#MNR: CIVILITY AND THE HATEOCRACY

#MNR: CIVILITY AND THE HATEOCRACY
 
“Reagan is the pres[ident], but I voted for Shirley Chisolm.”
Biz Markie
 
(Sophia Petrillo voice) Picture it. America, 2020: COVID restrictions and closures, police murders and civil unrest. Many of us sat at home and watched as cities throughout the country became hotbeds for protests and atonement. The people expressed their frustrations at the state of the nation by taking it to the streets. Long standing Confederate statues in Richmond, Virginia (home of my alma mater Virginia Union University) were taken down by force. Parts of Minneapolis, Minnesota burned to the ground after crooked policeman Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes as he begged for his life, killing a father, a son, and a friend. Whilst riding around with my ladies Brandi and Rhino, I personally witnessed two Manhattan protests. They shut midtown DOWN. I remember Rhino growing impatient one Saturday late afternoon as we sat at a light by Columbus Circle. We hadn’t moved for at least ten minutes. I explained to her that it was more than ok to have all the patience in the world at this very moment, for she was witnessing history. The last time something like this happened, Shareon was a schoolgirl about the same age as Rhino was at the time, and I wasn’t even a thought in her brilliant mind. This had to be the spirit of the movement. In many ways it reminded me of the Civil Rights Movement in its unity and determination. We were fighting for our rightful place at the big table, not the children’s table, apart from the grownups. Change was in the air, and change was imminent.
 
After a summer of epic civil unrest, the country braced for the most consequential election of this generation. The incumbent Donald Trump faced former senator and vice president Joseph Biden. Would the hate continue, or would it be curtailed? That was the question on about 53% of the nation’s minds. After a photo finish election, the former VP edged out the incumbent to become the 46th president of the United States, and everyone lived happily ever after.
 
THE END.
 
Not quite.
 
Trump and his ensemble of attorneys contested every election lost in every state until all legal options were extinguished. Trump and others filed 62 lawsuits contesting election processes, vote counting, and the vote certification process in nine states (including AZ, GA, MI, NV, PA, and WI) and the District of Columbia. Trump and his allies went 0 for 62 and took a corporate “L” back to Mar-a-Lago.
 
Ok – after 62 failures, Trump was certainly done trying to steal an election he’d already lost, correct? Wrong, again. He and his team of educated dummies planned and coordinated a plot to replace several states’ electors (in states he lost) with fake electors, which then VP Mike Pence would recognize as actual electors, thus flipping the result of the election from Biden to Trump. When it became clear that fly guy (I couldn’t help it) Pence wasn’t having it and planned to perform the duty which was specifically set forth by the United States Constitution, Trump took his coordinated plan to the next level. After an incendiary speech on the Ellipse, hundreds of his most ardent and faithful maniacs strolled to the Capitol building, where they would breach the entrance after 1:00 pm on 1.6.2021. I watched it live, having tuned in since the conclusion of my virtual school day at 12:45 pm. Their plan was to “force” Congress to replace a winner with a loser. Naturally, it failed, but it would result in a full-blown attempted coup-d'etat, something this nation hadn’t quite ever seen. Many police were injured. People died. After such disgrace and INSURRECTION, certainly the era of Trumpism in American politics was over. Surprise, surprise.
 
Immediate fallout from the infamous events of January 6 was shorter than Bushwick Bill taking a knee. The outrage soon evaporated. Then House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made it a point to visit a disgraced Trump on his home turf. McCarthy left Mar-a-Lago having essentially re-legitimized an otherwise walking political corpse. Within days, the Republican party was again in lockstep with their demagogue, willing players in the MAGA movement.  
 
 For those unfamiliar with the term cased up, it means that a defendant has a stack of pending charges and court cases on his/her hands. Let’s begin with the federal charges. There’s the January 6 case related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In addition, there’s the case related to possession of classified documents and obstructing efforts to retrieve them. I’m not done. The state of New York took Trump to trial over an alleged “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels (born Stephanie Clifford) for sexual gratification. He was later convicted of all 34 FELONY counts related to falsifying business records in the first degree. He was given RICO charges in the state of Georgia related to efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results in the state. Although Trump has been able to delay his federal cases (with one being temporarily dismissed), they still loom large should he lose tomorrow. The Georgia case, much like the NY case, theoretically cannot be erased even if he is reelected. That’s if it ever begins. Oh yeah, Trump was civilly convicted of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll. He owes her a Larry Johnson Charlotte Hornets contract worth of money. Repeat after me – CASED UP.
 
I almost forgot...Trump was also convicted in a NY civil court for years of fraud relating to the values of properties he owns, to the tune of 355M, appeal pending.
 
2016 was a forever ago. So was 2020. But it is imperative that we revisit the midterm elections of 2018 and 2022. Democrats won a net gain of 41 congressional seats and reclaimed the House in 2018, stifling Trump’s divisive legislation proposals. They also gained seven governorships while losing none. 2022 will forever be remembered for the failed “red wave,” when gaudy predictions of Republicans winning a net gain of 60+ House seats fell horrifically short. By short, I mean they won a nine-seat majority. One of those seats was lost to our dear and beloved pal George Santos. Hey, if he can lie, so can I. Every state that had an abortion ban bill on the ballots saw its voters reject the measures, preserving reproductive rights for women in certain “red’ states. I guess I should mention that three Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices helped to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey cases that legalized abortion at the federal level, leaving it up to individual states (Dobbs v. Jackson). Yeah. That didn’t sit well with women across the nation. Or champions of civil rights.
 
So, let’s tally all this up. Donald Trump is a convicted felon 34 times over, a convicted sexual abuser, and a convicted fraudster. To clarify things, he’s not running for commissioner of his neighborhood fantasy football league. He’s running for president – of the United States.
 
For the true political zealots, I have closely watched every valid pollster (Times/Sienna, ABC News, Monmouth, amongst others) and looked at all the early voting returns in the swing states. I have also watched Trump implode (even more, somehow) from the infamous MSG rally to now. I have been spot-on with my election predictions at damn near every level of government since 2020. My prediction for tomorrow?
 
Harris wins.
 
And it won’t even be as close as the major news outlets want you to believe it will be.
 
If you haven’t already and if you’re eligible and if you’re registered – go vote. It’s your civic duty.