Th 2020 presidential election has given the world quite an insight into US “democracy” and all of its many defects. Any system which allows the loser to be the winner is seriously flawed.

There is an immediate need for an independent electoral commission to prevent the anti-democratic antics we are currently seeing, including voter suppression; last-minute rule changes; extremely long voter queues; ballot rigging; threats of violence; legal challenges: these are things you would associate with a third world country, not the “greatest democracy on Earth.”

Unless the Democrats end up taking control of the Senate by some miracle, even if Joe Biden is declared winner of this disastrous election – he will be a Lame Duck. None of his policies or referendums will ever get passed. A Biden Presidency without a majority in the Senate will be worse than Obama’s second term. The Republicans will simply refuse to vote on anything the Dems propose. Even the most benign legislation they try to pass will likely be declared unconstitutional by tRump’s 6-3 majority Supreme Court.

And then, in four years the Democrats will be able to whine that the GOP blocked their agenda at every turn, and that’s why they couldn’t even manage to raise the minimum wage by fifty fucking cents…!

And if tRump ever does leave office, America’s tattered foreign policy will basically remain the same, with the exception of the Paris Climate Accords, which Biden has promised to re-enter on day one of his presidency.

That’s a good start…but it will have to be by Executive Order…

There might be a bit more (fake) sabre-rattling at Russia, but that’s about it. The global ‘war on terror’ certainly won’t let up. Most of tRump’s horrific policies will still be in place; the only difference will be that no one will be talking about it.

tRump has had an electrifying impact on the moron electorate, it’s true; but some people actually looked away from their fucking Instagram or TIK-TOK accounts long enough to see what was really going on in this country.

It’s a tough lesson to learn.

Once that nice Mr. Biden is safely ensconced in the White House, everyone can just relax and stop thinking about it…

Whatever happens, tRump has ruined our international reputation for decades. For all of our faults – and the list is long – we at least had a reputation for running reasonably free & fair elections in the past!

As a kid, I lived through Nixon and Ford, and I swore never to bring a child into the world following Reagan’s election in 1980. I was amazed and disgusted when we put someone as intellectually challenged as George Bush, Jr. in the White House – twice! – and I wore nothing but black for an entire year after Donald tRump was installed.

But I would take any of the above in a heartbeat instead of tRump. He is a Despot, and if his legal appeals succeed, I have a message for the rest of the planet: you can no longer count on America to do anything positive or good in the world.

But most importantly, the USA has proven time and time again it cannot be trusted. America is no longer a democracy, a republic, or any other legitimate form of government. We are a banana republic, ruled by capricious, bloodthirsty maniacs.

If tRump is re-installed, the little restraint he has shown up until now will fly out the window and the purges will begin. There will be no legislative body with the power to stop him implementing whatever regressive policies he chooses to create.

No branch of government will be able to impose any checks or balances on his totally unhinged behavior. He’ll be able to actually lock up the Clintons if he wants to! The world will have a vengeful coke-addled ‘roid addict on its hands. With the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal at his disposal!

Be afraid, be very afraid.

But with or without tRump, the US has always had an attitude that it could play by its own rules, with an emphasis on “might is right” – tRumpism is just a turbocharged version of that.

For now, in the US, and in many democracies around the globe, ruling class suppression of leftist policies has made far-right-populism ascendant, and frankly, inevitable.

With all of the undemocratic practices we’ve seen so far in the 2020 election – the US is about as democratic as fucking Belarus.

Of course that won’t stop us lecturing the rest of the world about “democracy,” ad nauseam.

Sigh.