On Thursday Dec. 10, 126 House Republicans signed an amicus brief in support of the Texas lawsuit aimed at overturning the election results in four swing states. At the heart of this gutless action is an effort to disenfranchise millions of American voters and overthrow our democracy.
On that same day Der Spiegel, one of Germany’s most widely read German-language news websites, published a long article in German about President Trump under the headline “Der Verlierer des Jahres,” which translates as “The Loser of the Year.”
The article criticized the president for refusing to concede the election and described him as “a man who was never concerned with the common good, but always with one thing – himself.”
For almost a year, there has been the once-unimaginable loss of hundreds of thousands of loved ones to Covid-19. The leaders of countries around the world offer their sympathy and comfort to those left behind who will never have their loved ones by their sides again.
But, not in the United States where, despite the loss of more than 3,000 souls for several days running now, an overgrown toddler rants and raves and plots to overturn an election that he lost decisively and spins conspiracy theories that have been roundly overturned by court after court.
We have much to offer at a time like this. My gratitude goes out to all those who provide local leadership during this unprecedented time of mass casualty and uncertainty, when what we sorely need is a president – a mature adult, to unify a nation in our time of grief, as opposed to the lame-duck incumbent who sows hate and incites violence.
Just this week a colleague from Idaho, where Trump-inspired right-wing extremism is growing, shared this with me: “I’m in north Idaho. This week the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise was vandalized with swastikas. It’s the only location in the country with an Anne Frank memorial and one of the only locations in the world where the U.N Declaration of Human Rights is on full display.”.
Two months earlier, 14 suspects accused of plotting to kidnap and execute Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, and then violently overthrow the state government were arrested and charged in state court.
For all people of good will who have an interest in advancing the common good – respect for the person, the social well-being of all citizens, and peace, security and human rights, Der Spiegel offers a welcome international repudiation of a small-minded, self-obsessed man-child who has repeatedly been unable to meet to the moment with any degree of compassion, empathy or sound judgment.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of a group of nine (three of whom were appointed by Trump), who have repeatedly rejected Trump’s evidence-free claims of voter fraud, reminds us that “Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.”
Andrew Malekoff
Andrew Malekoff is a New York State licensed clinical social worker
