About the only way I can say it: The Supreme Court slammed the door in Trump’s face last week when it decided 9–0 to dismiss a complaint filed by the Attorney General of Texas against the election procedures of four other American states.
The Court shut the door so hard it ended all legal avenues for Trump’s campaign to overturn the people’s will and take the election victory away from Joe Biden and hand-deliver it to Trump.
But the Justices, three of whom had been handpicked by Trump, said loud and clear, get that mess out of here. Finally, a branch of the government stood up to Trump. If the judicial branch had cowered to Trump-like congressional Republicans- it would have been the death of American constitutional democracy as the world has known, since 1787.
Let’s not think for a minute that we can stick a fork in Trump. While he can not lawfully change the outcome of the November General Election, he undoubtedly will continue to put political pressure on Republican members of congress, first, to reject the vote of the Electoral College when it votes on Monday, December 14.
Next, when the United States Congress meets on January 6, 2021, to certify the electoral college vote expect Trump to resort again to political pressure on Republican legislators to toss out the electoral college vote.
Alabama Representative Mo Brooks said earlier this month that he would challenge the electoral college certification from several states whose voting procedures are different from Alabama’s process. Brooks is using the same flawed rationale that the Supreme Court just struck down.
Hold onto your hats, gentleladies, and gentlemen, the proverbial “fat lady,” at least in Donald Trump’s mind, has not sung.
After losing on the legal front, and the political battle, Trump has only one last resort. He must turn to the “Proud Boys,” who have been standing ready since September. The 14 days after certification of the electoral college vote likely will spark militant action in the streets of the District of Columbia, unlike anything we had seen in the District since that first week in April 1968 when the nation experienced the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Harold Michael Harvey is the Living Now 2020 Bronze Medal winner for his memoir Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is a Past President of the Gate City Bar Association. He is the recipient of Gate City’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, which he received for his pro bono representation of Black college students arrested during Freaknik celebrations in the mid to late 1990s. Harvey is an engaging public speaker. Contact him at [email protected].
Amen on all counts!