It's My Cookie, or Oppose Harm

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Oppose Harm is the fourth tenet of Distilled Harmony, and is called upon only when events threaten the preceding three; Foster Harmony, Enable Beauty, and Distill Complexity. Donald Trump’s declaration that he will “fight like hell” to hold onto the presidency, is one of those moments. There is, of course, the most obvious data. The certified votes, the leaders of both parties in Congress, and every court where Trump has sought to reverse the will of the voters have all held that he lost the election. Yet, he continues to declare that he will remain President. Given the total absence of any legitimate basis for that declaration, I wonder what drives his obsessive claims?

One is almost forced to the conclusion that his perception of the world has slipped more than a little bit away from reality. It is clear that he believes that if he chants “I won! I won!” long and loud enough, and persuades his hard core followers to do same, reality will magically change. This is the way toddlers see the world. If I shout “It’s my cookie!” long and loud enough someone will eventually give me a cookie. Even if there are no cookies left. Sometimes even the most well-intentioned will give in and slip the kid a cookie, even if they realize that this behavior eventually will come back to haunt them as a Cookie Monster more bizarre than any Sesame Street ever envisioned, one that will come to rule the house.

But we are not talking about cookies. We are talking about the highest office in the land. In many ways we are talking about the very fabric and legitimacy of our democracy. It is true that we have bent the intention of the Constitution many times since it was signed in 1789. And we are still seeking ways to bring its promises to all our citizens. But the one thing we have avoided - perhaps uniquely in modern history - is that we have never turned political power over to a “ruler” - a monarch or dictator - who seeks power despite, not because of, the will of the people. We fought a revolution to avoid just that.

Yet, Trump is seeking just that “upside down, toddler” redefinition of our cherished democratic reality. I remain convinced that Congress will do its sworn duty and move forward to swearing in the legitimate victors of the recent election. However, the fact that a seemingly unbalanced, unelected, pretender to the leadership of our nation has fractured our normal political process to the point of calling on a group of thugs - some of his hard core "supporters" - to violent attacks on Congress is terrifying. This recklessness is beyond the pale and has already resulted in the death of one of those "supporters." These are not grainy film clips of Germany in the 1930s as Hitler smashed his way to power. These are videos from the halls of our Congress - here where most folks are focused their improbably named professional football team. In the "real" reality such behavior is nothing less than an attack upon our time-honored tradition of the smooth transition of political power. 

As such it should serve as a sincere reminder to each of us that the greatest danger to our democracy may not lie in the manipulations of some shadowy group of foreigners, but in a man driven by an unbridled lust for power right here at home.

Furthermore, we must hold our political leadership and candidates up to closer scrutiny. We must look deeply into their history, ideals, behavior and character. Such attention is mandatory as we realize that it is our power, the power of the ballot box that, in the final analysis, protects us from the excesses and blatant falsehoods that characterized the soon departing administration.

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