Not to Defend Trump, but …

 

img_0852Donald Trump has stated that if the race were determined by popular vote, he would have campaigned in but 3 or 4 states and won easily. Knowing what we know today, it is not at all inconceivable he could have tailored a campaign to win two of three of New York, Illinois, and California (104 Electoral Votes) along with Ohio Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas and Florida (121 Electoral Votes) which he did win (which with the other solid 100 or so Red State Electoral Votes would total > 360).

Now he tweets he actually did win the popular vote when you deduct the millions of illegal votes cast for Hillary. The news media is reporting on this with the solemn disclaimer that there is no evidence offered, found, or extant to support this. But,….. there is.

First, the news media must understand that they have been complicit in their own demise. Two grand whoppers offered by two sitting Presidents changed how American’s view their mainstream media. The “I didn’t have sex with that woman,” and “If you like your health plan, you can keep it,” lies broke the last claim the mainstream media had on the general population. These lies were obvious lies. Drudge “drudged” through the truth about the first lie and established itself as “the most trusted news source” for people who were growing impatient with the Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times and, the one-time “most trusted news source,” CNN. The mainstream media taught us to seek out the web if we desired truth, wished to remove the taint, or needed a different point of view. Such views existed, but we had to find the few sources which were actually asking the right questions. Drudge aggregated such views (and some entertaining risqué snippets to boot).

At the time, the mainstream news media was reporting on the two grand whoppers of the past half century (Lewinsky and Obamacare) with little indication they knew these prevarications were complete, total, and Pinocchio twelve nose falsehoods, … the internet, search engines, blogging, aggregation, and social media were rising. In many cases the slanted reporting of the mainstream national media was intentional. More often than not, the newspapers and television outlets claimed they were objectively reporting on “the facts and just the facts, Maam.” They thought they were, but many of us suspected they weren’t. The result today is when any mainstream, national media source lowers its voice to state, “No proof exists….,” we just tune it out. We substitute our own confirmation bias for theirs.

Trump may not be right. But he is not completely wrong. And there is evidence to support what he tweets. When this occurs, moral equivalence takes hold and presto, wham! Trump’s word = NPR, PBS, CBS, and WaPo, … or more likely, Trump’s word trumps the news media because the brethren in the mainstream national media have, in the opinions of many, misrepresented themselves for so long they deserve to be dismissed. We look at Trump and see a real estate developer. We know instinctively to believe about half of what he says, while agreeing with his core thesis: the Democrats and the media are corrupt.

A second data point begins to back fill our bias. We have a Virginia governor who attempted to ignore his own Supreme Court and restore the voting rights of 90,000 convicted felons in his state – a critical swing state no less. Proof: Intent.

Then there are those who vote in say, New York and Florida – who own homes in two states and register to vote in both states and who vote by mail in either one and in person in the other. We know this happens. Jim Geraghty in an October National Review article dismissed this. He said a study from 2004 showed less than 1,000 people from New York and Florida did this in 2004. But that was 2004, before things really, really heated up. Yes, Florida and the national Presidential election was decided in 2000 by just a few hundred votes and a few hanging chads, but 2004 was an re-election of a sitting President in war time. It was before the Dems grew intense about voter turnout, registrations, ACORN, early voting, absentee voting, and walk-in, same day, drive-by registration voting. So intent is established. And motivation is strong. Each precinct makes a call and those calls add up.

Random studies have found evidence of dual registration voting, deceased voters voting, and unverifiable same day registrations voting. When totaled up, when samples are extrapolated, those studies have uncovered evidence that tens of thousands of “illegal” registrations, deceased voting and dual registration votes have occurred. The studies are not complete and only include a few states. In fact on the campus of a major university nearby, a university instructor was advising students in 2012 to register at their college address and at their home address so they could vote twice. And then there is the Veritas Project. So there is knowledge, forethought, encouragement, and evidence of action. Take that news media. Don’t dismiss the few cases here or there and presume you have a case. Find some evidence, show some anger, and serve the citizenry. It is outrageous this occurs at all.

Then we have the question of the status of children of illegal aliens who were born here, grew up here, were granted social security cards, and now are “legal” registered voters. Legal is defined by the states.

The point of this is not that there are necessarily millions of illegal votes as claimed by Trump. There may be – though it is bit of a stretch, but not that far-fetched. The point is there is sufficient evidence to suggest there could be several hundred thousand illegal votes cast in a host of places, some of which could determine the outcome, when there should be none.

After our Jour de Merci Donnant repas (Thanksgiving day meal), my wife and I took a long walk with our family. As we walked we heard the sounds of someone nailing and banging away at a home under construction. The sounds we heard were of an Hispanic construction crew framing a house on Thanksgiving!!! No rest for the weary. My Significant-Other’s response was, “Is there nothing we share together as a country anymore? Nothing in common that we all do together? No holiday, celebration or festival we all can bond with together?” Answer: NO.

Which is why we need to eliminate the mistrust. It is too late for the mainstream, national media to regain its credibility. Too late. And the power of Google or Facebook to tell us who has fake and real news is limited. Being labeled a “fake” news source will probably increase traffic rather than discourage it. But what might help address the concern all Americans have with the election process is to return to voting in person with face ID and paper ballots which are tabulated by both hand and machine (and preserved in case the Russians hacked the system) on one day – the same day for all Americans for our national elections.

There used to be a national unity in all Americans casting a vote on one day together. It was day of stress, sometimes long lines, and perhaps minor inconvenience. It marked a passage. A duty. Civil responsibility. It was power. Shared power. It was special. Like sitting there in church not really listening to the homily or the sounds of the liturgy being read, it recalled inside each of us what it is to be a part of something grand.

Time to reimpose voting in person, with a paper ballot which can be preserved, and with a picture ID (or provisional ballot held for confirmation) on one day, ELECTION DAY – all together. E pluribus unum.

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  1. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Interesting you mention dual voting for those with second homes in Florida.  Every time liberals tell me there is no evidence of voter fraud (at least that which helps Democrats), I point out that in 2012 a Democratic Congressional candidate in Maryland had to withdraw from the race after it was discovered she was registered to vote in both Maryland and Florida!

    • #1
  2. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    James Madison: Time to reimpose voting in person, with a paper ballot which can be preserved, and with a face ID (or provisional ballot held for confirmation) on one day, ELECTION DAY – all together. E pluribus unum.

    Yes. Almost every move by states to make the process convenient for voters has introduced greater probability of voter fraud and every effort to reduce that probability has been opposed by Democrats. And we have some here who are stuck on deriding Trump for his ‘tweets’ even when they are of greater reliability and truth than what is offered by the so-called ‘mainstream media’.

    • #2
  3. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    There are zero states that require a birth certificate to register to vote. It is inconceivable that illegals don’t vote even dead ones.

    • #3
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    James Madison: There used to be a national unity in all Americans casting a vote on one day together. It was day of stress, sometimes long lines, and perhaps minor inconvenience. … Like sitting there in church not really listening to the homily or the sounds of the liturgy being read, it recalled inside each of us what it is to be a part of something grand.

    I always thought election day was almost a sacred thing, like church. It may have been election day 1984 when there were long lines at the township hall, snaked back and forth between rows of tables – everyone waiting solemnly and patiently for the line to move. And a ways ahead of me in line was our pastor and his wife, he a tall man in his clerical collar. He was more liberal than me to say the least, but a good guy.

    After a few minutes he stepped out of line (a breach of etiquette right there) and came over to me. In a stage whisper that could heard across the room he announced, “John, I checked the ballot and there are no right-wing conservative environmentalists on it. So you can go home.”

    Everybody had turned and was staring. I stayed put and kept my silence.

    This year I wasn’t so solemn. I joked with our neighbor who was working the election, saying better she than me. A mutual friend had tried to recruit both of us to work.

    • #4
  5. Melissa O'Sullivan Member
    Melissa O'Sullivan
    @melissaosullivan

    Excellent article and proposal!

    • #5
  6. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    James Madison: The “I didn’t have sex with that woman,” and “If you like your health plan, you can keep it,” lies broke the last claim the mainstream media had on the general population. These lies were obvious lies.

    I would rank the video-did-it stories almost as high. The WSJ was treating it as fact on its front page well after it had been contested and disproven.

    • #6
  7. John Hanson Coolidge
    John Hanson
    @JohnHanson

    I believe the critical problem is with voter registration, not just voting.   For example, in CA based on reading all one would need is a utility bill with your name and address in lieu of a CA drivers license, and then answer the question “Are you a US citizen? with yes.  (The CA license issued to illegal aliens has DP in lieu of DL in the number, and is by law not valid for ID, but who knows if anyone worries about this, it shouldn’t be valid for registering, but then one doesn’t need it.)

    No one will do any form of background check on your answers to the questions, you are assumed to answer honestly.   Once registered, one can continue to vote in any election indefinitely.  So all one has to do, is lie in response to one question, that officials are actually prohibited from checking and one gets registered, then can vote “legally” from then on.

     

    At a minimum to register one should have to provide a certified copy of a birth certificate, and/or citizenship papers.  We should also resurrect the requirement to register at least 60 days prior to election.  And it should be mandatory that all registrations are verified for US citizenship.  At present they just are not.

    • #7
  8. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    James Madison: It was day of stress, sometimes long lines, and perhaps minor inconvenience.

    I agree with just about everything you stated except this. It is more than a minor inconvenience to the handicapped. November in some states is brutal, standing or sitting in long lines would be impossible in inclement weather. I vote by mail and have for almost 10 years and have never seen nor read about any impropriety in my county. There are times when the body is feeble but the mind is still sharp.

    • #8
  9. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    @thereticulator

    In 2012, I joked with my son inside the voting room at the polling station which was set up for the first time on the campus of the local university.  Iwas standing in line waiting to be handed a paper ballot.  I was called out by a guy with sandals and pony tail seated at the table.  OK I am being a bit judgmental of the sandals and pony tail, but this guy had power and I presume he thought I was there to vote for Obama and to keep my mouth shut.  I enjoyed responding to him in my most officious and faux respectful tone, “Sir, Yes Sir!.”

    Such a disappointment, I am.

    • #9
  10. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Kay of MT:

    James Madison: It was day of stress, sometimes long lines, and perhaps minor inconvenience.

    It is more than a minor inconvenience to the handicapped.

    Exception granted.  You are right!!!!  I once spent a brief time on crutches and learned how unfriendly the world is to those who need to open a door, hold a brief case and try to hop through while manipulating crutches.  Three stairs in ice was especially thrilling.

    Excellent point.  The motion is made, seconded and approved, “Vote by mail option for the physically challenged will be allowed.”

    • #10
  11. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Kay of MT:

    James Madison: It was day of stress, sometimes long lines, and perhaps minor inconvenience.

    I agree with just about everything you stated except this. It is more than a minor inconvenience to the handicapped. November in some states is brutal, standing or sitting in long lines would be impossible in inclement weather. …There are times when the body is feeble but the mind is still sharp.

    In 2014 my 96-year-old father, then confined to a wheelchair and with macular degeneration that kept him from being able to read, wanted to vote, especially to vote against Al Franken. Somebody had messed up and hadn’t gotten Mom and Dad their absentee ballots. It may have been my liberal sister who messed up, but nobody is accusing anybody of anything. This is in north-central Minnesota, but the weather wasn’t too bad. So we took them to town to vote. It was quite a project. My conservative sister (who is from the area and knows the candidates) helped Dad with his ballot. Dad was also hard of hearing, and she wondered if he was starting to lose it, as he was not being very responsive to acquaintances who were in the voting room and greeted him. But that was a temporary problem with his hearing aids that we got taken care of soon after.  He afterwards said it was well worth the effort to have gone to vote against Franken.

    • #11
  12. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    James Madison: Three stairs in ice was especially thrilling.

    Thank you. You are a braver person than me. I refuse to even attempt to go outdoors if there is snow or ice. I’m leery of rain and slick sidewalks as well.

    • #12
  13. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    John Hanson: At a minimum to register one should have to provide a certified copy of a birth certificate, and/or citizenship papers. We should also resurrect the requirement to register at least 60 days prior to election. And it should be mandatory that all registrations are verified for US citizenship. At present they just are not.

    John, you have the start of another post!!!  Very good points.

    • #13
  14. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    The Reticulator: He afterwards said it was well worth the effort to have gone to vote against Franken.

    Actually, I probably would have crawled to the poles to vote against Franken. No effort would have been to great.

    I called the County because I thought my ballet hadn’t been mailed, and was told they hadn’t forgotten me, I would get it in a few days. Clinton is right up there with Franken.

    • #14
  15. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    @kayofmt ,

    Yes, Franken.  When I had a place on Capitol Hill, I would sometimes see him walking his dog in the AM.  He was friendly and would speak.  I returned his greeting with a smile.

    The things we do for love (❤️ of nation).

    ???

    • #15
  16. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Trump’s only mistake was setting a number for the amount of fraudulant votes. If he’d tweeted “an untold number of fraudulent votes” he would have been tweeting fact.

    “Millions” has a very specific meaning. It means at least 2 million fraudulent votes.

    It’s evidence of Trumpian incompetence, not Trumpian mendacity. But that’s bad enough.

    • #16
  17. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Not sure about having entire voting populace re-register with birth certificate every two years would be practical (doubt the personnel exist in number needed to do it). Maybe with each DL renewal? I could also see having each death certificate routed through election roles and social security & Medicare roles to reduce fraud. People in prison or place on parole, similar. In states that are allowing illegals to vote, require that those licenses have some type of visual designation, similar to underage drivers with drinking age. Change or address forms from USPS would also be routed to elections commissioner.

    Now that Trump has made a fuss, brought attention to the issue, let him propose some national standards – watch the Left squeal.

    • #17
  18. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    James Madison:

    John Hanson: At a minimum to register one should have to provide a certified copy of a birth certificate, and/or citizenship papers. We should also resurrect the requirement to register at least 60 days prior to election. And it should be mandatory that all registrations are verified for US citizenship. At present they just are not.

    John, you have the start of another post!!! Very good points.

    Proof of citizenship or a birth certificate is not required in any of the 50 states, zero,none ,zip, nada.

    • #18
  19. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    It is clear that the Democrats don’t want fair voting, and that they have benefited from cheating for decades (JFK anyone?). What is more, Trump voters know this. And as you point out, they know the Media cannot be trusted.

    This is what happens when the people with the megaphone lie all the time: folks stop listening to them, and listen to someone else.

    The left has lived by paranoia, and now that has spread out. Great job guys.

    • #19
  20. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    John Hanson: For example, in CA based on reading all one would need is a utility bill with your name and address in lieu of a CA drivers license,

    Wrong.  You walk in, fill out the form, and it’s done.  No documents required. True, you have to check the box that says you’re a citizen.  Ink’s cheap.

    • #20
  21. Von Snrub Inactive
    Von Snrub
    @VonSnrub

    Considering I registered in New Jersey for the first time this year. I registered with some open borders dude at a street fair, then I went and voted. Nobody asked if any of my information was accurate, real, or anything. This is madness.

    • #21
  22. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Great post, James. The system is badly in need of a huge overhaul. In fact, let’s throw the whole thing out and start from scratch. Get down to basics. No early voting. Paper ballots. Proof of citizenship. All for starters. Thanks!

    • #22
  23. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    Not to defend the mainstream media, but… there’s absolutely no evidence of two million stolen votes. There’s absolutely no excuse for a president-elect to undermine confidence in election results in that way. Hillary Clinton was basically absolutely right when she made that point…

    Which of course brings us to the screaming hypocrisy of her side. If he’s genuinely concerned about voter fraud on a major scale, he’s now in a position to actually do something about it rather than throwing out unfounded claims.  I really don’t care whether the media set him up for it because it’s not about them, it’s about the voters.

    President-Elect Trump had both the White House and the moral high ground, and why he decided to throw that away rambling away on Twitter I cannot fathom, save that it bothers his ego that he lost the popular vote.  He’s making quite unnecessary excuses for that, and thus he ended up essentially contradicted himself — first he said he’d really won the popular vote, and then he argued that, well, he could’ve won it if he’d campaigned — that point is uncertain, but plausible, and no harm done.

    But really, someone needs to explain to him that he only lost the popular vote because of California, and that for a Republican losing California — even so dramatically that it affects the national popular vote — is nothing to be embarrassed about at all.

     

    • #23
  24. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    James Madison: Time to reimpose voting in person, with a paper ballot which can be preserved

    What I’m reading from following the presumed recount here in WI (it’s not happening until Stein pays up, and she has to do that by 4:30 tomorrow) is that, at least here, even “electronic” votes create a paper version and are thus verifiable. I’m quite prepared to believe that’s not true everywhere, but what they do here seems to work well.

    • #24
  25. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Susan Quinn:Great post, James. The system is badly in need of a huge overhaul. In fact, let’s throw the whole thing out and start from scratch. Get down to basics. No early voting. Paper ballots. Proof of citizenship. All for starters. Thanks!

    Mmmm, why start from scratch?

    As a conservative I’m in favor of your proposed reforms, just not of doing it from scratch.

    • #25
  26. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Leigh: there’s absolutely no evidence of two million stolen votes.

    What exactly do you mean by evidence?

    Are you confusing evidence with proof?

    • #26
  27. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    The Reticulator:

    Leigh: there’s absolutely no evidence of two million stolen votes.

    What exactly do you mean by evidence?

    Are you confusing evidence with proof?

    No, I’m not. If you read me carefully, my point is about the scale. I’ll acknowledge absolute proof of some fraud. I’m saying that the evidence in the OP doesn’t point to two million. That is a massive number. I’ve never read anyone credible who claims it’s on that scale.

    I don’t think it’s a particularly profitable argument, though, honestly, because if Trump had made a case like the OP I wouldn’t have a huge problem with it. Throwing out that charge on Twitter that way undercut the credibility of the election (which he won!) to no good purpose. If it’s about his ego, he should get over it and get off Twitter. If it’s about legitimate concerns about fraud, he should get off Twitter and make a serious proposal to Congress, and he’d probably find he’d have plenty of support.

    • #27
  28. Pelicano Inactive
    Pelicano
    @Pelicano

    “Then we have the question of the status of children of illegal aliens who were born here, grew up here, were granted social security cards, and now are “legal” registered voters. Legal is defined by the states.”

    There is no question about this. Anyone born in the United States (except for some very narrow exceptions) is a citizen. They are eligible to vote, unless disqualified for some other reason, such as committing a felony.

    You might think the law should be different. But it’s not. And there’s no reason to invent a category of fraud for people whose citizenship is based on the same thing as any other person born in this country.

    • #28
  29. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Leigh: Throwing out that charge on Twitter that way undercut the credibility of the election (which he won!) to no good purpose.

    That seems rather far-fetched to me. Do you have evidence that it changed the credibility of the election for anyone?  The operative word is changed.

    • #29
  30. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Leigh: there’s absolutely no evidence of two million stolen votes

    Yes, it is a stretch.  But, there is evidence many, many people who entered this country illegally or who are the off-spring of such people are legally registered to vote – with or with out legal citizenship.  How many?  My instincts tell me it is more than 10,000 and less than 10 million.

    And many, many, many … are in California or New York.

     

    • #30
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