Open Letter re US 2020 Presidential Elections

 

https://ceciliabrainard.com/open-letter-re-us-2020-presidential-elections/

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for checking on us during this post-election time in the US. I know that you and the rest of world are watching with consternation, wondering how on earth the US has ended up this way.

We are physically fine but I must admit that even though Biden is leading, I feel disturbed about several things.

First is the realization that one-half of this country sees the world and thinks very differently from me. Simply put, I cannot understand how the election results should be 50-50 Trump-Biden, given the horrors Trump has done in the past four years. I see a Marcos or a Hitler in Trump, but apparently 50 percent of this country sees a savior in him.

The other thing that perturbs me is how Trump et al are alleging election fraud when in fact, it was Trump and his administration who did everything they could to suppress votes.

For instance, his man, Postmaster General Louie DeJoy, blatantly set about destroying sorting machines, removing mail boxes, and instituting changes in the postal system with the goal of slowing down the delivery of election ballots, knowing full-well that a pandemic is raging and many would avoid in-person voting but rather mail their ballots. DeJoy also defied Judge Emmet Sullivan’s court order requiring postal inspectors to make sure mail ballots were sent on time.

When voters started using the official drop-boxes instead of the USPS, then the Trump administration attacked that as well. Obstacles were created to prevent voters from casting their votes. Republicans put up fake ballot dropboxes for instance. There was a case of a fire in an official dropbox.  The dropboxes had to be protected; voters sometimes waited near a dropbox they used to insure the ballots were picked up properly.

From get go, the Trump administration has been trying to suppress votes. There has been voter intimidation as well, with caravans of his supporters blocking Biden rallies or voters.

Despite the fact that numerous Republicans endorse Biden, citing how dangerous Trump is, half this country still look up to him.

There are many other disturbing things that have occurred. Trump’s incompetent handling of Covid is a major matter of course. He has tried to suppress correct information about Covid cases and deaths. He has attacked Fauci and other scientists. He has politicized the use of face mask. He has maligned doctors saying they inflate the number of Covid cases for financial gain.

He made changes in the administration of Voice of America so that it’s now Trump-ran and is Voice of Trump at this point. He issued a new executive order that would strip civil service protections from career federal workforce and making them vulnerable to being fired at will.

The shenanigans of Trump and his administration are endless and the goal seems to be to install him as a dictator just like Marcos, except the leader of the US is more powerful and potentially more dangerous who affects the whole world. Trump has destroyed alliances with Euro leaders, while cozying up to autocrats.

And let’s not forget that he won in 2016 because of Russian help, and that he is very cozy to Putin, inviting numerous Russians to his inauguration, meeting Russian officers in the Oval Office, meeting with Putin without American interpreters, talking to Putin on the phone, and so on.

We – more than 50 percent of this country – saw these and more and we voted. We strategically planned to secure our votes, by voting early, but using the official ballot dropboxes if we felt the USPS was going to be unreliable. Americans in other countries mailed in their ballots. Many of us tracked our ballots to insure these were received. In short, we used the only power we have left to speak our voice about the direction and leadership of this country by voting.

Those votes are precious. America holds those ballots sacred. The right to vote is sacred.

When Trump and his followers scream, “Stop counting votes” --- this is an attack on Democracy itself.

He and his followers are like “grass cut down which will wither” (to quote Psalms 37:2), but the noise they make is like the gnashing of teeth. However, do not be alarmed by their lawsuits and intimidations. The democratic process is unfolding. It will take time but Democracy in America will triumph. Putin’s puppet Donald Trump will be ousted.

There is another thing that bothers me though, and that is the fact that a system that supports autocratic rule has been set up by the Republicans primarily and welcomed by 50 percent of this country. I ask myself, if not Trump, who next will they support?

Please continue to pray for this country.

Cecilia

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Tags: #election2020 #voteblue #votetosavedemocracy