Biden's Victory, Election Controversies, and What is to Come

I am completely open to the notion that elements within the US government would seek to subvert the electoral process. They've done it outside US borders on dozens of occasions and so the thought that it could happen here does not even begin to stretch my imagination.

That said, I am unconvinced that this has taken place with regard to the Biden-Trump contest. If Deep State actors had intended this, they would want to make sure the victory was clear-cut – something that didn't happen. In fact this tight and long drawn-out race was in many respects the worse scenario.

Frankly the fact that Trump still garnered over 200 electoral points and seventy million votes is to me a pretty mind-numbing prospect and it tells a lot about the state of American society and the still utter failure and bankruptcy of the Democratic Party.

Biden has no mandate. His victory is rooted in the fact that he's not Donald Trump. That said, given his experience he'll probably be able to work pretty well with the congress. We'll see what happens.

Why the delay in declaring the winner?

There are at least two things to consider.

First of all we've become used to the idea that state election results are declared within a couple of hours of the polls closing but that's not how it works. Using statistical models, exit polls, and cross-checking these with the preliminary ballot counts the news networks are reasonably confident in calling states and they often will within hours of the polls closing.

The actual counting will often go on for days. This is not unusual though the Trump faction has painted this as some kind of farcical ploy meant to steal the election. It did take longer this time as the number of mail-in ballots was greatly increased. There's no doubt that this could all be done a better way (on many fronts) but part of the reform effort needs to come from the news channels – which seemed to grasp this time that they weren't going to be able to safely make the call within a few hours of polls being closed.

The Trump position is prima facie absurd – count the votes that are in our favour and yet stop counting the ones that aren't. The illusion that he was 'leading' in a certain states on Tuesday night was just that – an illusion. It wasn't that 'suddenly' more votes appeared that were in favour of Biden. Rather it's simply that the votes were being counted. Biden voters chose the mail-in option in overwhelming numbers due to Coronavirus fears and frankly the fact that Trump supporters were known to be attempting to suppress votes and intimidate voters by standing around in camouflage with guns. This resulted in a semi-anomaly – a lot of Trump votes were counted first but that doesn't mean that the votes counted later were somehow illegitimate.

Second, I agree with some other commentators that part of the delay in declaring was due to back-room horse-trading and strategizing. There's a fear of public reaction and possible street-violence on the part of Trump supporters. Trump's own actions have proven dangerous and reprehensible and his outrageous Thursday speech caused many to start abandoning his ship. There's a fear of future consequence and of tying one's name and record to his collapsing legacy – as figures like Rudy Giuliani have done.

In addition to discussions and plans along these lines, as mentioned previously Biden has no real mandate and thus there's going to be a price for the Republicans abandoning Trump and working with Biden. They're going to have to answer to an angry Trumpian base and thus concessions will have to be made as there are pending cabinet appointments and the like. I do not doubt there have been many quiet off the record discussions over the past couple of days, proposals, counter-proposals and the like.

Trump may slither away simply because he's been abandoned by his political and media allies. That said, he still has his street and even though he's now politically speaking a lame duck – he can still do a lot of damage.

As far as the Trump movement, especially the paramilitary elements – no one really knows how they're going to react. I suspect there will be some noise and tumult that may be followed by a period of strategizing. The test will come in January or February when Biden (as per Fauci) starts to make moves regarding Covid-19. This is when the phoney 'communist' narrative will return and the various theories regarding 'socialist' takeover will be given some fuel.

And of course we already know that by 2018 we'll hear that Biden is the most liberal president ever, that America is being turned into a socialist nation, and that the 2018 mid-term, let alone the 2024 presidential race will be the most important of our lifetimes. And yet just as with Clinton and Obama, nothing really changes all that much. The dire economic predictions will again prove false. The Libertarian and Right-wing pundits have only proven one thing – that they don't know much about economics because they're always (almost without exception) wrong.

The Church response concerns me. I'm eager to see how this will play out. I recall being appalled by the despair over Obama's election – as if Christians shouldn't have been in despair over the fact that they had hitched their wagons to George W. Bush. I'm sure there will be more warnings about 'socialism' and other nonsense but I sincerely hope Trumpism goes away. I'm afraid that it won't and the reactions to Biden and maybe a 2021 mask mandate will lead to large-scale ecclesiastical schism. The mask is the gospel after all – along with the right to pack a gun, low taxes and decadent consumerism. Such is the state of American Christianity. They have hitched themselves to a man that lies – that lies with abandon. Almost every statement that comes out of his mouth is a lie.

All presidents and political leaders lie but they often do so by means of half-truths, omission, evasion and sometimes obfuscation. They're all liars. That's easy enough to admit – just another reason not to ally with these people or endorse them.

But Trump is a bald-faced, serial, and pathological liar. There is no truth in him. He has no shame and no conscience. Bush and Obama lied but Trump outdoes them exponentially. You cannot believe anything he says and thus when his lies are literally putting the stability of society into danger – the media had enough and started to cut him off. His day is over or at least they hope so. There's no doubt that many would have died from the virus but at this point a quarter of a million people have died and a new wave is well underway. Trump's conduct has been not just negligent but criminal.

What does this say about all the Evangelicals and Christians who have signed on with this man? I find this prospect terrible to contemplate.

He lost the election. I do not support Biden or any of it. I did not vote for any of them. And yet I can say I am glad that Trump has lost. There has been a certain entertainment in beholding elements of the American Establishment watch their labours and dreams dismantled and go up in smoke and yet the overall effect of Trump has been negative.

Wayne Grudem a sub-par theologian and always inept legal and political commentator noted that he didn't see any evidence that Trump's admittedly flawed character has had any negative effect on society. This was part of his 'support the policies' appeal.

Maybe if I was an affluent academic living in my middle-class suburban bubble I would miss it but from my vantage point as one living in Rust-Belt Appalachia (aka Trump Country) I can attest to the fact that there's been a fairly profound cultural shift since his 2015 candidacy. He has unleashed a very ugly side to society, he has given vent to anger and has fueled frustrations and the desire to lash out. Manners and decorum will already in steep decline. Now they seem to have vanished from the scene. The Sons of Belial are running rampant, they have been empowered by Trumpism.

Grudem, Mohler and other Evangelical panderers have told us that character doesn't really matter. We need to support his policies. This is ironic given their rhetoric during the Clinton and Obama years and this new Trumpian line displays their relativism, corruption, and rank hypocrisy.

And yet despite their vile bait-and-switch theological gimmickry, Trump's character shines through his policies – blindingly so. They've simply chosen to focus on a few points and ignore the herd of elephants in the room.

Sure, there are people at work in his circles that operate independently of him and pursue other agendas – things his distracted character can't even focus on. That said, he has set a tone for the country in a way that perhaps no other president has, at least not in several generations.  The term 'toxic' has become cliché' in our society but with Trump it really is apropos.

Because in addition to seeing the Trumpist ethic and ethos in the people around me, I'm also seeing it on display within the Church – and it is a cancer. Unfortunately I doubt it will dissipate. Glenn Beck rose in the aftermath of Obama and well do I remember Rush Limbaugh's rocket-ride to fame in the aftermath of Clinton's election. Opposition to Biden will be in fashion and the mammon-corrupted commentators that have the Evangelical ear will seek to out-do each other in calling out Biden's abominations – and I don't doubt there will be some. But with Trump's abominations (which were abundant) they were silent or rushed to his defense.

Few would dispute the notion that we're at a cultural turning point and as I've repeatedly said because the false teachers have conflated the culture with the Kingdom – like it or not, we as the Church have to reckon with what is happening. Obedient New Testament Christians won't involve themselves in the political process and I am happy to report that I did not vote and yet we cannot ignore what is happening. We are wise to follow the events and understand them because on Sunday morning we're going to hear about them and frankly very little of what I hear is sound, wise or Biblical.