Rebane's Ruminations

Trump is Inaugurated

George Rebane

Long wait, but Trump was finally inaugurated. Most of the country, including the Rebanes, celebrated. There were scattered demonstrations by leftwing socialists and shills protesting the election and calling President Trump a “fascist”. The leftwing media (I watched CNN and MSNBC) saw no hypocrisy in their version of what happened yesterday. Only that an evil has descended on the land. They live in a different universe to which there is no bridge from here to there.

[The following was generated by MS Copilot as a test from a few simple phrases that I input.  Thoughts?]

As we embark on this new chapter, it is imperative that we focus on the future and the opportunities that lie ahead. Our nation stands at a crossroads, and it is our collective responsibility to work together towards a brighter and more prosperous tomorrow. We must prioritize policies that foster economic growth, strengthen our national security, and promote unity among our citizens.

Let us channel our energies into constructive dialogue and collaboration, setting aside divisiveness to build a stronger, more resilient nation. Our commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy and freedom will guide us as we strive to achieve the aspirations of all Americans. The challenges may be great, but with determination and unity, we can overcome them and ensure a legacy of progress and hope for future generations.

Scattershots – 30dec24 (updated 3jan25)

George Rebane

Yes, Jimmy Carter was a nice and decent man, but he didn’t cut it as our President.  What no one is pointing out in the media is that President Carter took us to the very brink of WW3.  At the time (1977-80) this precarious situation was a highly classified assessment within our military and intelligence agencies.  Since then, the passage of time and the collapse of the USSR have allowed historians to tell us the albeit little read story, and the media have suppressed it as yesterday’s news and its anti-Left message.  As a member of the DoD’s classified research sector, I was constantly made aware of the goings on behind the Iron Curtain that gave obvious evidence of the Red Army’s preparation to come through the Fulda Gap.  Brezhnev told the Politburo that all the signs advised a ‘now-or-never’ opportunity for global communism – a war-weary US, greatly diminished post-Vietnam defense budgets, depleted US military stores, economy in shambles, low morale in the ranks, and a weak-willed President.  Add that to the USSR coming to the end of the line in its ability to keep funding their outsized military, and it was easy to conclude that the time had come to go to Paris.  Then in 1980 along came Reagan who immediately, and against the advice of the Pentagon, invited the Soviet command staff with their experts to visit the US and take a detailed tour of our R&D and defense plants across the country.  As I have described elsewhere, they were blown away and went back to report that the correct decision was ‘never’ – the US had ample military stores left, and had and was building advanced combat systems (many of which were operational) at historical rates with Reagan’s greatly enlarged defense budgets.  As a response, enter Gorbachev with his glasnost and perestroika, and the rest is history.  Now for the last four years and for the same reasons we’ve had that putz Putin dreaming of those glory days and doing all he can to start moving west again.

Dateline Washington – President-elect Donald Trump endorsed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) for another term, working to tamp down rumblings from some Republicans that the party should seek an alternative leader over complaints about spending.  “Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement.”

From his mouth to God’s ear, let it be so – onward!

[Update 31dec24] And now a Happy 2025 wish for all of the RR readers and commenter crew.  Jo Ann and I wish that you and your families enjoy a healthy, productive, and bountiful new year.

[2jan25 update]  PG&E sends out tree trimming crews to my neighborhood at least once a month.  They’re always a different contractor hired by the utility, and they always find yet another overhanging branch to trim or even cut down a tree.  For the last 20 years they have never finished the job of securing the power lines on my property.  The practice has all the hallmarks of a corrupt scam that contributes to California’s high electricity bills.  There is nothing to prevent the utility from such gratuitous work assignments all in the name of public safety.  The more of these that can be logged per budget cycle the better as far as the PUC and the utility's lawyers are concerned – subsequent rate increases to cover the costs are easily justified.  Of course, nothing prevents kickback monies flowing between the various levels of bureaucrats and tree contractors – for the system it’s a win-win scam as long as the consumer continues to unquestionably pay the bill.

{3jan25 update] "Mike Johnson Wins Speaker Vote on First Ballot After House Drama" - Gott sei Dank!

Scattershots – 21nov24

George Rebane

Granddaughter Elizabeth has finished her PhD in molecular biology, and after many years of cancer research is now Dr Elizabeth Fernandez and has her dissertation published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications – ‘Integrated molecular and functional characterization of the intrinsic apoptotic machinery identifies therapeutic vulnerabilities in glioma’ (whew!) – for which she was the lead of a formidable team of researchers.  She dedicated her doctoral research toward a cure for glioblastoma multiform, the deadliest brain cancer of which our granddaughter and her cousin Ellen died at the age of 14.  Congratulations Elizabeth!

Cal Currier, the 16-year-old son of a dear friend, sailed solo across the Atlantic from Massachusetts to Portugal in a 30ft boat.  He was amply feted for this record setting accomplishment, especially since earlier this year he first learned to sail for this life-changing adventure that took both courage and a lot technical skills about seamanship and all the different mechanical and electronics equipments on board.  His father spent the weekend with us and casually brought this up when we were updating each other on family doings.  Cal is one of four brothers, all outstanding young men in their own right. (more here)

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy describe how their much publicized DOGE program will work in the 21nov24 WSJ – ‘The DOGE Plan to Reform Government’.  This well written commentary succinctly and clearly summarizes the new Dept of Government Efficiency and is well worth the read to cut through all the noise that has surrounded the announcement of this major Trump administration goal’s means and methods. (more here)

Scattershots – 18oct24 (updated 25oct24)

George Rebane

Sacramento City Council idiots are going to pass “ordinances (that) range from requiring gun liability insurance to a yearly $25 gun harm reduction fee” -  that’s $25/gun/year.  The claimed purpose of these insane ordinances is to “combat senseless gun violence”. However, anyone with a working 3-digit IQ will immediately see that these ordinances can and will do NOTHING to reduce gun violence.  Their real purpose is another step in ratcheting the elimination of Second Amendment rights. (more here)

Leftwing Union columnist George Boardman doesn’t recognize the constant stream of Democrat lies.  Throughout history socialists have always been the dominant liars since the governance they are selling has never worked and only delivered the greatest misery to the greatest number who acceded to travel their road.  Predictably his 15oct24 sacrament (here) on free speech only focused on the Right, claiming that “conservatives are disingenuous when they don the mantle of absolute free speech by viewing lies and falsehoods as just part of the exchange of ideas. It is hard to take seriously people who celebrate media personalities who sell falsehoods as a triumph of free speech, a true debasement of the idea.  (piling more on Loomer)  We got a taste of that in a statement issued by our local Republicans eager to hear Loomer’s viewpoints. 'We look forward to hearing about her struggle to defend her First Amendment rights.' This from a party whose leader can’t resist telling one lie after another.”  Boardman is a steadfast loyal water carrier for all those on our political left. 

‘Kamala Harris is an Idiot’ writes Charles Cooke (here) in the 14oct24 National Review in a blisteringly on-the-mark summary of her public career, and he correctly concludes that everything she has attempted has shown her to be “wildly, catastrophically, incontestably out of her depth.”  In spite of that, lamestream “reporters have struggled mightily to find kind ways of describing Harris’s ineluctable inability to convey anything comprehensible, complex, or concrete.”

Our leftwing neighbors continue stealing Trump yard signs.  This year is no different than all the previous years that we have lived in Nevada County.  Our conservative friends living in different parts of the western county consistently report that their Republican election signs disappear very quickly after being displayed.  A simple tour through our community will demonstrate that somehow Democrat promoting signs proliferate suggesting that there are very few or no Republicans living in these parts who promote their candidates during election seasons.

Well-known hedge fund manager and former Democrat Bill Ackman (CEO Pershing Square Management, Chairman of Howard Hughes Corporation) has gone public with an extensive list of reasons for supporting Trump in the coming election (here).  It’s definitely worth a read since Ackman has now become the new target for the progressive commentariat.  An example of this is Yahoo’s Rick Newman who hasn’t a clue as to what forces are really at work in shaping the future of America and the free world.  He demonstrates this for all to see in his 15oct24 ‘What Bill Ackman and other business titans don’t get about politics’ (here).  His other politically naïve businessmen include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen who have come out with their support for Trump.

[25oct24 update] Sounds of Socialists’ Silence.  Here are a couple more items for progressives and socialists to shun from discussing in public.  Did you know that electricity rates in blue states that mandate green policies to fight catastrophic climate change are significantly higher than those in the red states with sane climate policies?  (more here)  And are you aware that DOJ is pushing DEI, especially the ‘equity’ part, to make sure that our police and fire departments will be filled with people who cannot pass either the qualifying IQ tests, physical ability tests, or both?  Yep, double dummies and weaklings can now bypass these tests and be hired so as to keep the departments’ African-American and female ratios up to snuff.  Anybody from the Left care to offer a cogent comment on these? (more here)

Place your Trump/Harris bets

George Rebane – 28aug24

Suppose parties A, favoring Trump, and B, favoring Harris want to bet on the election.  And to add spice to the affair, suppose A has made known his assessed probability P_A that Trump will win, but all that B has done so far is to assure everyone that Harris has the election in the bag.  However, B has yet to reveal his assessed probability P_B that Harris will win.  How can such a bet be negotiated so that B’s real belief in Harris’ victory becomes known.  Perhaps, we can let money do the talking, and see where that takes us.

Let’s say after some dickering, A and B agree in principle that the cash bet should result in the expected winnings of both parties be equal – what could be more fair than that?  As usual, both parties calculate their expected winnings by multiplying their cash payoffs by their belief (probability) of their candidate’s victory.  But no matter whether both use their probabilities or not, the dollar amounts of the bet are agreed on – A bets C_A that B will win with Kamala’s victory, and B bets C_B that A will win with Trump’s victory.  The relative sizes of the amounts reflect the odds of the bet.  So in principle the bet reflects the equality of expected payoffs for each party.

                                    For party A:                P_AC_B = (1 – P_A)C_A

                                    For party B:                P_BC_A = (1 – P_B)C_B

From these two relations we can immediately estimate each party’s belief probability.

To obtain the resulting odds of the bet we solve for the ratio, say, C_A/C_B from each party’s perspective.

Suppose now that A has already declared his belief at P_A = 0.2, indicating that Trump will probably not win.  Substituting this in the above equation calculates the minimum odds A will accept at C_A/C_B = 0.2/(1-0.2) = 1/4.  So A should be willing to accept any bet where C_A ≤ 4C_B. 

Since it is clear from B’s ample display of TDS in which he claims that Trump will surely lose, we can safely assume that P_B > P_A = 0.2.  So let’s say that the bet amounts were negotiated to be C_A = $100 and C_B  = $500.  This most certainly satisfies A’s required odds, and yields the pro forma estimate of P_B ≥ 500/(500+100) = 0.833.  From this we can conclude that B’s odds calculate to C_A/C_B = (1-0.833)/0.833 = 1/5, and that he will most likely not accept C_B > 5C_A.  The negotiated amounts satisfy all these conditions, so it appears that we have a satisfactory bet and in the process have ferreted out that B’s belief in Kamala’s victory is at most 5/6 since he will not give A better odds than 5:1.  Now go forth and wager prudently.

Kamala’s Terrifying Speech

George Rebane

Kamala Harris’ speech at last night’s Democrat convention was terrifying in its unusually professional delivery and its absolutely vapid content.  That lady has surely learned to read a teleprompter.  But the scariest impact of her acceptance speech were the early returns of enthusiasm with which it was accepted by voters outside the convention center.

“The Vice President spoke with authority and admirable brevity (for) 37 minutes. … Kamala Harris introduced herself to the American public on Thursday, and her presentation was much like this week’s Democratic convention: well delivered, confident and optimistic, and mostly devoid of policy substance. Whether she can keep this up, unexplained and unexposed, for the next 12 weeks will determine whether she becomes America’s 47th President.”  This according to the 23aug24 WSJ (here).

But the real problem will be Trump and the Republican response between now and November.  Thomas Sowell’s warning is worth attending.  In his tempest fugit column (here) he admonishes “Republicans better get on the ball.  They haven’t made the case against Harris, (and) the clock is ticking.”

Instead of responding with “political jargon or snappy quips” wrapped in insults, the rebuttals should be a la Reagan, timely and in plain English.  “There are some Republicans today who seem to understand that. But they are not running in this year’s presidential election. Perhaps they may run in 2028. But there is such a thing as a country declining to the point of no return.  Four more years of disastrous Biden-Harris policies, at home and abroad, can take us past that fatal point.”

Bottom line, as they anticipated the 2022 ‘red wave’, the Republicans should never again underestimate the share of our fellow Americans who will swallow hook, line, and sinker the Democrats’ socialist swill.  Donald Trump does not once more need to demonstrate how he can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Trump’s November Chances – 11aug24 update

George Rebane

This is a lament.  From his statements and recent – post Tim Walz – behavior it looks to me that Donald Trump has really gone off the rails and is headed for a massive defeat in November.  As the record of these pages confirms and given the available choices, I have been a qualified Trump supporter ever since he became the Republican nominee in 2016.  During the entire time I have been chagrined at his tendency for bombast, bravura, and exaggeration, especially when on the campaign trail.

Today, when finally presented with an ideal pair of very vulnerable opponents, and eight years of experience under his belt in how his off-track shooting from the lip has been received, he still pays no mind to the harm he does to himself and the Republican party by continuing on the same path.  And he is doing it proudly as he has declared to his audiences that he has no intention of changing his gratuitous personal attacks on anyone that happens to cross his mind while on the podium.

So now the country’s conservatives, capitalists, and small government devotees have to suffer through daily doses of free leftwing talking points served up to the lamestream media by Trump.  Their news stories and commentaries almost write themselves from the copy spouted by our former president.  Instead of focusing on the rich trove of Democrats’ lies and policy screw-ups from the Obama and Biden/Harris administrations, Trump continues to be the petulant third grader on the playground focusing on lurid descriptions of his opponents’ real and imagined personal shortcomings.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of his campaign is that he has no strong adult advisors in his inner circle who can tell him daily when he needs zip his lip.  It’s hard for me to believe he doesn’t have a cadre or even a small clutch of such people in his inner circle.  But it is clear that he is flying blind without the aid of such critical navigators.  Were such people to exist, we would by now have seen them resigning one-by-one as Trump continued to ignore their counsel.

Given this ongoing travail, my own assessment of his probability of winning in November started with a paltry 0.45 and eked up to 0.48 (here) after the assassination attempt.  But taking into account what has happened since, my belief in his chances for regaining the White House has plummeted to 0.22, or a bit more than one in five.  This new assessment accurately represents the dour mood that the Trump campaign has me in.

Trumps November Chances – 25jul24 update

George Rebane

The Lip from the Hip has done it again.  With his 18jul24 convention acceptance speech he took a cinched November win and threw it back into a campaign maelstrom welcomed only by Kamala Harris and the Dems (and Putin and Xi).  My own immediate reaction to his convention performance was posted here, and since then literally every left and right commentator has agreed that Trump blew it.

Trump’s self-declared return to a barroom brawl mode of campaigning has put his road to the White House back in play, even with the likes of an unaccomplished opponent and grifter like Kamala as his opponent.  WSJ’s Dan Henninger summarizes her chances in today’s paper (here).

With a flawed candidate like Trump already problematic when he was running against Bumblebrain, on 15 June I did a little work in extracting my own assessment of Trump’s probability of winning in November (described here).  The result (0.45) was not promising.  Given all that has happened since – assassination attempt, enthusiastic Republican convention, reversion to rambling stump speeches, … - I redid my probability assessment, hoping against hope for a better outcome.  The resulting probability came in at slightly north of 0.48, not much of an improvement when considering the woulda/coulda/shouldas.

Given her documented far left ideology and promised public policy initiatives a Kamala Harris presidency would be cataclysmic for our republic.  And Trump’s loose cannon tactics promise to make the interval to November a real nailbiter.  Is there no one on his team of advisors with the courage and gravitas who can tell him to stuff a sock in it and give acting presidential a try?

Trump’s Speech – Barely a Base Hit

George Rebane

We were all hoping after surviving the assassination attempt that former President Trump would hit it out of the park.  That was not to be.  His keynote speech accepting the nomination at last night’s Republican convention came in lackluster, long, and lame.  There was a noteworthy part at the beginning where he described last Saturday’s events, praised his Secret Service detail, remembered the fallen fireman and wounded, and thanked the Lord.  From there on I thought he was going to walk instead of eking out what charitably could be described as a base hit.  As he droned on, freely departing from the script, you could hear him stray out of his appointed lane and attack Biden by name, decry once more the 2020 election, and continue circling the barn and its various outhouses reprising the slings and arrows he has suffered over the last eight years.  In short, it was the best speech the Democrats could have hoped for.  November cannot arrive too soon.  Given the months remaining, my fear is that his mouth will again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Assassin’s Bullet Grazes Former President Trump

George Rebane

‘Political violence has no place in America’ was professed by tens of media mavens and history-light politicians immediately after Republican candidate Donald Trump almost bought the farm in Butler, Pennsylvania this afternoon.  Bumblebrain even went on the air to state that such an act was “unprecedented” and “totally unacceptable” in American history.  Au contraire.

Trump survived the event and was defiant with his fist in the air as he was rushed off the podium and into his waiting SUV.  Two rally visitors were not so lucky – one was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire between the assassin and the Secret Service, and another attendee was wounded and is in serious condition.  The assassin was brought down quickly by pre-positioned counter-sniper fire.

But to be clear about the historical precedents – violence is a long and well-established practice on the country’s political scene.  The number of successful assassinations over the centuries are many, and the number of thwarted attempts are countless.  This is not unusual in relatively free countries where people have access to firearms and other weapons, and is a price we pay for having the Second Amendment.  In tightly controlled autocracies where people are kept unarmed, assassinations still occur at a good clip, but it is the tyrant and his thugs who do the killing of undesirable political opponents, uncooperative journalists, and recalcitrant intellectuals.

Tonight most of America is thankful that President Trump escaped with his life.  Many of us have had trepidations over the last years about his open campaigning style which has continued to invite such attempts on his life, attempts that are nigh well impossible to guard against.  (In this incident the ‘secured boundary’ from beyond which the assassin fired was less than 200 yards from the podium.)  We will learn more about all this in the coming days.  But I venture to say that Trump’s chances for returning to the Oval Office increased significantly tonight.  Thank God he’s OK, and long may he wave.

The 27jun24 Presidential Debate

George Rebane

Tonight on CNN we had a trainwreck unsuccessfully disguised as a presidential debate.  The Democrats will never allow Joe Biden to debate Donald Trump again.  And on the off chance that they will, Trump will refuse to participate on humanitarian grounds.  In the interval, Kamala Harris please call your office, there are some people there who want to talk to you. (more here)

Trump’s November Chances

George Rebane

Oi Weh!  Like everyone else, I’ve been keeping a beady eye on the Trump and Biden campaigns for this November’s election.  And supporting Trump vs Biden, I’ve been rooting for every sign that the Lip from the Hip is making the gains that show up in the polls.  But then there are the legions upon legions of double dummies out there who don’t have a clue about Bumblebrain with his overarching incompetence and evil intentions for America.

In any case, I finally decided to formally calculate my own current belief (probability) that the former president will reoccupy the White House next January.  The queasy feeling in my stomach was explained away when the answer came back just north of 0.45 – Trump is still the definite underdog.

The process used to correctly compute one’s subjective probability is based on the individual’s Risk Tolerance Function generated from his formal expression of monetary utility that is basic to decision theory.  Once extracted (a separate process), the RTF is then used in a sequence of accepting/rejecting reference gambles under systematically modified payoff odds until convergence at the so-called indifference point which then yields the sought-after measure of belief/probability.  The process does not appeal to pre-judgement of any probabilities, just the contingent based decisions to accept/reject bets (that the target event comes/is true) for significant dollar amounts within the decider’s personal financial spectrum and his current net worth.  The process named ASPE stands for Automated & Secure Probability Elicitation.

Anyway, the 0.45 number does not make me feel good, and I sincerely hope that new information and results develop during the summer, that upon recalculation, will push my belief significantly above 0.50.

America's Dystopia has Dawned

Dystopia has dawned – Trump convicted on all counts.  The greatest American travesty has happened in my lifetime.  I have seen my country slide from its heights of glory to the now confirmed beginning of its dark age from which recovery to its former self is unlikely.  With evil and corruption now firmly ensconced in our government, it is doubtful that my children will ever again witness America in its full promise as the shining city on a hill. (more here and here)

Scattershots – 26may24 (updated 29may24)

George Rebane

Gracian (#261) speaks to Bumblebrain – Do not persist in folly.  Some make a duty of failure and having started down the wrong road, think it a badge of character to continue; they accuse themselves of error before the bar of their inner selves but before the bar of the outer world they excuse themselves, to the end that if at the start of their unwisdom they were marked imprudent, in its prosecution they are marked fools; neither rash promise, nor wrong resolve lays obligation upon any man; and yet some will on this account continue in their sulkiness, and carry on in their contrariness, wishing to be known as constant in their idiocies.

Reasonable fear of Islam.  If Islamophobia is the “unreasonable fear” of Islam, then what is the term for a reasonable fear of Islam?  I am among those who identify with such a reasonable fear the evidence for which abounds as proclaimed by both Muslim intellectuals and the Muslim street.  As an example, consider the opening comment to the 7may24 Sandbox (here).

[29may24 update]  The New York judicial system is rotten to the core as demonstrated by the Trump hush money trial judge’s instructions to the jury.  He never told them what was the specific crime that Trump was supposed to have committed when his financial records showed the $130K payment to Cohen as a ‘legal expense’ (which it was).  Instead he invited each juror to come to their own conclusion on whatever crime suited each the best, and the court would still accept that as a ‘unanimous’ judgement.  So now the precedent is set that New York (and other?) juries can be exhorted to convict the defendant on whatever crime each juror would gin up – no agreement or cohesive thought needed.  That’s one way to  avoid hung juries and nail whoever the trial judge does not like.

The Sins of Trump

George Rebane

2024 will be a tumultuous year that will tax all of our ‘goodwill toward men’.  The world is full of wars, incipient wars, and hot spots.  In America we and much of the rest of the world will be focused on our November national election.  And embedded in the run-up to that election will be the indictments and trials of former President Trump and the impeachment and scandals of the Biden administration.  RR commenters of all stripes have circled the ‘sins of Trump’ barn innumerable times over the last couple of years.  Here, for the record, I want to enter my own take on Trump’s sins.

The Latitude of Constitutional Free Speech

George Rebane

With the upcoming Trump trials it’s time to take a more focused look at how his indictments for exercising ‘unconstitutional speech’ are holding up in the land of the First Amendment and free speech.  As a starting point I’ll take a leftwing reader’s comment in the most recent Sandbox.

*****

George

Do you have the right to free speech to spread information you know is a lie or not verifiable when it is your official duty to deal with the truth? That's what Trump is accused of. Also can you note your sources that cite that Pence has the Constitutional right to pause the election certification and if so for how long. Also does that mean that Trump would remain President until the whole matter is sorted out? Also how would the other members of the Executive branch have to deal with it, for example cabinet members and Presidential appointments. Has this ever happened before?

Links supporting your contention would be helpful.

Posted by: Paul Emery | 13 August 2023 at 06:44 PM

*****

First Amendment of the US Constitution – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (more here and here)

As can be seen from his subsequent Sandbox exchange with other readers, Mr Emery continues to have a problem with staying on the topic he raises in the above comment.

Do you have the right to free speech to spread information you know is a lie or not verifiable when it is your official duty to deal with the truth? That's what Trump is accused of.   The short answer is YES since the Constitution is silent on such a question.  And we must remember that politicians have the same rights to exercise free speech as those enjoyed by non-politicians, especially when both are claiming to express and communicate their beliefs.

Also can you note your sources that cite that Pence has the Constitutional right to pause the election certification and if so for how long.

This question exhibits a misunderstanding of our Constitution which is not intended to be a document of permissions granted by the state.  If the Constitution is silent on some matter or issue, then it cannot be appealed to resolve the matter by any third party inserting their gratuitous interpretation (see Pence's letter below).  In the electoral vote certification matter, the Constitution is only clear in requiring the Senate, chaired by the VP, to examine and count the submitted electoral votes, and certify them if they found to be legitimate.  It prescribes no time frame nor process that the VP must undertake to become convinced one way or another about the legitimacy of what he has at hand.  Therefore, he is free to follow his own counsel on how to proceed toward a certified electoral vote.

Also does that mean that Trump would remain President until the whole matter is sorted out?  Also how would the other members of the Executive branch have to deal with it, for example cabinet members and Presidential appointments. Has this ever happened before?

Again, since the Constitution is silent on such a contingency, one can presume the sitting government remains in place and functional until a new in legally accepted – in this case, until the presiding VP makes up his mind on how to resolve the matter.  Here we see that Pence acted totally within his several Constitutional prerogatives in accepting the electoral vote as it was presented.  VP Pence stated in a letter (here and here) that he does not have the unilateral authority to reject the electoral votes presented to him.  That is an erroneous interpretation of the First Amendment.

This situation regarding the electoral college and the transfer of power has not happened before in our Republic’s history.  Here is the complete copy of Trump’s fourth indictment issued by a Georgia grand jury.

Trump Derangement Syndrome – 31jan23

George Rebane

Per the suggestion of one of our readers to gather under its own category all things concerning the ongoings of our intrepid former president Donald Trump, at Typepad’s pleasure I am attempting to add the category of ‘All Things Trump’ in an effort to cleanse future RR’s comment streams of the years-long repetitive Trump-related flotsam and jetsam, especially the ongoing drone of TDS comments.  Readers who continue to enjoy such affinities now have a place to go, consume, and contribute to these diatribes.  We’ll try inserting here from time-to-time fresh ‘sandbox like’ TDS entries to this category to maintain currency with the 2024 election’s advent.  So this is your first repository for all-things-Trump comments.

I will do my best to delete Trump-drivel from other comment streams.