Enough with the "Overwhelming Mandate" Already!

In a comment on my Facebook page the other day, my friend Paul asked why everyone was so incensed about the actions being taken by Elon Musk and his DOGE cohort. He wrote,

"I honestly would like to understand why people feel the way they do about Musk. The man was appointed by a duly elected president to perform a duty, not much unlike any one of his cabinet numbers, and he is simply performing a task at the behest of Trump based on the overwhelming mandate, put forth by 77 million Americans." 

I answered Paul at length, and I won't bother you with my entire screed. But there's one element of his comment and my response that bears pushback as often and as loudly as is humanly possible, because it strikes at the heart of what Der Furor's followers fervently believe:

Der Furor Does Not Have an "Overwhelming Mandate"

Der Furor Does Not Have an "Overwhelming Mandate"

Der Furor Does Not Have an "Overwhelming Mandate"

Der Furor Does Not Have an "Overwhelming Mandate"

It's easy to believe in an "overwhelming mandate" when all you hear in the right-wing echo chamber is that "he won the votes of 77 million Americans." 

In fact, he won a bare majority of the popular vote: 77,303,573 (49.8%), as opposed to the 75,019,257 (48.3%) won by Kamala Harris. This is hardly an "overwhelming mandate," although Der Furor and his supporters claim it is. 

They ignore the fact that Der Furor did not win the votes of 75 million Americans ... Kamala Harris did. The difference between the two is 2,284,316 - a winning margin to be sure, but out of a total vote of 152,322,830, hardly an "overwhelming mandate."

Just cut it out.

Accept the fact that almost half of America voted against Der Furor and is appalled by the actions of his administration.

Stop believing in the fiction of the overwhelming mandate.

And maybe, just maybe, we can work on getting our country back and actually fixing its problems, rather than giving a dangerous hobby to a super-rich bomb-thrower who bought himself a presidency.

Have a good day. Stop the real steal. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo