Let me be clear: I'm not looking forward to the Biden Administration. Will I be happier without Trump's ceaseless self-promotion, need for attention and undisciplined, roiling, unconventional tweeting and other behavior? Yes. Are there certain things I'll miss with Trump's departure? Yes. Trump's approach to regulation is more market-friendly and some of his court picks were excellent; at least he hasn't started new wars. Biden's tax and spend, high regulation agenda is worrisome for economic growth; his high-profile picks to date seemed to be warmed-over Obama Administration veterans, and his DoD Secretary is a more recent military veteran who would require a Congressional waiver (I prefer civilian leadership): I do not see Biden walking away from international meddling/conflict, especially after the progressives' 4-year Russiaphobe obsession, now exacerbated over the alleged cyberwar attacks on government and corporate facilities. I'm also not hopeful of the rollback of Trump's disastrous, economically illiterate anti-trade and anti-immigration policies, given longstanding union opposition, although I expect accommodation of dreamers (foreign-born children of undocumented parents). I think it's possible Biden could resurrect TPP (Asian-Pacific) and TTIP (Europe) initiatives under Obama, but traditional GOP support is no longer a given with Trump-era protectionism infiltrating GOP legislators, and given Trump's possible 2024 campaign, Republican incumbents will be wary of Trump confrontations.
Personally, I loathe the hyper-partisanship on Twitter. I've made no secret that I oppose Trump; in fact, I switched to the Libertarian Party when Trump clinched the GOP nomination. I supported his impeachment and Senate conviction. I've probably adversely replied to dozens of Trump tweets; I've written probably well over a dozen critical blog posts. But, I've mentioned this before, the level of anti-Trump rhetoric goes beyond the loyal opposition; there are endless threads or trends on replacing Trump (yes, even in the last month of his term!) via the 25th Amendment, Russia puppet Trump, racist Trump, sexist/rapist Trump, COVID-murderer Trump, criminal/traitor Trump, the countless repetitious memes of him mocking a disabled reporter, grab them by the p*ssy, etc. I know Trump wouldn't like my jabs at him, but I'm more apt to engage in sarcasm or mockery than in direct personal attacks, and typically I'm focusing on his words and actions.
This is not to say I'm crazy over the countertrends, Trump as victim of the Deep State, the Fake News, etc. Just this morning there was a trend on "the plot to steal America". It turned out to be a video clip retweeted by Trump, a Trumpkin propaganda piece arguing conspiracy theories about the election, putting a positive spin on Trump's horrendous trade wars, etc.
Trump had telegraphed for months prior to the election that he would not accept an election loss under any circumstance, e.g., in late September:
US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses November's election.
"Well, we'll have to see what happens," the president told a news conference at the White House. "You know that."
This is a guy who still refuses to concede he lost the popular vote in 2016 to Clinton, arguing that the loss was due to illegal voting, e.g., by unauthorized immigrants. I know I've repeated cited these statistics before, but Trump has almost never had a net positive rating his entire first term in the Gallup ratings. Biden had consistently polled nationally at 50 or above for weeks before the election (vs., at last count I saw, 51.3% and 81 million votes, 8M more than Trump) and won most of the state polls in all the battleground states that Biden flipped narrowly and in question: AZ, GA, PA, MI, WI, NV. Whereas Trump exceeded poll expectations, that had more to do with Trump's percentage understated in the polls vs. Biden's more consistent percentage performance.
Trump had fought Vote By Mail tooth and nail; he knew that the GOP vote tended to be more in-person Election Day and Democrats preferred vote by mail under pandemic conditions. In many states, vote counting of mailed ballots, a slower process, couldn't start until Election Day, and ballots postmarked by Election Day qualified. (I believe the number of ballots received after Election Day was, in any case, nominal and not material to the outcome.) The fact that late-counted mail ballots offset Trump's Election Day performance in close states was entirely expected, especially in large percentage urban centers favoring Biden.
I've nauseously followed Trump's frivolous election lawsuits, including a last-minute Hail Mary from Texas suing other states trying to infringe on the internal affairs of other states. Trump thought having 3 SCOTUS nominees on the Court gave him a home court advantage for his parochial interests. But conservative judges aren't necessarily nationalists and are less likely to overrule state laws short of discriminatory public policy or other violations of fundamental rights.
Trump's refusal to concede the election is nothing short of an abomination. I have been on the losing side of elections for 4 straight Presidential cycles (the last two voting for the Libertarian Party nominee). I personally opposed the elections of Bill Clinton and Barry Obama. Still, I accepted the choice of the plurality/majority of fellow Americans. Trump's self-serving sore loser temper tantrum is profoundly un-American and immoral.
For me, the final straw, touching off this rant, was when former Congressman Allen West, now head of the Texas GOP, hinted in the wake of the SCOTUS Hail Mary decision that Texas should consider secession in confederation with other Trumpkin-voting states. Seriously, my native state would secede over TRUMP?
