Dangerous
It's a given that Joe Biden will be sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2021. The fact that tens of millions of Americans believe that the vote for Biden in key battleground states was manipulated to ensure his victory taints his presidency from its very first day. But in the end, that doesn't matter. He will wield the power of the presidency and the Democrats have the one thing they have long sought—power.
What does matter is that our country cannot and should not go down a path in which democratic elections can be tainted in the future. Where ballots can be manufactured to ensure a specific outcome, where dead people and non-citizens vote (and only for one candidate), where software that counts ballots is untrustworthy and/or surreptitiously designed to favor one side, where observers whose job it is to ensure a proper vote are frozen out of the process, where people are paid to vote, where dozens of credible anomalies (a.k.a. "red flags") cause citizens to question the result. All of that—and more—is dangerous, and it must be stopped. That's why some of us believe that a full investigation is not only justified, it is imperative. We are under no illusion that it will affect the outcome, but it could make us better prepared to hold fair elections in the future.
* * * * * *
After recounting a news conference in which Donald Trump's legal team described dozens of red flags that indicate possible voter fraud along with sworn affidavits that represent legally appropriate "evidence" of wrong-doing (and also foolishly tacked on a number of 'out-there' conspiracy theories), Peggy Noonan reflects the opinion of many establishment Republicans when she writes:
This isn’t a game. America isn’t your plaything. Doesn’t Mr. Gingrich [who demands a full investigation] realize how dangerous it is to stoke people like this, to rev them up on the idea that holding even the slightest faith in the system is for suckers?
Trump staff and supporters should know at this point that in trying to change the outcome they are doing harm—undercutting respect in and hope for democracy. Republican senators and representatives, in their silence, are allowing the idea to take hold that the whole system is rigged. This lessens faith in institutions and in their party’s reputation. Republicans were once protective of who we are and what we created in this democratic republic long ago.
Now they’re not even protecting themselves; in future years what’s happening now will give their voters an excuse not to take part or show up. What’s the point? It’s all rigged.
The point, Ms. Noonan, is to determine whether the election results were "rigged" in a small number of select blue cities, and to root out the rot, if that in fact is the reality of the 2020 vote. That cannot and will not be done without ruffling some feathers, making a few unfortunate hyperbolic statements, going down a few dead ends, and looking under rocks that establishment types don't want to pick up.
It appears that Ms. Noonan and her contemporaries are perfectly willing to turn the other cheek and walk off to fight another day. The narrative she, along with every Democrat, far too many establishment Republicans, and virtually all of the media espouse is that it's somehow "dangerous" to question very suspicious election results.
Is it not "dangerous" to dismiss the tens of millions of people* who think that an election was rigged in blue cities in battleground states to ensure a victory by the Democrats? Is it not dangerous for our media to remain willfully ignorant, refusing to investigate any claim of voter fraud independently? is it not dangerous to gaslight the public (as Peggy is doing) by claiming there is "no evidence" when dozens of sworn affidavits have been presented in on-going legal actions? And exactly how dangerous is it if wrong-doing did occur, and we do nothing about it, and hold no one accountable. What will happen in the next election and the one after than if bad actors know that they're home free?
It is the height of hypocrisy to suggest because many voters believe Trump is a bad guy, it's okay to look the other way as an election is (potentially) stolen. It is NOT a conspiracy theory to note that there's sworn testimony indicating that irregularities did occur and that they appear to be significant. It's not unreasonable to think (given both anecdotal and actual evidence) that something bad happened in cities like Philly and Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta. It's important to determine the extent of it, even if what we find doesn't change the election outcome.
FOOTNOTE:
* The elites dismiss tens of millions of "deplorables" who they claim will believe any "conspiracy theory" because they are too stupid to know better. But if you give it a little thought, you might come to a different conclusion.
- Those "deplorables" watched in 2016 as the establishment gaslighted the public, telling them there was absolutely, positively, unequivocally NO attempt to spy on the Trump campaign and that anyone who believed that the FBI was involved was "crazy."
- Those same "deplorables" watched as Democrats and their trained hamsters in the media told the public that there was clear and compelling 'evidence' that Donald Trump was a Russian stooge who colluded with Vladimir Putin and that anyone who thought otherwise was a fool.
- Those same "deplorables" watched as SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh was labelled a gang rapist by the best and brightest among the progressive commentariat.
- Those "deplorables" sat by as a sitting president was impeached using evidence so flimsy that it was laughable.
So it's reasonable for the "deplorables" to listen to establishment people who lied through their teeth—repeated, blatantly, and without remorse or apology—and say, "Why should I believe them now?"
Why indeed?
UPDATE-1:
Ever since early reports that election hardware and software developed and integrated by Dominion Voting Systems had a "glitch" that changed Trump votes to Biden votes (apparently corrected after discovery) we've been told by all the smartest people that the software was 100% solid, that there's NO WAY that it could be either externally or internally compromised by nefarious actors who might want to have it bias toward the Democratic candidate, that allegations of Democrat investors in the company may have influenced the algorithms that were implemented are nonsense and irrelevant, that it's all just a "conspiracy theory." Maybe.
Dominion Software was supposed to appear before PA State Government Committee where it was supposed to answer questions about the "glitches" that occurred during this month's elections. Apparently, the company has lawyered up and refused to appear. That in and of itself proves nothing, but it is an intriguing development.
I've worked in the software world for more than almost five decades and written the world's best selling textbook on software engineering. I've worked with many companies in the Fortune 100 and dozens upon dozen of smaller companies—all focused on software design, software quality, change management, and software process. Given that, any time I hear someone tell me that an app has "no errors," that there's no possibility that external or internal compromise has occurred, that the software is 100% reliable and correct, red flags go up.
Hmmm. More and more red flags.
UPDATE-2:
As "there is NO WIDESPREAD VOTER FRAUD" gaslighting continues, the uniform narrative coming from the Pro-Biden forces is that "there is no evidence." Amber Athey comments:
The media has been claiming since the election ended that President Trump’s claims of voter fraud are ‘baseless’ and ‘without evidence’. That just is not true. The President’s lawyer gave examples of it during today’s press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington DC. But everyone is too busy mocking him to pay attention.
[This is, of course, a classic gaslighting technique—attack or mock the speaker so that the hard facts he presents are disregarded]
I tried to listen to what Giuliani actually said and not what he looked like or the characterization of him by the rest of the media ... [He] did in fact present evidence of voter fraud today but many people simply didn’t want to hear it. He cited multiple Americans, one by name, who have signed sworn affidavits stating that they witness some type of fraud, whether it was pro-Trump ballots being thrown out without cause, ballots being backdated to before the election, poll workers being told not to ask voters for identification, and more.
As Giuliani helpfully pointed out, affidavits are considered ‘evidence’ in a court case. Whether you agree or disagree with them is a different question. And it’s reasonable that not all of the people who signed their names would be willing to go public. If you want to hear more of the evidence that was presented, just watch the first hour or so of the press conference [begins at 00:16:54 of the video].
The simple reality is that there is no amount of evidence, however compelling, that will cause a stir among the Democrats' trained hamsters in the media. They're perfectly happy to look the other way. After all, what's a little fraud or a bogus election result when you've defeated the worst person on earth.
UPDATE-3:
There appears to be a hint of desperation in the establishment's combined condemnation and plea to let allegations of voter fraud go. It's as if they can't understand why their gaslighting hasn't worked to convince tens of millions that there's nothing to see there, move along.
Richard Fernandez tweets:
Throughout 2020, there has been "widespread irrationality," but it has nothing to do with allegations of voting fraud. The four constituencies have worked very, very hard over the last four years to debase themselves. Their arguments and assertions are no longer considered credible by many, and they're so self-important and out-of-touch, they have no idea why that is.
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