The GOP's Great Self-Beclownment

As in the movie Groundhog Day, a member of the Trump administration this morning woke up early, put on his work clothes, and started yammering about the “fraudulent election” and how some cock-eyed new scheme was going pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Alas for Stephen Miller—and Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas), and the House Freedom Caucus, and at least 17 state attorneys general—the legal system in the United States has a higher evidentiary standard than the guy who tweets out deep thoughts like this:

Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime. Everybody knows that dead people, below age people, illegal immigrants, fake signatures, prisoners,….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2020

What do such untethered exertions—and their Democratic antecedents—augur for the future of the country and the political party of Abraham Lincoln? Peter Suderman, Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Dr. Nick Gillespie kick that question around at the top of today’s Reason Roundtable podcast. Also discussed: the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, President-elect Joe Biden’s latest round of allegedly “bold” appointments, and the music-killing secrets of the narwhal.

Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.

Music: “Pride” by Francesco D’Andrea.

Relevant links from the show:

“A Trump Appointee Rejects Election Complaints Similar to the Ones SCOTUS Declined to Hear,” by Jacob Sullum

“Shootings, Stabbings Mar a Weekend of Pro-Trump Protests,” by Christian Britschgi

“Ted Cruz’s Eagerness To Fight Trump’s Legal Battles Epitomizes the GOP’s Complete Lack of Principles,” by Jacob Sullum

“Trump Lost Because SCOTUS Answers to the Constitution, Not to Him,” by Damon Root

“The Supreme Court Just Dismissed Trump’s Hail Mary Effort To Overturn the Election,” by Eric Boehm

“The House Freedom Caucus Just Trashed What Little Credibility It Had Left,” by Eric Boehm

“Trump’s Lawyers Claim the Conspiracy To Steal the Election Is Both ‘Easily Provable’ and Impossible to Prove,” by Jacob Sullum

“Stop ‘Humoring’ Trump,” by Eric Boehm

“Conservative Lawmakers and Legal Scholars Denounce Texas Election Suit as ‘a Mockery of Federalism and Separation of Powers,’” by Damon Root

“Trump’s Judicial Humiliation Is Nearly Complete,” by Damon Root

“SCOTUS Full of Trump Appointees Joins the Conspiracy To Deny Trump His Rightful Victory,” by Jacob Sullum

“Stay Calm: COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Appear Not Much Worse Than Those of Other Vaccines,” by Ronald Bailey

“FDA Vaccine Panel Endorses Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine,” by Ronald Bailey

“The COVID-19 Vaccine Did Not Kill Your Grandmother,” by Ronald Bailey

“FDA Staff Review Confirms: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Safe and Highly Effective,” by Ronald Bailey

“Pandemic Lockdown Battles Offer Glimpses of Political Conflicts to Come,” by J.D. Tuccille

“California’s Health Secretary Concedes There Is No Empirical Basis for the State’s Ban on Outdoor Dining,” by Jacob Sullum

“Stop Saying Lockdown Is ‘Not That Hard,’” by Bonnie Kristian

“California Judge Says Los Angeles County’s Outdoor Dining Ban Isn’t ‘Grounded in Science, Evidence, or Logic,’” by Christian Britschgi

“‘I’m Not Sure We Know What We’re Doing,’ Says a Newly Skeptical California Lockdown Advocate,” by Jacob Sullum

“Are Americans Insufficiently Alarmed by COVID-19?” by Jacob Sullum

“Southern California Sheriffs Rebel Over Gavin Newsom’s New Stay-at-Home Order,” by Christian Britschgi

“Trump Undermined Civilian Control of the Military. With His Pentagon Pick, Biden Has Too,” by Eric Boehm