I WANT BETTER CHOICES.

A few days ago, one of the Milwaukee political talkers ventured an hypothesis, something along the lines of "Had Donald Trump simply conceded the 2020 election and made the ceremonial limousine ride with his successor, and then announced a comeback attempt, he might be positioned for a win of Reagan-like proportions today."

We know that didn't happen.  "Donald Trump was his own worst enemy, and his grievance tour in Georgia might have done more for the Jarrett regency than any of the efforts of the soon to be former representative [Liz Cheney], or the establishmentarian squishes of Conservative, Inc."  I maintain that the electorate voted for gridlock in 2020, and Mr Trump's Georgia machinations gave the coot just enough of a governing majority in Congress to give us Malaise 2.0.

To add the ridiculous to the merely disquieting, the Trump amen corner (including the designated successors to Rush Limbaugh, who are nowhere near as interesting) are devoting their airtime to such hypotheticals as "can a president pardon himself for a state offense?"  In a serious world, wouldn't people turn their attention to more effective tribunes for their preferred bundles of policies?  Or there are people drawing parallels between the notorious Florida recount of the 2000 presidential election and whatever Mr Trump was attempting in Georgia.

Enough.

It was wrong for the Gore campaign, with the assistance of Florida's Supreme Court, to keep modifying the standards for evaluating ballots in only a few counties in the hopes of finding some five hundred votes in order to certify a different slate of electors.  The Federal Supreme Court was correct in ruling that recounts had to be conducted according to state standards established before the election.

If that outcome was tragic, what followed in 2020 was farcical.  No challenges by the Trump campaign to election procedure changes done on an emergency basis thanks to the coronavirus shutdowns before the polls open, when such challenges would be proper.  No legal theory of "hanging chads" or any other vote-counting glitches in that 'phone call to Georgia's Secretary of State.

Florida, after 2000, and Georgia, after 2020, changed their election procedures so as to better handle the logistical challenges that arose, and did not rise to the level of fraud (although Florida buying voting equipment from Illinois counties getting rid of their punch cards was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.)

And yet Mr Trump, somehow, is behaving as if the Republican nomination, and the presidency, will be his.  Power Line's John Hinderaker wants none of it.

Democrats are banking on Trump as their lifeline, their only path to victory. So far, their strategy is looking pretty good: indict Trump, make him a martyr, cause Republicans to rally round him, to forget the past, and to overlook the fact that Trump is an egomaniac with no loyalty to the Republican Party or, really, the United States of America.

In my opinion, Trump should neither be elected President of the United States nor go to prison. That doesn’t seem like a stretch: it describes approximately 310 million Americans, including you and me. But in today’s bizarre political climate, the idea that Trump should neither be elected nor prosecuted is apparently a niche perspective. I can’t explain it.

What I do know is that the Democrats are not moral, but they are smart. They are playing an exceptionally weak hand: Joe Biden is senile, obviously incapable of a second term. He won’t be the nominee. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is an inept politician who couldn’t win the general election against anyone except Donald Trump. She can’t get the nomination against serious competition. There is no heir apparent. Gavin Newsom, the most likely choice, has successively presided over the disasters of San Francisco and the State of California. If you are a Democrat, that is a grim picture.

But the Democrats have an ace in the hole: Donald Trump. If they can induce Republicans to nominate Trump, they can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, regardless of who their nominee might be. If the election is a referendum on Trump–as it would be, if he is the nominee–they can’t lose.

It used to be said that God protects fools, drunkards and the United States of America. That has proved true through our history to date. But if Republicans are dumb enough to nominate Trump for the third time, all bets are off. Providence has only so many reprieves to offer.

God Helps Thofe who Help Themfelves.