This Will Not Pass

by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns 2022

Book Review by Ray Herrmann

As this true story unfolds, we learn how our government is an interchange of personalities, each pursuing his/her own goals. Through the author's hundreds of interviews, we get to know the personalities of very many political actors as they interact in our government and we are then able to see how their interactions result in decisions (and in mistakes).

Below, a few of the main actors and their characteristics as revealed by interviews are described:

• Donald Trump (Former President): Numerous reported incidents painted Donald Trump as a wildly narcissistic idiot with little understanding nor little caring, except for his grandiose appearance. And as one who is ready to turn on anyone who does not constantly shower him with praise. Trump likes to refer to Reciprocity (one of his favorite words) which roughly meant: You praise me and I continue to not punish you. From this depiction, it is easy to see how Trump amasses power as he both attracts fervent sycophants and purges lesser ones. Knowing Trump’s personality, it was suspected among House staff since the Summer of 2019 that Trump would never concede if he lost the election (even Mick Mulvaney, hard-line former Chief of Staff, had known it by then, but kept his feelings private).
      Trump and COVID: In early March 2020, Trump urged California Gov, Gavin Newsom, to keep passengers of the infected cruise ship, Grand Princess, aboard that ship so they would not be counted as COVID cases here. In late March, 2020, Trump wanted to treat COVID as a "Blue State" illness, by imposing a Federal quarantine on states of NY, N, and CT.
      Trump often pretended not to hear people who wore masks.
      By Spring of 2020, Trump's interest in COVID began to wane as he became focused on when he could hold large public events. Trump was not concerned with the health of his supporters. He just wanted full seats at his rallies.
• Mitch McConnell (Minority Leader of the Senate): McConnell did not like Trump, but chose to steer clear of him when possible. However, McConnell was driven to hold on to his job, so he often appeared to support Trump. McConnell was privately elated when Biden won the election and he believed (wrongly) that Trump's influence would slowly fade. Long after the insurrection, McConnell didn't understand why Liz Cheney continued to criticize Trump.
• Kevin McCarthy (Minority Speaker of the House): In politics most of his adult life, Kevin McCarthy had wished to become Speaker of the House since 2006. He also liked to be seen with movie stars.
      Though despising Trump, McCarthy reversed his position soon after the Insurrection, in the hopes of riding Trump's popularity and becoming Speaker of the House (yet Trump, in character, often referred to him as a "pussy"). On January 10 (four days after the insurrection), McCarthy said he might call on Trump to resign, saying "I've had it with this guy". But McCarthy had an overriding goal of becoming Speaker of the House, so by the end of January, he chose to side with Trump in order to secure his political future. (It seems that Trump sensed McCarthy's ambition and used it to manipulate him.)
• Joe Biden (Current President): Biden had wanted a VP that was female and experienced. He impaneled a committee of four dignitaries who interviewed and vetted an assortment of about 12 candidates before choosing Kamala Harris. His team wanted a running mate with minimal controversy, to excel in the general election, but otherwise to do little to change the race.
      But with Trump looming, Biden nixed obviously Black and Asian candidates because he worried this might become a campaign of "pre-emptive surrender". Obama had suggested that picking a woman of color risked creating a backlash.
      President Biden had planned a full pull-out from Afghanistan but some senior advisors recommended leaving behind a small American force, while other advisors approved a full pull-out. This was the biggest blunder of the Biden Presidency and his popularity plummeted thereafter and never recovered.
      Biden focused on passing his "Build Back Better" bill, which eventually passed after a long struggle (details described).
      Biden and COVID: By mid 2021, there was a mounting spirit of resentment by the vaccinated toward those who had avoided vaccination. Yet Biden encouraged everyone to wear masks and wore one himself to set the example.
• Kamala Harris (Current VP): Once the VP, Harris gradually became politically isolated. She never became a leading actor in the efforts to enact the Voting Rights bill and Biden, busy with his Build Back Better bill never gave Harris enough support.
      The Latin American assignment was an opportunity for Harris to take full ownership and succeed.
      Kamala Harris had never built a political operation for herself and had not made "courtesy calls" to powerful Democrats, so she eventually began seeking advice beyond her inner circle. {A window into the Web of Politics!}
• 2020 Presidential Election: On election night polls showed Trump in the lead, but since Trumpers tended to vote on election day instead of by mail, these early tallies were skewed.
     
     Donald Trump became irate on election night when Fox News called Joe Biden the winner in Arizona and Trump instructed his advisors to push back on network leaders. Trump also told Jared Kushner to call Rupert Murdoch directly on this. Trump had been determined to declare victory as a propaganda stunt, midway through election night, thus muddling the results with a cloud of confusion and lies, but this news had thwarted his plan. Still, shortly after 2am, Trump declared himself the winner, stating that any changes in the score would represent fraud.
      Though not by a landslide, Biden would ultimately win by a strong margin.
• Jan 6 2021 Insurrection: Even by 5am there were many buses converging on the capital. As people poured off the buses, Trump told them "We will never concede." and "You don't concede when there’s theft involved."
      Most Senators were seated in the Senate chamber, but social-distancing due to the pandemic meant that at least 10 of the 435 House members were seated above the floor in the House Gallery so they were more vulnerable. During the riot, some lawmakers had become virtual prisoners in their offices and conference rooms, hiding with doors locked and lights out as rioters roamed just outside.
      Mo Brooks (Alabama Congressman) told the crowds to "start taking down names and kicking ass". And Rudy Giulaini called for "trial by combat". Trump said "We got to get rid of the weak congress people - the ones that aren't any good - the Liz Cheney’s of the world".
      A sequestered Lindsey Graham became agitated and told a police officer "Whatever force you need to do …you are here to protect us".
      At the urging of many trapped legislators, Trump finally told rioters to go home, but also bragged of winning the election and told them he loved them.
      Later, many legislators were interviewed by the authors about how they felt that day, giving us almost a blow-by-blow description.

This book's many detailed interviews with those in the Trump White House paint a picture of Donald Trump as a child with a fixation on his insatiable need for praise. And many instances portray politicians, fearing voter backlash, as becoming collaborators in betraying our democracy for their own perceived survival. Other politicians seemed to enthusiastically kowtow as if it was a new religion.

Surmising from this ongoing push to install sycophants, it seems possible that, at some point, we will find ourselves surrounded by Trumpers infiltrating most every role of government who swear allegiance to King Trump, thus trampling our democracy.
  This is why your Vote is so important.