Thanks for the reporting on the election stuff. JVL over at The Bulwark has a zinger of the flip side of your election fraud stories about actual fraud being found... and to have been committed by Republicans[1], including a Colorado man suspected of killing his wife and voting her ballot for Trump[2]:
"Barry Morphew told investigators he mailed the ballot on behalf of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, to help Trump win, saying 'all these other guys are cheating,' and that he thought his wife would have voted for Trump anyway, according to an arrest warrant affidavit signed Thursday by a judge in Chaffee County."
"Morphew, 53, faces possible first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew on May 10, 2020. He was arrested May 5 and is currently being held in connection with that case."
That said, the person whose take I'm MOST interested in is Mr. Curtis. What do you make of all of this - still an inclusive nothingburger, or something that's ringing alarm bells for you?
I hope everyone's holiday season is treating you well.
Are you blaming Trump for Mr. Morphew killing his wife and voting a mail-in ballot ii her name? I suspect not, but it does show that mail-in ballots can enable fraud. Without resorting to murder, it just takes money and manpower - probably $5 or $6 per vote which not that far from what campaigns cost.
As for the "smoking gun", I've read the right-wing analyses and the never-Trump analyses. I do not see anything to show that President Trump was conspiring to overthrow a lawful process. He and some of his supporters were seeking legal loopholes in the process and they weren't very good at it. The e-mails that I first saw posted by the never-Trump Dispatch and again in David's story do not prove anything. I'm not sure they provide a basis for the committee questioning Mark Meadows. There are right-wing pundits who doubt the veracity of how the e-mails were presented by Schiff and left-wing pundits busily ignoring and distracting the right-wing arguments.
My view still remains that the closest thing I have seen to a coup in this country is the effort by Hillary, the left, the bureaucrats and the Obama administration to remove a duly elected president from office.
I saw a reference in the Morning Dispatch today to some flack's assertion that comparing a three-hour disruption the Capitol to the widespread lawlessness and resulting billions of dollars in damages in major cities is not valid. As proof, he stated that there are thousands of murders in the USA every year that we know little about but if one of those victims were President, it would become news. Duh!
The left has only two bullets left, hate of President Trump and an easily quelled riot at the Capitol. They are launching an all-out propaganda campaign based on those two bullet points. The right will do everything they can to counter that. The media and never-Trump pundits will do everything they can to make sure right-wing arguments are ignored and never see the light of day.
"The e-mails that I first saw posted by the never-Trump Dispatch and again in David's story do not prove anything. I'm not sure they provide a basis for the committee questioning Mark Meadows. There are right-wing pundits who doubt the veracity of how the e-mails were presented by Schiff and left-wing pundits busily ignoring and distracting the right-wing arguments."
This should make Meadows' contempt of Congress trial interesting watching to say the least.
Yeah. I intended to sit this one out, but you asked for my opinion. Maybe we'll see what the facts are if they can even be determined. At this point, it's a propaganda war and the democrats have the media and never-Trumps on their side. The right wing has only themselves, Fox News and a few websites not controlled by major social media. Do you know which court will take it? Probably the DC Circuit Court assuming Meadows' lawsuit concerning the legality of the Jan 6 commission doesn't prevail.
I love how "the media" doesn't include Fox, OANN, and NewsMax in your (and far too many) statements, or even how different media groups have opposing views or different approaches to presenting information. I suppose it's too convenient to have a bogeyman.
To the contrary: the Morphew case shows that fraud attempts in mail-in voting are being detected and thwarted.
There is an indefensibility at play when it comes to the attempted coup d'etat, which is why you have to deflect and continue to use whataboutism, or somehow compare a riot attempting to overturn our election to a riot that sacked a Target.
Does the Morphew case show that mail-in voter fraud was detected or that a murder was detected? It is not that hard to register fake identities or to buy ballots in the slums or to fake utility bills or to register out of state college students or even military personnel. The only question is will the vote be close enough to swing the election by fraud.
Only if you believe the riot was intended as a coup d'état. I don't. There was no real organization. There was only one serious weapon that I have heard about. On the other hand, democrats came very close to removing a duly elected President with no proof of an impeachable offense. That was after the democrat machine tried and failed to illegally paint candidate Trump as a Russian agent.
It is not true that only a Target was sacked in the lawless blue city riots. Lives and livelihood and dreams and long years of work by small business owners were wiped out. Only those who believe in the supremacy of government over the rights of citizens think that destroyed dreams and billions of dollars in damage are less important than a three-hour ripple in the DC cesspool.
Very nicely summed up David, as always. I concur completely. As the saying goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant. And by shining the light and exposing the dirty laundry of the GOP and other actors on the right, it will be to the long term benefit of this country and to conservatism. Exposing the bad actors on the right is long overdue, and I’m glad Liz Cheney has been unrelenting and persistent.
I also hope that it has entered Biden’s head that preventing Trump from politically rehabilitating his way back to the White House in 2024 will largely depend on his governance. Given that the GOP can’t seem to let go of the Former Guy, a lot will depend on how Biden and congressional Democrats govern. I think that they’ve governed way too far to the left, and if they continue doing that, they risk opening the door for a 2nd term for Trump in 2024. The average American voter has a short political attention span, and they are likely to forget what happened 2-3 years ago and beyond. That is why Biden and the Dems need to change course and improve their approval numbers and standing with the American people. If they do this, it will force the Republicans to bring their A game and MAYBE rethink(I know I’m being a little optimistic here, perhaps too much so) the wisdom of climbing to the Former Guy. I hope Biden regroups, and let go of some of the more intransigent left ideologues in the administration. Take the win on infrastructure, and drop the BBB spending boondoggle. Then President Biden should focus on working to enact policies that have broad bipartisan appeal spanning the political spectrum. As a conservative, I don’t expect Biden to govern as a conservative, or even as a down the line centrist. I get that the Democratic Party is further left than it was in the 1980s-1990s and he needs to placate the Dem base. That being in mind, Biden should try to govern as a pragmatic liberal and/or a moderate liberal. David French outlined all that nicely in his column at the Atlantic.
I want a revitalized and rehabilitated conservative movement that is an intellectual force to be reckoned with. And not one that clings to Cult 45. That won’t happen if Republicans benefit and win solely due to the unpopularity and lack of competence from Biden and the Democrats. Which is why the latter also needs to get their act together, and wise up.
This is an interesting take from Jonah Goldberg. He feels that Trump's hold on the GOP is loosening, and his clout with the GOP base gradually diminishing. Maybe he is seeing some trends that wasn't on our political radar screens. I put a good amount of weight into what Jonah says, and if this trend of Trump losing his clout over time is one that will continue to pan out over time, then that's heartening news.
You have DeSantos today saying that he is going to sign a bill allowing people to report teachers who teach "CRT". Trump may fade but Trumpism will continue for years yet.
That may be the intent of the bill, but it should work for everyone who believes parents should have a say-so in what their kids are taught in public schools. With any luck DeSantisism will be the future of the Republican party.
It already is the future of the party, the only question is will the biggest baby ever allow DeSantos to become the face of it without a fight.
And we watched all year as every wack-o and ignorant buffoon on the right threatened death and rape to anyone who dared not toe the line. You may want that future, I sure don't.
I do not recall such threats. I do know there are nut jobs of every ilk. So I'm sure there was some of that. Probably did not rise to the level of trying to assassinate Congress members on the baseball field.
Dude I'm from Michigan, the idiots tried to kidnap and execute our governor. And the vice president not the mention the vile crap the squad gets daily.
One (of the many) reasons Trump is using to say he got robbed is that so many voters (especially suburban voters) either did not vote or voted for Biden at the top of the ticket and then voted R down ballot. This really screwed up the dem's idea of a landslide, too. Trump called it voter fraud. People in the burbs voted repub except for him.
How can this be? I have had this theory for a long time and it goes something like this..........lots of people who either vote or lean repub do not think of him as a repub. Since he is really not that makes sense. Maybe a majority of a shrinking party finds him the bees knees but a certain gop voter in a strategic area of the country (burbs) don't find him so. They will willingly vote for a voice they are familiar with down ballot. Anyway, that's my hunch.
Your guess is as good as anyone's. My view, from 100 miles northeast of Atlanta, is that the burbs have become more urbs. I think the population in Georgia will redistribute as job opportunities become more plentiful outside Atlanta. There are some good industrial development projects around the state.
Thanks for the reporting on the election stuff. JVL over at The Bulwark has a zinger of the flip side of your election fraud stories about actual fraud being found... and to have been committed by Republicans[1], including a Colorado man suspected of killing his wife and voting her ballot for Trump[2]:
"Barry Morphew told investigators he mailed the ballot on behalf of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, to help Trump win, saying 'all these other guys are cheating,' and that he thought his wife would have voted for Trump anyway, according to an arrest warrant affidavit signed Thursday by a judge in Chaffee County."
"Morphew, 53, faces possible first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew on May 10, 2020. He was arrested May 5 and is currently being held in connection with that case."
That said, the person whose take I'm MOST interested in is Mr. Curtis. What do you make of all of this - still an inclusive nothingburger, or something that's ringing alarm bells for you?
I hope everyone's holiday season is treating you well.
[1] https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/we-found-more-2020-voter-fraud
[2] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/colorado-man-suspected-wife-s-death-cast-ballot-trump-her-n1267416
Are you blaming Trump for Mr. Morphew killing his wife and voting a mail-in ballot ii her name? I suspect not, but it does show that mail-in ballots can enable fraud. Without resorting to murder, it just takes money and manpower - probably $5 or $6 per vote which not that far from what campaigns cost.
As for the "smoking gun", I've read the right-wing analyses and the never-Trump analyses. I do not see anything to show that President Trump was conspiring to overthrow a lawful process. He and some of his supporters were seeking legal loopholes in the process and they weren't very good at it. The e-mails that I first saw posted by the never-Trump Dispatch and again in David's story do not prove anything. I'm not sure they provide a basis for the committee questioning Mark Meadows. There are right-wing pundits who doubt the veracity of how the e-mails were presented by Schiff and left-wing pundits busily ignoring and distracting the right-wing arguments.
My view still remains that the closest thing I have seen to a coup in this country is the effort by Hillary, the left, the bureaucrats and the Obama administration to remove a duly elected president from office.
I saw a reference in the Morning Dispatch today to some flack's assertion that comparing a three-hour disruption the Capitol to the widespread lawlessness and resulting billions of dollars in damages in major cities is not valid. As proof, he stated that there are thousands of murders in the USA every year that we know little about but if one of those victims were President, it would become news. Duh!
The left has only two bullets left, hate of President Trump and an easily quelled riot at the Capitol. They are launching an all-out propaganda campaign based on those two bullet points. The right will do everything they can to counter that. The media and never-Trump pundits will do everything they can to make sure right-wing arguments are ignored and never see the light of day.
"The e-mails that I first saw posted by the never-Trump Dispatch and again in David's story do not prove anything. I'm not sure they provide a basis for the committee questioning Mark Meadows. There are right-wing pundits who doubt the veracity of how the e-mails were presented by Schiff and left-wing pundits busily ignoring and distracting the right-wing arguments."
This should make Meadows' contempt of Congress trial interesting watching to say the least.
I just noticed an "edit comment" option. Be sure to thank the Racket guys. I sure do.
SWEET.
Thank you Santa Claus, and your trusty elves, David and Steve!
Yeah. I intended to sit this one out, but you asked for my opinion. Maybe we'll see what the facts are if they can even be determined. At this point, it's a propaganda war and the democrats have the media and never-Trumps on their side. The right wing has only themselves, Fox News and a few websites not controlled by major social media. Do you know which court will take it? Probably the DC Circuit Court assuming Meadows' lawsuit concerning the legality of the Jan 6 commission doesn't prevail.
I love how "the media" doesn't include Fox, OANN, and NewsMax in your (and far too many) statements, or even how different media groups have opposing views or different approaches to presenting information. I suppose it's too convenient to have a bogeyman.
Curtis Stinespringjust now
I included Fox. I know nothing of OANN and MewsMax. Do they have a bigger combined audience than CNN?
To the contrary: the Morphew case shows that fraud attempts in mail-in voting are being detected and thwarted.
There is an indefensibility at play when it comes to the attempted coup d'etat, which is why you have to deflect and continue to use whataboutism, or somehow compare a riot attempting to overturn our election to a riot that sacked a Target.
Does the Morphew case show that mail-in voter fraud was detected or that a murder was detected? It is not that hard to register fake identities or to buy ballots in the slums or to fake utility bills or to register out of state college students or even military personnel. The only question is will the vote be close enough to swing the election by fraud.
Only if you believe the riot was intended as a coup d'état. I don't. There was no real organization. There was only one serious weapon that I have heard about. On the other hand, democrats came very close to removing a duly elected President with no proof of an impeachable offense. That was after the democrat machine tried and failed to illegally paint candidate Trump as a Russian agent.
It is not true that only a Target was sacked in the lawless blue city riots. Lives and livelihood and dreams and long years of work by small business owners were wiped out. Only those who believe in the supremacy of government over the rights of citizens think that destroyed dreams and billions of dollars in damage are less important than a three-hour ripple in the DC cesspool.
Very nicely summed up David, as always. I concur completely. As the saying goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant. And by shining the light and exposing the dirty laundry of the GOP and other actors on the right, it will be to the long term benefit of this country and to conservatism. Exposing the bad actors on the right is long overdue, and I’m glad Liz Cheney has been unrelenting and persistent.
I also hope that it has entered Biden’s head that preventing Trump from politically rehabilitating his way back to the White House in 2024 will largely depend on his governance. Given that the GOP can’t seem to let go of the Former Guy, a lot will depend on how Biden and congressional Democrats govern. I think that they’ve governed way too far to the left, and if they continue doing that, they risk opening the door for a 2nd term for Trump in 2024. The average American voter has a short political attention span, and they are likely to forget what happened 2-3 years ago and beyond. That is why Biden and the Dems need to change course and improve their approval numbers and standing with the American people. If they do this, it will force the Republicans to bring their A game and MAYBE rethink(I know I’m being a little optimistic here, perhaps too much so) the wisdom of climbing to the Former Guy. I hope Biden regroups, and let go of some of the more intransigent left ideologues in the administration. Take the win on infrastructure, and drop the BBB spending boondoggle. Then President Biden should focus on working to enact policies that have broad bipartisan appeal spanning the political spectrum. As a conservative, I don’t expect Biden to govern as a conservative, or even as a down the line centrist. I get that the Democratic Party is further left than it was in the 1980s-1990s and he needs to placate the Dem base. That being in mind, Biden should try to govern as a pragmatic liberal and/or a moderate liberal. David French outlined all that nicely in his column at the Atlantic.
I want a revitalized and rehabilitated conservative movement that is an intellectual force to be reckoned with. And not one that clings to Cult 45. That won’t happen if Republicans benefit and win solely due to the unpopularity and lack of competence from Biden and the Democrats. Which is why the latter also needs to get their act together, and wise up.
https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/the-third-rail/61b13ca105e48f00211077df/the-simple-yet-difficult-thing-joe-biden-must-do-to-save-american-democracy/
This is an interesting take from Jonah Goldberg. He feels that Trump's hold on the GOP is loosening, and his clout with the GOP base gradually diminishing. Maybe he is seeing some trends that wasn't on our political radar screens. I put a good amount of weight into what Jonah says, and if this trend of Trump losing his clout over time is one that will continue to pan out over time, then that's heartening news.
https://thedispatch.com/p/is-trump-losing-his-grip-on-the-gop
Hopefully, Jonah is right, but I feel like I’ve heard that before.
You have DeSantos today saying that he is going to sign a bill allowing people to report teachers who teach "CRT". Trump may fade but Trumpism will continue for years yet.
That may be the intent of the bill, but it should work for everyone who believes parents should have a say-so in what their kids are taught in public schools. With any luck DeSantisism will be the future of the Republican party.
It already is the future of the party, the only question is will the biggest baby ever allow DeSantos to become the face of it without a fight.
And we watched all year as every wack-o and ignorant buffoon on the right threatened death and rape to anyone who dared not toe the line. You may want that future, I sure don't.
I do not recall such threats. I do know there are nut jobs of every ilk. So I'm sure there was some of that. Probably did not rise to the level of trying to assassinate Congress members on the baseball field.
Dude I'm from Michigan, the idiots tried to kidnap and execute our governor. And the vice president not the mention the vile crap the squad gets daily.
One (of the many) reasons Trump is using to say he got robbed is that so many voters (especially suburban voters) either did not vote or voted for Biden at the top of the ticket and then voted R down ballot. This really screwed up the dem's idea of a landslide, too. Trump called it voter fraud. People in the burbs voted repub except for him.
How can this be? I have had this theory for a long time and it goes something like this..........lots of people who either vote or lean repub do not think of him as a repub. Since he is really not that makes sense. Maybe a majority of a shrinking party finds him the bees knees but a certain gop voter in a strategic area of the country (burbs) don't find him so. They will willingly vote for a voice they are familiar with down ballot. Anyway, that's my hunch.
Your guess is as good as anyone's. My view, from 100 miles northeast of Atlanta, is that the burbs have become more urbs. I think the population in Georgia will redistribute as job opportunities become more plentiful outside Atlanta. There are some good industrial development projects around the state.