When the election was stolen and you are just stealing it back.
John Eastman, the lawyer who urged Trump and Pence to void the election, explains himself:
If, in fact, the acknowledged illegalities that took place in the several swing states had a sufficient impact to alter the results—and evidence from audits in Arizona and Georgia, among others, points in that direction—then it simply must be acknowledged that the analysis in the memo was designed to prevent an unconstitutional election, not overturn it.
John Eastman is going through a reputation rough patch in the court of public opinion.
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I noted that if all 84 of the contested electoral votes were disregarded on the grounds that they were based on the counting of explicitly illegal ballots, Trump would lead 232 to 222—a majority of the 454 actually “appointed.”
Eastman predicted that would cause an uproar by Democrats, leading to civil disturbances, which would justify martial law, and that amid the chaos Republican state legislatures might vote to submit alternative slates of electors. A sympathetic Supreme Court might resolve the mess by naming Trump president. Pence refused.
Eastman and his memo look like justification for a "bloodless coup" in which the legal forms of constitutional government appear to be honored, when in fact they are not. Eastman's role was reported by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in Peril. He comes across as a traitor, a co-conspirator, an enabler of Trump at his very worst.
Eastman says he wasn't cheating. He wasn't arguing that state legislatures, Congress, and Pence assert power they don't have. There is justification. Claim the election failed. If there was no legitimate election then everything and anything is possible. Republicans don't need to prove it. Just suspect it and claim it. That is what Eastman does, here this week, in American Greatness.
Eastman cites Georgia and Arizona, with a link to a press release by a Georgia group that in July claimed massive voter fraud, a claim that has been examined and rejected by Georgia election officials. Whatever question and ambiguity about the election results that may have existed in the days after the election have been resolved by local, state and federal election officials and by courts. In both Georgia and Arizona, the responsible officials are Republicans at nearly every position, people put under enormous pressure by Trump and GOP partisans to bend every rule to "find" votes for Trump or discard Biden votes. Hand count audits and third party audits couldn't find meaningful error. Eastman cited Arizona in the very week that the Cyber Ninja audit results were announced, reaffirming Biden's win. To claim fraud now reveals this is not about doubt. It is a strategy: Never, ever accept an election in which Trump lost.
Political punditry is circulating and reaffirming a meme that America's democracy is in trouble. Trump attempted a coup. The key ingredient is the one Eastman exposes, and it is a weak spot in our republic. A strong and persuasive leader like Trump can create articles of faith that belie evidence. GOP activist partisans believe Trump, and people who think him foolish or dishonest stay silent out of political necessity. Trump enforces party and belief discipline. Opponents and doubters are called out as heretics, Republicans in Name Only.
There is one safe haven, and that is to accept Trump's original premise that he is stealing back what is rightfully his. Eastman can hold his head high as an American constitutionalist and not a traitor so long as he claims election fraud, he keeps claiming it, and he claims it notwithstanding any audit or judicial decision to the contrary. An Eastman who believes in fraud may be deluded, but he can tell himself he isn't a traitor.
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5 comments:
What you describe is overthrowing a government by force, if we simply broaden the definition of violence to include lying and cheating. Feels that way to me and I suspect many others. So while it may be legal, a twisting of law, tradition and convention in every sense, it certainly will cause enormous upheaval in this society and internationally if it is successful.
Republicans and Democrats have known this and generally acted honorably through every crises, until now when opportunists have infiltrated and subsequently taken over the Republican party. The Republican party has flirted with the darker forces in our society since the founding; greed, racism, misogyny and bigotry.
Perhaps it was inevitable that one day they would be victorious. Meanwhile many Democrats persist in dealing with the ghosts of the past seemingly in denial of exactly what they are facing.
I have no words; anonymous is,imho, as unhinged as is/was the former guy. I don't have a lot if hope for the future of this Country.
Regarding Mr. Anonymous' post above: Since he can't dazzle us with his brilliance, he's trying to baffle us with his irrelevant BS.
A coup, by definition, doesn't have to be violent. It's an illegal, unconstitutional seizure of power. Besides inciting a riot, Trump illegally pressured legislators and election officials to invalidate the election results. It didn't work, so he's only guilty of a coup attempt.
In spite of that, Trump remains the undisputed leader of the Republican Party. Therefore all Republicans are complicit in his treason. It's called guilt by association.
I removed another obscene and plagiarized comment, left anonymous, which is done in the style of Curt Ankerberg, a Trump supporter, who has sent some signed comments and emails to me, and has a characteristic style. Ankerberg has been found guilty of tax fraud by a federal court. He claimed for his defense that he suffered from brain damage. Ankerberg is a perennial office-seeker. Voters should take note. It is possible that obscene comments left here are not by Ankerberg himself but rather by someone who has learned and now mimics the Ankerberg style.
Delusion reigns where I live also. One of our residents has two glaring stickers on her car “Trump Won” “Get Over It” and the other”No muzzle, no vax , no fear” of course , she has been vaccinated and is going to take the booster. Oh yes, my sons girlfriend who railed against the vax has decided to get it because she realizes that she cannot fly to Thailand without it, strong convictions vs. fun in the sun. Fun is much funner than a righteous belief in freedom.
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