Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Trump Claims Millions Voted Illegally

The latest claim that reeks of bovine excrement from the president-elect is the outrageous lie that he won the popular vote if only legal votes are counted. His exact tweet that has absolutely no evidence backing it is, "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." Normally, a candidate who wins an election does nothing to undermine the legitimacy of the election. Yet, Mr. Trump is claiming there are millions of votes that were cast contrary to the laws of the United States. How does he know they were all cast against him? Perhaps the millions put him over the top in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. It makes no sense for him to do this if one looks at the matter through a political lens. For the next four years, what makes sense politically is not going to be a useful predictor of executive action. What garners praise for the president is how things are going to be decided.

Mr. Trump is a great many things, but first and foremost he is a self-loathing narcissist. Tony Schwartz, the man who wrote The Art of the Deal by spending months by Mr. Trump's side, makes that assessment. Rather than the title under which the book was published, Mr. Schwartz says he would have called it The Sociopath.

Mr. Trump is not interested in policy, nor is he really interested in the art of governing. He is interested in headlines about Donald J. Trump. He doesn't much care if the stories are positive or negative. If they are positive, he basks in the glow of adoration. If they are negative, he gets to stand in front of the cameras and complain about how unfairly he is being treated by bad people.

Consequently, politics in Washington won't be a fight between right and left for the next four years. That war will continue in the background, but it isn't really going to be important. What will drive the American government until at least January 20, 2021, is the ego of Mr. Trump. If spending $2 trillion to build up American infrastructure makes him look good, he will try to do it. If stopping a bill that would spend the same amount to do the same thing would make him someone's hero, he would do that instead.

To Mr. Trump, the political world isn't about building coalitions of diverse interests to achieve things of common benefit. It is about those who are loyal to him and those who are disloyal or who oppose him. It is a simple schoolyard approach to life. He has his team, and it doesn't matter what the game is. His team (of which he is the owner, general manager, head coach and star player) must win. Anything that impedes that is to be destroyed. Anything that promotes that is to be valued.

One can see how this could be used for good or evil. Mr. Trump, having no real values or political philosophy himself, will follow the flattery. He will likely take the advice of the last person to speak with him. If he is told something will make him popular, he will do it, especially if it makes him popular with his teammates and fans. If he is told it will make him unpopular, he probably won't. Whether it actually makes him liked or disliked is irrelevant, so long as he believes he is garnering praise when he makes the decision.

This will make domestic politics highly unstable, and it will probably make US foreign policy a nightmare for all involved, both in America and outside it. Negotiating with a man who seeks approval is far different from negotiating with a government that is trying to pursue its national interests. Already, Mr. Trump is skipping the Presidential Daily Briefings by the intelligence agencies. That sums up how he is going to operate. Facts and policy be damned, what puts the Trump name in the headline, with the biggest font and boldest typeface?

© Copyright 2016 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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