President Grinch

   The president left town two days before Christmas, leaving behind a veto of military pay hikes as well as a threat to veto a covid relief bill. A result of his action could be a government shutdown within a few days, since the veto was part of a larger bill authorizing funding for the entire government.
   Soon after the Grinch left town, the White House added another 26 names to the president's pardon list, which included several who were convicted of several crimes, including lying to Congress, and other federal offenses.
   The list included two of the president's close associates and a family relative.

Pardon Spree

   Speculation is rising as to how many pardons the president will issue before leaving office next month.
   Typically, outgoing presidents give clemency to a few who have been convicted of federal crimes but who have also shown remorse or for various reasons deserve to have a clear record.
   This year, however, considering Donald Trump's attitude toward minorities and his favoritism toward friends and supporters, many commentators wonder whether he will expand on his history of pardoning close allies, no matter how egregious their offenses.
   The potential splurge of pardons would well include members of his own family, who may be facing a variety of charges, as well as himself.
   Whether he can legally pardon himself is debatable among Constitutional scholars and lawyers, but the reality is that he may try.
   Presidential pardon power, however, applies only to federal offenses. The state of New York has been preparing a case against Trump for months, and has waited only because he has been in office, thus avoiding a potential long court argument over whether a sitting president can be indicted.
   On the federal level, the Department of Justice has a policy of not filing charges against a president while in office, thus avoiding a legal challenge as to whether they can.
   A president can be impeached and, if convicted, removed from office, after which other charges can be filed. The Constitution is clear on this issue, since it specifies that after impeachment and conviction, punishment can only be removal from office. Other charges can then be filed in court.
   But whether a president can pardon himself remains an open and major question. A president can certainly pardon anyone he likes, but only for federal offenses, even those for which no charges have yet been filed. That's called a preemptive pardon.
   Observers are waiting and watching to see who and how many of his friends, family and supporters will be pardoned before January 20, when he is to leave office.
   

Pharaoh Syndrome

   Those who insist that the current plague does not exist and is largely a product of news media propaganda, may be suffering from what can be called the pharaoh syndrome -- king of denial.
   And the more they deny there is a problem, the worse the plague becomes. Those who read the Bible can list nearly a dozen problems that the ancient Egyptians suffered before they finally let the Jews leave for their ancestral home in Israel.
   Americans today can list many problems of the past few years, including wildfires in California, tornadoes in Louisiana and Texas, severe storms in the Midwest, five boats suddenly sinking during a parade honoring President Trump in Texas, as well as the continuing  covid 19 pandemic that takes several thousand lives daily.
   Coincidences? Perhaps. But many devout religionists insist that the virus does not exist, despite the overcrowded hospital intensive care units and the reports that the president himself, members of his family, close associates, members of the White House staff and members of Congress have all been infected by the virus.
   Others claim any suggestion that they wear a face mask and take other precautions to protect themselves and others from the virus is a violation of their civil rights. Tell that to the many hundreds of families who have lost loved ones to the corona virus so far this year.
   As of December 9, nearly half a million Pennsylvanians had become sick with the virus, and the statewide death toll was approximately 12,000.

   Meanwhile, the president of the United States spends most of his time arguing that he actually did win the election, and any numbers to the contrary are fake.
   He seems more intent on staying in power than in helping to save the lives of fellow Americans, more of whom die in a single day than were killed at Pearl Harbor or on 9/11.

Second Term

   There remain two events that would enable Donald Trump to remain in office after January 20 for a second term as president.
   First, the Electoral College, which will formally meet on Monday, December 14, will choose one of the two candidates.
   Second, the electoral vote will be presented to a joint session of Congress on January 6, at which time acceptance of the electoral vote finalizes the choice for the presidency.
   But.
   Suppose the electors do not honor their pledge to vote for Joe Biden as the next president, and select Trump instead?
   Secondly, even if they do keep their promises and support Biden, the choice is not final until accepted by Congress.
   And suppose Congress does not accept the electoral tally?
   What then?
   Would the issue go to the Supreme Court, which has a six to three Republican majority, three of whose members were chosen by Trump?
   So it is indeed possible -- remotely, but possible -- that Trump's unyielding fight to stay in office may succeed. Is it likely that he will win, as he consistently insists he did win re-election?
   Probably not likely. But it is possible, if his team can persuade enough electors to change their promises to vote for Biden and to vote for Trump instead.
   And if they do uphold their promises, will the Congress accept the result?
   It sounds far-fetched, but history shows that similar things have happened in the past, as electors changed their promises or that a tie in the electoral college moved the final choice to the House of Representatives.
   You can look it up.
   So if it happens again, which way will the Supreme Court go, if the case ends up before the nine justices?

   Meanwhile, the Supreme Court summarily denied a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to hear their challenge to the result in that state. It was a single sentence, unsigned. which no doubt means that all nine justices agreed. It remains to be seen whether team Trump will try again.
   All this may explain why the Trump team continues to ignore being 80 million votes behind in the popular vote and a substantial lag in the potential electoral tally.
   It ain't over until it's over, and it won't be until the Congressional ninth inning on January 6. And even then it may go to extra innings.
   We live in interesting times.

Faux News

   The president's reliance on the Faux News network as an echo chamber for his propaganda is becoming more blatant daily. Meanwhile, other TV networks are refusing to carry some of his more virulent lies, including a 46-minute video he recorded, in which he again spouted his complaints.
   Also, during a campaign visit to Georgia supposedly in support of Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate in a runoff election scheduled for next month, major news networks carried only some of his remarks. The Faux News network, meanwhile, carried the entire speech live.
   Other news programs noted that many of his remarks were false, misleading or incomplete, and they provided examples. It's noteworthy, however, that traditional broadcast facilities increasingly use the term "flat-out lies" when referring to some of the president's comments.
   It didn't used to be that way. The L-word was so strong that traditional print and broadcast faculties did not use it. Now, however, the president's lies are so blatant and frequent that it's not possible to describe them as anything else.
   Meanwhile, he continues his diatribe that the election was rigged, his opponents cheated, and that really, he won. His lawsuits, however, are regularly dismissed for lack of evidence, and he continues to act as if he really will remain the current president of the United States.
   Expect him to formally announce his candidacy for the 2024 election at noon on January 20, the same hour that Joe Biden takes the oath of office as president.
   The saddest part is that so many Americans believe everything he says, despite clear evidence that he is not only mistaken, but that he lies.
   As for his claim that millions and millions of fake ballots were printed and distributed, and that's how the election was rigged, consider this: There are 50 states, the District of Columbia, 435 districts that elect members of the House of Representatives, all of whom face election every two years, one-third of all the senators, plus thousands of state, county and municipal candidates to be listed on separate ballots for each election district.
   So how many election districts are there in each state? How many in the entire nation? Is the president insisting that a single provider print separate ballots for each and every district? Or is he insisting that there is a single ballot for the entire country?
   If so, how long would each ballot be?
   Reality check: Each district sets up its own ballot operation, some for printed ballots, some for machine balloting, and some with a combination.
  So the likelihood that a single source could print and provide ballots for each of the thousands of election districts in America is ...