Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, December 10, 2020

The Republican Party is quite literally becoming the enemy of American democracy.

BREAKING:  Trump is hosting all the AGS of the 18 states that are pushing for SCOTUS to overturn election tomorrow at the White House! 



The Trumpublican Party is trying its best to turn America into a Banana Republic being led by Banana Republicans - full of bluster, yet absent of principles, ethics, patriotism, and contemptuous of democracy 

Shame is irrelevant. 

As are charges of hypocrisy. 

The Party of Trump will never apologize or admit error or defeat. Attacking them as "enemies of democracy" is better, but still abstract. Make it as simple as possible -- the GOP doesn't think your vote matters. Or should even be counted. They don't care about you or your opinions. Or even whether you live or die. That's who they are.

We are living through an attempted coup. 

 And, yes, coups are in effect an act of war, a way of conquering a country. 










Consider the lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asking the Supreme Court to essentially nullify the entire 2020 presidential election so it can be handed to President Trump, a suit about which Trump himself says, “This is the big one.” 

It might have been just one more ridiculous publicity stunt by one of the many corrupt fools the GOP has managed to elect recently, but now, Republican attorneys general from 17 other states have signed on to the suit. The suit claims that election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin should be thrown out and the decision left to Republican-controlled legislatures in those states, presumably so they could simply appoint pro-Trump electors and make him the winner. 

The entire premise of the suit is farcical. Republicans have not found evidence of fraud beyond ludicrous innuendo on the order of, “An election official gave one of our poll watchers a dirty look!,” and the idea that one state could demand that the Supreme Court overturn the election results of another is absurd. 

I won’t go into the details except to say that Paxton’s “expert” took a statistical test meant to tell you if two samples differ — for instance, did one population who got a vaccine have different outcomes than another similar population who got a placebo? — and used it to “prove” that Joe Biden did better in these states than Hillary Clinton, and therefore … fraud! 

In years to come, statistics instructors will use this lawsuit as a case study in how statistics can be misused and abused. It’s as if I said, “My nephew claimed he broke his arm, but a real live doctor has informed me that in fact he broke his humerus, and that shows he’s not my nephew at all!” 

But the fact that Paxton is quite obviously an idiot doesn’t for a moment mitigate the horror of what’s happening here. This abomination of a lawsuit has the backing of the president, Republican state officials across the country, the conservative media and many Republicans in Congress, with some actively supporting it and others inviting Trump and his confederates to keep up the fight.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party are a bunch of seditious bastards!

Dave Miller said...

Well Anon... here's their wildest dream... direct from a Michigan "Patriot"...

"The Civil War is on. Texas is joined by ten states in it’s [sic] attack on Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia for trying to deprive them of a lawful federal government. Long live the Republic!

First off, as usual, these guys have no understanding of actual law. Just like in Brown v Topeka, the conservatives now hate the fact that us "libruls" use the law to advance our beliefs. They prefer to live in "I believe it so that settles it" land.

Now, as best as I can tell, here's where they're coming from...

Since Day 1 of the Trump Admin, Dems had it out for him, some even calling for his impeachment even before his inauguration. Then once he was in office, he was subject to ongoing scrutiny of a level no president had ever experienced. As such, Trump was denied any chance of real success.

So, that in their eyes being true, why should Joe Biden get that that chance? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. They are just repaying bad with bad. And if Dems really have an issue, where was their concern in 2016.

I think they are full of it, and there is no way, no reason to explain calling into question the very essence of democracy.

Here's how Nixon put it reflecting on the 1960 election when there was actual credible evidence of fraud...

“The bitterness that would be engendered by such a maneuver [publicly alleging fraud] on my part would … have done incalculable and lasting damage throughout the country. … I could think of no worse example for nations abroad … than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.”

This quote and how Nixon accepted it is the opening bookend of his presidential life. The other of course being his resignation, for essentially the same reason.

Nixon stepped aside twice, both for the good of America. Can anyone imagine Trump doing such a thing?

Infidel753 said...

Paxton has allegedly been involved in shady financial dealings, and it's pretty obvious he filed this lawsuit as a way of attracting Trump's favorable attention in hopes of getting a presidential pardon. The fact that other Republican AGs have joined the suit tells us they expect that Trump will continue to be a kingmaker in the party even after he's out of office, and is thus still worth toadying to.

Anon 2:45 is correct in saying "seditious". People too easily throw around the word "treason", which requires an actual state of war, not just a metaphorical one. Sedition, an attempt to overthrow the lawful authority, is a more accurate term for what Trump and his accomplices are doing.

There can no longer be such a thing as a good Republican. Anybody who remains a member of the party is at least passively complicit in this.

Les Carpenter said...

Dotard the Barbarian, his syncophants in congress, state legislators, and his pathetic cultists should ALL burn in hell (to use a phrase) for their goddamn sedition.

There absolutely will be violence in the streets on a grand scale if these POS succeed in their effort to overturn the will of the people and install a Banana Republic.

As a former republican, now an independent I agree with you whole hearted Infidel. Anyone remaining loyal to the republican party after tRump is complicit.

Passive complicity in the face of what the republican party is now doing is for me as just as bad as active support to overthrow the legitimate incoming government. These people are as evil as evil can get.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave

"Nixon stepped aside twice, both for the good of America. Can anyone imagine Trump doing such a thing?"

NEVER! Trump has shown America again and again that he cares only for himself and his 3 favored children. Trump can never be seen as an American patriot. He's an American aberration and a national shame that will take years and years for America to remedy. That quote by Nixon (and even Al Gore's concession speech) show how they put the good of the country ahead of their ambitions. Trump has NEVER, NEVER, NEVER done that.

I will never understand the people who still support this malignant narcissist -- the person who is fighting to FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE America! It's tragic that his cultists said that about President Obama, but haven't the guts to face it in Trump, who actually is trying to do it!

We will see by 3 PM today!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anonymous @2:45 PM 12/10 and Infidel753

What Trump and his cultists are doing is the very definition of sedition. The SCOTUS MUST throw out their seditious petition to overthrow our American form of democracy. I've never lived through anything like this!

Shaw Kenawe said...

RN, You're the only one I am aware of who has remained true to your ideals of conservatism. You often talk about your father and his influence on your life. I know he'd be proud of you sticking to your values and knowing the difference between supporting a politician and supporting America. You chose America; the Trump cultists in those usual blogs chose a malignant narcissist, liar, cheat, and fraud. I'll never forget this.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave I read your response over at AOW where you've given "credit where credit is due" to Trump for the vaccines against Covid-19. (There is more than one pharmaceutical company involved, as you know.) The "Warp Speed" was a Trump initiative, and his administration gets the kudos for that.

As for the vaccine?

Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House in April, 1955, when Jonas E. Salk's new polio vaccine was pronounced safe, effective, and potent. We don't call it the Eisenhower vaccine; we call it the Salk vaccine. These vaccines should not be called the Trump vaccine for obvious reasons.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Hmmm...

btw, according to Dotard "Before Operation Warp Speed, the typical timeframe for development and approval, as you know, could be infinity".

Dotard also said (at his "vaccine summit") that the high number of infections in the US is a good thing. Quote: "Plus, you develop immunity over a period of time. I hear we're close to 15%, I'm hearing that, and that is terrific, that's a very powerful vaccine in itself".

As Vanity Fair points out "To be clear, people contracting a virus is not a very powerful vaccine, or any kind of vaccine, period. Also, the estimate for how many people would have to die for the U.S. to achieve herd immunity is approximately 2.13 million..."

Shaw Kenawe said...

Derv, I say "for obvious reasons" because Trump never showed leadership when the virus first became known. He never got behind the sensible idea of wearing masks, social distancing, etc. His administration had dozens of people come down with Covid because of their irresponsible behavior. Who knows how many people got infected because of the Trump administration's super spreader meetings and parties?

Trump's name should NEVER be associated with the vaccine, since he did next to nothing to lead America in a safe direction and to practice safe behaviors during this plague. In fact, he encouraged his cultists to believe this was a "Democrat hoax" to ruin his chances of re-election. He railed against the virus only because it affected HIM and his re-election. Period.

Where was Trump when health care workers desperately needed PPEs? Was there "Warp Speed" for that? No! I'm acquainted with many nurses, and I know what they're suffering. Trump was nowhere to be found in organizing a countrywide effort to make sure our health care workers had the equipment they needed. We saw them wearing garbage bags, FFS!

January 20th can't come soon enough!

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Shaw, trumpers don't even believe vaccines work. At least not as well as the human immune system. Makes you wonder why any vaccine exists (scientists are obviously wasting their time).

So why would any trumper would want the vaccine (which they aren't going to take) to be named after Dotard?

Dave Miller said...

Derv... while they rail against "librul snowflakes" that crown is very attuned to any supposed slight.

As for the vaccines, why do they need a vaccine against a hoax that is no worse than the flu anyways?

I say put the GOP at the back of the line while all us libtards get vaccinated first. They can develop all the herd immunity they need.