UM...FINALLY

This is the second time I've used the word "finally" in the title of a blog post regarding Donald Trump.  The first time I used it was way back in September of twenty sixteen when then candidate Trump held a press conference in which he announced that he no longer believed that President Barack Obama was lying about his birthplace.  And now, four years later, I'm using that word again to describe him admitting something that the vast majority of the world knows to be true: that he lost the election to Joe Biden.

The use of the word "finally" is crucial both times, because they both indicate just how much Trump has lowered the office of the presidency since he first decided to run back in twenty fifteen.  The first time it seemed appalling to me that someone who was spreading vile conspiracies about the president could possibly win the Republican nomination for president (boy was I naive!).  And it must be remembered that even as Trump admitted that birtherism was wrong, he also said that it was started by the Hillary Clinton campaign back in two thousand and eight (it wasn't) and that Trump himself was the one who ended it (actually, he had kept it going for years).  In other words, even when he was right about something, he was still dishonest.

Which is why, even though I'm glad that Trump has conceded, the reluctance he has shows illustrates the damage he has done to our country and the world, and it in no way makes me feel better about a man like him ever being in the White House in the first place.  Remember that his concesion comes over two weeks after the election was officially called on November the seventh, and only after his legal team flooded the courts with challenges in swing states, almost all of which were swiftly and summarily thrown out.  The fact of the matter is that this election wasn't even close, with Biden getting over six million more popular votes and winning in the Electoral College by three hundred and six votes to Trump's two hundred and thirty two.  Only the most cult like follower of Trump could possibly believe that over six million votes were stolen, which would be an electoral fraud of epic proportions. 

It would appear that the straw that finally broke Trump's back was that fact that even business leaders who supported his reelection told him to step down for the good of the country.  There was also talk of Republican donors refusing to support the party as long as he kept fighting.  Sadly, like so many other things in this country, it all came down to money.

And in typical Trumpian fashion, even his concession tweets don't really sound like a real concession:  

"I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good.....fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same."

Yeah, it's hardly a statement of contrition, but I'll take it just to get rid of him.  Now I hope that once he's out of the White House the various legal charges against him will proceed, keeping him from running again in twenty twenty four. We'll see.