I had wanted to get my Trojan SMERSH novel out in time for the 2024 US presidential election. But, as it turns out, its release will more likely coincide with the second inauguration of Donald Trump – whose attempts to steal the 2020 election through a violent insurrection were the backdrop to my novel.
The 2024 election has been called. At the time of my writing: Kamala Harris received only 226 electoral votes with 74,237,656 votes being counted; versus Trump’s 312 electoral votes with 76,838,984 having voted for him. For direct comparison, in 2020: Joe Biden received 81,283,501 votes, earning him 306 electoral votes; whereas Trump received only 74,223,975 votes and 232 electoral votes.
This demonstrates that Trump’s popularity hasn’t improved much in the four years since he lost the 2020 election. The exact same people who voted for Trump in 2020 most likely voted again in 2024. What made the difference was that the Democrats apparently squandered their popularity. Personally, I cite Biden and Harris’ stance on Gaza as the key reason their popularity fell (critics call him Genocide Joe for a reason!). About 7,000,000 people who voted for Biden in 2020 didn’t vote for Harris this time around, exactly how many of them either didn’t vote or voted third party is unknown. Whatever the case, it seems the Democrats’ popularity drop was enough to put Trump’s minority of followers in the majority, just enough to push him over the finish line.
Like my fictional super spy protagonist, Sid Tanner, I am of the belief that idiots should not be allowed to vote. You wouldn’t trust an idiot behind the controls of a spacecraft. Why would you trust them to make responsible decisions in deciding who should run a country? Especially when one of the candidates is not even trying to hide their ambitions to become a dictator!?
The 2016 and 2024 US Presidential elections are vindication of my belief. The two-party voting system has always been a choice of evils. But these are your options: a genocidist[1] who got the country out of a deadly pandemic[2], restored American economy[3],[4], and whose policy put great emphasis on climate action[5]; or a genocidist[6],[7],[8] and science denier[9],[10],[11] who has a history of inciting domestic terrorism and racial violence[12],[13],[14],[15], has the blood of over 400,000 Americans on his hands as a direct result of his mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic[16], and has openly stated that he wants to be a ‘dictator on day one.’[17],[18] Trump and his allies have literally outlined his path to totalitarianism in Project 2025 and Agenda47. And he put his desire for dictatorship on full display when his refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 election culminated in the domestic terrorist insurrection against the US Capitol on January 6. His only other reason to run for President was to stay out of jail.
Now in light of Trump winning the 2024 election, I have purchased physical copies of the January 6 Report. I already downloaded the pdf and much of its supporting documentation off the official US Government Information website.[19] I also purchased physical copies of the Mueller Investigation into Russia’s Interference with the 2016 election,[20] again I already had downloaded a digital copy of it. To the best of my knowledge, the report Lost, Not Stolen has not yet had a physical release.[21] Readers are strongly encouraged to get copies of these reports and learn the truth of what happened during and building up to the 2016 election and the January 6 Insurrection. These investigations, together with such books as Woodward and Costa’s Peril[22] and Jonathon Karl’s Betrayal[23], were my bibles that I followed in writing my Trojan SMERSH.
Why would I purchase physical copies of reports that are downloadable for free? The answer is simple: under the second Trump administration, I am genuinely fearful that these reports will disappear. Depending on the given circumstance: Trump has repeatedly and dubiously called these investigations ‘Witch Hunts’[24],[25]; and other times claimed the January 6 Committee deleted any evidence that exonerated him.[26],[27],[28] Nothing could be further than the truth. The January 6 Report and its supporting documentation has always been readily available on the US Government Information website since it was published. Trump is simply incapable of taking responsibility for his own misconduct.
His absurd accusation is very concerning. Trump and his propagandists tend to attribute their own foibles to their opponents. Or as Brian Taylor Cohan often put it, every accusation by the GOP is a confession. So, it would not surprise me if once sworn back into the White House, that Donald Trump would try to have the January 6, Mueller, and even the Lost, Not Stolen reports deleted.
Don’t think these the rantings and ravings of an alarmist: Trump has a history of deleting government data and reports. In his first year in office, Trump went out of his way to have decades worth of climate science excised from government websites. Including those of NASA and the EPA.[29]
The January 6 report does offer the House and Senate the opportunity to avoid the tyranny of Trump 2.0. The following excerpt is directly lifted from the report’s list of recommendations:
4. Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3.
Under Section 3 of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, an individual who previously took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, but who has “engaged in an insurrection” against the same, or given “aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution” can be disqualified from holding future federal or state office. The Select Committee has referred Donald Trump and others for possible prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 2383, including for assisting and providing aid and comfort to an insurrection. The Committee also notes that Donald J. Trump was impeached by a majority of the House of Representatives for Incitement of an Insurrection, and there were 57 votes in the Senate for his conviction. Congressional committees of jurisdiction should consider creating a formal mechanism for evaluating whether to bar those individuals identified in this Report under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from holding future federal or state office. The Committee believes that those who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and then, on January 6th, engaged in insurrection can appropriately be disqualified and barred from holding government office—whether federal or state, civilian or military—absent at least two-thirds of Congress acting to remove the disability pursuant to Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Committee notes that Ms. Wasserman Schultz and Mr. Raskin have introduced H. Con. Res. 93 to declare the January 6 assault an insurrection and H.R. 7906 to establish specific procedures and standards for disqualification under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment in the United States district court for the District of Columbia.
The time has come for all remaining members of the Congress and the Senate, who are not spineless sycophants to this dictator-wannabe, to take a stand against the fascism about to befall their country. Come January 6th 2025, all members of Congress and the Senate are constitutionally required to object to the counting of electoral college votes for Trump on the grounds that he violated Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Such objections can be upheld: the GOP barely holds majority in both houses by half. And based on the backlash that some GOP congresspeople and senators have had over Trump’s picks for cabinet officials, it is fair to say that the GOP houses are split between the spineless sycophants to Trump and those still loyal to the constitution. Thus, it is clear that Trump’s disqualification won’t be overturned by two-third majority vote.
If the Senate and Congresspeople do not disqualify Trump under the fourteenth amendment then, come January 20th 2025, the US Constitution will effectively be worthless toilet paper.
[1] Ali Harb (2024) “Biden’s legacy is Gaza genocide, Palestinian rights advocates say”, Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/22/bidens-legacy-is-gaza-genocide-palestinian-rights-advocates-say
[2] Our World In Data (2024) “Weekly confirmed COVID-19 deaths – USA”, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weekly-covid-deaths?tab=chart&country=~USA
[3] Steven Greenhouse (2024) “Trump wants you to believe that the US economy is doing terribly. It’s untrue”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/30/trump-biden-harris-us-economy
[4] Jack Horton (2024) “Is US economy better or worse now than under Trump?”, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xl5vnlzpwo
[5] Dan Lashof (2024) “Tracking Progress: Climate Action Under the Biden Administration”, World Resources Institute, https://www.wri.org/insights/biden-administration-tracking-climate-action-progress
[6] Andrew Mitrovica (2024) “On genocide, Trump will be no different from Biden”, Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/19/on-genocide-trump-will-be-no-different-from-biden
[7] Maram Humaid, Mat Nashed (2024) “Trump to worsen our plight: Palestinian, Lebanese victims of Israel’s wars”, Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/7/trumps-return-to-white-house-worries-lebanese-palestinian-civilians
[8] Zeteo (2024) “Trump Isn’t Anti-War. It’s Time to Debunk This Dangerous Myth.”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNnjqsAbYoU
[9] Matt McGrath (2020) “Climate change: US formally withdraws from Paris agreement”, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54797743
[10] Jonathan Lemire, Aamer Madhani, Will Weissert, Ellen Knickmeyer (2020) “Trump ignores climate science in California wildfires briefing”, PBS News, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-speaks-in-briefing-on-california-wildfires-that-have-killed-more-than-20-people
[11] Oliver Milman, Ajit Niranjan (2024) “‘A wrecking ball’: experts warn Trump’s win sets back global climate action” The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/trump-climate-change-environment-threat
[12] Mike Levine (2020) “’No Blame?’ ABC News finds 54 cases invoking ‘Trump’ in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults.”, ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame-abc-news-finds-17-cases-invoking-trump/story?id=58912889
[13] Paul Barry (2020) “Protest USA”, ABC – Australia, Media Watch, Ep 18 – 08/06/2020, https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/protests/12333338
[14] Samer Shehata (2020) “Trump is inciting domestic terrorism”, Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/10/trump-is-inciting-domestic-terrorism
[15] Mark Hollman (2021) “How Trump Unleashed a Domestic Terrorism Movement—And What Experts Say Must Be Done to Defeat It”, Mother Jones, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/02/trump-stochastic-terrorism-us-capitol-mob-incitement/
[16] ABC News – Australia (2024) “US coronavirus death toll tops 400,000 during Donald Trump’s final hours in office”, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-20/coronavirus-united-states-records-400000-covid-19-deaths/13071960
[17] WSJ News (2023) “Trump Says He Won’t Be a Dictator ‘Except for Day One’ if Re-Elected | WSJ News” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQkrWL7YuGk
[18] Jared Mondschein (2024) “Trump has vowed to be a ‘dictator’ on day one. With this day now coming, what exactly will he do?”, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/trump-has-vowed-to-be-a-dictator-on-day-one-with-this-day-now-coming-what-exactly-will-he-do-243049
[19] January 6th Committee (2022) “Final Report of the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol”, https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/january-6th-committee-final-report?path=/gpo/January%206th%20Committee%20Final%20Report%20and%20Supporting%20Materials%20Collection/Supporting%20Materials%20-%20Select%20Committee%20Hearing%20Videos/%7B%22pageSize%22%3A%2250%22%2C%22offset%22%3A%220%22%7D
[20] Robert S. Mueller III (2019) “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election”, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-SCREPORT-MUELLER/
[21] John Danforth, Benjamin Ginsberg, Thomas B. Griffith, David Hoppe, J. Michael Luttig, Michael W. McConnell, Theodore B. Olson, Gordon H. Smith (2022) “Lost, Not Stolen: A Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election”, https://lostnotstolen.org/
[22] Bob Woodward, Robert Costa (2021) “Peril: Trump, Biden and a Nation on the Brink”, Simon & Schuster
[23] Jonathon Karl (2021) “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show”, Dutton
[24] David Smith (2022) “‘A one-sided witch-hunt’: angry Trump lashes out at January 6 hearings”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/17/donald-trump-january-6-hearings-witch-hunt
[25] Hyemin Han (2023) “Debunking Trump’s Witch Hunt Theory”, Lawfare, https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/debunking-trump-s-witch-hunt-theory
[26] Robert Fairly (2023) “Trump’s Dubious Claim About ‘Hidden’ Tweets Exonerating Him for Jan. 6 Capitol Attack”, FactCheck.org, https://www.factcheck.org/2023/02/trumps-dubious-claim-about-hidden-tweets-exonerating-him-for-jan-6-capitol-attack/
[27] Joedy McCreary (2023) “No evidence January 6 committee destroyed records, contrary to online claims | Fact check”, USAToday, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/08/21/no-congressman-did-not-say-j6-panel-destroyed-records-fact-check/70620164007/
[28] Glenn Kessley (2024) “Trump says Liz Cheney deleted evidence of Jan. 6 troops. There isn’t any.” The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/03/trump-says-liz-cheney-deleted-evidence-jan-6-troops-there-isnt-any/
[29] Oliver Milman, Sam Morris (2017) “Trump is deleting climate change, one site at a time”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/14/donald-trump-climate-change-mentions-government-websites