"Asked which moments in his fight against #StopTheSteal stand out, Richer mentions that surreal rally. “To me, it was just amazing.” The proofs he had produced, the explanations he had given, the debunking of the lie—none mattered. It was “one of the most dystopian moments of my life,” an eye-opening demonstration of “the extent to which one can speak untruths without any support, and a sizable percentage of the population will believe it.”
I know this is a one-sided bit of writing meant to persuade readers that Making American Great Again-committed people are crazy lunatics of conspiracy theories, and that in an election filled with unprecedented abnormalities, anybody that questions that election legitimacy is a threat to democracy. And God forbid they actually physically protested their opposition to the election abnormalities... even though protesting and civil disobedience is still so celebrated when the other side does not get their political way.
But then they were labeled the same over their claims that Trump-Russia collusion and the entire Democrat and media narrative around it was a well-coordinated hoax. There were labeled the same when Hunter's laptop was reported to have information on it that proved his dad was in on the political influence peddling and might be a compromised POTUS. They were labeled the same when they challenged the Fauci Democrats in charge over unneeded COVID-related shutdowns, mandates and authoritarian punishment of those that did not comply. They were called irredeemable deplorables and Nazis by the political ruling class committed to defeating Trump and planting a cognitively-impaired and unpopular old establishment politician in to do their bidding.
Maybe the election was completely honest and fair... no cheating... no 2000 Mules... no $400 million in Zuckerbucks... no harvested ballots. Maybe the election abnormalities where just some type of new normal that we all have to accept and get used to. Maybe the Democrats, for the prior 20 years, had not raised all sorts of alarmist fears of threats to election integrity... and had not gone on a resistance tear after Trump was elected and continued to claim he was an illegitimate president while attempting unprecedented dirty political moves to get him out of office and insure that he would not be elected again.
Sure, maybe all of this is true. Even so, given the track record of those criticizing the MAGA people for previous claimed conspiracy theories proven to be actually true... maybe they at least deserve some consideration and understanding for why they would hold onto the theory that the election was stolen.
If the author had tried to disguise his bias and contempt for "MAGA" people, this article would have been more bearable. Note that autocrats and authoritarian regimes obtain their power by controlling what their populations do and think, utilizing force to brutally enforce their policies and desires. The Trump I voted for in 2016 and 2020 - but was on the fence about for 2024 until the Mar a Lago raid - is thin-skinned and bull-headed, but he is no autocrat. On the other hand, the modern Democrat party with their intolerance for honest debate, their desire to control information, their desire to define truth as to what is in their political best interest, and their willingness to use all the awesome power of the federal government to achieve their goals and mute their opponents, is by definition autocratic. The author would benefit from trying to understand why 80 million people voted for Trump in 2020, and how the populist movement that Trump started in 2015 is alive and well and growing, rather than retreating, as a response to this seismic shift in Democrat party aspirations.
"Asked which moments in his fight against #StopTheSteal stand out, Richer mentions that surreal rally. “To me, it was just amazing.” The proofs he had produced, the explanations he had given, the debunking of the lie—none mattered. It was “one of the most dystopian moments of my life,” an eye-opening demonstration of “the extent to which one can speak untruths without any support, and a sizable percentage of the population will believe it.”
I know this is a one-sided bit of writing meant to persuade readers that Making American Great Again-committed people are crazy lunatics of conspiracy theories, and that in an election filled with unprecedented abnormalities, anybody that questions that election legitimacy is a threat to democracy. And God forbid they actually physically protested their opposition to the election abnormalities... even though protesting and civil disobedience is still so celebrated when the other side does not get their political way.
But then they were labeled the same over their claims that Trump-Russia collusion and the entire Democrat and media narrative around it was a well-coordinated hoax. There were labeled the same when Hunter's laptop was reported to have information on it that proved his dad was in on the political influence peddling and might be a compromised POTUS. They were labeled the same when they challenged the Fauci Democrats in charge over unneeded COVID-related shutdowns, mandates and authoritarian punishment of those that did not comply. They were called irredeemable deplorables and Nazis by the political ruling class committed to defeating Trump and planting a cognitively-impaired and unpopular old establishment politician in to do their bidding.
Maybe the election was completely honest and fair... no cheating... no 2000 Mules... no $400 million in Zuckerbucks... no harvested ballots. Maybe the election abnormalities where just some type of new normal that we all have to accept and get used to. Maybe the Democrats, for the prior 20 years, had not raised all sorts of alarmist fears of threats to election integrity... and had not gone on a resistance tear after Trump was elected and continued to claim he was an illegitimate president while attempting unprecedented dirty political moves to get him out of office and insure that he would not be elected again.
Sure, maybe all of this is true. Even so, given the track record of those criticizing the MAGA people for previous claimed conspiracy theories proven to be actually true... maybe they at least deserve some consideration and understanding for why they would hold onto the theory that the election was stolen.
If the author had tried to disguise his bias and contempt for "MAGA" people, this article would have been more bearable. Note that autocrats and authoritarian regimes obtain their power by controlling what their populations do and think, utilizing force to brutally enforce their policies and desires. The Trump I voted for in 2016 and 2020 - but was on the fence about for 2024 until the Mar a Lago raid - is thin-skinned and bull-headed, but he is no autocrat. On the other hand, the modern Democrat party with their intolerance for honest debate, their desire to control information, their desire to define truth as to what is in their political best interest, and their willingness to use all the awesome power of the federal government to achieve their goals and mute their opponents, is by definition autocratic. The author would benefit from trying to understand why 80 million people voted for Trump in 2020, and how the populist movement that Trump started in 2015 is alive and well and growing, rather than retreating, as a response to this seismic shift in Democrat party aspirations.
Sounds like a man of integrity and courage.
Now write a similar article about those on the left who stood up to the conspiracy lies of Adam Schiff, et al.
It’s amazing the author can’t even see that he’s no better than the people he’s accusing of authoritarianism….
In his opinion, the ends completely just the means, if he’s the one acting, but not when someone else is — those people are authoritarians. Very sad.