There’s a curious phenomenon taking place in America right now. Fascism is rearing its ugly head again, as it is wont to do from time to time. But what’s ironic about this episode is that the accusations of who is turning America away from democracy and into autocracy are coming from both sides. Never in our history has it been confusing who the “patriots” and “Americans” were, with the exception of the Civil War, when a group of southerners believing themselves to be patriots decided to call themselves Confederates instead of Americans and secede from the Union. We are living in an era now where a right-wing congresswoman openly and nostalgically pines for such a thing to repeat itself.
And when the Civil War isn’t being invoked, Hitler’s Germany is. The rhetoric of just the past few days alone has skyrocketed alarmingly and that would be concerning anytime, but during Christmas week is a bit much by any standards.
The seams of our national culture are getting progressively frayed and that’s the new normal.
Let’s start here.
I’ve lived outside the US for a decade now and it gives you a bit of perspective. These insane things simply don’t happen in other democracies. If they ever do, it’s a *huge* scandal and there are severe consequences. In the US, it’s just…Monday.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) December 21, 2021
Now let’s mosey over to the Washington Post, who today is running an update on the usual and ongoing machinations by Donald Trump and his allies to cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 election. As you know, Trump is planning a press conference for January 6 at Mar-a-Lago, where he has vowed to address the “real” issues of the January 6 insurrection, translating as he’s going to spew more nonsense about how he really didn’t lose. So expect a lot of this in the next few weeks, culminating in a big conspiracy fest climax in Florida.
The ongoing attack on the vote is being driven in part by well-funded Trump associates, who have gained audiences with top state officials and are pushing to inspect protected machines and urging them to conduct audits or sign on to a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 results. And the campaign is being bolstered by grass-roots energy, as local residents who have absorbed baseless allegations of ballot fraud are now forcing election administrators to address the false claims.
The fallout has spread from the six states where Trump sought to overturn the outcome in 2020 to deep-red places such as Idaho, where officials recently hand-recounted ballots in three counties to refute claims of vote-flipping, and Oklahoma, where state officials commissioned an investigation to counter allegations that voting machines were hacked.
State and local officials said no one has presented actual evidence that rampant fraud tainted the 2020 election, and numerous ballot reviews and legal proceedings have affirmed that the vote was secure. Yet they and their staffs have been forced into a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole, debunking a steady stream of false allegations only to see similar claims emerge again from other groups or in another states.
The onslaught is exhausting and troubling, officials said, as they launch preparations for the 2022 midterm elections — and is further eroding faith in the nation’s voting systems.
“If we want to continue to provide safe, secure and accessible elections, constantly running down absurd conspiracy theories is not sustainable,” said Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “For many election workers, this has become a full-time job.”
Read the entire piece. It’s an excellent synopsis of how elections officials nationwide have done their jobs and continue to do their jobs, but it’s never enough. It’s never enough because Trump can’t let it rest because he’s constitutionally incapable of admitting defeat and because the stolen election fable is his prime grifting tool. And he’s got an entire organization of people around him who spread the Big Lie, for financial benefit and because it fuels right-wing grievance and turns the wheels of the conspiracy theory machine which the right wing depends upon to stay in business itself. It’s a symbiotic relationship, make no mistake.
But look at where this is going, which is into some very scary territory. The violent rhetoric is amping up. In a few days we celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace, the biggest Christian holiday of the year and yet we have Republicans advertising for “Breakfast and Bullets” a cozy little way that they have of meeting these days, in addition to Jesse Watters using assassination language regarding Dr. Fauci and the rest of it. Right in line with that is Douglas Frank, Mike Lindell’s *expert* and aide de camp.
In Ohio, Frank met for more than two hours in May with the senior staff of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), presenting unsubstantiated claims that voting machines are connected to the Internet and have been hacked, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The Washington Post. Frank warned that he planned to pursue multiple legal actions around the country and said there could be consequences if LaRose’s office did not cooperate.
“I’m warning you that I’ve been going around the country. We’re starting lawsuits everywhere,” Frank said, according to the recording. “And I want you guys to be allies, not opponents. I want to be on your team, and I’m warning you.”
Lawsuits are fine. If the threats stopped at lawsuits, there wouldn’t be an issue. By all means, find a civil redress for your grievances in the courts if you’re able, that’s what they’re there for. It’s this that is over the top.
On social media, Frank recently began calling for prison or “firing squads” for those who do not agree to hear him out. On Saturday, he wrote that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who has refused to entertain his claims, should face a jury “capable of dispensing capital punishment.”
In an interview this week, Benson said she views the latest escalation as an assault on democracy. She said she intends to spend next year fighting back, and urging Americans to do the same.
Benson called the pressure on election officials “a political strategy to break down our democracy and put people in charge of our states who are unaccountable and will act in a way that doesn’t reflect the will of the people.”
Asked Tuesday about his comments, Frank said that after he and others who share his view about 2020 “win the war,” election officials such as Benson should face trial — adding that federal law calls for traitors to be subject to capital punishment.
Now, since we’re on Nazi Germany, let’s take a look at how Adolf Hitler rose to power and see if any bells start ringing, shall we?
Re-read number 21 and let it burn itself in your memory. Hitler declared a national emergency and seized the power to govern. Trump had a PowerPoint presentation on the boards outlining precisely the same thing. What our judiciary would or would not have done will never be known, but it has been speculated that Trump expected his three conservative SCOTUS appointees to pull him over the finish line if it came to that.
The takeaway here is that miraculously the guard rails of democracy held, but we should never have gotten that close. There are lots of Trumpian characters in the GOP. As Hillary Clinton said last week, if Trump or someone of his ilk would get elected in 2024, you would not recognize this country.
Vigilance is the price of liberty is a cliche because like all cliches, it’s so true.
And some here think they will implode from within & nothing to worry about. Fools.
They’re in the process of imploding but that doesn’t mean they can’t do a hell of a lot of damage as they crash.
They may be looking at the pointy end of charges of threatening elected officials.
“State and local officials said no one has presented actual evidence that rampant fraud tainted the 2020 election, and numerous ballot reviews and legal proceedings have affirmed that the vote was secure. Yet they and their staffs have been forced into a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole, debunking a steady stream of false allegations only to see similar claims emerge again from other groups or in another states.”
Perhaps these state and local officials need to provide some incentive for these idiots: Provide us evidence of fraud BEFORE we begin any investigation or, if and when our investigation shows that there was no fraud, you agree to lose your voting rights for the next 3 election cycles. Maybe THAT would stop the false claims once and for all.
“…Yet they and their staffs have been forced into a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole, debunking a steady stream of false allegations only to see similar claims emerge again from other groups or in another states.”
I read that piece.
I wonder how these dimwits keep getting in front of the election boards, seemingly with ease, albeit with never a shred of evidence.
Why do these election officials even bother with them?