I suspect I\u2019m pointing out the obvious, but I need to say it anyway. There is nothing easier to do in politics then to \u201ccreate\u201d a problem, and then be \u201cthe only one\u201d who can fix it. I spent last Sunday morning listening to the news \u201cshows\u201d. I found that \u201cHe is the Only One\u201d is the single most \u201cimportant\u201d Republican talking point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican Congressmen Elise Stefanik of New York (Meet the Press<\/em>) and Tony Gonzalez, Texas (This Week<\/em>) didn\u2019t outright claim that the 2020 election was stolen, though Stefanik came close. But there underlying theme was this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A significant percentage of Americans belief that the 2020 election was stolen. It is important to investigate, and make changes to assure those Americans that the next election will not be. In order to do that, Americans must choose the Republican candidate for President<\/em>. Because re-electing President Biden is rewarding stealing the election. At least, that\u2019s the belief of the significant percentage.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of the interviewers, Kristen Welker and George Stephanopoulos, pushed back hard. They both pointed out the self-serving, circular logic of the response. Over sixty court cases, two internal Trump campaign investigations, Department of Justice inquiries, hearings in front of state legislatures, and even the \u201cCyber-Ninjas\u201d were unable to find evidence of the \u201csteal\u201d. In fact, the \u201cwords\u201d of the former President and his cronies are the only \u201cevidence\u201d presented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Facts don\u2019t seem to matter. The whole justification for delegitimizing the Biden Presidency and electing Trump for a second term, is that this \u201csignificant percentage\u201d belief it. That becomes the \u201ccause of action\u201d \u2013 the reason to vote Republican. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s the January 6th<\/sup> \u201cHostages\u201d (Stefanik, not Gonzalez). The Republican Party would have the United States deny what happened before their own eyes. We all watched on that fateful day three years ago. There was nothing peaceful about the violence on the Capitol steps that day, nothing \u201clegitimate\u201d about defecating in the hallways and vandalizing the offices. But, according to the Congressman from New York, those rioters were \u201cpatriots\u201d, exercising their First Amendment freedom of speech to defend democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, the last part has a kernel of truth. Many of those insurrectionists believed the lies they were told. And since they believed it, then they were acting in \u201cgood faith\u201d according to the politicians that fed them the lies, and they aren\u2019t responsible. Any court that holds them accountable is just another part of the \u201cstolen\u201d election, and the convicted are in fact \u201chostages\u201d. At least, that\u2019s what a \u201csignificant percentage\u201d of Americans believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Using the term “hostages” for the Insurrectionists so soon after October 7th, is inappropriate and disgusting. But it’s just one more way to legitimize Trump’s actions). <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m tempted to return to my own childhood warnings : \u201c\u2026if Johnny jumps off of the Empire State Building would you jump off of the Empire State Building?\u201d Or the more graphic phrase, \u201cEat garbage, a million flies can\u2019t be wrong\u201d. We built Our Nation on individual responsibility. We have a national obligation to use our own minds to determine what is right or wrong, and to take personal responsibility for our actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When I taught American Government, my most important goal was to get students to think on their own, to analyze and determine for themselves what they believe. I not indoctrinate my students in my own liberal ideology, but I worked to have them develop their own.\u00a0\u00a0All I asked is that they could support those ideas with facts \u2013 the absolute counter to the \u201csignificant percentage\u201d argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stefanik is a graduate of Harvard. Gonzalez has a master\u2019s degree and is working on his doctorate in international studies. From an academic standpoint, these are not \u201cstupid\u201d people, and can\u2019t possibly be fooled by the \u201csignificant percentage\u201d argument. But it allows them to deny the facts, and stand for the false premise of victimhood. That \u201cfeeds the fire\u201d of the \u201csignificant percentage\u201d, adding falsehoods without exactly lying. And so they continue to make the argument, to justify the Republican Party\u2019s complete sellout to Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHeld Hostage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Flies Aren’t Wrong<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Fools and Foolishness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n