Let's Talk About a Real Attempt to Steal an Election

Rachel Maddow, January 11, 2022

We have come to a point where, in their pursuit of political power, the Republican Party is willing to abandon their conservative agenda, throw many of their former leaders under the bus, abandon not only their own claimed values, but any sense of right and wrong in terms of society's standards, and sacrifice the Constitution, the American Republic and representative democracy, and every value and principle on which this country was founded.  

Last night, Rachel Maddow presented documentation and evidence that attempts were made to replace legitimate electors in five states with frauds.  That's right, phony documents were produced, almost identical to each other, and lists of Republican electors were written in, signed off and sent to the government purporting to be the real thing.  

That's the kind of thing you expect from some banana republic, autocracy or dictatorship, not the United States of America.  But, given his past history, his business record, the reputation he built for himself and his regular modus operandi, it is exactly what to expect from the defeated ex-President.  

I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the magnitude of this thing.  For 246 years, we have divided ourselves into political parties, argued, fought, went to war, and still, somehow, built a sense of national unity in what is, across the spectrum of world history, a relatively short period of time.  We've experienced violence over disagreeing how to go about building the country that includes four presidential and 52 other political assassinations, some brawls and fights on the floor of congress, at least one duel that we know of, and a nasty, bloody Civil War.  We've had corrupt, self-serving politicians, which is consistent with human nature.  But we've held on to our values and principles and the idealism of being "America" has always triumphed in the preservation and strengthening of our Democracy.  

So these forgeries, which can be interpreted as a direct attack against American patriotism and idealism, and against the Constitution and the government, represent a new low point in corruption and misplaced, selfish ambition.  

What the Reaction to this News will Demonstrate

Any honest person, regardless of their political affiliation, should be sickened by this attempted subversion of government.  What is encouraging is that there were several Republicans among the electors that had been named prior to the election, in each of those five states where these documents were found, who refused to have their name associated with this, and one who actually spoke up and publicly made that point.  What is horrifying and terrible is that there were 73 Republicans in five states who were willing to participate in this fraud and were willing to be identified by name.  

I'm going to say this, because it needs to be said and because I think I can back it up.  There is now an integrity dividing line between Democrats and Republicans.  No doubt, if such an attempt had been made by Democrats to do the same thing, there probably would have been enough people willing to try it and put their names on the forgeries.  But the reaction from the party leadership would have been swift and angry, and there would be immediate statements condemning the action from party leaders.  There would not be deafening silence and the perpetrators would be kicked out of the party.  It would be Democrats in Congress initiating criminal proceedings as soon as they could convene a session.  I dare you to prove me wrong. 

I'm willing to let this news sink in and to allow time for more verification.  But if Republicans don't initiate an investigation--and they've had plenty of time to do so since the first one of these forgeries appeared in Wisconsin about a month ago--it will tell you everything you need to know about their party and its complete lack of integrity.  We've already seen most Republicans abandon their values to support Trump, choosing political expediency over convictions and morals.  I expect their reaction to this news will be more of the same, and that's an indication that they are no longer supportive of a government of, by and for the people and they are no longer interested in a constitutional republic. 

This is Not a New Idea Among the GOP

After the 2016 election, social media erupted with right wing conspiracy theorists claiming that President Obama was going to use the power of his office to keep Trump from being inaugurated.  Nothing could have been further from the truth, but truth requires integrity and moral value that no longer exists among these extremists.  They claimed that Obama would find a way to declare martial law to delay or permanently stop the inauguration.  There was an accusation made that he planned to call out the national guard, seize voting machines in five or six states and run the election again after throwing out enough Trump ballots for Clinton to win.  There were claims that Democratic governors in states won by Trump planned to certify alternate slates of electors rather than the ones the Republicans had picked.  Certain members of the senate, they said, were prompted to filibuster in order to prevent the final certification of electoral ballots by Congress.  

There is absolutely no evidence that any of those things were ever even discussed by anyone in the Obama White House or the Clinton campaign, much less considered.  President Obama, like every one of his predecessors, participated in and facilitated the peaceful transfer of power, right down to allowing Trump's transition team access to everything they needed to do it.  Compare that to Trump's complete and total lack of cooperation and that's all the evidence you need to see exactly how despicably corrupt and morally bankrupt he, and by direct association, those who continue to enable him, really are.  

YOU and I, as Patriotic Americans, Have Been Attacked

The fact that the documents purporting to be elector certifications from five states were virtually identical in appearance and wording, according to Maddow, indicates that there was a single source behind them all.  Is there really any guessing or doubt that exists as to where they originated?  Is there any question about the existence of dozens of other such attempts to subvert an election that an unpopular demagogue knew he was going to lose, and lose big?  I would not be surprised to find that the 74 million votes credited to Trump turns out to be more like 65 million, or even less, and that Biden carried half a dozen more states than he did.  

I'm going to pat myself on the back, though I cannot take credit for this being an original thought of mine, but I concluded, after his first year in office, that Trump was going to do everything in his power to stay in, including messing with the election.  I knew all that whining, complaining and lip flapping (watch him talk, his lips literally flap) was a diversion, and that was what he was planning to do.  He talked about it all the time.  It wasn't a big step to actually doing it for a man that built his fame and reputation on just how corrupt and immoral he could be.  

This was an attempt to steal our country from us.  Kudos to Maddow for verifying the accuracy of the story and reporting it.  We need to raise our voices and make sure something gets done about it.