Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Election Integrity Is All That Matters. And Democrats Know It.
Ron DeSantis was born in Jacksonville, FL, and was raised in Dunedin (near Tampa). His mother was a nurse, and his father installed Nielsen TV boxes. He went to Yale, where he was captain of their varsity baseball team, leading the team in batting average as a senior. He worked his way through school, taking jobs as an electrician’s assistant, youth baseball coach, and others. He graduated from Yale with a degree in history, magna cum laude. He then got his law degree at Harvard, cum laude. After law school, he volunteered for the Navy, where he won the Bronze Star, among many other accolades. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at the age of 34, and then decided to run for governor in Florida in 2018. His opponent in the gubernatorial election was Democrat Andrew Gillum.
Andrew Gillum was born in Miami and raised in Gainesville, FL. His father worked construction and his mother drove a school bus. He went to the historically black Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, earning a degree in political science. His grades were not released. While still attending college, he was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission at the age of 23. He served on the City Commission for 10 years until winning the mayoral election in Tallahassee in 2014. His term as mayor was marred by several corruption scandals involving misuse of funds, conflicts of interest, bribery, etc. After several years of scandals, he decided to run for governor of Florida in 2018.
When Mr. DeSantis won the election, Mr. Gillum conceded the race that night. It might not surprise you to learn that a recount was started soon thereafter, and Mr. Gillum withdrew his concession: “I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote.” Right. Remarkably enough, somehow they could not “find” enough “votes” to “count” in Mr. Gillum’s favor, and Mr. DeSantis ended up winning anyway, by 0.4%.
This is how we ended up with Ron DeSantis as governor of Florida. Mr. superstar athlete, hardworking brilliant student, Harvard-Yale educated lawyer, Bronze Star winning military veteran – that guy beats Mr. Corrupt Empty Suit. And he beats him by 0.4%.
Mr. Gillum’s problems with the law have continued. In March 2020, he was found, unconscious and naked, on the floor of a hotel room in Miami Beach with an overdosed unconscious male sex worker and bags of crystal meth and other drugs. Presumably his wife was unamused, but no arrests were made. And then in June 2022, Mr. Gillum was indicted on 21 felony counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements. Mr. Gillum has declared his innocence, and calls his various corruption investigations “political in nature.”
Remember, Mr. Gillum very nearly beat the most qualified candidate in history for governor just a few years ago. And he was an unimpressive student at an unimpressive school who has never had a job outside of government, and has been under investigation for corruption for most of his career. He’s been discussed as the future of the Democratic Party, and has been considered as a possible Vice Presidential candidate.
What if he is the future of the Democratic Party? Think of who the young stars are on their side. Where do they find these people?
So Ron DeSantis may run for President. I hope he does. I think he would do a good job.
But can he win? Can any Republican win, against any Democrat? What if the Democrats manage to find a candidate more qualified than Mr. Corrupt Empty Suit? Someone that voters might actually choose to vote for?
If our elections are as compromised as they appear to be, it may not matter who the Republicans run. It already doesn’t matter who the Democrats run. Obviously.
Immigration matters. So does the war in Ukraine, and climate laws, and abortion, and lots of other stuff. But really, nothing really matters other than figuring out how to hold honest elections in this country. Which is why the Democrat power structure (news media, social media, FBI, Justice Dept, etc.) won’t even let us talk about it. Any mention of election irregularities is “fact-checked” as “mis-information.” They won’t let us talk about election integrity because they know how important it is.
So polite Republicans politely look away. Like they’re supposed to. After all, they’re nice. Not like those other Republicans, you see.
I don’t know how our elections can be fixed. They are broken in many, many ways.
But we’ve got to fix them. That’s all that matters.
Some Republicans sort of understand that. Democrats most certainly understand that, and are using their resources accordingly.
Election integrity is the only way Republicans have any chance at all. Conversely, continued lack of election integrity is the only way that Democrats have any chance at all. And they know it.
Republicans should be devoting similar resources toward regaining election integrity as Democrats are devoting to destroying it.
It’s all that matters.
Just ask Ron DeSantis, the star athlete / decorated military veteran / brilliant scholar / Harvard-Yale lawyer, who darn near lost an election to Mr. Corrupt Empty Suit. (In this particular case, I refer to Mr. Gillum, not Mr. Biden.)
Heck, ask Mr. Corrupt Empty Suit himself. Either one of them. They understand, too.
Election integrity is all that matters.
We can’t fix any of our other problems until we fix that.
Published in General
Why, you conspiracy theorist!
I mean–you conspiracy theorist who agrees with every Democrat before November 2020, with the RNC, with the Elections Assistance Commission, and with G. K. Chesterton!
One small “breath of fresh air” for people in Michigan –
After the 2020 election, I would have to agree with you.
In a recent poll 14% of respondents said that Fetterman’s stroke makes them *more* likely to vote for him. They must be Democrats. God help us.
I want paper ballots and to eliminate anonymous voting. Let’s have people put a thumbprint on the paper and lick the corner. Being pseudo-anonymous is good enough.
Just to note that to the extent I’m a fan of DeSantis it is despite his being a Yale-Harvard-REMF with almost zero private sector experience. I don’t blame him for taking every opportunity to become part of the ruling class – it is the classic middle class dream, after all. But I can’t help thinking the country would be better off fewer Harvard lawyers and more FAMU graduates in the halls of power. Not that there is any excuse for getting a political science degree. So Gillum is disqualified on that basis alone. His subsequent behavior just confirms what his choice of major demonstrates…
Yes to paper ballots. No to eliminate anonymous voting.
I’ve seen unions (collectivists) intimidate people into voting their way when ballots weren’t secret. Evil. Once a “machine” has public ballots, that machine won’t need to manufacture fake ballots to get the fraudulent results it wants.
Anonymity is also one of the barriers that has prevented any implementation of internet voting. Thank the Lord for that.
You’ve harped on this before. Makes me think you are a progressive agent.
Sadly, paper ballots can result in fraud, too. My grandfather told me from personal experience as a poll worker, poll workers could and did invalidate paper ballots with extraneous marks (like voting for both candidates) with a pencil lead hidden beneath a thumbnail or fingernail.
Paper ballots can be forged and stuffed into ballot boxes, as well.
I don’t doubt it, but manual means would seem less conducive to mass fraud.
I want one-day voting (Italians do it on a Sunday apparently), paper ballots, and ink-dipped fingers (although I hear from a friend that domestic engineers might know how to get the ink off. . .).
Has to be secret for sure.
We should stop absentee ballots except for military or away in school.
I don’t doubt it, but manual means would seem less conducive to mass fraud.
I want one-day voting (Italians do it on a Sunday apparently), paper ballots, and ink-dipped fingers (although I hear from a friend that domestic engineers might know how to get the ink off. . .).
If the Democrats can push the worst politician in 100 years over the finish line, they can get a brick elected President.
Oh wait, they did that in 2020 . . .
I’m pretty sure that I hold the Ricochet record for the most posts which:
I wonder why that is?
Why not use something like a scantron? It is an electronic ballot scanner that has no software and just reports totals.
Members of the Oppressor Class certainly don’t like it.
I disagree on one-day voting. But I do think the maximum should be 2 weeks before the election. Even then, one should vote in person at an authorized and manned polling station, just like on election day. By allowing that reasonable amount of time-span to vote most needs for mail-in voting would be eliminated. Mail-in voting is absolutely the worst. There must be a way to maintain chain of custody and to insure proper legal citizenship.
So an hour after I make this comment, the post gets promoted to the main feed.
Somebody is trying to make me look like a whiny brat.
With some success, I might add…
And Republicans did very little to fight it. Heck, the governor of Georgia had already agreed to most of that long before COVID. From 2019:
Keeping all the usual polling stations open for 2 weeks would be a pretty big strain on especially volunteers who do much of it now. If there is going to be 2 weeks of early voting, it would need to be far more limited to like the Secretary Of State offices etc. If they have 2 weeks to do it, there’s not much reason why it should have to be within walking distance of everyone’s home etc. If they have to only walk a short distance, they can plan to do it on Election Day. Or not at all.
Maybe they were waiting for you to have 52 likes. :-)
Yes, a century of rule by the Ivy League has only made us $30 Trillion in debt, up to our elbows in pointless and costly foreign wars, paying for the defense of wealthy countries, complete corruption of government and finance, and a cultural rot that is more toxic than any of the foregoing.
Then again, the current dementia ridden marionette installed in the white house was educated at U-Delaware and is a complete disaster.
The bigger problems with Georgia, as far as I could tell, seemed to come from an “agreement” with Stacey Abrams that violated state law and should have been ignored.
I see US political Competency as either all about being able to do the minimum on your own OR doing the maximum as a tool of you political party. It has zero to do with integrity, morals, or even ethics (maybe, ask the lawyers).
sometimes we get overachievers on both accounts (Bill Clinton, for example).
Sometimes, it’s just an oversight. I had one in the high twenties that didn’t get promoted. When I asked the editors about it, they apologized and promoted the post.
I had one not too long ago with 42 likes didn’t get promoted. In that post, I picked a fight with the Never-Trumpers. I think the editors don’t like that very much.
Is there a common thread among those of yours that didn’t get promoted?
She really is. It’s like a priority that her whole team has thought through at all times.
Too many GOP and GOPe dim bulbs don’t grasp almost any of this. You have got to adjust your mental model of has happened and is happening.
Hey Doc, we love ya right here on the member feed.
I will happily offer you a compromise…ONE week. They do it in Missouri, surely they could do it in a much hipper place, like California.
Maybe. But asking people – especially volunteers – to set up and operate polling stations for a week, versus a day, is still asking a lot.
Maybe it was already in the works and you just need to wait a little longer? Yeah, right.