No, It's Not Over Yet
Special Sunday Newsletter
On Friday night, the Supreme Court ended Donald Trump’s last desperate hope to overturn his electoral defeat… in the reality-based world.
But the MAGAverse is a world only lightly tethered to either reality or sanity. Shortly after the Court slapped down the Kraken for the last time, former House spokesman Brendan Buck tweeted:
As we have seen over the last 72 hours, we have not yet come close to exhausting that bottomless supply of crazy. Trump himself continues to rail against reality and demand loyalty.
“No, it’s not over,” Trump told host Brian Kilmeade in the interview, which was taped Saturday at the Army-Navy game at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “We keep going, and we’re going to continue to go forward. We have numerous local cases. We’re, you know, in some of the states that got rigged and robbed from us. We won every one of them. We won Pennsylvania. We won Michigan. We won Georgia by a lot.”
All of that is a lie. He lost every one of those states. He is losing every “local case.” He will lose the Electoral College vote Monday. But Trump’s fabulism remains gospel for the dead-enders, who still dominate the GOP.
So, no it’s not over, and it won’t be over even after the Electoral College makes Joe Biden’s victory official on Monday. As George Packer notes, “a stab-in-the-back narrative was buried in the minds of millions of Americans, where it burns away, as imperishable as a carbon isotope, consuming whatever is left of their trust in democratic institutions and values.”
Welcome to the Countdown Journal. There are 38 days until Biden’s Inauguration.
The Wall of Shame still stands. It’s worth keeping in mind that 126 Republican members of the House endorsed the absurd lawsuit that was summarily dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Let me repeat that: Nearly two-thirds of the House GOP members endorsed the legal clown coup that would have disenfranchised tens of millions of American voters.
This is, literally, the post-democratic, post-constitutional Republican Party that Trump has deformed into his image.
As The New York Times noted yesterday, the Supreme Court decision that eviscerated Trump’s last attempt to hold onto power “also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states who were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election.”
But rather than feeling humiliated by their role in this shoddy episode, House Republicans seem intent on continuing the charade.
It gets worse.
As Trump continues to rage at the dying of his presidency, “a small group of his most loyal backers in Congress are plotting a final-stage challenge on the floor of the House of Representatives in early January to try to reverse Mr. Biden’s victory.”
Don’t be surprised if it is not just a “small group” who answer Trump’s call to fight on.
And don’t be surprised if they are joined by senators like Ron Johnson, who seem intent on drinking deep the cup of self-disgrace.
Bonus take:
ICYMI: TrumpWorld did not take Friday night’s ruling well. Parler, in particular was a dumpster fire of grievance, disillusionment, and threats of violence.
The Texas GOP was also having a normal one.
We also heard from those noted constitutionals, Diamond and Silk.
This was, however merely prologue for Saturday’s march of MAGA Madness. Rod Dreher spent six hours watching the so-called Jericho March. “As a conservative and as a Christian who was never part of Never Trump, it unnerved and infuriated me to see and hear Christians say these things.” He chronicles the parade of crazy, much of its cloaked in the language of apocalyptic Christianity.
And then, you’ll never believe what happened at this Christian prayer rally.
Alex Jones, the Infowars king and ragemonkey conspiracy theorist, took the stage.
“Humanity is awakening! Jesus Christ is King!” he screamed. And: “This is the beginning of the Great Revival before the Antichrist comes! … Revelation is fulfilled!”
Jones — see his entire address here — denounced Mark Zuckerberg and a litany of elites as “miserable slaves of Satan.”
“World government is here! The system is publicly stealing this election from the biggest landslide and the biggest political re-alignment since 1776!” he ranted.
“GOD IS ON OUR SIDE!” he bellowed. Then: “We will never bow down to the Satanic pedophile New World Order!”
The Christians in the crowd cheered him. Alex Jones, you may recall, is being sued for defamation by families of children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, which Jones for years denied on his radio show. Alex Jones is a profoundly evil man. But today, he was a hero to these Christians.
“Joe Biden is a globalist, and Joe Biden will be removed, one way or another!” One way or another. My God. Do these Christians have any idea what they’re tying themselves to? Do they care?
Exit take: Perhaps the Secret Service would like a word?
How Eric Metaxas Lost His Mind. While you are at it, also read Dreher’s piece on the transformation of the Christian author and talk-show host into an unhinged crank.
Metaxas was the MC for Saturday’s event.
In a recent interview with Charlie Kirk (!), Metaxas insisted — without evidence — that the election had been stolen from Trump.
“This is evil,” he says. And: “It’s like somebody has been raped or murdered. … This is like that times a thousand.”
This. Is. Hysterical. But there’s more.
“This is trying to kill the American people. This is everything.” And he says to believe otherwise is listening to “the voice of the Devil.”
Think about that. An Evangelical broadcaster is saying that Donald Trump’s election loss is a thousand times worse than rape and murder, equivalent to the murder of a nation. And if you don’t believe it? You are demonized.
David French is also weighing in on the dangerous crazification of Metaxas.
I’m going to be as blunt as possible: Language like Metaxas’s, like the Texas GOP’s, and like some of the statements you’ll read below embody a form of fanaticism that can lead to deadly violence. There isn’t a theological defense for it. Indeed, its fury and slander directly contradict biblical commands. When core biblical values are contingent, but support for Donald Trump is not, then idolatry is the result.
There were signs that this isn’t going well for the GOP.
The night ended with a spasm of violence.
At least four people were stabbed near Harry’s Bar at 11th and F streets NW, a gathering point for the Proud Boys, a male-chauvinist organization with ties to white nationalism.
The victims were hospitalized and suffered possibly life-threatening injuries, D.C. fire spokesman Doug Buchanan said. It was not immediately clear with which groups the attackers or the injured might have been affiliated.
So, on this Sunday, I’m still hopeful. But quite alarmed. Enjoy your weekend.