In the US it seems ever greater numbers of people are becoming part of the deep state. More and more members of the Republican party are starting to contradict the presidential view of the world. Even some of the party’s long time strategists like Karl Rove, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff under GW Bush, has stated that the election result will not be overturned. That, in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Even Fox news has called out against the president.

Many of the GOP’s leaders are finding ever more convoluted ways of supporting the president. Very much trying to hide behind a commitment to observing the law. Trying to pretend that baseless legal challenge is a concern for procedural propriety and not an attempt to subvert the democratic process.

An agency of the president’s Department for Homeland Security has supported a daily initiative to address rumours about election fraud. In a joint statement the Elections Infrastructure Government Co-ordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive (to be fair some parts of the state need to be deep, in fact the deeper the better!) stated “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American History.”

Those responsible for the election process in the swing states have been quick to address and rebut claims of fraud. Of course they have only been rebutting such claims with facts, and there may be “alternative facts” out there, nay possibly an alternative universe in which larger numbers count for less than smaller ones, and in which a second Trump term is in prospect. Here on planet earth, however, more and more people, Republican as well as Democrat are recognising the reality of a Biden win.

As the numbers of those who accept the result increase, the numbers in the deep state increase. As it deepens and widens what happens when the vast majority are in the deep state?

All of this, of course is ridiculous. In a film it would be a fantasy comedy. In reality however it is serious. The lives of dedicated election employees, and volunteers, are being threatened; a smooth transition of power is being prevented; worst of all there is an attempt to undermine faith in the keystone of the democratic process – free and fair elections.

President Putin is not going to contact president-elect Biden until president Trump’s legal challenges have been through the courts. I wonder if he has spoken to president Trump since the election. He may well prefer another four years of Trump but I am sure he is happy with the outcome to date.