There is a price for this fraud. It erodes the adherence of the American people to their system of self-government.
There is a price for this fraud. It erodes the adherence of the American people to their system of self-government.
T he Republican senators and House members who are affecting to sorta-maybe-not really believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election are participating in a knowing fraud. They know — and you can know — they are participating in a fraud by their actions, namely their proposed remedy: a fantasy ten-day “audit” of the results supposedly modeled on the 1876 Electoral Commission. Such a plan is illegal, a deep infringement on the states, but also time-limited not to interfere with what they know will happen — the inauguration of Joe Biden as president on January 20.
The president’s legal team, gifted with incredible resources by campaign donors and other saps, has been unable to turn up anything to substantiate its claims of material election fraud. There is nothing in the voter rolls, no suspected perps, and no witnesses ready to testify in court (which is a different thing from testifying in a hotel ballroom) to material fraud. There is only a tape — doctored by Rudy Giuliani — and various theories and extrapolations.
You can tell these Republicans are lying because of what they say. There is no “unprecedented evidence” of voter fraud to talk about, so Senator Ted Cruz has premised this farce of an audit on the “unprecedented accusations” of voter fraud.
Sure! An unprecedented amount of piss sprayed on enough legs might sell a few umbrellas, too. The only problem is when the customers figure out your game, turn around, and beat you to death with them.
What is the effect of “raising questions” this way, and speaking out for Americans who don’t trust the results of the election? First it gives permission to continue doubting the results and denying the evidence before our eyes. Second, and surely this is the effect — it allows second- and third-order demagogues and conspiracy theorists on social media to put you in a good light. A prominent QAnon-style conspiracy theorist whose posts are viral on Instagram suggested to followers that the protests aimed at Senator Hawley’s family residence were part of an ongoing attempt to assassinate and kill Republicans who are standing up in the secret war against the Biden coup. The elected Republicans who died of COVID before being seated are casualties of this ongoing dirty war, dontcha know.
The world, as told by Q and others, is not what you see reported in the news. The conflicts that you see in front of you — the elections, events, and burgeoning social movements — are merely shadows of the real events happening below and beyond our reach. Your experience of politics and government is that much of it is shambolic and poorly organized. But adepts know better; they know that all these events have been planned.
This fake politics is designed to raise hopes among the disaffected and untrusting Trump voters and keep them engaged in the process. But there is a price for this fraud; namely, it erodes the adherence of the American people to their constitutional system of self-government. It atrophies their political muscle by feeding it with empty calories and giving them fake exercises of their political faculties.
Senator Josh Hawley claims to be speaking for 70 million Americans in asking questions about election integrity and saying he objects to the process — in some underspecified way. He is a legislator. He could try to advance legislation. If he doesn’t like the influence of tech, he could support laws limiting what tech could say. He could promote periods of media and social-media silence as some countries do. Maybe he doesn’t want this; Republicans typically have preferred the management of elections to remain with the states. So grant that. He could — as a man with real knowledge of the law and influence with the Republican Party — lend his bully pulpit to efforts in the states to better govern mail-in voting, ban any practices such as “vote harvesting” where it exists, and tighten up election-security measures. He’s not doing so. Instead, we have this gesture politics.
This is becoming something of a pattern. Last year, Hawley gave a memorable and biting speech on the floor of the Senate after the Supreme Court handed down the Bostock decision, which extended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to be inclusive of novel gender identities and transgendered persons. He demeaned the decision as “legislation” written by a court. “Courts are supposed to leave legislating to legislators,” he thundered. He was utterly correct that the Court usurped the role of Congress and had done something Congress had “pointedly declined to do for years now.” All of this was 100 percent bang-on. The problem was that Hawley did not finish the speech by introducing superseding legislation himself. He had just outlined the duties of his job but then failed to do them, letting the Court prevail by default.
Right now, the Q conspiracists — including President Trump — are setting up Mike Pence to be the fall guy, the man who betrayed them, if Pence does his duty and acknowledges the certified result of America’s democratic elections. How cynical must the senators and congressmen supporting this farce be, to participate in this effort?
Why can’t these men content themselves with the awesome power and prestige of their offices? Or more directly: Why can’t they just do the job we have paid them to do?