Election Clash Remains UnresolvedPresident Trump still refuses to concede. The main battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada, have all certified the vote. Enough other states have done so to officially give Biden more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed for election. Even so, Trump released a 46-minute video on social media claiming fraud. "This is probably the most fraudulent election that anyone's ever seen," Trump said. Saying that the results should be overturned and that the Supreme Court should intervene, he added: "Hopefully, they will do what's right for our country because our country can't live with this kind of an election." Trump has also said he will not participate in Biden's swearing-in on Inauguration Day, a significant part of the traditional "peaceful transition" of power. Whether he will leave office without conceding or take action of some kind to declare a national emergency and block the transition remains to be seen.
The majority of Republicans in Congress have said nothing, while also accepting Congressional elections as valid. Trump has attacked Republican Governors and Secretaries of State, such as those in Georgia and Arizona, for certifying their elections in favour of Biden. Both Governors had been supported by Trump. In Georgia the situation is particularly complex, as two run-off elections for U.S. Senators take place January 5. Trump's allies in the state have used language like "treason" against the Secretary of State and said election officials should be shot or hung. Still people are supposed to get out and vote. One of the lawsuits by Trump's allies is blocking election officials from preparing voting machines for the January 5 election. The Governor and Secretary of State have asked the court to allow them to proceed but no ruling has occurred. All of this creates an irrational situation for voters. The many contending authorities at the federal and state level have created a situation where not only do the results remain in dispute but the entire process has been discredited. Certification, for example, has made clear that a handful of people from the Republicans and Democrats decide whether to certify or not. And final certification still rests with Congress on January 6. Trump is evidently going to continue until then, even though the slates certified for the Electoral College in Biden's favour meet December 14. The results are then forwarded to Congress. It remains to be seen if a government shutdown will take place on December 11, a very real possibility, and how this impacts that vote.
Whatever their conflicts, the ruling oligarchs all act to keep the people out of power and the rich in power. Reforms being suggested are all in this vein, trying to restore credibility to the election process while keeping intact the basic fraud that this process actually keeps the people out of power and does not reflect their interests and drive for a pro-social, anti-war direction for the country. The elections have further revealed that it is the existing relations of power that must be changed and it is the people themselves, through their many fights for rights, that are organizing to bring this change about. (Voice of Revolution. Photos: VOR, sarah4justice)
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While Trump has
persisted, others in his administration have conceded. Attorney General
William Barr said the Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of
widespread voter fraud that could change the election outcome.
Christopher Krebs, Director of the Department of Homeland Security's
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also voiced
confidence in the integrity of the election. Since being fired by
Trump, he has said in public appearances, "The American people should
have 100 per cent confidence in their votes," and that Trump's claims
are "farcical" and "nonsense."
To speak of
treason is civil war talk and a violent outbreak remains possible. It
appears though, that with forces like Barr conceding and top level
businessmen demanding it, the rulers will succeed in preventing that
for now by getting Trump to leave office, whether he concedes or not.
Biden, however, still lacks authority. Because of this and the
usurpation by the presidential authority of matters the Constitution
allots to states, conflict and contention will remain, not only between
state and federal authorities but also within and between the president
and military and civilian bureaucracy. Forces on all sides are still
talking about treason.