Local Trumpinistas rally before heading to Washington. Please don't go.

To watch the video of the rally, follow this link. 

by Rod Williams- Those still standing by Trump and who want him to hold on to power no matter what or those who believe Trump won the election and it was stolen from him and want to keep fighting are headed to Washington for a super rally on Wednesday January 6th.  Yesterday about a thousand people gathered for a rally in Franklin to support the President.  

I was not at this rally and will not be taking the bus trip to Washington.  I think it is over.  Trump lost. It is time to move on.  

Wednesday is when Congress meets in a joint session to formally count the votes of the Electoral College.  At 1 p.m. legislators from the House and Senate will gather in the House chamber.  Vice President Mike Pence, as president of the Senate, will be presiding and he will open the sealed certificates submitted by each state and hand them to clerks to read.  Normally this is a pro forma affair.  We already know the outcome and sometimes it is done in as little as 30 minutes.  This time it will take longer.  While the outcome is pretty much certain to be that Joe Biden is elected president, we can expect some drama.

There are expected to be objections from some Republican legislators to accepting the votes of the electoral college from states won by Joe Biden that President Trump claims were rigged elections. Those objections must be presented in writing and there must be an objection from a member of the House and the Senate. If that happens, then the joint session ends, the members go to their respective chambers and vote on the challenged electoral votes. In order for the votes in question to be dismissed, both chambers must vote to reject those votes.  Members can speak on the challenged vote up to five minutes but the total time allotted to deliberate over the challenged vote is two hours.  After the bodies vote, they reconvene in joint session. If this happens with multiple votes, confirming the results of the electoral college could take a long time.  

Meanwhile, thousands of protestors supporting Trump will be in the streets.  I really don't know if thousands of Trump supporters are going to change any votes as Congress counts the electoral votes, but it certainly will add to the drama and make a good visual in future Trump commercials. While none of the Republicans I know are likely to riot or even litter, some in the liberal establishment media are reporting that radical groups like the Proud Boys are planning violence.  I don't know if this is true, but as this fight over the election results have lingered, there has been a radicalization of some Trump loyalist. They are mad. 

I suspect that the Electoral College vote will be confirmed by Congress and Trump supporters will go home disappointed.  That is what I expect to happen.  However, Trump has advisors who are urging him to declare martial law.  I don't think he will do it.  I think Trump's game plan is to create a loyal fan base who feel the election was stolen and who will stick by him and support his effort to recapture the White House in 2024.  Trump has raised vast sums of money off of fighting this "rigged" election and is stockpiling it.  With a lot of PAC money and a loyal mad fan base, he can swamp any primary challenger in 2024 and in the House race of 2022 he can exact revenge on those  Republicans who, in his view, didn't sufficiently fight for him to change the election outcome.

So, while I don't expect Trump to declare martial law, he might.  If he is going to do it, the perfect time would be after Congress votes to confirm the election of Joe Biden and thousands,  maybe hundreds of thousands, of Trump loyalist are filling the Washington Mall. From my reading on Facebook and some new Trumpist media, many Trump supporters would welcome a declaration of martial law.  He would probably combine it with some promise to have a redo of the election soon and promise to then accept the results.  If he made his declaration of martial law and then made an appearance to the crowd, the crowd would go wild showing love for their leader.  It would make a good news visual and would be seen around the world.

I urge anyone reading this to not go to Washington to be a prop for Trump on January 6.  Put loyalty to your country ahead of loyalty to Donald Trump. 

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