Enemies of Democracy

Three days before Christmas in 2001 , Richard Reid took off from Paris on a flight to Miami .
He did not intend on arriving .
Instead , he attempted to ignite explosives packed into one of his shoes to destroy the plane , killing everyone aboard for the cause of violent jihad .
He did not succeed .
Other passengers noticed his odd behavior—most notably lighting numerous matches while wires were dangling from his pant leg .
He was subdued ; the flight landed safely .
The plot had failed .
But that did not mean that the system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with explosives “ worked.
” This is the exact position America ’ s democratic system finds itself in as the Trump era comes to a close .
Like Richard Reid , Donald Trump is a cartoon figure and his attempt to overturn a free and fair election is nearly comical in its stupidity .
A wise observer would view the Trump experience as a near-catastrophe which became a wake-up call for just how vulnerable our democracy is .
Instead , we have a conservative establishment which—when it isn ’ t outright advancing Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or averting its eyes—says that the fact that Donald Trump will ( probably ) leave office on January 20 is proof that the system worked and there ’ s no reason for concern .
Consider Holman Jenkins who , in a Wall Street Journal op-ed , claims that “ U.S .
democracy is a faith machine that continues to reward your faith.
” It would be hard to come up with a clearer statement of elite , late republic decadence than “ enjoy the latest chapter of the Trump show.
” Why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizenship when you can be like Blanche DuBois and depend on the kindness of strangers performing their civic duties ?
In a staff editorial , National Review musters the courage to at least call Trump ’ s attempt to overturn the election what it is : There is dark vindication for Trump ’ s principled critics across the political landscape in these words .
But consider that it took a president promoting election fraud conspiracy theories targeting his own party—thereby jeopardizing Republican control of the Senate—to get there .
And what remedy do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would they keep this from happening again ?
All they can muster is to “ hope [ that ] no losing presidential candidate ever even thinks of [ it ] again.
” A healthy republic ought to have a strong , even a visceral response to those who would endanger its future .
And it should remember the treacherous who conspire against it .
The phrase “ enemy of democracy ” has a sinister bearing .
Saying it aloud may elicit a frisson of discomfort .
That sort of language is for grubby @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a consolidated and modern republic .
But how else to describe those who would use raw political power in Republican-controlled legislatures to overturn a national election ?
Public officials swear an oath to “ defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies , foreign and domestic.
” It is a mandate that responsible citizens should take seriously .
No one should try to hide behind the legalistic argument that such an outcome might be technically constitutional .
Every dictator claims his hold on power is constitutional .
Vladimir Putin controls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years under a constitutional state of emergency .
There is nothing magical about the U.S. Constitution .
Unmoored from our founding principles , it can become an instrument of tyranny .
For parts of our history—specifically for Americans of color—it was .
It is important , therefore , to keep score on who , exactly , democracy ’ s enemies are .
Our list should start with Donald Trump himself .
We ’ ve become numb to his relentless claims that the 2020 election was “ RIGGED.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ remember that there is nothing new about his conspiratorial and toxic rhetoric .
Trump complained about fixed Republican and Democratic primaries in 2016 , and attributed his popular vote defeat in the general election to widespread fraud .
And even before that .
On Election Day 2012 , Trump previewed the same voting machine conspiracy theory his supporters use now .
Later that night , after the networks announced that Barack Obama had been re-elected , Trump tweeted : And now in the aftermath of his clear defeat in 2020 , the lame @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use their authority to designate slates of pro-Trump electors .
He promotes conspiracy theories about manipulated voting machines , organized fraud concentrated in a few majority black cities , and supposed statistical proofs that he actually won .
He fires a senior civil servant for publicly debunking his allegations .
Donald Trump is an enemy of democracy .
Full stop .
In this , he has been aided and abetted by several lawyers , who have explicitly advocated that Republican legislators overturn the will of the people .
Before her formal separation from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lou Dobbs that “ the entire election , frankly , in all the swing states should be overturned .
And the legislatures should make sure that the electors are selected for Trump.
” Rudy Giuliani encouraged pressure , even intimidation , against state legislators in Michigan to ignore the certified popular vote and award the state ’ s electors to Donald Trump .
“ Sometimes it even requires being threatened , ” he said .
Jenna Ellis similarly argued that Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania could throw out the results in favor of Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without judicial oversight , can direct and take back that power.
” Elected Republicans have also lent their support to this scheme to overturn the election .
Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama tweeted that “ Congress should reject any Georgia submission of 16 electoral college votes for Joe Biden.
” Brooks also announced his intention to formally challenge the results in Congress because “ this election was stolen by the socialists ” and “ it ’ s the United States Congress that is the final judge and jury of whether to accept or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano introduced a resolution to “ exercise our obligation and authority to appoint delegates to the Electoral College.
” Twenty-eight members and members-elect of the Arizona legislature called for decertifying Joe Biden ’ s victory in the state .
On Twitter , Congressman Paul Gosar commented approvingly “ this is 28 bitch slaps to [ Arizona Governor ] Doug Ducey and 28 calls for justice.
” These elected Republicans are enemies of democracy .
Far-right conservative activists have been similarly explicit about their intention to reverse the election outcome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Matthew Peterson tweeted that “ Republicans in the disputed states now need to tell their state legislators to resolve the problem by choosing their own electors for Trump , which is a fully constitutional option that would lead to a rightful Trump victory.
” Former Trump aide Seb Gorka has demanded a “ political solution ” to the election , arguing that “ no GOP statehouse must certify this election which is clearly fraudulent and can not send any electors to DC .
.
.
And if nobody gets 270 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Founding Fathers , we get a contingent election and it goes to the House of Representatives.
” Michael Anton , who served as National Security Council spokesman under Trump , “ urged GOP officials in close states to expose shenanigans and , if necessary , refuse to seat Biden electors.
” The Federalist ’ s Margot Cleveland , in an article headlined “ State Legislatures Must Investigate Fraud And Choose Electors Accordingly , ” observed that “ the Constitution does not provide for the appointment of elector by popular vote ” and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraud ] concerns , the state legislatures should vote to directly appoint electors as they see fit .
.
.
Then when those legislators are up for reelection , we will have a feel for the true will of the people.
” This is but a small sample of the anti-democratic agitation endemic on the pro-Trump right .
These men and women have declared themselves enemies of democracy .
Most disturbing are pleas from disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn , retired General Tom McInerney , and Georgia lawyer Lin Wood for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both the U.S. Constitution and habeas corpus , and order the military to administer another election .
These men have advanced beyond “ enemy of democracy ” status , and entered the realm of outright sedition .
It ’ s difficult to imagine that the American public would react peacefully to a declaration of martial law , and maybe that ’ s the point .
On November 21 , an emotional Trump supporter called in to Rush Limbaugh to say “ I love my president… I would die for my president.
” While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words dismaying or disturbing , Michael Flynn celebrated “ this man ’ s passionate plea , not of fear but of strength & commitment to his faith , family & our country.
” How the hell did we get here ?
Part of the answer is that the American right has failed to advance a conservative agenda that appeals to majorities , and has instead chosen to focus on mobilizing its largely white , increasingly rural political base with appeals to grievance and resentment .
This retreat from even attempting to secure a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ geographic leverage created by the Electoral College has resulted in a growing suspicion of majoritarianism itself .
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah was blunt in his criticism : While it ’ s true that illiberal or “ rank ” democracy can lead to “ tyranny of the majority , ” it ’ s also true that democratic processes—tempered by liberal and countermajoritarian institutions—are still the best way for a republic to discern the common good .
It ’ s a short step from denigrating democracy to replacing “ We the People ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the answer is that our politics have been corrupted by a celebration of a “ will to power ” that is heedless of basic principles .
There will always be hypocrites , but at least the hypocrite wishes to be seen as virtuous .
Some Americans have gone from trying to conceal their vices to wearing them as badges of honor .
Using raw political power to overturn a democratic election is the ultimate triumph of political vice , and a logical consequence of win-at-all-costs “ wartime conservatism.
” We also don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vast majority of elected Republicans and their conservative enablers .
These putative leaders have given fuel to the president ’ s antidemocratic effort by either refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect or promoting the baseless claim that fraud changed the outcome of the election .
We aren ’ t just talking about the usual lunatic fringe .
The senior House Republican , Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , suggested that Donald Trump could only have lost re-election because of widespread fraud , telling Fox News “ what ’ s very interesting here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Not one Republican incumbent lost .
.
.
.
How would President Trump lose in an atmosphere like that ?
” Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson criticized Attorney General Bill Barr for concluding that the election outcome was unaffected by widespread fraud .
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul tweeted a “ just asking questions ” link to a statistical analysis supposedly indicating that only fraud could explain “ data dumps ” favoring Joe Biden ’ s election victory .
These Republican leaders may not be full-fledged enemies of democracy , but by giving aid and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the result , they ’ re no friends of the republic either .
It ’ s also worth taking a moment to make clear that there is no modern precedent for overturning a clearly decided American election .
The much whatabouted “ Hamilton Electors ” effort in 2016 was a naïve appeal to individual conscience , not an attempt to forcibly replace Trump-committed electors altogether .
And either way , it was not endorsed or promoted by the losing candidate .
Yes , Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones objected to seating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Ohio in the 2004 election , but as Rep. Jones explained , “ this objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning the victory of the president ; but it is a necessary , timely , and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy.
” Consider also the impact of a defeated party advocating the use of political force to overturn a clearly decided election on the body politic .
If no political price is paid by the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There is moral hazard for a republic that imposes no meaningful consequence on those who would destroy it from within .
Even if the president fails to overturn his election defeat , the mere attempt presents a Rubicon-like test for our republic .
A line has been crossed , and it is important that those who wish for the nation to long endure push back .
The saboteurs who have struck at the heart of our democracy should be considered politically—if not morally—irredeemable .
They should be pariahs , marked forever , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adversarial regime .
A republic that respects itself should remember where people stood in this moment , and keep those who would threaten it far from the instruments of political power .
We must never forget .

Three days before Christmas in 2001, Richard Reid took off from Paris on a flight to Miami. He did not intend on arriving. Instead, he attempted to ignite explosives packed into one of his shoes to destroy the plane, killing everyone aboard for the cause of violent jihad.
He did not succeed. Other passengers noticed his odd behavior—most notably lighting numerous matches while wires were dangling from his pant leg. He was subdued; the flight landed safely.
The plot had failed. But that did not mean that the system which let him get onto a plane with explosives “worked.”
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
This is the exact position America’s democratic system finds itself in as the Trump era comes to a close. Like Richard Reid, Donald Trump is a cartoon figure and his attempt to overturn a free and fair election is nearly comical in its stupidity.
A wise observer would view the Trump experience as a near-catastrophe which became a wake-up call for just how vulnerable our democracy is.
Instead, we have a conservative establishment which—when it isn’t outright advancing Trump’s attempt to overturn the election, or averting its eyes—says that the fact that Donald Trump will (probably) leave office on January 20 is proof that the system worked and there’s no reason for concern.
Consider Holman Jenkins who, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, claims that “U.S. democracy is a faith machine that continues to reward your faith.”
Allow yourself to relax a bit, and enjoy the latest chapter of the Trump show, which will continue to enrich us with ironies and absurdities and insights to light our way in coming decades as we decode the wild and wonderful experiment known as America.
It would be hard to come up with a clearer statement of elite, late republic decadence than “enjoy the latest chapter of the Trump show.” Why burden yourself with the moral responsibilities of citizenship when you can be like Blanche DuBois and depend on the kindness of strangers performing their civic duties?
In a staff editorial, National Review musters the courage to at least call Trump’s attempt to overturn the election what it is:
Trump’s most reprehensible tactic has been to attempt, somewhat shamefacedly, to get local Republican officials to block the certification of votes and state legislatures to appoint Trump electors in clear violation of the public will. This has gone nowhere, thanks to the honesty and sense of duty of most of the Republicans involved, but it’s a profoundly undemocratic move that we hope no losing presidential candidate ever even thinks of again.
There is dark vindication for Trump’s principled critics across the political landscape in these words. But consider that it took a president promoting election fraud conspiracy theories targeting his own party—thereby jeopardizing Republican control of the Senate—to get there.
And what remedy do the National Review editors propose? How would they keep this from happening again? All they can muster is to “hope [that] no losing presidential candidate ever even thinks of [it] again.”
Hope is not a plan.
A healthy republic ought to have a strong, even a visceral response to those who would endanger its future. And it should remember the treacherous who conspire against it.
The phrase “enemy of democracy” has a sinister bearing. Saying it aloud may elicit a frisson of discomfort. That sort of language is for grubby radicals, not for us educated citizens of a consolidated and modern republic.
But how else to describe those who would use raw political power in Republican-controlled legislatures to overturn a national election? Public officials swear an oath to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” It is a mandate that responsible citizens should take seriously.
No one should try to hide behind the legalistic argument that such an outcome might be technically constitutional. Every dictator claims his hold on power is constitutional. Vladimir Putin controls Russia behind a veneer of constitutionality. Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years under a constitutional state of emergency.
There is nothing magical about the U.S. Constitution. Unmoored from our founding principles, it can become an instrument of tyranny. For parts of our history—specifically for Americans of color—it was.
It is important, therefore, to keep score on who, exactly, democracy’s enemies are.
Our list should start with Donald Trump himself.
We’ve become numb to his relentless claims that the 2020 election was “RIGGED.” Yet it’s important to remember that there is nothing new about his conspiratorial and toxic rhetoric.
Trump complained about fixed Republican and Democratic primaries in 2016, and attributed his popular vote defeat in the general election to widespread fraud. And even before that. On Election Day 2012, Trump previewed the same voting machine conspiracy theory his supporters use now.
More reports of voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama. Pay close attention to the machines, don't let your vote be stolen — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Later that night, after the networks announced that Barack Obama had been re-elected, Trump tweeted:
This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
And now in the aftermath of his clear defeat in 2020, the lame duck president openly lobbies state legislators to use their authority to designate slates of pro-Trump electors. He promotes conspiracy theories about manipulated voting machines, organized fraud concentrated in a few majority black cities, and supposed statistical proofs that he actually won. He fires a senior civil servant for publicly debunking his allegations.
Donald Trump is an enemy of democracy. Full stop.
In this, he has been aided and abetted by several lawyers, who have explicitly advocated that Republican legislators overturn the will of the people. Before her formal separation from the legal team, Sidney Powell told Lou Dobbs that “the entire election, frankly, in all the swing states should be overturned. And the legislatures should make sure that the electors are selected for Trump.”
Rudy Giuliani encouraged pressure, even intimidation, against state legislators in Michigan to ignore the certified popular vote and award the state’s electors to Donald Trump. “Sometimes it even requires being threatened,” he said.
Jenna Ellis similarly argued that Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania could throw out the results in favor of Donald Trump: “You the legislature, without judicial oversight, can direct and take back that power.”
Donald Trump’s lawyers are enemies of democracy.
Elected Republicans have also lent their support to this scheme to overturn the election. Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama tweeted that “Congress should reject any Georgia submission of 16 electoral college votes for Joe Biden.” Brooks also announced his intention to formally challenge the results in Congress because “this election was stolen by the socialists” and “it’s the United States Congress that is the final judge and jury of whether to accept or reject Electoral College submissions by states.”
Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano introduced a resolution to “exercise our obligation and authority to appoint delegates to the Electoral College.”
When that failed, 60 members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly requested that their congressional delegation “object, and vote to sustain such objection, to the Electoral College votes received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Twenty-eight members and members-elect of the Arizona legislature called for decertifying Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
On Twitter, Congressman Paul Gosar commented approvingly “this is 28 bitch slaps to [Arizona Governor] Doug Ducey and 28 calls for justice.”
These elected Republicans are enemies of democracy.
Far-right conservative activists have been similarly explicit about their intention to reverse the election outcome through extra-legal means.
The Claremont Institute’s Matthew Peterson tweeted that “Republicans in the disputed states now need to tell their state legislators to resolve the problem by choosing their own electors for Trump, which is a fully constitutional option that would lead to a rightful Trump victory.”
Former Trump aide Seb Gorka has demanded a “political solution” to the election, arguing that “no GOP statehouse must certify this election which is clearly fraudulent and cannot send any electors to DC . . . And if nobody gets 270, that’s the beauty of the Founding Fathers, we get a contingent election and it goes to the House of Representatives.”
Michael Anton, who served as National Security Council spokesman under Trump, “urged GOP officials in close states to expose shenanigans and, if necessary, refuse to seat Biden electors.”
The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland, in an article headlined “State Legislatures Must Investigate Fraud And Choose Electors Accordingly,” observed that “the Constitution does not provide for the appointment of elector by popular vote” and that “following an investigation of [election fraud] concerns, the state legislatures should vote to directly appoint electors as they see fit . . . Then when those legislators are up for reelection, we will have a feel for the true will of the people.”
This is but a small sample of the anti-democratic agitation endemic on the pro-Trump right. These men and women have declared themselves enemies of democracy.
Most disturbing are pleas from disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, retired General Tom McInerney, and Georgia lawyer Lin Wood for Trump to invoke martial law, suspend both the U.S. Constitution and habeas corpus, and order the military to administer another election. These men have advanced beyond “enemy of democracy” status, and entered the realm of outright sedition.
It’s difficult to imagine that the American public would react peacefully to a declaration of martial law, and maybe that’s the point. On November 21, an emotional Trump supporter called in to Rush Limbaugh to say “I love my president… I would die for my president.”
While you might find the caller’s words dismaying or disturbing, Michael Flynn celebrated “this man’s passionate plea, not of fear but of strength & commitment to his faith, family & our country.”
How the hell did we get here?
Part of the answer is that the American right has failed to advance a conservative agenda that appeals to majorities, and has instead chosen to focus on mobilizing its largely white, increasingly rural political base with appeals to grievance and resentment. This retreat from even attempting to secure a popular majority in favor of using the geographic leverage created by the Electoral College has resulted in a growing suspicion of majoritarianism itself.
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah was blunt in his criticism:
Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that. — Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 8, 2020
While it’s true that illiberal or “rank” democracy can lead to “tyranny of the majority,” it’s also true that democratic processes—tempered by liberal and countermajoritarian institutions—are still the best way for a republic to discern the common good. It’s a short step from denigrating democracy to replacing “We the People” with a magisterium.
Another part of the answer is that our politics have been corrupted by a celebration of a “will to power” that is heedless of basic principles. There will always be hypocrites, but at least the hypocrite wishes to be seen as virtuous. Some Americans have gone from trying to conceal their vices to wearing them as badges of honor.
Using raw political power to overturn a democratic election is the ultimate triumph of political vice, and a logical consequence of win-at-all-costs “wartime conservatism.”
We also don’t get here without the assent of the vast majority of elected Republicans and their conservative enablers. These putative leaders have given fuel to the president’s antidemocratic effort by either refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect or promoting the baseless claim that fraud changed the outcome of the election.
We aren’t just talking about the usual lunatic fringe.
The senior House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, suggested that Donald Trump could only have lost re-election because of widespread fraud, telling Fox News “what’s very interesting here and shows more of the fraud: Not one Republican incumbent lost. . . . How would President Trump lose in an atmosphere like that?”
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson criticized Attorney General Bill Barr for concluding that the election outcome was unaffected by widespread fraud.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul tweeted a “just asking questions” link to a statistical analysis supposedly indicating that only fraud could explain “data dumps” favoring Joe Biden’s election victory.
These Republican leaders may not be full-fledged enemies of democracy, but by giving aid and comfort to those who seek to overturn the result, they’re no friends of the republic either.
It’s also worth taking a moment to make clear that there is no modern precedent for overturning a clearly decided American election. The much whatabouted “Hamilton Electors” effort in 2016 was a naïve appeal to individual conscience, not an attempt to forcibly replace Trump-committed electors altogether. And either way, it was not endorsed or promoted by the losing candidate.
Yes, Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones objected to seating George W. Bush-pledged electors from the state of Ohio in the 2004 election, but as Rep. Jones explained, “this objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning the victory of the president; but it is a necessary, timely, and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy.”
Consider also the impact of a defeated party advocating the use of political force to overturn a clearly decided election on the body politic.
If no political price is paid by the president and his cadres, what then? There is moral hazard for a republic that imposes no meaningful consequence on those who would destroy it from within.
Even if the president fails to overturn his election defeat, the mere attempt presents a Rubicon-like test for our republic. A line has been crossed, and it is important that those who wish for the nation to long endure push back.
The saboteurs who have struck at the heart of our democracy should be considered politically—if not morally—irredeemable. They should be pariahs, marked forever, as if they had sworn allegiance to an adversarial regime.
A republic that respects itself should remember where people stood in this moment, and keep those who would threaten it far from the instruments of political power.
We must never forget.


thebulwark--2020-12-09--The Texas Attorney General’s Shameful and Stupid Attempt to Crash the Election

Here we go again .
Another insane lawsuit .
Another assault on the legitimacy of the only remaining branch of the federal government that ’ s still functioning post-Trumpdom : the judiciary .
Today , Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Texas against four other states : Georgia , Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin .
The lawsuit claims that the four defendant states didn ’ t comply with their own laws for changing how the 2020 election would be held , that it hurt Texans , and that Paxton ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Among the fifty ( give or take ) lawsuits that Team Trump has filed in its vain effort to steal the election from Joe Biden and his voters , this one stands out .
Like nearly all of the others , it is sure to fail .
But here ’ s why it ’ s special .
For starters , Paxton brought the suit by filing a complaint directly in the U.S. Supreme Court .
Keep in mind that , for the vast majority of cases , there ’ s a judicial hierarchy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the trial court , which is called the “ U.S .
District Court ” at the federal level .
That court decides if the claims pass the straight-face test .
If they do , that court will allow fact-finding—called discovery—and maybe even eventually proceed to trial , where evidence is heard through witnesses and documents .
The process is known as “ making a record.
” That record gets frozen and sent on appeal .
Appellate courts—first , intermediary courts of appeals and , ultimately , the U.S. Supreme Court—review the record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hear brand-new evidence .
Enter Paxton ’ s complaint .
It makes a slew of audacious factual allegations that are unestablished and untested .
Basically , he argues that the state defendants shouldn ’ t have allowed mail-in balloting the way they did , and cites “ mysterious late night dumps of thousands of ballots at tabulation centers ; illegally backdating thousands of ballots , ” and videos of “ poll workers erupting in cheers as poll challengers are removed from vote counting centers , ” among an avalanche of other unsubstantiated and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ favorite is the “ expert analysis ” that allegedly calculated the “ probability of former Vice President Biden winning the popular vote in the four Defendant States ” as “ less than one in a quadrillion , or 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000.
” ) In a routine case , all of these claims would amount to nothing without discovery and hard , verifiable evidence .
Bald allegations are not enough to get relief .
To be sure , the Constitution includes a provision that allows the U.S. Supreme Court to hear complaints in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more states .
But that provision is rarely invoked , and is aimed at instances where there is no other means of resolving a fight between states some other way .
Here , there are plenty of lower courts ( as we ’ ve seen ad nauseam ) that Paxton can bother with his baseless claims .
But there ’ s more .
Paxton is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to extend the December 14 deadline on which each state ’ s electors will cast their slates of Electoral College votes according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He asks the Supreme Court to : “ Declare that any electoral college votes cast by such presidential electors appointed in Defendant States Pennsylvania , Georgia , Michigan , and Wisconsin are in violation of the Electors Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and can not be counted.
” Paxton would have the Court instead “ direct such States ’ legislatures .
.
.
to appoint a new set of presidential electors.
” Hear that again : Paxton is asking five unelected justices with jobs for life to cancel the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states , and tell the legislatures in those states to give the electors to Trump .
( Even Ted Cruz only wants to wipe out all the votes from just one state . )
This is a wholesale assault on “ We the People ” —citizens of a country founded on principles of self-government .
And it ’ s an assault on the sovereignty of fellow states .
Truly breathtaking .
There are numerous other legal flaws in the complaint , including Paxton ’ s strained claim of “ standing ” —i.e.
, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get before a court—which verges on laughable .
Paxton claims that Texas “ is acting to protect the interests of its respective citizens in the fair and constitutional conduct of elections used to appoint presidential electors.
” What about the interests of the rest of American voters ?
And for that matter , what about the interests of Texas voters who chose Biden ?
Paxton doesn ’ t seem to bother with them ( but then again , let ’ s not forget that Trump is on a pardon spree and Paxton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraud charges but has yet to be tried ) .
Paxton ’ s ironic answer to problems of fairness to voters of every stripe ?
“ Our Country stands at an important crossroads .
Either the Constitution matters and must be followed , even when some officials consider it inconvenient or out of date , or it is simply a piece of parchment on display at the National Archives .
We ask the Court to choose the former.
” Here at last I agree wholeheartedly .
The American judicial system exists to resolve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by neutral tribunals .
People living in authoritarian regimes can only dream of a world in which politicians do not call all of the shots , arbitrarily , for the sake of power-grabbing and self-preservation .
Which is why this monstrosity of a lawsuit—which was clearly crafted by smart , able , learned government lawyers—is shameful .

Here we go again. Another insane lawsuit. Another assault on the legitimacy of the only remaining branch of the federal government that’s still functioning post-Trumpdom: the judiciary.
Today, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Texas against four other states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The lawsuit claims that the four defendant states didn’t comply with their own laws for changing how the 2020 election would be held, that it hurt Texans, and that Paxton’s the guy to right that wrong.
Among the fifty (give or take) lawsuits that Team Trump has filed in its vain effort to steal the election from Joe Biden and his voters, this one stands out. Like nearly all of the others, it is sure to fail. But here’s why it’s special.
For starters, Paxton brought the suit by filing a complaint directly in the U.S. Supreme Court. Keep in mind that, for the vast majority of cases, there’s a judicial hierarchy that applies. Civil complaints are filed in the trial court, which is called the “U.S. District Court” at the federal level. That court decides if the claims pass the straight-face test. If they do, that court will allow fact-finding—called discovery—and maybe even eventually proceed to trial, where evidence is heard through witnesses and documents. The process is known as “making a record.” That record gets frozen and sent on appeal. Appellate courts—first, intermediary courts of appeals and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court—review the record for errors. They normally do not hear brand-new evidence.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
Enter Paxton’s complaint. It makes a slew of audacious factual allegations that are unestablished and untested. Basically, he argues that the state defendants shouldn’t have allowed mail-in balloting the way they did, and cites “mysterious late night dumps of thousands of ballots at tabulation centers; illegally backdating thousands of ballots,” and videos of “poll workers erupting in cheers as poll challengers are removed from vote counting centers,” among an avalanche of other unsubstantiated and previously repudiated factual claims. (My favorite is the “expert analysis” that allegedly calculated the “probability of former Vice President Biden winning the popular vote in the four Defendant States” as “less than one in a quadrillion, or 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000.”)
In a routine case, all of these claims would amount to nothing without discovery and hard, verifiable evidence. Bald allegations are not enough to get relief.
To be sure, the Constitution includes a provision that allows the U.S. Supreme Court to hear complaints in the first instance in lawsuits between two or more states. But that provision is rarely invoked, and is aimed at instances where there is no other means of resolving a fight between states some other way. Here, there are plenty of lower courts (as we’ve seen ad nauseam) that Paxton can bother with his baseless claims.
But there’s more. Paxton is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to extend the December 14 deadline on which each state’s electors will cast their slates of Electoral College votes according to the laws of the respective states. He asks the Supreme Court to: “Declare that any electoral college votes cast by such presidential electors appointed in Defendant States Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin are in violation of the Electors Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and cannot be counted.” Paxton would have the Court instead “direct such States’ legislatures . . . to appoint a new set of presidential electors.”
Hear that again: Paxton is asking five unelected justices with jobs for life to cancel the millions of votes legitimately cast in four states, and tell the legislatures in those states to give the electors to Trump. (Even Ted Cruz only wants to wipe out all the votes from just one state.)
This is a wholesale assault on “We the People”—citizens of a country founded on principles of self-government. And it’s an assault on the sovereignty of fellow states. Truly breathtaking.
There are numerous other legal flaws in the complaint, including Paxton’s strained claim of “standing”—i.e., the particularized injury that’s necessary to get before a court—which verges on laughable. Paxton claims that Texas “is acting to protect the interests of its respective citizens in the fair and constitutional conduct of elections used to appoint presidential electors.”
What about the interests of the rest of American voters? And for that matter, what about the interests of Texas voters who chose Biden? Paxton doesn’t seem to bother with them (but then again, let’s not forget that Trump is on a pardon spree and Paxton was indicted in 2015 for felony securities fraud charges but has yet to be tried).
Paxton’s ironic answer to problems of fairness to voters of every stripe? “Our Country stands at an important crossroads. Either the Constitution matters and must be followed, even when some officials consider it inconvenient or out of date, or it is simply a piece of parchment on display at the National Archives. We ask the Court to choose the former.”
Here at last I agree wholeheartedly. The American judicial system exists to resolve legitimate disputes based on facts and law by neutral tribunals. People living in authoritarian regimes can only dream of a world in which politicians do not call all of the shots, arbitrarily, for the sake of power-grabbing and self-preservation. Which is why this monstrosity of a lawsuit—which was clearly crafted by smart, able, learned government lawyers—is shameful.


Trumpism Triumphant

Off and on , for 25 years , I participated in National Review cruises as a speaker .
I met lots of wonderful people who were intelligent , curious , and great company—but there were always cranks and conspiracy theorists too .
Once , during the Clinton administration , people at my dinner table were repeating the story that Hillary had killed Vince Foster .
I choked down my bite of chicken Kiev and responded , as equably as possible , “ Well , for that to be true , she would also have had to transport his body to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or anyone else noticing.
” Several people at the table blinked back at me .
Yeah ?
So ?
It was a tell , though I didn ’ t know it at the time .
In later years , I noticed that cruisers weren ’ t citing mainstream publications for their information .
They weren ’ t even citing National Review ( which a fair percentage of the cruisers didn ’ t even read , I learned ) .
They were getting their news from email lists and subscription newsletters .
I noticed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ audiences .
Someone was always buttonholing me and thrusting some obscure publication into my hands .
These people were not hard up .
They hadn ’ t been displaced from their union jobs by outsourcing .
The ladies wore designer dresses and the men sported pinky diamonds .
In 2020 , people earning more than $ 100,000 voted for Trump over Biden by 11 points , whereas Biden earned the support of those earning less than $ 50,000 by 15 points .
There ’ s a theory that people have rallied to Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disrespected by the mainstream , liberal-leaning press .
They bristle at the condescension of liberals who , they believe , despise country music , guns , and Cracker Barrel .
There is some truth in this , but my experience with conservatives makes me skeptical of that as a complete explanation .
Sure , the urban/rural divide is real—and not limited to the United States—but resentment of elites has always been with us .
From suspicion of the First Bank of the United States among the Jeffersonians to the populist movement of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always been despised by some .
But it didn ’ t drive people into abject lunacy in the past , or at least , not on the scale we see today .
The resentment motive can ’ t account for our volume of crazy .
A theme that unified these conspiracy-minded people was a sense of superiority—not inferiority .
They felt that they had access to the hidden truth that the deluded masses didn ’ t understand .
It was a key feature of Rush Limbaugh ’ s appeal .
He frequently suggested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the official version , and could penetrate the opaque Washington drama by stripping away the polite fictions to reveal the ugly realities beneath .
After decades of this diet , and with an enormous turbo-charge from Trump , the conspiracists are in the driver ’ s seat of the Republican party .
Today , the glazed-eyed-Hillary-murdered-Vince Foster-Republicans are , if not the majority , at least a plurality of the Republican party .
This is profoundly worrying , because , let ’ s face it , they ’ ve suspended their critical faculties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were ripe for fraud .
He openly declared that he would not accept the legitimacy of any election he lost .
He pressured friendly state legislatures , like Pennsylvania ’ s , not to count mail ballots until election day so that he could weave a story of victory if he did well with in-person voting on Election night , knowing that the count for mail ballots would take longer .
Now consider the average Republican voter .
If anyone of their personal acquaintance had said , about an upcoming company baseball game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soccer match , that the refs were all corrupt and that the other team always cheats , and then after losing the game , claimed that it was all rigged , they ’ d roll their eyes and say , “ That guy is a little cracked.
” Trump is more than a little cracked .
What Peter Wehner calls his “ disordered personality ” has been on vivid display for years .
The peevishness , the pettiness , the colossal narcissism—to say nothing of his larger faults .
But the normal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspended in Trump ’ s case .
His legal challenges to the results have been so absurd that if they ’ d been filed by anyone other than the president of the United States , they might have been thrown out as “ frivolous.
” They have lost 49 of the 50 suits they ’ ve filed , and not just lost , but lost with blistering smackdowns from the judges , including those appointed by Trump .
“ Voters , not lawyers , choose the president , ” wrote Stephanos Bibas , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Another judge wrote : In case you missed it , the Republican party of Arizona is actually asking Republicans to “ fight and die ” for Trump ’ s stolen election lie .
Retweeting Trumpist Ali Akbar who said “ I am willing to give my life for this fight , ” the Arizona GOP replied “ He is .
Are you ?
” ( The account has since deleted the tweets . )
Eric Metaxas , who wrote a well-received biography of William Wilberforce in 2007 but has tumbled all the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , released a video testament telling Trump , “ I ’ d be happy to die in this fight .
This is a fight for everything .
God is with us.
” Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is calling for a military coup .
One of the president ’ s lawyers called for an official who oversaw election cybersecurity to be shot at dawn .
Even more disturbing than the crackpot statements of hard-core cultists are the Republican elected officials who are behaving like automatons stamped out of a brain-removal factory .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans serving in the House and Senate to ask who won the election .
Two said Trump , 27 said Biden , and the other 220 declined to say .
Ted Cruz , Mr. “ Constitutional Conservative , ” is volunteering to argue Trump ’ s utterly fraudulent stolen election case before the Supreme Court .
The Court has other ideas .
A Republican Georgia election official pleaded with the president and others to behave with minimal decency .
Noting that people simply doing their jobs—along with their family members—had received explicit rape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emotional , predicting , “ Someone is going to get shot .
Someone is going to get killed , ” if the president and his henchmen continue the incitement .
Within hours of that plea , dozens of armed people gathered outside the home of the Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as she was decorating a Christmas tree with her four-year-old son .
“ Stop the steal , ” they chanted , and “ you ’ re murderers.
” And then there are the polls showing that shocking numbers of rank-and-file Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ YouGov/Economist poll found that 73 percent of Republicans had little or no confidence that the election was conducted fairly .
A Morning Consult/Politico survey found that 67 percent of Republicans said the election was probably or definitely not free and fair .
And a Monmouth University poll found that 75 percent of Republicans were “ not too confident ” or “ not at all confident ” that the 2020 election was conducted fairly and accurately .
Sixty-four Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have signed a letter asking that members of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of electors .
We have now reached the stage where it isn ’ t just that Republicans fail to rebuke Trump .
It isn ’ t just that Republicans are frightened into silence by fear of the base .
We are now at the stage when a critical mass of the Republican party has adopted Trump ’ s disordered personality for its own .
The Republican party is , in this iteration , a danger to American democracy .
Our urgent task is , to borrow a phrase , to repeal and replace @ @

Off and on, for 25 years, I participated in National Review cruises as a speaker. I met lots of wonderful people who were intelligent, curious, and great company—but there were always cranks and conspiracy theorists too. Once, during the Clinton administration, people at my dinner table were repeating the story that Hillary had killed Vince Foster. I choked down my bite of chicken Kiev and responded, as equably as possible, “Well, for that to be true, she would also have had to transport his body to Fort Marcy Park without the Secret Service or anyone else noticing.” Several people at the table blinked back at me. Yeah? So?
It was a tell, though I didn’t know it at the time. In later years, I noticed that cruisers weren’t citing mainstream publications for their information. They weren’t even citing National Review (which a fair percentage of the cruisers didn’t even read, I learned). They were getting their news from email lists and subscription newsletters. I noticed the same thing when speaking to conservative audiences. Someone was always buttonholing me and thrusting some obscure publication into my hands.
These people were not hard up. They hadn’t been displaced from their union jobs by outsourcing. The ladies wore designer dresses and the men sported pinky diamonds. In 2020, people earning more than $100,000 voted for Trump over Biden by 11 points, whereas Biden earned the support of those earning less than $50,000 by 15 points.
There’s a theory that people have rallied to Trump and alternative news sources because they feel disrespected by the mainstream, liberal-leaning press. They bristle at the condescension of liberals who, they believe, despise country music, guns, and Cracker Barrel. There is some truth in this, but my experience with conservatives makes me skeptical of that as a complete explanation. Sure, the urban/rural divide is real—and not limited to the United States—but resentment of elites has always been with us. From suspicion of the First Bank of the United States among the Jeffersonians to the populist movement of the 1890s, “coastal elites” have always been despised by some. But it didn’t drive people into abject lunacy in the past, or at least, not on the scale we see today.
The resentment motive can’t account for our volume of crazy. A theme that unified these conspiracy-minded people was a sense of superiority—not inferiority. They felt that they had access to the hidden truth that the deluded masses didn’t understand. It was a key feature of Rush Limbaugh’s appeal. He frequently suggested that he understood that real story beneath the official version, and could penetrate the opaque Washington drama by stripping away the polite fictions to reveal the ugly realities beneath.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
After decades of this diet, and with an enormous turbo-charge from Trump, the conspiracists are in the driver’s seat of the Republican party. Today, the glazed-eyed-Hillary-murdered-Vince Foster-Republicans are, if not the majority, at least a plurality of the Republican party. This is profoundly worrying, because, let’s face it, they’ve suspended their critical faculties. Trump spent months saying mail-in ballots were ripe for fraud. He openly declared that he would not accept the legitimacy of any election he lost. He pressured friendly state legislatures, like Pennsylvania’s, not to count mail ballots until election day so that he could weave a story of victory if he did well with in-person voting on Election night, knowing that the count for mail ballots would take longer.
Now consider the average Republican voter. If anyone of their personal acquaintance had said, about an upcoming company baseball game, or their kid’s weekend soccer match, that the refs were all corrupt and that the other team always cheats, and then after losing the game, claimed that it was all rigged, they’d roll their eyes and say, “That guy is a little cracked.”
Trump is more than a little cracked. What Peter Wehner calls his “disordered personality” has been on vivid display for years. The peevishness, the pettiness, the colossal narcissism—to say nothing of his larger faults. But the normal, ordinary evaluations of character and credibility are suspended in Trump’s case.
His legal challenges to the results have been so absurd that if they’d been filed by anyone other than the president of the United States, they might have been thrown out as “frivolous.” They have lost 49 of the 50 suits they’ve filed, and not just lost, but lost with blistering smackdowns from the judges, including those appointed by Trump. “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president,” wrote Stephanos Bibas, a judge on the Third Circuit. Another judge wrote:
This Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence. In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws, and institutions demand more.
In case you missed it, the Republican party of Arizona is actually asking Republicans to “fight and die” for Trump’s stolen election lie. Retweeting Trumpist Ali Akbar who said “I am willing to give my life for this fight,” the Arizona GOP replied “He is. Are you?” (The account has since deleted the tweets.)
Eric Metaxas, who wrote a well-received biography of William Wilberforce in 2007 but has tumbled all the way down the rabbit hole into Trump cultism, released a video testament telling Trump, “I’d be happy to die in this fight. This is a fight for everything. God is with us.” Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is calling for a military coup. One of the president’s lawyers called for an official who oversaw election cybersecurity to be shot at dawn.
Even more disturbing than the crackpot statements of hard-core cultists are the Republican elected officials who are behaving like automatons stamped out of a brain-removal factory. The Washington Post contacted all of the Republicans serving in the House and Senate to ask who won the election. Two said Trump, 27 said Biden, and the other 220 declined to say. Ted Cruz, Mr. “Constitutional Conservative,” is volunteering to argue Trump’s utterly fraudulent stolen election case before the Supreme Court. The Court has other ideas.
A Republican Georgia election official pleaded with the president and others to behave with minimal decency. Noting that people simply doing their jobs—along with their family members—had received explicit rape and death threats, Gabriel Sterling got emotional, predicting, “Someone is going to get shot. Someone is going to get killed,” if the president and his henchmen continue the incitement. Within hours of that plea, dozens of armed people gathered outside the home of the Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as she was decorating a Christmas tree with her four-year-old son. “Stop the steal,” they chanted, and “you’re murderers.”
And then there are the polls showing that shocking numbers of rank-and-file Republicans are buying this big lie. A YouGov/Economist poll found that 73 percent of Republicans had little or no confidence that the election was conducted fairly. A Morning Consult/Politico survey found that 67 percent of Republicans said the election was probably or definitely not free and fair. And a Monmouth University poll found that 75 percent of Republicans were “not too confident” or “not at all confident” that the 2020 election was conducted fairly and accurately. Sixty-four Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have signed a letter asking that members of Congress throw out Pennsylvania’s slate of electors.
We have now reached the stage where it isn’t just that Republicans fail to rebuke Trump. It isn’t just that Republicans are frightened into silence by fear of the base. We are now at the stage when a critical mass of the Republican party has adopted Trump’s disordered personality for its own. The Republican party is, in this iteration, a danger to American democracy. Our urgent task is, to borrow a phrase, to repeal and replace it.


thebulwark--2020-12-10--The “Intellectual” Right’s Assault on Democracy

The politics of intimidation has worked well for Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president in 2015 .
Every critic of any note within the party eventually succumbed to his prolific attacks , amplified by those of his most ardent followers .
The few who stood up—Jeff Flake , Francis Rooney , Denver Riggleman , and others—retired , grew silent , changed party , or were drummed out of office .
So it ’ s no mystery why the bully-in-chief thinks he can pull off a coup to stay in office past noon on January 20 by alternately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to overturn the election , ignore the 81 million voters who chose Joe Biden as president , and appoint electors in key states who will acquiesce to his plot .
What is surprising , however , is how few conservatives are willing to stand up to the most direct threat against electoral democracy in living memory .
Sure , there are the brave few in Georgia and Arizona , but their courage has been met with threats against them and their families amid utter silence from most Republicans in Congress .
We might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ted Cruz , who embraced Trump even after he implied Cruz ’ s wife is ugly and suggested his father was an assassin .
But what about those on the “ intellectual ” right ?
Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett , whose best-selling Book of Virtues made him rich , regularly appears on Fox News giving credence to some of Trump ’ s wild claims of a stolen election .
“ I believe this election was fixed , ” he said this week , noting “ systematic corruption ” and “ statistical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden won .
Roger Kimball , who is publisher of Encounter Books and won the prestigious 2019 Bradley Prize “ for advancing liberty and preserving democratic culture , ” has amplified claims of suspicious vote tallies in multiple jurisdictions , mostly cities with large black populations .
Leading the pack of Trump apologists , the Claremont Institute ’ s scholars and publications have not only echoed Trump ’ s claims of a fraudulent election , but even “ testified ” that the 2020 elections violated state laws and the Constitution before “ hearings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than get-togethers that Rudy Giuliani organized with a handful of state legislators .
John Eastman , a law professor who leads Claremont ’ s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence , issued a blanket claim that Georgia , Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin violated the Article II of the U.S. Constitution by allowing some absentee ballots to be counted in the 2020 presidential election , and that their state legislatures should , therefore , nullify the election and appoint their own slates of electors to choose the next president .
Eastman praised the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ general ( who is currently under indictment for fraud and is accused of bribery by his top deputies ) , which would disenfranchise voters in those states as well—and the professor has now even filed a motion to intervene in the case for Donald Trump .
The Supreme Court will decide by Thursday whether to hear the case , but the Court has already shut the door on the other conspiracy case to reach it this week , brought by Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly and a handful of other Republicans in the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For individuals and organizations that champion the rule of law and claim the mantle of the founding principles of our nation to call for overturning an election reeks of hypocrisy .
It was one thing for them to advocate for so flawed a man as Trump to lead our nation .
But the American people have spoken and to continue to claim that the election was stolen , that votes were fraudulently counted , is to attack the very foundations of our democratic institutions .
They sow distrust in democracy itself—formerly the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may fear the wrath of Trump ’ s legion of followers if they speak out , but what is it that drives the “ thinkers ” like Bennett and Eastman ?
They should know better than to parrot insane conspiracy theories and promote specious legal arguments .
On January 20 , Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States .
But we should never forget the role of those who tried to subvert the peaceful transfer of power .
They deserve ignominy , not because they opposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they tried to undermine democracy .

The politics of intimidation has worked well for Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president in 2015. Every critic of any note within the party eventually succumbed to his prolific attacks, amplified by those of his most ardent followers. The few who stood up—Jeff Flake, Francis Rooney, Denver Riggleman, and others—retired, grew silent, changed party, or were drummed out of office. So it’s no mystery why the bully-in-chief thinks he can pull off a coup to stay in office past noon on January 20 by alternately cajoling and threatening state and federal legislators to overturn the election, ignore the 81 million voters who chose Joe Biden as president, and appoint electors in key states who will acquiesce to his plot.
What is surprising, however, is how few conservatives are willing to stand up to the most direct threat against electoral democracy in living memory. Sure, there are the brave few in Georgia and Arizona, but their courage has been met with threats against them and their families amid utter silence from most Republicans in Congress. We might expect this from the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz, who embraced Trump even after he implied Cruz’s wife is ugly and suggested his father was an assassin. But what about those on the “intellectual” right?
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, whose best-selling Book of Virtues made him rich, regularly appears on Fox News giving credence to some of Trump’s wild claims of a stolen election. “I believe this election was fixed,” he said this week, noting “systematic corruption” and “statistical anomalies” that made it improbable that Biden won.
Roger Kimball, who is publisher of Encounter Books and won the prestigious 2019 Bradley Prize “for advancing liberty and preserving democratic culture,” has amplified claims of suspicious vote tallies in multiple jurisdictions, mostly cities with large black populations.
Leading the pack of Trump apologists, the Claremont Institute’s scholars and publications have not only echoed Trump’s claims of a fraudulent election, but even “testified” that the 2020 elections violated state laws and the Constitution before “hearings,” which were in reality nothing more than get-togethers that Rudy Giuliani organized with a handful of state legislators.
John Eastman, a law professor who leads Claremont’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, issued a blanket claim that Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin violated Article II of the U.S. Constitution by allowing some absentee ballots to be counted in the 2020 presidential election, and that their state legislatures should, therefore, nullify the election and appoint their own slates of electors to choose the next president. Eastman praised the dubious lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general (who is currently under indictment for fraud and is accused of bribery by his top deputies), which would disenfranchise voters in those states as well—and the professor has now even filed a motion to intervene in the case for Donald Trump. The Supreme Court will decide by Thursday whether to hear the case, but the Court has already shut the door on the other conspiracy case to reach it this week, brought by Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly and a handful of other Republicans in the state.
The intellectual dishonesty here is breathtaking. For individuals and organizations that champion the rule of law and claim the mantle of the founding principles of our nation to call for overturning an election reeks of hypocrisy. It was one thing for them to advocate for so flawed a man as Trump to lead our nation. But the American people have spoken and to continue to claim that the election was stolen, that votes were fraudulently counted, is to attack the very foundations of our democratic institutions. They sow distrust in democracy itself—formerly the provenance of the far left. Politicians may fear the wrath of Trump’s legion of followers if they speak out, but what is it that drives the “thinkers” like Bennett and Eastman? They should know better than to parrot insane conspiracy theories and promote specious legal arguments.
On January 20, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. But we should never forget the role of those who tried to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. They deserve ignominy, not because they opposed Biden’s election, but because they tried to undermine democracy.


thebulwark--2020-12-10--YouTube Still Spreading MAGA Disinformation

YouTube announced with great fanfare this week that it was going to “ remove misleading videos about the outcome of the election.
” The justification being that the company would remove election-related content that violates its community guidelines prohibiting “ spam and scams.
” This new policy earned YouTube plaudits in much of the mainstream press and scorn among the MAGA hucksters who need a street corner to hawk their wares .
The whole thing is a performative charade .
In this kabuki play , YouTube executives wave their hands in the air insisting that they aren ’ t responsible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that dastardly Mark Zuckerberg .
And the MAGAs get to pout and posture about how , even though they are 100 percent # winning all the time , they ’ re losing again because the elites are just so unfair !
And in the background , nothing really changes The YouTube gremlins are engaged in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole that no human or algorithm is capable of winning without embarking on a rapaciously indiscriminate censorship regime that nobody actually wants .
Because the reality is that YouTube “ removing misleading videos about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no more possible than Canada banning the word aboot or Coachella barring illicit drug use .
Misleading videos are the lifeblood of both the platform and the conservative entertainment complex .
Neither is going anywhere .
Let ’ s just take a penny tour of a few of my favorite “ news ” pages on the world ’ s largest video streaming surface .
We begin with Right Side Broadcasting News whose videos are getting anywhere from 30,000 to 2.1 million views a pop .
This outfit is the official YouTube channel for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ march , according to the first sentence from the first rally speaker in the first video that I clicked on exists “ For the president we just re-elected Donald J. Trump .
Because they don ’ t have rallies for losing candidates.
” Sounds like some misleading election information to me !
The “ news reporter ” in that very first video called the state of Michigan “ the leader of the voter fraud in America ” and interviewed a man who claimed to have “ watched thousands of illegal ballots get counted.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ videos from the March for Trump bus tour that Right Side Broadcasting News “ covers ” as one of the tours two media partners .
They other partner is Steve Bannon ’ s “ War Room ” podcast which also streams on YouTube and has previously had an episode removed from the platform over violent threats against Anthony Fauci .
So , you know , not a place that ’ s on the up-and-up .
I fast-forwarded to a spot at random in the most recent video on the site and the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failed Pennsylvania GOP house candidate Sean Parnell about a recently rejected request that the courts throw out all of the mail-votes in the state of Pennsylvania .
In sum : RSBN and Bannon ’ s War Room have explicitly aligned themselves with an effort to spread false propaganda about the election .
So it seems like they would have been prime candidates for action ahead of YouTube ’ s new hardline policy on election fraud misinformation , right ?
And yet : There they are .
Loud and proud , like Baga Chipz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Drag Race UK .
Elsewhere on the YouTube dial , the story is the same .
On NTD America—the “ news ” home of the Falun Gong / New Tang Dynasty , which also runs the Epoch Times—the most recent video is titled “ Biden Inauguration prep rejected by committee ; lawmaker threatens to subpoena Dominion CEO.
” Before getting to the beef of that “ news , ” NTD plays an ad about how farting can help you lose weight .
( Silver lining for Rudy ! )
The subsequent news is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting ” that Dominion machines switched 6,000 votes in Michigan from Biden to Trump ( this was corrected during an audit , Trump lost Michigan by 154k votes ) and covering the possibility that Georgia , which has certified the election results for Biden , might send a separate state of electors to Congress nullifying Biden ’ s win .
Some of NTD ’ s prior breezers include coverage of a “ Stop The Steal ” rally , a report on an “ expert ” saying that 289,000 ballots are illegal , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ records .
At the time of writing , 8 out of the last 10 NTD videos were about the supposed voted fraud .
Over on Newsmax ’ s YouTube page , a recent video features Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward saying that the election “ has been attempted to be stolen from President Trump.
” There ’ s another video with Dinesh D ’ Souza once again explicitly calling for state legislatures to overturn the result .
There ’ s also recently pardoned Roger Stone saying “ there ’ s not only compelling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two levels .
Old fashioned ‘ urban-type ’ fraud of manipulating ballots .
.
.
And then there appears to be very substantial evidence of cyber manipulation of the vote.
” This last claim is in direct and explicit violation of YouTube ’ s stated ban on information that claims a presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches .
None of this is “ news ” in any meaningful way and all the videos remain on YouTube ’ s site without issue .
And the story is the same on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretend to be news .
Ali Alexander né Akbar , the scam artist who has been at the center of the “ Stop the Steal ” effort , has a YouTube page which features documentary-style footage of him appearing at rallies demanding that the election be overturned .
Two months ago Ali released a video that analyzes Joe Biden ’ s body language to diagnose him with Parkinson ’ s Disease .
It has been viewed half a million times .
I will not link to it .
You may remember Eric Metaxas—the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Angel of Doral , discovered that his biblical purpose is to get fabulously wealthy fabricating lie upon lie in service of an Orange Idol .
He ’ s also spreading the Word on YouTube .
On Metaxas ’ s page he aired Sidney Powell discussing the systemic fraud in the Dominion machines as well as several videos promoting his “ Jericho March ” to “ pray , fast , and march until the walls of voter fraud and corruption fall down and the American people are allowed to see the truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t appear that voter fraud charlatan and attorney Lin Wood has a YouTube page like Ali and Eric , but in searching for his page one of the first links I came across was “ Cubbies Edits.
” Here is the deal : I found all of the above videos with almost no effort whatsoever .
I barely had to sift through anything .
It did not take a fancy machine-learning algorithm or a team of low-paid moderators in a cubicle farm to find this content .
I spent a few minutes on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imaginable and found copious election disinformation .
A thousand conspiracies have bloomed on YouTube and given the sheer scale of the problem and the political and free speech considerations at play , there is absolutely no conceivable way that YouTube is going to stamp this out .
Even if they tried .
Though , just between us , they don ’ t seem to be trying that hard .
Or maybe the better way to put it is : They seem to be trying just hard enough to be able to put out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We tried !
But most definitely not hard enough to actually cause any disruptions to the status quo .
And titrating that exact level of effort—enough to look good , but not enough to do anything—can cause all sorts of distortions at the quantum level .
For instance , far-right provocateur Tim Pool tweeted that in a YouTube moderator clarified to him that he can still say “ Trump actually won.
” Or “ the election was stolen.
” Or that there was “ widespread fraud ” you just can ’ t say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem here isn ’ t the platform .
Or rather , it isn ’ t just the platform .
YouTube is only as good as people will let it be .
The two big problems are both with people .
The people who have an endless appetite for this garbage because they have abandoned the burdens of citizenship in favor of partisan onanism .
And the people who have decided that spreading lies for profit is a respectable way to make a living .
Neither of these things are being resolved by a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on crowdsourced complaints .
There are some things YouTube can do—and don ’ t get me wrong these changes are good .
“ Limiting the reach of borderline content.
” “ Surfacing authoritative information.
” These are good and necessary steps .
But as Dr. Ian Malcolm would say : Life finds a way .
On the internet , you can just replace “ life ” with “ lies ” and get the same result .
Election lies are still finding a way right now on YouTube .
And they are finding @ @ @ @ @

YouTube announced with great fanfare this week that it was going to “remove misleading videos about the outcome of the election.” The justification being that the company would remove election-related content that violates its community guidelines prohibiting “spam and scams.” This new policy earned YouTube plaudits in much of the mainstream press and scorn among the MAGA hucksters who need a street corner to hawk their wares.
There’s just one problem.
The whole thing is a performative charade.
In this kabuki play, YouTube executives wave their hands in the air insisting that they aren’t responsible for our crumbling political disinformation ecosystem like that dastardly Mark Zuckerberg. And the MAGAs get to pout and posture about how, even though they are 100 percent #winning all the time, they’re losing again because the elites are just so unfair!
And in the background, nothing really changes
The YouTube gremlins are engaged in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole that no human or algorithm is capable of winning without embarking on a rapaciously indiscriminate censorship regime that nobody actually wants.
Because the reality is that YouTube “removing misleading videos about the outcome of the election” is no more possible than Canada banning the word aboot or Coachella barring illicit drug use. Misleading videos are the lifeblood of both the platform and the conservative entertainment complex. Neither is going anywhere.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s just take a penny tour of a few of my favorite “news” pages on the world’s largest video streaming surface.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
We begin with Right Side Broadcasting News whose videos are getting anywhere from 30,000 to 2.1 million views a pop. This outfit is the official YouTube channel for the “March for Trump.” That march, according to the first sentence from the first rally speaker in the first video that I clicked on exists “For the president we just re-elected Donald J. Trump. Because they don’t have rallies for losing candidates.”
Sounds like some misleading election information to me!
The “news reporter” in that very first video called the state of Michigan “the leader of the voter fraud in America” and interviewed a man who claimed to have “watched thousands of illegal ballots get counted.” This is just one of several videos from the March for Trump bus tour that Right Side Broadcasting News “covers” as one of the tours two media partners.
They other partner is Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast which also streams on YouTube and has previously had an episode removed from the platform over violent threats against Anthony Fauci. So, you know, not a place that’s on the up-and-up.
I fast-forwarded to a spot at random in the most recent video on the site and the first thing I saw was an interview with failed Pennsylvania GOP house candidate Sean Parnell about a recently rejected request that the courts throw out all of the mail-votes in the state of Pennsylvania.
In sum: RSBN and Bannon’s War Room have explicitly aligned themselves with an effort to spread false propaganda about the election. So it seems like they would have been prime candidates for action ahead of YouTube’s new hardline policy on election fraud misinformation, right?
And yet: There they are. Loud and proud, like Baga Chipz strutting her tuppence down the runway in Drag Race UK.
Elsewhere on the YouTube dial, the story is the same. On NTD America—the “news” home of the Falun Gong / New Tang Dynasty, which also runs the Epoch Times—the most recent video is titled “Biden Inauguration prep rejected by committee; lawmaker threatens to subpoena Dominion CEO.”
Before getting to the beef of that “news,” NTD plays an ad about how farting can help you lose weight. (Silver lining for Rudy!) The subsequent news is itself a big bottom burp, “reporting” that Dominion machines switched 6,000 votes in Michigan from Biden to Trump (this was corrected during an audit, Trump lost Michigan by 154k votes) and covering the possibility that Georgia, which has certified the election results for Biden, might send a separate state of electors to Congress nullifying Biden’s win.
Some of NTD’s prior breezers include coverage of a “Stop The Steal” rally, a report on an “expert” saying that 289,000 ballots are illegal, and a report claiming that Georgia lost ballot records. At the time of writing, 8 out of the last 10 NTD videos were about the supposed voted fraud.
Over on Newsmax’s YouTube page, a recent video features Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward saying that the election “has been attempted to be stolen from President Trump.” There’s another video with Dinesh D’Souza once again explicitly calling for state legislatures to overturn the result. There’s also recently pardoned Roger Stone saying “there’s not only compelling but overwhelming evidence of voter fraud at two levels. Old fashioned ‘urban-type’ fraud of manipulating ballots . . . And then there appears to be very substantial evidence of cyber manipulation of the vote.”
This last claim is in direct and explicit violation of YouTube’s stated ban on information that claims a presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches.
Whatevs.
None of this is “news” in any meaningful way and all the videos remain on YouTube’s site without issue.
And the story is the same on other pages that don’t even pretend to be news.
Ali Alexander né Akbar, the scam artist who has been at the center of the “Stop the Steal” effort, has a YouTube page which features documentary-style footage of him appearing at rallies demanding that the election be overturned. Two months ago Ali released a video that analyzes Joe Biden’s body language to diagnose him with Parkinson’s Disease. It has been viewed half a million times. I will not link to it.
You may remember Eric Metaxas—the MAGA Scholar who, after a revelation from the Angel of Doral, discovered that his biblical purpose is to get fabulously wealthy fabricating lie upon lie in service of an Orange Idol. He’s also spreading the Word on YouTube. On Metaxas’s page he aired Sidney Powell discussing the systemic fraud in the Dominion machines as well as several videos promoting his “Jericho March” to “pray, fast, and march until the walls of voter fraud and corruption fall down and the American people are allowed to see the truth about this election.”
It doesn’t appear that voter fraud charlatan and attorney Lin Wood has a YouTube page like Ali and Eric, but in searching for his page one of the first links I came across was “Cubbies Edits.”
Cubbies entire account appears dedicated to fabricated voter fraud claims.
Here is the deal:
I found all of the above videos with almost no effort whatsoever. I barely had to sift through anything. It did not take a fancy machine-learning algorithm or a team of low-paid moderators in a cubicle farm to find this content. I spent a few minutes on YouTube looking in the most obvious places imaginable and found copious election disinformation.
Voila!
A thousand conspiracies have bloomed on YouTube and given the sheer scale of the problem and the political and free speech considerations at play, there is absolutely no conceivable way that YouTube is going to stamp this out. Even if they tried. Though, just between us, they don’t seem to be trying that hard.
Or maybe the better way to put it is: They seem to be trying just hard enough to be able to put out a press release saying, See? We tried! But most definitely not hard enough to actually cause any disruptions to the status quo.
And titrating that exact level of effort—enough to look good, but not enough to do anything—can cause all sorts of distortions at the quantum level.
For instance, far-right provocateur Tim Pool tweeted that in a YouTube moderator clarified to him that he can still say “Trump actually won.” Or “the election was stolen.” Or that there was “widespread fraud” you just can’t say all of those things together.
YouTube advises right-wing propagandist Tim Pool on how to spread election fraud conspiracies without any repercussions pic.twitter.com/blF4sp8oh7 — Nathan Bernard (@nathanTbernard) December 9, 2020
Makes sense?
The problem here isn’t the platform. Or rather, it isn’t just the platform. YouTube is only as good as people will let it be.
The two big problems are both with people. The people who have an endless appetite for this garbage because they have abandoned the burdens of citizenship in favor of partisan onanism. And the people who have decided that spreading lies for profit is a respectable way to make a living.
Neither of these things are being resolved by a YouTube blog post and some spot checking based on crowdsourced complaints.
There are some things YouTube can do—and don’t get me wrong these changes are good. “Limiting the reach of borderline content.” “Surfacing authoritative information.” These are good and necessary steps.
But as Dr. Ian Malcolm would say: Life finds a way. On the internet, you can just replace “life” with “lies” and get the same result.
Election lies are still finding a way right now on YouTube.
And they are finding it quite easily indeed.


thebulwark--2020-12-10--Georgia on My Mind

Georgia on My Mind

Georgia , oh Georgia No , no , no , no , no peace I find Just an old sweet song Keeps Georgia on my mind .
—Hoagy Carmichael , 1930 Ninety years after Hoagy Carmichael ’ s wistful lament , Georgia is very much on our minds .
Certainly January 5th ’ s double-header Senate runoff means many of us are doomed for another month of “ no , no , no , no , no peace ” from the endless fundraising emails of the candidates and outside groups .
But peace will come .
The elections will take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losers .
The question is whether the election results can contribute to a healing and healthy peace , or whether they constitute a mere marker in a race to the political bottom .
I have friends and allies , valiant Never Trumpers in 2020 and likely New Centrists in 2021 , who think it important to have a Republican Senate to check the Biden administration and the House .
That would mean hoping Republicans win at least one of the two Georgia Senate seats .
There ’ s some obvious strength to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force for balance .
On the other hand , I ’ m doubtful that a 50-50 Democratic Senate , alongside a narrow Democratic House majority and a Democratic president who is neither Bernie Sanders nor Elizabeth Warren , would confirm that many more left-wingers or pass appreciably more radical legislation than the same configuration , but with a 52-48 Republican Senate .
In fact I ’ m inclined to the opposite argument : that there would be more centrist compromises , that the logjams would break in a more productive way , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where Mitch McConnell is the majority leader .
We really don ’ t know .
What we do know is that Georgia ’ s Republican Senators , Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue , are all in on Donald Trump ’ s reckless and dangerous attempt to nullify the 2020 presidential election and to delegitimize the Biden presidency .
And I ’ m confident that this fact is far more consequential and much more dangerous than whatever the difference in legislative outcomes would be between a 52-48 and a 50-50 Senate .
If it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the damage from Trump ’ s attempt at delegitimizing the presidential election be minimized , then surely it ’ s important his enablers pay a price for supporting such a threat to the health of our liberal democracy .
If the citizens of Georgia turn a blind eye to this , the lesson would be there are no consequences for such an effort .
That is not a lesson we should want to teach our politicians .
We ’ ll see if the citizens of Georgia agree .

Georgia, oh Georgia
No, no, no, no, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind.
—Hoagy Carmichael, 1930
Ninety years after Hoagy Carmichael’s wistful lament, Georgia is very much on our minds. Certainly January 5th’s double-header Senate runoff means many of us are doomed for another month of “no, no, no, no, no peace” from the endless fundraising emails of the candidates and outside groups.
But peace will come. The elections will take place. There will be winners and losers. The question is whether the election results can contribute to a healing and healthy peace, or whether they constitute a mere marker in a race to the political bottom.
I have friends and allies, valiant Never Trumpers in 2020 and likely New Centrists in 2021, who think it important to have a Republican Senate to check the Biden administration and the House. That would mean hoping Republicans win at least one of the two Georgia Senate seats.
There’s some obvious strength to the argument for a GOP Senate as a force for balance.
Podcast · August 15 2023 A.B. Stoddard: All the Ex-President’s Conspirators Donald Trump has been a low-rent mobster for his entire career, and now he’s getting…
On the other hand, I’m doubtful that a 50-50 Democratic Senate, alongside a narrow Democratic House majority and a Democratic president who is neither Bernie Sanders nor Elizabeth Warren, would confirm that many more left-wingers or pass appreciably more radical legislation than the same configuration, but with a 52-48 Republican Senate.
In fact I’m inclined to the opposite argument: that there would be more centrist compromises, that the logjams would break in a more productive way, with a 50-50 Senate than with a Senate where Mitch McConnell is the majority leader.
We really don’t know.
What we do know is that Georgia’s Republican Senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, are all in on Donald Trump’s reckless and dangerous attempt to nullify the 2020 presidential election and to delegitimize the Biden presidency. And I’m confident that this fact is far more consequential and much more dangerous than whatever the difference in legislative outcomes would be between a 52-48 and a 50-50 Senate.
If it’s important for the country that the damage from Trump’s attempt at delegitimizing the presidential election be minimized, then surely it’s important his enablers pay a price for supporting such a threat to the health of our liberal democracy. If the citizens of Georgia turn a blind eye to this, the lesson would be there are no consequences for such an effort. That is not a lesson we should want to teach our politicians.
We’ll see if the citizens of Georgia agree.