In their hyper-political narratives – and their desire to find and express their hate for President Trump and Republicans – the elitist east coast media cabal is again resorting to false fearmongering narratives – this time over the transition.
They are wrongly informing the public regarding Trump’s refusal to concede and to pursue various legal and constitutional options to reverse the increasingly obvious overall results of the election – despite credible examples of vote fraud. As impossible as it may seem, the left-wing press is peddling even more mendacious Draconian claims regarding the impact of the less-than-friendly transition. Most notably, they provide – without a scintilla of evidence – that Trumps refusal to concede is resulting in any number of unspecified threats to our national security. They say that Trump is undermining — nay, threatening the very existence of our Republic. And causing the needless deaths of tens of thousands of people by not cooperating with the inevitable transition.
None of that is remotely true. It is simply partisan political pablum.
First of all, the transition is taking place – and has been since Election Day. One might argue that it started even before Election Day. The mere hope of winning the election triggers transition activities – most significant of which is the creation of a transition leadership team. They, in turn, commence the exploration of issues and policies. They put the final touches on many of the plans and proposals that will be advanced by the new administration – plans and proposals that have been on the shelf for four years.
Though the announcements will be rolled out over the coming weeks, former Vice President Joe Biden has had a pretty good idea of who he is going to appoint to key positions in the White House and the Cabinet. This is especially true since Biden has been involved in Washington issues for more than 40 years – and had a team of advisors in place as Vice President.
You can rest assured that since his election, Biden and his team have been working full speed ahead with transition issues. While they have not yet had official briefings, they already know 90 percent of what they need to know to move forward.
Keep in mind that we have a good policy of having only one President at a time. Consequently, Biden’s not taking specific actions at this time is not inhibited by Trump, but by both traditional and the rule-of-law. The Logan Act, for example, prevents the Biden team from entering into any negotiations with foreign governments.
We have seen friendlier transitions – even when the White House changed partisan hands. One can argue that Trump is failing to accept reality as he pursues the more extreme constitutional options. His personal wisdom can be questioned, but not his legal rights. In many ways, the excessive Draconian claims of his critics are as disruptive as Trump’s own actions because they needlessly sow anxiety among the populace – and give a false picture of the workings of the American democracy to the rest of the world.
I know all the fearful claims and predictions are being advanced for perceived political purposes, but they are just that – political poppycock. The transition is moving forward. We are not about to be invaded by Lichtenstein. Our 231-year-old Republic is not on the verge of collapse. Tragic as the Covid-19 pandemic is, it is not being worsened by a less cooperative transition. The vaccination distribution plans are moving ahead at warp speed. And we are not losing thousands, or even hundreds, of additional lives because Trump is being … well … Trump.
With regard to the role of the Government Accounting Office (GAO) – which is being excoriated for not releasing transition funding and services – they are doing their job. Until there are a sufficient number of states making official certifications – reaching the 270 electoral vote mark for a candidate – there is no certified winner. In fact, there is no official winner until the Electoral College vote. Democrats want the GAO to take “official” action before there is an “official” result.
The transition is taking place so peacefully that you can hardly notice it. Democrats are advancing bogus transactional narratives that will have no meaning in just a matter of weeks. The pity is that the news media is dancing to their tune – adding their own measure of baseless anxiety to the situation.
So, there ‘tis.