The October Affirmation

Did the October surprise arrive early?

If the classic definition of the October surprise is a news event that could influence the upcoming U.S. election, by my unsophisticated calculations we’ve already experienced myriad “surprises” over 48 months. It’s unlikely something lurks that could dramatically change the voter’s minds.

Does it qualify as an October surprise if the revelations made public were the direct result of legal actions taken by the individual in question?

I’m dubious if the October surprise as it was remembered possesses the ability to alter a candidate’s political fortunes. In 2016, one month before the presidential election, the Access Hollywood video appeared in the public landscape with the current Republican nominee making lewd comments about women.  The Republican nominee, nevertheless, won the election.

For those still wondering why some suggest returning the current Republican presidential nominee to the White House threatens democracy read Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 165-page filing, which Judge Tayna Chutkan recently made public. Smith’s filing reads like the Republican presidential nominee presents an existential threat to American democracy. 

In what would be similar to reelecting Richard Nixon post-Watergate, Smith outlines a case where the former president was willing to circumvent the will of the American people to remain in office. Or as Fox News’ Neil Cavuto reported, the former president “resorted to crime in a bid to cling to power after the 2020 election.”

Given the magnitude of the infractions, this is on a larger scale than the Watergate scandal. It was a haphazardly devised plan, several months in the making, and orchestrated by the Republican presidential nominee.

The report reminds the reader that objectification is the Republican presidential nominee’s coin of the realm. Everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., must be degraded to the status of an object to gain entry into his coalition of enablers.

The Republican presidential nominee’s callousness is on full display.  When informed Vice President Mike Pence’s safety was at issue during the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill, according to the filing, the Republican presidential nominee replied, “So what?”

How can someone be indifferent to the humanity of the vice president, who, by all accounts was loyal to him, be president to all the people if reelected? He can’t.

This type of unimportance placed on human dignity is reserved for despotic leadership.  Smith’s filing shows the Republican presidential nominee to be nothing more than a soulless menagerie of misguided ambition.

I do not believe Smith’s filing will unduly sway voters against the Republican presidential nominee.  Perhaps I’ve been mistaken in classifying him as the existential threat. Maybe that’s a distinction better suited for his legions of supporters.

Regardless of the reason(s) one chooses to support the current Republican presidential nominee, it includes tangential support for public transgressions.

A jury found the Republican presidential nominee liable for defamation and sexual assault against writer E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages and an additional $83.3 million for his subsequent remarks.  His attorneys are currently in appellate court seeking to reduce the nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment. All the while he awaits sentencing, one week after the election for a criminal conviction.

It is impossible to absolve oneself from the reality that voting for the Republican presidential nominee supports the aforementioned, which doesn’t factor in upcoming legal entanglements.  What single issue could be so critical to America’s future that it justifies ignoring what would disqualify any other candidate?

Shouldn’t the Republican presidential nominee’s legal challenges take priority over holding a second job, which happens to be the leader of the free world? The Republican presidential nominee also requires time in his busy schedule to sell his assortment of Bibles, sneakers, watches, and whatever unknown memorabilia opportunity comes his way.

Should this be the person representing the U.S. at the United Nations, NATO, or the G7?

Smith’s filing was not an October surprise, but an October affirmation. It supported the suppositions many held with gobsmacking detail.  The Republican presidential nominee reportedly laughed at his former attorney Sidney Powell and her “crazy” 2020 election conspiracies and compared them to something on Star Trek. It speaks to the lengths he was willing to maintain the presidential reins of power. 

It also affirms his awareness that the whole “election was rigged” yarn was a farce. To him, it was sport. He laughed as lives were destroyed figuratively and literally.

But this only matters to those who have no intention of supporting his candidacy. This is a sad chapter in the American narrative that the people could return someone to office who has already demonstrated he is uniquely unqualified to be president.

The choice is no longer about which candidate or political party has the best vision for America, but whether America hollows out its democratic form of government and replaces it with an authoritarian filler.

The Republican presidential nominee deserves blame for many things, but he is not the lone provocateur attempting to destroy American democracy.  For that, he requires a requisite number of sycophantic enabling co-conspirators to reach 270 electoral votes.