An Inconvenient Truth – The American Presidential Process Matters

The 2020 presidential election is not over yet. There are multiple legal challenges and recounts pending in key states and under a long-standing legal process those events must play out before a winner is officially declared.

I know, roughly half the nation does not want to hear that, but it is the truth.

We have been down this road before. Twenty years ago, a young television reporter stood outside the Vice President’s residence in Washington, D.C. for more than 30 days keeping viewers up to date on the occupant’s challenge to the vote count in Florida. Vice President Al Gore was granted more than a month to contest that vote. His fight went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I remember this because that reporter was me. Day after day protestors gathered outside V.P. Gore’s residence shouting, “Get out of Cheney’s house!” But it was not to be until the process had played out. In the end, Gore lost his challenge, and the nation watched an orderly exchange of power as George W. Bush became our 43rd president on January 20th, 2001.

Photo from the White House Museum collection
Residence of the U.S. Vice President at the Naval Observatory

So why has the media prematurely declared this election to be over when not one state has certified its vote? Why have they elevated Joe Biden to the White House before the process has been completed? Answer: because they can. And because they never learn a lesson.

Back in 2000, all the major television networks jumped the gun, cited erroneous exit polls, and declared Florida had chosen Gore for president. As the evening’s count went on the networks were forced to retract their pronouncement and give the race to Bush. As more votes came in overnight the media, with egg firmly planted on its face, had to concede the race was just too close to call.

Today, we add in the undeniable proof that the media’s presidential polling is often wildly incorrect and is it any wonder the public’s trust in media is at rock bottom?

Gore's first major address since he conceded the 2000 Presidential Election. It was very moving.
Date	25 July 2002, 13:42
Source	Al Gore
Author	Sam Felder from Menlo Park, USA
Al Gore, 2000, At First Speech After His Concession – Wikimedia

Look, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. may very well become our next president. But to borrow a popular trope: laws matter. The process matters. #AmericaMatters. At this writing the General Services Administration, the agency that facilitates the transfer of presidential power, says it will not initiate funding for such a transition until a clear winner is named “based on the process laid out in the U.S. Constitution.”

In this time of growing citizen cynicism, we need to know our election procedures can be trusted. What if overwhelming voter fraud is uncovered? What if a swing state’s recount reveals a different outcome? Simply wiping more egg off the media’s face isn’t going to heal the nation’s divisive wounds, in fact, it will deepen them.

No matter who ultimately occupies the White House next year citizens have to find a way to come together, to mend the national fabric that has been so badly frayed by political polemics, racial disparity, street violence (cloaked as legitimate protest) and the pandemic’s toll on our economy and peace of mind. We cannot continue to go on as we have.

My favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, has been quoted as warning that “A house divided against itself cannot stand” and “If we falter and lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” There is dispute about whether those quotes were accurately recorded but it’s clear Lincoln warned the nation about the lasting effects its deep division over slavery might produce. Today, we are similarly divided.

President Lincoln – From the WhiteHouse.gov collection

It is time to realize that utopia does not exist here on earth. It is time to stop believing the government can solve all our problems. It is time for each citizen to make it a mission to heal person-to-person divisions the best way they know how. It is time for everyone to work their fair share and not expect they automatically deserve special treatment.

No, this country is not perfect. But every day, in small towns and big cities nationwide, citizens work to make it a better, more just society. This country is worth working toward a more perfect union and while the battle for clarity over this last election goes on each of us needs to be patient and let the process work itself out.

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31 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:23 am

    Kevin McKeown writes:

    Diane:
    “So why has the media prematurely declared this election to be over?” (quoting DD) Because it’s totally in bed with the Liberals, the progressives the Socialists/communists and the Democratic Party. There’s no other reason.
    The divide between conservatives and liberals has completely destroyed my family and has by and large removed me from all of my friends, except for two or three. And I’m a fairly middle-of-the-road Democrat. But I’ve been called disgusting, despicable, an idiot, a moron and a spithead by these liberals. Just because I believe the Green New Deal is not going to work. Because I don’t believe in late-term abortions. Because I don’t want to defund the police. because I believe in the Second Amendment. Because I hate unions, especially the teacher’s union. Because I’m spiritual and by & large, religious.
    If I find out that someone is a liberal, a progressive, a socialist, or a Democrat I’m walking the other way. That person is to be cut out of my life because they treated me so poorly. Goodbye and good riddance.
    I firmly believe now that the country has to break up into two different types of America: liberal America and conservative America and I don’t want to have anything to do with liberal America. Let them do the crazy stuff that they want to do. Just go away socialists please. I don’t like you and you don’t like me. And we’ll all be happy.

    Kevin McKeown

    • Vince Hilsen on November 20, 2020 at 10:06 pm

      Liberty & Freedom is not granted it takes sacrifice Over 300,000 died in WW 2, over 40,000 in Korea and 58,000 in Vietnam. This is the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. They did not have a voice in this election as a American speak for them. Look at our flag the red is for the blood witch was spilled for our Freedom. I listen to there voices they are ashamed of what they see. So fight for our America in words and in your actions. Vietnam vet 67&68 combat wounded. (purple heart)

  2. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:24 am

    Glenn ANDERSON writes:

    Well said. Until we prove “dominion” and the other software programs ( Hammer) and Pelosi husbands-owned voting machines did not effect the results…there will be no peace. We can not let our election processes be subverted and we need to regain the trust in our system. The mainstream media flouts this search for truth and are obviously complicit with less than an honorable intent.

  3. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:25 am

    Catherine Snyder writes:

    In your most recent piece in the Albuquerque Journal you state “No matter who ultimately occupies the White House next year, citizens have to find a new way to come together, to amend the national fabric that has been so badly frayed by political polemics, racial disparity, street violence (cloaked as legitimate protest) and the pandemics toll on our economy and peace of mind. We cannot continue to go on as we have.”

    I actually laughed out loud when I read that.

    Do you REALLY think if Donald J. Trump remains president of the United States of American that there even a remote chance of that occurring?

    He was divisive before becoming the president. A tiger never changes its stripes.
    In his case his rhetoric, vitriol, lies and divisiveness will only continue if he remains the president.

    Catherine Snyder, Ph.D.

    • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:26 am

      Diane replies to Catherine:

      Let me ask you – Do you REALLY think the 70+ million Americans who did NOT vote for Joe Biden will be happy with him as president? Probably not. Thus, my conclusion – we have to figure out a way to have a more civil society.

      To many republican minds Vice President Biden was not fit for the job – either because of his past record or his mental stamina.

      I repeat. We cannot keep going on the divisive way we are now. Sorry if you find that laughable.

    • Joe keiper on November 27, 2020 at 7:17 pm

      A tiger never changes it’s stripes and neither does a communist.

  4. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:29 am

    Michael Baron writes:

    You noted in an “Inconvenient truth: Presidential process matters,” that “In the end, Gore lost his challenge….” to have his recount in Florida continue, thanks to ONE VOTE in the SCOTUS. By a 5-4 partisan vote, the recount in Florida was prevented from continuing. Did you have a problem with *that* preemptive attack on the recount?

    Best,

    Michael Baron, PhD
    Therapy Services

    • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:29 am

      Diane replies to Michael:

      Nope. The process went all the way through – from beginning to end….and under our long standing system it worked.

      It may not have been the outcome you and/or I wanted but at least the electorate got to see that the presidential election process matters – and a winner should not be declared before it is completed. See, I believe it is NOT the media that gets to declare the winner. It’s each state’s certification system and then the electoral college.

    • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:29 am

      Michael replies to Diane:

      I am amazed at the speed and care with which you replied. Thank you. It was okay, then in 2000, for SCOTUS to stop the recount, but it’s a good thing in 2020 to proceed with a recount? Okay.

      Michael Baron, PhD
      Therapy Services

    • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:30 am

      Diane replies to Michael:

      You are missing a major point. In the year 2000 the US Supreme Court was the last stop in the process. The decision of the high court was the final word.

      This time around we haven’t gotten to that step in the process yet. You can’t compare apples and oranges or the solution to the election situation in 2000 to the election situation now in 2020….because they are at different stages in the process.

  5. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:30 am

    KEVIN B PARK writes:

    Hi Diane,

    I read through the paper your article appeared in, and you were literally the only one who said anything about actually waiting on the results of the election. The media has christened Biden as president. Nobody in the legacy media is saying or acting like any other truth possibly exists! I think they have indeed learned from their past, and they are building on that knowledge every single day. They are in the business of influence, not reporting or investigating. This is leading to what? It feels like authoritarianism. They, the media and big tech too, are trying to quiet our voices. Why? What are they trying to do? Where is this leading. The media is supposed to play a crucial role in a democracy. The have abandoned that role. Personally, I am fearful.

  6. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:32 am

    Robert Tepper writes:

    Ms. Dimond:

    Just a note to say how much I do and have enjoyed your Op-Ed columns in the Albuquerque Journal over the years. Usually your thoughts match mine and reflect intelligent logic, which I appreciate. I often cut them out, scan them and send them on to my friends who are outside the Journal’s reach nationwide. This latest, “An Inconvenient Truth….”makes perfect sense especially the last two paragraphs…

    Thank you and keep writing!

    Robert Tepper
    Albuquerque Resident

  7. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:35 am

    Whitney Buchanan writes:

    You are technically correct, the public should wait for all legal challenges to be resolved before a winner is declared. The difference between then and now is that there was a legitimate dispute at that time; today’s dispute is one based on a lot of wishful thinking and little to no evidence.

    Maybe that’s why half the country is annoyed?
    Four years of sound and fury, signifying nothing, has grown tiresome.

  8. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:36 am

    Michael Fay writes:

    Dear Diane:

    You’re saying Trump shouldn’t concede.

    I guess that means that Hillary Clinton should NOT have conceded on Nov 9, 2016, and instead she should have waited for the certification of all 50 secretaries of state?
    Or, the vote of the Electoral College? (Remember, her losing margin in the Electoral College is the same as Trump’s; and she won
    the popular vote by over 3,000,000 votes.)

    Al Gore lost ONE state by 597 votes. Trump lost FOUR swing states by 10,000 votes EACH. He needs to flip three of them (Pennsylvania, Georgia, and either Wisconsin or Arizona).
    Given that recounts rarely change results, and never by such large margins, all experts agree that Trump has NO chance of winning.
    And all of his election-related lawsuits are having essentially NO effect, with many being instantly thrown out.

    I “trust the process”. I can read the numbers, the lawsuits, and the analysis. I know Biden won, fair and square. Leading Republicans know this, too (but only Mitt Romney will say it).
    For the good of the country, Trump should concede.
    For the good of his ego, he won’t, and not only that, he will falsely claim the election was stolen, thereby encouraging millions of Americans to distrust our democracy.

    The net effect: most Trump supporters will not “trust the process” in the future. The very opposite of what you’re asking us all to do.

    – Mike Fay
    Santa Barbara, CA

    PS: If a candidate ever says “I might not accept the results if I lose”, I won’t vote for that candidate.

    • JOHN DOMINICIS on November 21, 2020 at 6:25 pm

      I READ YOUR COMMENTS BUT DISSAGREE THE ELECTION WAS FIXED, I VOTED AND WHEN MY BALLOT WAS PRINTED ALL PEOPLE I VOTED WERE THERE BUT NO TRUMP I LIVE IN PA I ACUSED THEM OF RUNNING A SCAM ELECTION, THEY GOT ME A BLANK TO VOTE AGAIN. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIDNT LOOK AT THERE BALLOT AND CAST A BLANKI

  9. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:37 am

    Wallace Miller writes:

    Ms. Dimond

    Your many points in subject opinion piece are well taken. And incidentally, the “process” conveniently allows Mr.Trump’s apologists (if the shoe fits..) time to develop exit plans of their own.

    But most importantly, this transitional period seems to beg that we honor our Founding Fathers. For it is their wisdom that will ultimately prevent an individual – deemed by millions of voters to be unfit to serve as President of the United States – from serving more than a four-year term.

    Wallace Miller
    Albuquerque NM

  10. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:41 am

    Mark Snell writes:

    Ms. Dimond:

    I liked your column calling for Americans to let the vote recounts to play out before calling the Presidential election. I would add the following in support of those sentiments:

    · Whether one is a Republican, Independent, or Democrat like I am, one has got to admit that the sight of apparently comfortable Trump leads in the early vote counts on the evening of November 3rd that subsequently evaporated over time as mail-in (as opposed to absentee) ballots were counted looked suspiciously like fraud, especially because many of the Biden victories ended up being so narrow. One does not have to be a paranoid President Trump to worry about this. I suspect that this situation was honestly not anticipated by the Democrats because they felt that Biden would get a landslide based on the polls.

    · However he may try, a future President Joe Biden will be unable to unite us if the tens of millions of Trump supporters believe that he is not legitimately President and that he could care less about their concerns. As they say, “full stop.” This can and should be a defining moment for his presumed Presidency where the apparent President-elect Biden takes the high ground and tell his supporters – and the media – to listen to arguments like yours and to “let the vote count play out” as you put it. If Vice President Biden is not aware of this opportunity right now there may be some value in bringing it to his attention and then for Americans, especially those voters in Georgia, to see how he responds.

    If the President is still unsatisfied after votes are recounted there are options that don’t require taking the case to the Supreme Court and would seem to be more satisfying than letting the outcome rest with 9 people. My suggestions to run repeats of elections in those States where the President’s campaign is still not satisfied after recounts. The sun will not go nova and the moon will not leave its orbit if we decide to conduct the equivalent of a run-off election in those States just to satisfy lingering concerns. A centrist Democrat like myself would just say to the rest of the Party, “It looks like, in retrospect, that mass mail-in balloting turned out to be a failed science experiment since too many early Trump leads turned into narrow Biden wins . Who knew?”

    And there is probably little need for a complete State runoff anyway in those particular States. During a “pandemic” run-off, we might exempt the people who voted in person or by standard absentee ballot. Voting might also be limited to certain key districts that seem suspicious to Republicans. In some cases, Republicans might be satisfied with taking random samples of voters who are then called in to validate their ballots.

    One of the reasons for mail-in balloting, a concern about COVID-19 transmission at the voting place, has been shown, I believe, to be completely unfounded. This could have been justified on purely scientific grounds before this election just based on the observation that voting in person was no more dangerous than going to the supermarket a few times (which means that only people who have avoided doing the latter at all since April should be avoiding the voting booth due to science-based safety concerns). I would suspect these “avoiders” who are justifiably still afraid would probably be a very small fraction of voters so they could probably be accommodated by instructing them to vote a second time, this time using standard absentee ballots.

    The flip side of holding partial or complete run-offs, though, is that the President will have to cooperate with the Biden transition team in the meantime, just to make sure that if it turns out that Biden has won there is still time for a smooth transition. I especially think of the hand-off of the COVID-19 response: there needs to be enough time available to make sure that the Biden COVID-19 task force can hit the ground running. The issue here is not that the two task forces need to agree on policy, which most certainly they do not; the concern is that important things will fall through the cracks during a rushed, chaotic transition.

    I would also point out the following: because the Georgia Democratic voters in the upcoming Senate races tend to be more centrist – only about 10 per cent voted for Bernie Sanders after all – this is an opportunity for the President to propose things in the meantime that are more centrist; it would seem like there might even be enough time to pass them into law before this Congress concludes. In particular, Speaker Pelosi may be put into a bind if she tries to impede widely popular measures. One good example is the President pushing a stimulus package that is closer to Speaker Pelosi’s but is stripped of some of the more questionable components (like the Democratic version not exempting businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits). Another might be to offer a DACA agreement (which is widely popular) if the Democrats pledge to finish Trump’s wall and to keep it maintained until after the 2022 election. If that type of agreement is not good enough for the Democrats, the President could propose $1-$2 be included in a stimulus package for non-citizens for every dollar spent on completing and maintaining “his” wall. My thought is why not finish the @*%$$ thing and get one divisive issue out of the way?

    Everyone talks about there being a need for actual healing and I think that the failed impeachment of President Trump is one such national wound that could use some attending to. So here are two legislative proposals in that direction:

    · Pass a law requiring that future Presidential impeachments must be based on violation of an actual law and proof supporting that violation will have to be included in any articles of impeachment sent to the Senate for them to judge during the subsequent trial; and

    · Pass a law outlining a more bipartisan approach to how the House impeachment hearings and subsequent Senate trial will be conducted than we saw this time.

    Note that such laws are a good idea to pass right now anyway because we can’t predict whether it will be a Democratic or Republican President who will face impeachment next. Who knows, it might be a President Biden in 2023 if something really divisive happens and if the Republicans take back the House and keep the Senate (although I sincerely hope that does not happen!).

    On the Democratic side, I think it is only fair to demand that Democratic leaders, including Joe Biden, craft a specific law naming what they thought justified impeachment of President Trump so as to prevent “it,” whatever “it,” is in the future. If his “high crimes and misdemeanors” were important enough to justify impeachment they should be important enough to name and outlaw. And something vague like “obstruction” is too vague and too much in the eye of the “impeacher” to be sufficient.

    Finally, one slightly off the wall thought: As a Democrat I think it would be a good idea to suggest to Georgia Democrats that they repurpose the Ossoff/Perdue runoff election as a referendum on their/my Party by deciding to vote or to abstain. We already know that Jon Ossoff would probably get about 2.4-2.5 million votes during a run-off so we have a baseline, so to speak. Why not suggest to Georgia Democratic voters that they stay home and don’t vote if they want to send a message to the AOC and the Bernie-Sanders crowd that want to defund the police, etc., to “please sit down and shut up” about pushing their agenda? Then 1 million Georgia Democrats deserting poles might send a strong signal to pull the Democratic “Overton Window” closer to the center. I have to believe that will help President Biden be his own man. And such a Democratic loss, limited to one seat in just 2020, will also make sure that Chuck Schumer does not take over the Senate.

    Truth be told, the country could have been far down the road towards true bipartisan policing reform if the Justice Democrat crowd had not hijacked the media discussions this summer with mindless drivel about how the police are racist and that they need to be defunded. Even if this was true, which I sincerely doubt is the case, our communities have already seen too many of their police quit, and these would most probably be the better, “less racist” ones who can more easily find other jobs.

    Perhaps you can speak to some of these ideas in a future column.

    Mark Snell

  11. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:42 am

    Claudia Black writes:

    Please stop pushing the narrative that this election is like the 2000 election. George Bush not only lost the popular vote, but only won the electoral college vote with 271 votes. He won the state of Florida by 537 votes. That was a close election. The margins in this year’s election are greater than in 2016 when by this time, Clinton had conceded and Obama had started the transition process. Multiple states and tens of thousands of votes would have to change for the outcome of this election to change. This election is not a close one. To say that the outcome remains in doubt, damages the stability of our election process and our democracy. I expect more from responsible journalists

    Claudia Black.

    • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:46 am

      Diane replies to Claudia:

      I maintain the process has not yet played itself out. THAT was the thesis of the column.

      And 271 electoral votes is good enough for a win. Period. It is the established process.

      • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:47 am

        Claudia replies to Diane :

        The process has played out. Delaying the transition is dangerous.

        • Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:47 am

          Diane replies to Claudia:

          So what your saying is that recounts are available only to democratic presidential contenders like Al Gore in the year 2000? The process can take time to be worked through ofor him – – but not for a member of an opposing party?

          To say that the process is over is just denying reality. As I said in the column it’s pretty clear Biden is going to be the next president but to shut your eyes and say there’s nothing left to do here
          Does real damage to the public’s faith in the electoral process.

          And as an aside, what do you propose we do with the hundreds of voters whose sworn affidavit are now on file as saying they either didn’t vote or feel their vote was not counted? What do we do with questions about vote counting software that appears to be potentially faulty? Do we ignore the Post Office worker who swears ballots were backdated? And please don’t tell me he recanted because he didn’t. Do we ignore the Post Office worker who swears ballots were backdated? And please don’t tell me he recanted because he didn’t.

          Do we just ignore all these flaws in the system because, “oh well no election is perfect” or do we ever take time to stop and try to improve the system? If you agree with the latter when does that begin? Only when a Democrat wants a recount?

          It is clear we are of 2 different minds so I am going to leave this here .

  12. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:52 am

    Bonnie writes:

    I like this article…reading it reinforces my faith. It will go as it will go, and we will be given strength to endure all that comes, if we can put our trust in God.

  13. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:53 am

    Linda Rodriguez writes:

    Interesting article and would totally like to support unity, however, naivete about promoting and masking unity in order to seize power over others is not my appetite. The unity game is so evident in the fraud shoved in one’s face in this election. It’s such a serious red flag and confirmation of the sheep in wolf’s clothing cliche… it takes two sides to come together for one common cause (freedom) in order for unity to be successful. Obviously what’s been demonstrated is one side wants to seize freedoms and one sides want to maintain freedoms… hmmmm, just how does unity occur there?

  14. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:53 am

    mitchell hernandez writes:

    it takes two parties to come together…….we only have the one who are willing

  15. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:54 am

    SandyM writes:

    There will be no unity in America for a long long time. Patriots and Trump supporters have watched our president work tirelessly to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic. We’ve also seen and heard the left vilify and disrespect him in unimaginable ways in a seditious attempt to disqualify him as president. He won fair and square in 2016. Biden may win thanks to Dems concerted effort to stuff the ballot box with tainted votes. He truly would be an illegitimate president. For this, I cannot forgive or forget.

  16. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:56 am

    cloudedtitles writes:

    When one realizes that another has done something to negatively influence the truth, the former loses trust in the latter. If truth can’t be told, we have no country. We are living a big lie and those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

  17. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:58 am

    hmdtm13 writes:

    This lamenting article fails to recognize that there is an attempted coup happening here. Only one side here is working hard to remain a Republic of United States. And, God willing, if justice and truth prevail, President Trump will be re-elected to a nightmare of having to rid our streets and our government and our media of their overwhelming corrupt power that has created and weaponized division in their relentless goal of destroying our Country. Unity to them, is getting rid of Trump and America as we know it. If their coup is successful and Biden is installed, the definition of unity will be the rest of us forced into submission to exist under their new form of marxist government. There is no “coming together” in a takeover. And, there is no such thing as a “just society” under marxist government. This country and our God-given freedoms are worth fighting for, and Lincoln would be the first to tell you that.

  18. Diane Dimond on November 16, 2020 at 9:59 am

    Pat Iwata writes:

    I think this article is a good reminder that there is good and bad behaviors on both sides. We all have heard that power courpts and our Republic has had its share of leaders who have led us down a wrong path for awhile. But the amazing thing about the U.S.A. and it’s citizens is that we have always stop short of selling out our country over a popularity contest.
    Let the recounts and investigations continue. Calling this election fake before hand, however, is selling out USA to the world.

  19. Diane Dimond on November 23, 2020 at 10:54 am

    Patrick Russo writes:

    Dear Ms. Dimond,

    I want to ask why you did not cover the topic of the presidential election process in a more complete manner?

    When Trump won in 2016, he was declared the winner by the major networks before midnight EST. The votes had not been certified nor the electoral votes cast, of course. He won. Good job. There was discussion of Russian interference later on but he had been the winner for months. Now, with the same apparent electoral vote count against him than he had won by, there is a great problem the he sees. Also, he lost in 2020 by almost 6M popular votes in comparison to the 3M votes he lost by in 2016. Both were significant margins.

    The Trump minions have not come up with one shred of evidence concerning fraud in the 2020 election and have lost more than 31 court cases. They have went to court repeatedly on fraud charges but have not brought any evidence before the judges. The idiocy of this attack has brought the US to Banana Republic status on the world stage. Trump has basically hid in the White House pouting since election, except for a couple of rounds of golf, while the country is being ravaged by Covid-19. This is a real pandemic and will not just disappear as he predicted.

    I agree that any impropriety in any election should be investigated thoroughly but making stuff up by Rudy and a motley crew of Trump attorneys will not allow us to shine on the world stage. Also calling Michigan elected officials to the White House today to speak about “who knows what” is highly irregular and possibly on the border of election interference. Many Trump supporters think this man can do no wrong. He can and has.

    I wish that in your article you would have made at least a feeble attempt to put the confusion initiated by a poor loser into the perspective of recent elections. These actions by the Trump Administration can hinder the transition by the Biden Administration. When Trump won, the transition was smooth via Obama and his Administration. It really was too much to expect of a man who is driven by an infinite ego. He will go down as a ink blot in US history, a sad four years for the US.

    • Diane Dimond on November 23, 2020 at 11:04 am

      Diane replies to Mr. Russo:

      I write a weekly crime and justice column that is limited to 700 words, Mr. Russo. The word count limitation necessarily limits the “angles” I can add to any one column.

      In the column you are referring to I wrote from the perspective of the duly constituted judicial process – a process that has long been in place and was, more recently, used by democratic candidate Al Gore when he challenged the vote count in 2000 in Florida.

      My primary point was that in 2020 the process had not yet run its course. I alluded to the month long challenge of democrat Gore and suggested fair play should be to given to republican Trump. Period.

      In the end, if the voter fraud claims of President Trump’s representatives bear no fruit then so be it. The process was legally used and the outcome legally settled.

      All citizens should be glad that in the United States we have such processes to decide major questions – and that they work. Getting ourselves all worked up into a lather during the time it takes for the process to work itself out does no one any good. As I wrote – Patience.

      Diane Dimond

  20. Paul Chivington on December 29, 2020 at 11:09 am

    You must be disappointed in your editor for your Nov 16th column. He/she didn’t catch the grammatical error in “ I remember this because that reporter was (me)”.
    Use of the verb ‘to be’ requires the nominative case.

    So, I remember this because that reporter was I.
    Better yet, “ I remember because I was that reporter”.

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