The United States Senate passed a meaningless resolution today that gave voice but no force to what the resolution said was their support for a peaceful transfer of power after the November 3 election.
I want to emphasize that this resolution has no more power under the law than the useless tweets several members of the Republican caucus have posted. It doesn’t mean any more than the “precedent” the Senate Republicans set 4 years ago when they said that they would not hold confirmation hearings on a Supreme Court nominee in an election year.
They lied four years ago. They made an absolute mockery of the so-called Senate trial on the impeachment last spring. In four years, their only response to Trump has been yessir.
Their word is worthless.
The one thing that will show that they actually do support a peaceful transfer of power is if they do not hold hearings or a vote on a confirmation of any Supreme Court nominee until after the election which takes place on November 3 is certified and a winner is legally declared.
President Trump has said that he intends to throw out the ballots of what would amount to at least hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of Americans in order to ensure that he wins the election. In his own words, “if those ballots are gone, there will not be a transference of power, there will be a continuation.”
In other words, if he can throw out the votes of those who vote against him, he will win.
He has refused to promise that there will not be violence if he loses the election.
He has also said — and this is what is pertinent to the Senate Republicans — that he will “win the election in the courts” meaning that he intends to challenge votes against him in the Supreme Court.
If the Senate wants to show us that they are not Trump’s puppets who are determined to help him steal this election, they need to hold off on moving the confirmation until every vote in this election has been counted and the election itself has been certified.
If they do not do that, then any thinking person would have to question not only their patriotism, but their criminal culpability in the coup which Trump is describing.
As for their silly resolution, I hope it made them feel good to give a voice vote on something that doesn’t mean a thing. Because their momentary feel good is all it’s worth.
Our democracy is in peril.
We need more from the United States Senate than a game of charades for the gullible.
From The Hill:
The Senate passed a resolution on Thursday reaffirming its support for a peaceful transition of power, one day after President Trump refused to commit to such a transition next year if he loses in the November election.
In the non-binding resolution, the Senate reaffirms “its commitment to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power called for in the Constitution of the United States.”
It also throws the Senate’s support behind the idea that “there should be no disruptions by the president or any person in power to overturn the will of the people of the United States.” (emphasis mine)
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