The Big Lie is shaping up now to be the most pernicious assault on American liberty ever, far worse than any threat to our way of life that America faced in either the Civil War or either of the two world wars. The big problem with the Big Lie is that so many elected Republicans are going along with it. Right-wing media can’t get enough of it, and it provides the hamster wheel that GOPers then jump on and the madness just keeps spinning more and more out of control every day.

The Republicans don’t see at all that they might be peddling their way to their own doom, because they are hoping against all hope that between the Big Lie and voter suppression that they’ll be able to cheat their way into staying in power. When you don’t have a platform or policies to stand on, all you can do is scream GRIEVANCE! and hope that you scare enough people into backing your plays.

OAN is not only paving the way for sedition, they’re paying the way for numerous Republicans in other states to make the holy pilgrimage to Arizona, with an eye towards getting audits started in their own states. This is pure Joseph Goebbels, make the Big Lie even bigger and more people will believe it’s real. Arizona Republic:

A big question about this whole effort is who exactly is paying for it and where that money is coming from. We seem to have got at least a partial answer on where some it is going, though. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported about several Wisconsin lawmakers who traveled to Phoenix on Friday and Saturday to observe the audit and gave us a new detail: The trip was funded by Voices and Votes, the nonprofit organization run by Christina Bobb that is fundraising for the audit. She’s also a host on the One America News Network, which isn’t a news organization but calls itself that. […]

The Republic has asked for or filed public record requests on these items. These are highlights, not a comprehensive list, of the unknowns we seek answers to for the public. 

  • Who is paying for this audit? The Arizona Senate put $150,000 toward the audit, although election experts told The Republic the cost would be far more. Private groups are collecting donations to pay for the audit, which means the public doesn’t know who is fronting the money.

  • How are the people recounting ballots recruited and screened? Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan said people recounting ballots were screened to ensure “there was nothing on their social media or other details that showed strong opinions one way or another.” But seeing former state Rep. Anthony Kern — a “Stop the Steal” backer — recounting ballots casts that in doubt. The Republic found that a few recruiters have far-right ties and are reaching out to traditionally conservative groups. Also, a nonprofit run by an ardent Trump supporter who also is raising money for the audit is helping to vet the counters.

  • What private contractors have access to ballots and voting machines? A complete list has not been publicly disclosed. Cyber Ninjas is overseeing the audit and Pennsylvania-based Wake Technology Services, Inc. was in charge of the hand recount. Wake TSI’s contract ended May 14, the original completion date for the hand count, and the company did not to renew its contract, according to audit spokesperson Randy Pullen. Scottsdale-based technology company StratTech Solutions took over that role, he said. Virginia-based CyFIR is analyzing voting machines. Cyber Ninjas said in its original scope of work that the machine analysis would be done by Cyber Ninjas, CyFIR and “a number of additional analysts, the identities and qualifications of whom shall be made available to (the Senate) upon request.”

  • Who is verifying the voter information? Cyber Ninjas has refused to say who is involved in the review of voter information. Beyond recounting ballots, the audit planned to verify voter information and voting history, although Cyber Ninjas’ CEO has refused to provide details on who would do this. Liz Harris, a Republican who has called the audit a fight between “good and evil,” has been canvassing in search of widespread voter fraud in Arizona. Harris initially said her group of volunteers was helping with the audit, but she wouldn’t say on what part because of a nondisclosure agreement. She later said she doesn’t know what her involvement may be. State Senate President Karen Fann, in a May 7 response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s concerns that this aspect of the audit could illegally intimidate voters, said plans to knock on voters’ doors had been dropped for now.

Read this article in full if you have the chance, because it provides a good compendium of facts and a timeline showing the progression of this exercise in lunacy.  What this will probably come down to is a confrontation between the members of the Arizona State Senate who put all this together and the Department of Justice. A member of the Senate has already threatened Merrick Garland, personally, should the DOJ do its job and oversee that no laws have been broken.

And meanwhile the GOPers pour into Maricopa County, the second plague to affect that region since the cicadas came above ground. Raw Story:

Colorado’s Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks came to Phoenix on June 10, six months after his trip to attend Trump’s event in Washington on Jan. 6.

Oklahoma pastor, Jackson Lahmeyer, came to Phoenix on June 11. He’s running for U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. James Lankford, who had just begun speaking out against the election certification when the Capitol was attacked.

AZCentral then listed off Tennessee Republican, and Shelby County Election Commissioner Bennie Smith. His county covers all of Memphis east of the river. Utah state Rep. Steve Christiansen and Virginia’s Amanda Chase, who just lost her gubernatorial campaign. She’s the one who told Trump he should impose martial law. […]

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was also among the group of Republicans who came to Arizona. He was forced to resign in 2018 after allegedly blackmailing a woman with whom he was having an affair. He’s now running for the U.S. Senate.

Georgia Republicans joined as well, with state Sens. Burt Jones and Brandon Beach, who attempted to nulifiy all of the votes in his state with a lawsuit even the GOP attorney general called “constitutionally, legally and factually wrong.” State Sen. Marty Harbin also joined them. […]

A whole crew of Wisconsin Republicans flocked to Arizona last week, “including state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. Brandtjen is the chairwoman of the Assembly Elections Committee, which is helping oversee a review of Wisconsin’s election,” said the report. She was joined by state Reps. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, David Murphy and Chuck Wichgers.

This is not an inclusive list, there are more. This Stop the Steal madness has provided an umbrella for extremists to posture themselves as patriots. And who is backing up that sham? Did you say right-wing media and the evangelical wingnuts? How right you are.

This is what’s going on in the other America. If P.T. Barnum had joined forces with Cecil B. DeMille, they wouldn’t have been able to cobble together a bigger show than this. This is pure circus. But at the end of the day, it won’t be a matter of cleaning popcorn boxes out of the stands, it will be mending faith in free and fair elections. That is going to be one hell of a clean up job, if it can be done at all.

“I don’t think there is any good end to this,” said Tammy Patrick, a senior elections advisor at Democracy Fund. We can’t agree more.

 

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7 COMMENTS

  1. The fake Christians/patriots want a fascist dictator and Taliban laws. The most extreme religious nuts in my area are the Pentecostals. They believe Baptist, Methodist and of course Catholics are all going to hell. The women don’t cut their hair or wear makeup. Their dresses and skirts go almost to the floor. The men can’t wear shorts or short sleeve shirts. In other words, you can spot them a mile away. Only about 15% are practicing, yet they all vote Republican of course. I don’t believe in war, but I think Garland needs to start locking up Republican politicians from sea to shining sea.

    • Whether the women cut their hair or wear makeup or have longer hems is irrelevant. Same with mens wear. My mother has worn her hair long all her life, wears no makeup most days and her dress and skirts generally fall below the knee. AND she will not set foot in a Pentecostal church. I have lived in a number of communities. There are faux Christian/Trump voters in nearly every denomination. No need to single out Pentecostals.

  2. It would be difficult to keep Republicans penned up, being the snakes they are, they would just slither under the doors and gates … /s

    These no-accounts are pushing their luck a long ways down the road to hell … virtual public disclosure of major support for the very vacant minded clowns that will vote for the Canadian Cruz, because HE likes GUNS, cooks bacon on the hot barrel of his rapid fired AR-15 … my god that man is SO cool … and with that ragged beard, he looks SO honest and intelligent, why do the others in Congress dislike such a SPECIAL person? … /S

  3. I read that the people who packed the boxes of ballots (after they were counted, recounted, and re-recounted) know what’s in each box and what the results are. I’m not sure that the people running the fraudit understand that you can’t identify a voter from the ballot.

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