of Mr. Putin? If he is deeply serious about fighting the international cartels, he will have a splendid opportunity.
He will need to install the same national monetary policy that we are advocating for our country.
Carmine Gorga has recently (?) been classified as a Gravatar, a Globally Recognized Avatar.
