Big Numbers:
38 days until Election Day
203,808 US COVID-19 deaths
7,035,893 US confirmed COVID cases
13.6 million unemployed
8.4% unemployment rate
Over 20,000 lies today at last count of the Washington Post
That’s where we’ll start today. The President lies. He lies about big stuff, he lies about small stuff. He lies when his back is against the wall and he lies when there’s absolutely no reason. He lies all the time and sadly, we have grown accustomed to his lies and for the most part, have stopped being outraged when he lies. But make no mistake, his lies have consequences and they are taking a toll on us individually and on our democracy.
From Trump’s second day in office, when his then-Press Secretary appeared at the White House podium and insisted that Trump’s Inaugural crowd was “the largest EVER!,” many of us took that as a warning shot of how this presidency would unfold. To a large extent, it has unfolded just as we predicted. Lying is part of his strategy. If you don’t believe me, just look around today. No one trusts anyone or any institution, and we’re well on our way to not trusting the results of the election.
Without trusting the results of the election, we are essentially throwing the results up for grabs and now that Trump has been able to stack the courts, and soon he’ll stack the Supreme Court further, solidifying “conservative” ideology, the nation is at the mercy of those who think Trump was delivered by God. If he is able to get the results into the hands of the courts, instead of simply counting the ballots that you and I have cast, then we have effectively ended democracy. For what is democracy other than a representative form of government run by and for the people? If THE PEOPLE no longer get a voice in who represents us, then it’s over.
That’s the bad news.
The GOOD news is that we still have 38 days to stem the tide.
On today’s episode of the Capital G Podcast, the discussion revolved around:
· The state of the election
1. What’s at stake:
2. COVID (a plan, which Trump doesn’t have) and healthcare
3. The environment (fires burning out of control in California and multiple storms brewing off the East Coast)
4. Economy (The unemployment rate is still high, the jobless claims are slightly down, but we still average over 800K claims a month.) Meanwhile, the Republicans choose to make only token overtures toward providing relief, instead of embracing the House bill that is a follow up to The CARES Act.
a. The new bill directs nearly $1 trillion to state, local and tribal governments, including $500 billion in direct, flexible aid for state governments and an additional $357 billion for local governments and counties. And it adds $200 billion in pandemic hazard pay for essential workers and $75 billion for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and treatment efforts.
5. I know some people have a problem with this bill but let’s consider this. Coronavirus is not the fault of any single individual in the US, except one. The president. But with his lies, it was allowed to spread unabated.
What you can do about the election:
VOTE. The machinations underway may make you not
The Capital G Blog is a supplement to the Capital G Podcast