Illegitimi non carborundum
by Tom Sullivan
Is it time to question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's presidency? Virginia Heffernan asked over the weekend:
A nation devoted to majority rule has a minority president. Who squeaked into office on an electoral college technicality. Against most data projections. Using dark money. Using voter suppression. Using Russian disinformation.I get it, but have little time to pointlessly grind my teeth over it. Problem is, we have no constitutional provision for a presidential recall, whatever our definition is for "illegitimate." There are few recourses for opponents but to neuter Trump electorally (which has an appealing ring to it) or to impeach him (which seems unlikely to succeed) or to drive him from office with massive public protest (which seems unlikely both to happen and to succeed, pending more from Robert Mueller). It is among the flaws in the system bequeathed to us.
And, most chilling of all, with a massive assist from the Russian military, which not only hacked the Democrats, but also hacked voting software and a voting-system manufacturer.
Some people were motivated to vote for Trump because they believed Russian lies about Hillary Clinton’s health or email. But at least they got to cast their votes, and have them counted.
Others, many who planned to vote against Trump, were kept from the ballot entirely. In Wisconsin, as Mother Jones has reported, discriminatory ID laws prevented 45,000 eligible voters from participating in the election, including 23,000 in two heavily Democratic counties. Trump won Wisconsin by 22,000 votes.