We have two more January 6 Committee hearings this week, Tuesday and Thursday, the 21st and 23rd, both at 1:00 p.m. ET. If the first three hearings are any indication, Americans are in for more than a few more bombshells. The Republican talking point denouncing the hearings, I should say the “chief” Republican talking point is that it’s all “old news” and in the words of Ron DeSantis, “beating a dead horse.”

No, Ron, the horse not only is not dead, the horse is demonically possessed and going to keep leaving the barn, after kicking over the lantern to burn it down. America is in trouble and Dan Rather points out that the coup of January 6, 2021 is by no means in the past. It is alive and well and ongoing.

If you didn’t catch the rodeo performer in New Mexico urging his buddies to refuse to certify the results of the New Mexico primary, take a look at that now. This is the shape of things to come. This is a harbinger of doom. His name is Cuoy Griffin, of Cowboys for Trump and he’s a county commissioner in rural Ontero County, New Mexico.

Associated Press:

“I have huge concerns with these voting machines,” Otero County Commissioner Vickie Marquardt said Monday. “When I certify stuff that I don’t know is right, I feel like I’m being dishonest because in my heart I don’t know if it is right.”

Do you love it? Now certifying the vote is not a routine procedure, done according to the rules, by elected officials. Now it is a metaphysical rite and one must “feel” in their “hearts” that the outcome is sanctified. If you read no further down, this paragraph alone should tell you the crisis level that we’ve hit and the trouble we’re in in this country.

The commission’s vote is the latest example of how conspiracy theories and misinformation are affecting the integrity of local elections across the U.S. Trump has continued to describe the 2020 election as “rigged” or “stolen,” despite a coalition of top government and industry officials calling it the “most secure in American history.”

Dominion’s systems also have been unjustifiably attacked since the 2020 election by people who embraced the false belief that the election was stolen from Trump. The company has filed defamation lawsuits in response to incorrect and outrageous claims made by high-profile Trump allies.

New Mexico’s Dominion machines have been disparaged repeatedly by David and Erin Clements of Las Cruces in their review of the 2020 election in Otero County and voter registration rolls at the request of the commission. The Clements are traveling advocates for “forensic” reviews of the 2020 election and offer their services as election experts and auditors to local governments. Election officials including County Clerk Robyn Holmes say the Clements are not certified auditors nor experts in election protocols.

The couple has highlighted problems during sporadic, hoursl ong presentations to the commission this year. Local election officials dispute many of the findings as mistaken or unfounded.

County canvassing boards have until June 17 to certify election results, prior to state certification and preparation of general election ballots.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ordered the election certified on the 17th, which was Friday.  Not surprisingly, one of the commissioners turned it into a tribal dispute.

In a 2-1 vote, the Republican-led commission certified the county’s results from its June 7 primary. One of the commissioners, Vickie Marquardt, said she voted to certify over fears of criminal charges and possible jail time.

“The New Mexico Supreme Court, the Democrat-controlled state legislature and the Democrat-controlled Secretary of State and the Attorney General will not allow us to withhold approval pending investigation. Instead, they are railroading this commission into rubber-stamping approval under the threat of criminal charges and jail,” Marquardt said in remarks Friday. “I will be no use to the residents of Otero County from jail or if I am removed from office.” […]

“We dodged a bullet here,” [New Mexico Secretary of State] Toulouse Oliver told NBC News on Friday night, adding that the state’s laws and the court’s action prevented “the system from completely breaking down.”

She said the state Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, should consider more ways to protect elections from “rogue” officials.

This is the blueprint of what we can expect in the future, right here. Enough Americans have had their minds poisoned with this stolen election nonsense that this is what we can expect. This is Dan Rather’s take, writing from his SubStack column:

It is notable that Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee, called it out, along with its implications. Because this movement animates the Republican Party, it is incumbent on all those Republican leaders who eagerly wrap themselves in the mantle of “patriotism” to stamp out this contagion. But what do we hear? Many enthusiastically back these extremists. Others offer tacit endorsements or silence. This is a party that would rather hold on to power than our democracy.

The likes of Bill Barr can call “bullshit” on the Big Lie in sworn depositions, but they should receive no accolades for their forced honesty. Where were their statements at the time? And what are they saying now about the same, pardon again the language, “bullshit” about future elections? Where is Senator Mitch McConnell? Or Vice President Pence? Or the Bushes? Or almost any other Republican of note, past or present?

All who are looking the other way, keeping their heads down, obfuscating, accepting, or outright endorsing this autocracy are willingly gambling with the future of American democracy. Whether it’s born of a desire for power or from cowardice doesn’t matter. Now is a time to stand up and be counted; almost every Republican leader is failing the test.

So what are the rest of us to do? Hopelessness and despair are not options. First and foremost, this should be a major issue on everyone’s radar. And I think the January 6 committee will help with that. But all citizens have a role to play. Getting out to vote for those who would protect democracy and encouraging others to do so is essential. This is not a matter of policy. This is about the basic mechanisms of democracy. Do we respect our elections? Do we count the votes and declare those who won the most to be the winner?

As with issues like abortion and guns, I think a large majority of Americans want our basic democratic system to continue. They might even want reforms to make it fairer. And this points to another approach to countering those who would attack our system. We can shame them, call out their playbook now, let them know that we see what they will attempt to do, and declare their “voter fraud” propaganda what it is — a farce and a lie. Put all Republican officials on the record.

In the lead-up to the war in Ukraine, the United States did a masterful job of preempting Russian propaganda. We let the world know what the Russians would do and the lies they would use to justify it. We can use the same approach toward those lining up to attack our democracy. We see them. We know their tactics. They aren’t trying to hide them. There can be no “false equivalence” allowed around this matter, in the media or in the public at large.

What these would-be autocrats are saying is they want a system that is essentially, if I win, I win, if you win, I win. They claim fraud only when Democrats win the vote. They claim a vice president can overthrow an election only when a Republican is vice president. This isn’t a matter of politics. It’s a matter of democracy. The stakes aren’t between Republicans and Democrats. All Republicans who understand this, the Judge Luttigs, the Liz Cheneys, the Adam Kinzingers, and any who join the ranks now, should be welcomed and encouraged.

The dividing line is pretty simple, and I believe the vast majority of Americans fall on one side. This is about who believes in the health and security of the United States, our Constitution, and our rule of law, and who does not.

With respect to Judge Luttig, he stated emphatically that Trump and his “allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to democracy.”

Judge Luttig speaks extremely slowly and pauses at length to gather his thoughts. This was mocked and criticized after the hearings, because as a society we are perpetually stuck in middle school, as Charlie Sykes put it. And if we weren’t, Donald Trump would never have gotten elected and we wouldn’t be here talking about a coup d’etat. Let’s face it.

What I would like to point out to you is that as a judge, the man knows the importance of words and wanted to choose his with an abundance of caution. None other than Oliver Wendell Holmes pointed out, back in the day, that “words can shade meaning.” Luttig knows this. He wanted his thoughts to be crystal clear and so he took his time and delivered only the exact words that would convey his thoughts with precision. I personally would prefer this level of communication in our society, consideration followed by clarity, any day over a spray of words spoken in a reactive and thought free manner by somebody mugging for the camera. We could all take a lesson from this judge, but we won’t.

Judge Luttig is right. Dan Rather is right. They are the elders of our culture, the real elders, the respectable and accomplished ones, with a depth of knowledge, and they spoke wisely about the doings of the other elder, the TV game show host.

Which culture do we want to be? Which culture are we? This is the central question that plagues my peace of mind, I don’t know about you. Prior to 2016 I would have said we were all pro-democracy. The night of November 8, 2016 changed my perception of America forever. I became a different person that night, just as America herself shifted identity, and I’ve been trying to figure out what happened to the country I grew up in ever since.

 

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Ursula, you’re wonderful.
    I so appreciate your thoughtful and carefully selected words.
    You have a good attorney’s mind; you reason out and explain things so well.
    Me, I’m an artist and I’m all over the place and run on emotions, so I need folks like you to calmly expand and articulate things.
    You help me to carry on in the battle. Thank you.
    Onward.

    • Here here! My sentiments exactly, Elizabeth. Thank you for your heartfelt response to Ursula’s article. If not for the Politizoom staff’s writings since 2016, I would have gone stark raving mad!

  2. Dominion needs to increase the number of lawsuits it’s filed. You cannot just trash a company’s reputation/product/etc. falsely and with malice as these people are doing. It is not “free speech”. What these people are doing is no different from what the ones Dominion has already filed suit against did previously and they need to be treated exactly the same. Start leveling some multi million/billion dollar lawsuits at the liars and things will either get very quiet or very polite in short order…especially when the judges tell the defendants to pack sand when they want the lawsuits dismissed. The company might as well because its reputation has been trashed and at least in this country there will be no repairing it.

  3. Yeah, it broke my heart that so many peole wondered whether he was recovering from a stroke that he had to go on Twitter and explain what he was trying to achieve with his delivery (which was, of course, exactly what you say it was.)

    “Middle School” may be throwing roses at it.

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