Remember the famous chants by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) in public meetings that started immediately after Donald Trump’s inauguration? It started in something of a benign fashion, but it took off. Now you’ll see small rallies of her supporters screaming at the top of their lungs, “Impeach 45! Impeach 45! Impeach 45!”
Obviously, Trump is the 45th President of the United States. But Ms. Waters’ chants “Impeach 45” are not really what Democrats are angry about. Certainly, they want him gone. But the “Impeach 45” chant had nothing to do with Donald Trump as president. It solely relates to the number “77.”
What’s the significance of the number “77?”
77: The Perfect Number
Let’s eliminate what is NOT the number 77:
- 77 is not the number of people in the House of Representatives — 435
- 77 is not the number of people in the U.S. Senate — 100
- 77 is not the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices — 9
- 77 is not Donald Trump’s age when he was elected — 70 (pretty close!)
- 77 is not the number of voters in the electoral college — 538
- 77 is not the U.S. interstate highway through Washington (I-95) or Manhattan — I-78 (pretty close!)
- 77 is not the number of Democrat Party 2020 Candidates — a couple of dozen or so
- 77 is not the number of golf courses Donald Trump’s company owns — 16
- 77 is not the number of hotels Donald Trump’s company owns — 11
We could go on and on with this. There are many things that are NOT related to number 77 and Donald Trump. To our knowledge, there is only one number 77 that pertains to Candidate Trump/President Trump.
What is it?
77 was the margin of victory in the electoral college by which Donald J. Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential election over Hillary Clinton: 304 to 227. (Note: Not all members of the electoral college voted for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton: 3 were cast for Colin Powell, 1 for “Faith Spotted Owl,” and 3 for Bernie Sanders)
What’s the big deal?
The answer to that is quite simple: though there are 44 previously elected presidents who won their elections by a larger electoral college tally than did Donald Trump, there is no more historically surprising presidential election electoral college result than that of Mr. Trump. And it set the world on fire — at least all those who voted the other way. But it’s the votes of those 77 that launched a hate-demonstration that began immediately after the election and continues to this day some 2 1/2 years later. Those 77 voters (in the minds of Democrats) attacked the very fiber of the Nation by voting against Hillary Clinton. Those 77 obviously did not understand the historical purpose of the 2016 election. What part of the Nation’s fabric was attacked by those 77? In the minds of Democrats is the automatic right for Ms. Clinton to carry-on with the processes, some that were public, some that were secret — of President Barack Obama during his eight years at the top of the U.S. Government. Apparently, those 77 plus their counterparts who voted the same way felt differently than did Democrats.
But isn’t that what democratic elections are supposed to be about? The angst of Democrats for the choice of those 77 should be levied against all 304 who voted against Hillary Clinton (and for Bernie Sanders, Colin Powell, and “Faith Spotted Owl”) if you support that line of reason. But the will of the people has no necessarily direct relation to any political party — unless the majority of those people feel that party’s specific way. And their preference constitutionally always carries the day. That is as it should be.
If we somehow change that process, so will the process put in place by our forefathers that they carefully and meticulously crafted to lash out against the exact mob-rule control held in Europe that today’s Democrats support: “the majority rules.” To embrace that is to denigrate, de-humanize, and deprive voters in the minority of even having any constitutional election rights. To embrace that negates the substance of our foundation pillar — that of a Constitutional Representative Republic.
Americans chose the latter and overwhelmingly still do.
I remember watching with my parents on a black and white television the results of the Nixon-J.F.K. election. I remember that the election went the way my parents did not feel was the right way. But instead of adopting today’s presidential candidate’s followers reactions, my parents, their friends that felt the same way along with millions of other Americans gave not a single thought to lashing out at the winner, the process, the Constitution, or the Rule of Law. More than the results of any presidential election, they were committed to our country, its laws, its political processes, its Congress, and its president regardless of party affiliation. My parents both wept as we watched John John Kennedy stand stoically in a stiff salute to the flag-draped coffin holding his father as it rolled by on its way to Arlington Cemetery. That day, that year, that decade, the only thing that mattered about John F. Kennedy to Americans was that he was assassinated. That was wrong — everyone, regardless of party, thought that assassination was wrong. Differ from his policies, many did. But he was still our President. And to all those millions of American patriots who chose another candidate, that’s all that mattered to them, too.
So what’s happened? Compared to all the elements surrounding JFK’s 1960 election victory over Republican Richard Nixon, today’s elections and all the hoopla associated with them are equal to the bombing and aftermath of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. There’s no civility. There’s no reasoning. In debates, the overriding objective of every candidate is to destroy their opponents in front of cameras beaming into 200+ million American homes. It’s seldom about policy positions and applicable facts surrounding those positions. Personal attacks and even non-stop attempts to with “political narrative” that is seldom truthful but always demonstrative and loud, denigrate each opponent in ways that scare to death half of all Americans looking-in. Politicians have either lost the ability to make themselves look and sound a better choice for voters based on policies and instead just make sure every voter knows for certain their opponents are the scum of the Earth.
Summary
What did our founding fathers feel about the vitriolic demeanor they felt would sneak into the politics of America? Why did they feel it would do that? It’s because they fought it then and felt we should now:
“If we do not learn to sacrifice small differences of opinion, we can never act together. Every man cannot have his way in all things. If his own opinion prevails at some times, he should acquiesce on seeing that of others preponderate at other times. Without this mutual disposition, we are disjointed individuals but not a society.”
~ Thomas Jefferson, 23 July 1801
“The spirit of party opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.“
~ George Washington, Farewell Address, 19 September 1796.
- “We must indeed hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall hang separately.” Ben Franklin, 4 July 1996
- ”Clean your finger before pointing it at others.” Ben Franklin
- “Love your enemies, for they tell you your fault.” Ben Franklin
I know, I know: I’m holding out hope for impossibilities in this regard. But what I am absolutely certain of is if Congress does not find ways to bridge differences and work together for the specific needs of all Americans, our nation is doomed to the eventual fate predicted by Thomas Jefferson. And that is that democracies typically fall apart after about 200 years. His was a prediction based on history. Based on that history, the U.S. is about 55 years into borrowed time.
Could this be the beginning of the end? It could be, but it certainly does not have to be. If it is to be Armageddon for America, it will be because of the choice of the American majority to allow it.
Some who are partners of TruthNewsNetwork remember when I predicted before Donald Trump formally declared his bid for president that if he ran, he would win. I did not say that because I’m a partisan Republican hack or that I despised Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or, for that matter, anyone. First, I am not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m a registered voter not tied to either party. For those of you in Rush Limbaugh’s fairytale city of Rio Linda, California, that means I’m a registered Independent. My prediction was not politically based nor was it politically motivated. I’m an entrepreneur, a longtime company owner of a company I founded in 1992, an employer of many people serving many clients, some large, some small. I have 27 years of working with people — fellow Americans — who come from every walk of life. I’m a lifelong Christian who believes in honesty, integrity, communicating peacefully whenever possible, and caring for the needs of others even when those needs do not align with my perspectives on life and may believe others’ needs may be largely because of their own poor decisions. I honestly felt at the time that Donald Trump was and is that kind of person — well maybe minus several of the above traits I wish he had. But, you know what? When I made that prediction, I did not think that I needed (or even could) vote for Jesus Christ: He wasn’t in the race! Donald Trump was the next best choice for me because I felt and still feel he puts the needs and welfare of his fellow Americans above the two most important things all American politicians need to copy: their personal selves and their personal political ideologies.
In living life every day, politics is really just a small piece of the puzzle that they have to align in their lives each day. And only politicians and political hacks have the luxury of being able to think politics is more than that.
A quick note in closing: Tomorrow — Saturday — you will see our Bullet Points for this week so those of you who are interested in the behind-the-scenes of the most important stories of the week that you may have missed, you can get them in short-form. Sunday, we’ll be right back in the saddle with Ukraine-Gate, Impeachment Gate, and Pelosi-Schiff Gate. Don’t miss any of it!
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