Our long national nightmare is over. Finally.

President Biden!!! is now in charge of our nuclear codes, nominating Federal judges, and bringing our country out of some of the darkest days we have ever been through.

These past four years have been difficult. We had a President who openly sought to divide instead of unite; a President who cared more about himself and his family than the people he swore an oath to protect and defend; a President who catered to domestic terrorists and right-wing radicals. But that is now over. It's OVER!!!

President Biden has a heck of a lot on his plate, but I have faith he will do everything in his power to turn the page on this dark chapter in our nations short history.

Today is a good day.

that guy in AZ Wrote: Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

He couldn't respond to the request for comment because he's in the hospital.

Schmidt Wrote: My opinion...

Thanks, Schmidt. I certainly have and will continue to value your opinion.

I guess I can't help but think about this from the business school side of my brain where I had to conduct innumerable cost-benefit analyses throughout my years there. The hypothetical pardoning of Donald is a true "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario for the President-elect.

If Biden does pardon Donald then, as you say, he will be portrayed as weak and Donald and his echo chamber will use it as "proof" that he never did anything wrong. If the Biden Administration pursues charges against Donald and/or high-ranking members of his Administration then I fear the "cost" will far outweigh the potential "benefit" of seeing Donald in an orange jumpsuit.

However, I envision a number of Republicans in both the House and Senate signing on to legislation that begins to peel back some of the vast powers of the Executive and put into law what up until Donald were simply norms. Don't forget they used to be the party of "small government" and I have no doubt they will suddenly find the light once again after Donald is no longer in office.

Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith and NYU Law Professor Bob Bauer's recent book "After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency" provided Congress and the incoming Biden Administration with a point-by-point blueprint to reform the Executive Branch without having to pass a single Constitutional Amendment.

I also firmly believe, as I said in an earlier post, that there should be multiple investigations into these past four years so the American people are made aware of how truly dangerous and damaging Donald was to our institutions and democracy.

Finally, I think seeing Donald getting evicted from Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago when his $421 million in debts comes due and the IRS slaps him with a $100 million fine for filing fraudulent Federal taxes would be far more satisfying than seeing him carted away to Club Fed.

Dockadams Wrote:

Basically, what OP is saying is that democrats should continue to kiss the republican voters asses, as well as the GOP's asses.

Thank you for that.

Democrats already have bad breath, now we should just get used to the taste of hiney.

I'm just a pragmatist, Dock.

I'm under no illusion that we're on the precipice of a new "Era of Good Feelings," but putting a former President on trial will consume Joe Biden's entire Presidency. He won't be able to tackle climate change, the pandemic, income inequality, or anything else. It will be ONLY about locking up Donald. For me personally, the risks far outweigh the rewards.

Now, that doesn't mean I think the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats should simply try to act like the past four years didn't happen. There should be Congressional and Federal investigations on a whole host of issues ranging from Trump profiting off the office, his and his sycophant's complete disregard for the rule of law, and finding out conclusively what happened with his Russian dealings during the 2016 election.

But instead of prosecuting Donald, I think new laws should be passed to prevent the next, potentially smarter, Donald. What the past four years have shown us is that the Executive Branch is controlled far more by norms than laws.

Much of what Donald did these past four years broke norms, not laws. I think it would be in Democrats interest to pass some bills that peel back some of the overwhelming powers the Executive has. I have every confidence that President-elect Biden would be happy to sign common sense bills that put some guardrails in place into law.

"Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." Richard J. Nixon.

How about we pass some laws that change that?

Donald Trump has almost certainly committed a number of crimes before and during his time as President. There's very little doubt about that. However, President-elect Biden should make pardoning Donald one of his first acts after he is sworn into office.

I have a feeling a number of people vehemently disagree with me, but hear me out. Charging and prosecuting a former President will consume President-elect Biden's entire Presidency. It would immediately become a sideshow that dwarfs any other thing the new Administration will try to get done. And it's not entirely clear that, even if Donald committed crimes while in office, that a jury would ever convict him. How in the world would you ever find an impartial jury to try one of the most loathed **and loved** men in the world?

Not just that, but a Presidential pardon would immediately undercut Donald's messaging post-Presidency. It would surely be difficult for Donald and his cult followers to accuse Biden of seeking revenge against Donald if Biden pardons him.

Additionally, the pardon would only be for Federal crimes, so all the investigations against Donald in New York and other states would be able to go on unencumbered. Do you honestly care if Donald is in state or Federal prison? I sure don't.

If President-elect Biden wants to have any chance of getting anything done these next four years he would be wise to move on from Donald. A Presidential pardon can do that with one stroke of a pen.

Let's play two worst-case-scenario thought processes out.

1) The Supreme Court steps in and rules 5-4 that Donald Trump won the election, tossing aside the clear mandate of the people.

California, Oregon, and Washington secede. As do a number of states on the east coast. Maybe Illinois will join them.

None of these states have an Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. They are also separated by thousands of miles of "Murica," except for Illinois.

Newly installed Dictator Donald Trump orders a full on assault of the breakaway regions. The resistance would crumble in a matter of days.

2) Bitter and resentful after losing to Joe Biden, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana break away to form their own country.

None of these states have an Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. They are also flanked on all sides by The United States of America.

New elected President Joe Biden orders a full on assault of the breakaway regions. The resistance would crumble in a matter of days.

We are no longer divided along the Mason-Dixon line. There are millions of Republicans in California and hundreds of thousands of Democrats in Mississippi and Alabama. We're stuck together whether we like it or not. Maybe, just maybe, our leaders can begin to figure out a way to work together for the greater good.

It's official!

The people have spoken and Donald is going home.

Biden wins!

Donald ... YOU'RE FIRED.

Biden's Electoral College cushion will also tamp down some peoples concerns about faithless electors.

If it was 270-268 then I'd be a little concerned, but with a 306-229 count a TON of electors would have to switch sides.

What a crazy way to pick a President. If we just allowed the people to choose then this race would have been called on election night.

The writing is on the wall. I think all the networks want to call it for Biden, but don't want to be the first to do so.

I honestly think they are waiting to see what Fox News and the AP do. They are the only ones who have called Arizona for Biden and they haven't retracted it. Once they call either Nevada or Pennsylvania then it's game, set, match.

The only remaining state Donald has a realistic chance of winning is North Carolina, but that doesn't matter in the end.

Biden will also win Georgia. What's great about that is Donald will already be declared the loser overall but will have to wait just a little while longer for that final piece of humiliation.

I wouldn't read much in to the number of Administration officials who have or haven't had to go to the hospital. The vast majority of people who come down with COVID-19 don't have to go to the hospital. The reason Donald had to is because he's obese, doesn't exercise, and eats garbage 7 days a week.