Thursday and we’re roll-in’ — roll-in’ — roll-lin’ on the river.
The jury is still out on our presidential election. Joe Biden and the progressive media have dubbed him “president-elect” even though the count continues, vote margins are razor thin, and there are several court challenges alleging election fraud in several swing states that will decide the election.
Biden the Irritable called Trump’s refusal to concede the election “an embarrassment, quite frankly.” He and his team also complained that they have not been given the funding and access to agencies that the General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for.
But the GSA Administrator is in lockstep with Trump, who appointed her.
By law, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, a Trump administration appointee, holds an important though rarely discussed role: It’s up to her to sign the paperwork handing over millions of dollars and access to office space and equipment to begin the latter stages of the transition.
In essence, it serves as the federal government’s formal acknowledgement of a winner in the presidential race.
But so far, Murphy isn’t budging.
On Sunday, the agency said her position hasn’t changed and that she cannot yet ascertain the winner of the presidential race.
Good for her. She may eventually have to hand over the keys to the place, but for now we need to wait and see.
I’ve been thinking about some things that I will grieve if Sleepy Joe does get those keys. I will be genuinely disappointed in several missed opportunities, but especially these three:
- Progress in the Middle East. President Trump has produced astonishing results that have escaped the abilities of previous administrations. The Abraham Accords, signed by The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan, were the first Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in more than 25 years. That will likely fade if Trump leaves office. Joe Biden is beholden to the radical Left of his party. Members of “The Squad” like AOC, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib will call for disengaging with Israel. Biden may also return to the laissez faire approach with Iran under the Obama administration.
- Reduction of Illegal Immigration. President Trump made good on his promise to build a wall along our southern border, and nearly 400 miles have been completed since he took office. In addition, his administration implemented the Remain in Mexico policy that requires asylum claimants to stay in Mexico until their hearing date. Those two policies have reduced illegal immigration significantly.
The reduction of illegal immigration also helped drive up employment numbers for African Americans—the group most hurt by illegal immigration.
By contrast, a Biden-Harris administration would reverse all of President Trump’s immigration executive actions. That means that we would again see nearly a million or more people from third-world nations crash our borders each year. As the Trump White House says, “Illegal immigration hurts everyone. It empowers criminals, bankrolls human smugglers, and fuels transnational gangs. It costs both legal immigrants and U.S. citizens a shot at the American Dream. It endangers law enforcement officers, makes our communities less stable, and puts law-abiding workers and businesses at a disadvantage.” - Energy Independence. While the U.S. was already on the road to being a net exporter of oil, under the Trump administration we have broken our dependence on Middle East oil.
“A rise in shale oil production over the last decade catapulted the U.S. into the top spot for global oil production in 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration. America produced 18% of the world’s oil last year, compared with Saudi Arabia’s 12%, Russia’s 11% and Canada’s 5%.”
Under a Biden-Harris administration, fracking and coal mining would be banned, leading to greater dependence on oil imports and higher gas prices at the pump until Unicorn farts are made combustible.
The election was about two different visions of America and our place in the world. If it were only up to me, I’d much prefer an extension of Trump’s administration. Biden isn’t yet president, but if he does become our next chief executive, I expect to find myself often contemplating what could have been.
[Photo by Meghan Holmes on Unsplash]