The 2020 Election – Time Mag Story and the Quest for Power

 

Like many, I read the Time Magazine story, ” The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election.” by Molly Ball, and was astonished.  The story unfolds a couple of years before the 2020 election.   A key person in the orchestration of the “shadow campaign”, Mike Podhorzer, known as “the wizard”, began to essentially “war game” the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.  Mr. Podhorzer is the Political Director of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States, nominated and installed by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka.

Here are some of the highlights of the story:

The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO, published on Election Day.  Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit “bargain, inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial justice protests – in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital, to “keep the peace” and oppose “Trump’s assault on democracy”.   The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to “protect the election”.   

What? It sounds like the Chamber of Commerce was afraid, and made a deal with the devil.  No one kept the peace or came to the aid of the small businesses and stores that were being deliberately destroyed across the country, and continued even after the Biden victory.

It gets worse.  They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They “fended off voter suppression lawsuits (?), recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time.  They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against “disinformation and used data-driven strategies” to fight viral smears.”  So who was in charge of the cancel lever?  Remember the Hunter Biden laptop story successfully buried……?

They blatantly admit censorship: “That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream – a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information”.   Excuse me, but this sounds like Elections for Dummies, by Vladimir Putin…

To spare you indigestion and further depression if you haven’t read it, I’ll summarize it here.

Democratic strategists (I counted no less than 42 plus players and organizations in the article) met via Zoom and other methods, to ensure President Donald Trump was defeated.  A lot of powerful people and millions of dollars poured into this effort.  Many of the groups (and I’ll list them at the end) are Democratic Socialists – you can tell by visiting their websites.  Many champion “disruption”,  and support equal distribution of wealth.  In the good memory of Dr. Martin Luther King who advocated that “we are not to judge anyone by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”,  this umbrella of activists seems to judge everyone by the color of their skin, their social and financial status, and dismiss American history as something to be abhorred and erased. While Trump wanted to lift up everyone, including funding black colleges and bringing industry to inner cities, hosting many roundtables of black clergy and industry, and begging the mayors of failing cities to clean them up and stop the violence, these groups were blinded to this message.

I’m not exaggerating their effort. I wish I was.  There is a new race war and there are winners and losers. Trump lost, even though he championed the idea of Making America Great for everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, or their social and financial status.  I challenge any of these groups to find otherwise.  There are too many lines that shock and stand out in that story that are so disturbing – so why regurgitate such an indigestible banquet of poisonous rhetoric?

I do have to question AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka, and Mike Podhorzer, who were part of the take-down of Trump. “On day one,” President Biden eliminated thousands of XL Pipeline jobs, within other states, including Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania, by the stroke of a cheap pen.  All the towns with grocery stores, mortgages, schools – the things that make a town hum, will greatly suffer, adding to the challenges of a pandemic. Even Native American tribes that had signed deals with the Pipeline Initiative to receive help and funding within their communities are on the losing end.   These were good paying “union” jobs, Mr. Trumpka and Mr. Podhorzer! Did not President Trump give incentives for major corporations to return from foreign shores, to set up plants here in the U.S., and gave us the best economy in our history? Why did you two work to sabotage his re-election?

This does not even cover the Dominion Voting Machines story, or the hundreds of sworn affidavits from poll workers of threats, intimidation and outright manipulation on voting day.  That subject entirely is being censored on social media.  The Time story just confirmed that a huge, well-funded network used social media, threats, and censoring to make sure this election went their way.

The most astonishing part to me is the level of fear and hatred of Trump, and Trump supporters. What happened on January 6th at the US Capitol was not a representation of either, and they know it.  “Election night began with many Democrats despairing. Trump was running ahead, winning Florida, Ohio, and Texas easily, and keeping Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania too close to call.  The Liberal Alliance gathered for an 11 p.m. Zoom call.  Many were freaking out.  Podhorzer presented data to show the group victory was as hand. “We wanted to be mindful of when was the right time to call for moving masses into the street. So the word went out: Stand down.  Protect The Results announced that it would not be activating the entire national mobilization network today, but remains ready to activate if necessary“. 

They were prepared for a meltdown, with a push of an app, if Trump was re-elected. Why? I, and seventy-five million voters want to know why?

For four years, conservatives were intimidated in restaurants and other venues, attacked and censored on social media, while we watched a summer of burning, looting, and destruction in major cities, attacks on law enforcement and rejection of a civil conversation and a return to law and order.  Now the concerted effort to erase anything and anyone associated with the last president. This is nuts.  I underestimated the level of rage and hate that permeated our culture and the effort underway to make sure the target of all this animosity was removed.  I and most Americans thought we all just went to the polls and voted. We thought that campaigns championed their causes by tirelessly stumping city by city, and town by town. I wondered why Biden steered clear of the campaign trail for the most part.  The cheering, and honking horns, the hats and yard signs meant nothing, because behind the scenes, in the shadows, money, power and intimidation bought this election.

Here are some of the organizations and people that participated in the shadow campaign, cited in the Time Magazine story:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

AFL-CIO

Norm Eisen – Attorney / Obama Official – created the “Voter Protection Program”

Ian Bassin, co/founder of “Protect Democracy”

Mike Podhorzer / Sr. Advisor to President of AFL-CIO / created Analyst Institute and The Catalyst

The Fight Back Table

Democracy Defense Coalition

Planned Parenthood

Greenpeace

Indivisible (resistance group)

Move On.Org

Working Families Party

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

National Vote at Home Institute

The Voter Participation Center

Brennan Center for Justice @ NYU

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Twitter / Jack Dorsey

Dick Gephardt

Issue One

The Voting Rights Lab

In To Action

Instagram

TikTok

Protect Democracy

Shenker-Osorio

Black Lives Matter

Women’s March

Sierra Club

Color of Change

Democrats.com

Democrat Socialists of America

Protect the Results

Business Roundtable

National Association of Evangelicals

National African American Clergy Network

Art Reyes III

Richard Primus

Published in General
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 74 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.

    How did you @ mimac get to this point?

    Accusing people of being racist is how you shut them up.

    Conservatives need to stop letting themselves be silenced by these gross accusations.

    Didn’t accuse anybody of racism- just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business– which is an AMERICAN business and a success story. You can NOT show that I called anyone racist- not ever, never once.

    I thought there has been ample evidence that McConnell and Donohue, Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had a history of close cooperation on trade issues with China and those CoC positions don’t always serve American national interests. Is that story incorrect?

    • #61
  2. DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone Member
    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.

    How did you @ mimac get to this point?

    Accusing people of being racist is how you shut them up.

    Conservatives need to stop letting themselves be silenced by these gross accusations.

    Didn’t accuse anybody of racism- just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business- which is an AMERICAN business and a success story. You can NOT show that I called anyone racist- not ever, never once. But I guess claiming victim status is easier than providing facts- heck the left certainly thinks so.

    You can’t tell me that that wasn’t the subtext of what you said. “Solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.” That word “solely” makes it clear what the subtext is.

    • #62
  3. MiMac Thatcher
    MiMac
    @MiMac

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.

    How did you @ mimac get to this point?

    Accusing people of being racist is how you shut them up.

    Conservatives need to stop letting themselves be silenced by these gross accusations.

    Didn’t accuse anybody of racism- just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business- which is an AMERICAN business and a success story. You can NOT show that I called anyone racist- not ever, never once. But I guess claiming victim status is easier than providing facts- heck the left certainly thinks so.

    You can’t tell me that that wasn’t the subtext of what you said. “Solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.” That word “solely” makes it clear what the subtext is.

    I can’t control what you prefer(and seek) to assume- the victimhood olympics is all to common.

    • #63
  4. DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone Member
    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.

    How did you @ mimac get to this point?

    Accusing people of being racist is how you shut them up.

    Conservatives need to stop letting themselves be silenced by these gross accusations.

    Didn’t accuse anybody of racism- just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business- which is an AMERICAN business and a success story. You can NOT show that I called anyone racist- not ever, never once. But I guess claiming victim status is easier than providing facts- heck the left certainly thinks so.

    You can’t tell me that that wasn’t the subtext of what you said. “Solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.” That word “solely” makes it clear what the subtext is.

    I can’t control what you prefer(and seek) to assume- the victimhood olympics is all to common.

    Yes. We know. You’re crying victim now because I noticed the embedded accusation of racism in your comment. Maybe don’t accuse people of racism. Kthnxbai.

    • #64
  5. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    • #65
  6. MiMac Thatcher
    MiMac
    @MiMac

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    Do you have proof of McConnell intentionally hurting US interests to advance Chinese interests?  The conspiracy minded folks can only point to policy positions that were backed by virtually all mainstream GOP figures. Of course, the tin foil hat crowd claims that all those GOP senators were co-conspirators and the conspiracy is vast. You can argue the wisdom of much of US policy the last 20 years but that is NOT the same as alleging traitorous behavior.

    • #66
  7. MiMac Thatcher
    MiMac
    @MiMac

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):

    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.

    How did you @ mimac get to this point?

    Accusing people of being racist is how you shut them up.

    Conservatives need to stop letting themselves be silenced by these gross accusations.

    Didn’t accuse anybody of racism- just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business- which is an AMERICAN business and a success story. You can NOT show that I called anyone racist- not ever, never once. But I guess claiming victim status is easier than providing facts- heck the left certainly thinks so.

    You can’t tell me that that wasn’t the subtext of what you said. “Solely b/c his wife is of Chinese extraction.” That word “solely” makes it clear what the subtext is.

    I can’t control what you prefer(and seek) to assume- the victimhood olympics is all to common.

    Yes. We know. You’re crying victim now because I noticed the embedded accusation of racism in your comment. Maybe don’t accuse people of racism. Kthnxbai.

    Your racism detection antenna put Ibram Kendi’s to shame

    • #67
  8. DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone Member
    DrewInEastHillAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MiMac (View Comment):

    Your racism detection antenna put Ibram Kendi’s too shame

    Projecting much? You’re the one who accused people of being racist because they objected to McConnell’s business ties.

    • #68
  9. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    Can we all agree that the participants of this massive shadow campaign went above and beyond to influence the outcome of this election, and these are only the people listed in the Time article. They are proud of it. I imagine there are many others that are anonymous.  After all that has been revealed to the public about the fake Russian accusations, and all that surrounded the relentless attacks on Trump from the minute he was nominated, is it such a stretch to imagine what took place here?  

    Considering the fact that we are now witnessing Obama 2.0 , I can guess who else was championing this effort.  I have to question campaign financing and the millions that came pouring in for Biden Harris from unknown sources. Do you not have to publicly list your donors, especially if it is over a certain amount?  When things happen the shadows, question it all.

    • #69
  10. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MiMac (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    Do you have proof of McConnell intentionally hurting US interests to advance Chinese interests? The conspiracy minded folks can only point to policy positions that were backed by virtually all mainstream GOP figures. Of course, the tin foil hat crowd claims that all those GOP senators were co-conspirators and the conspiracy is vast. You can argue the wisdom of much of US policy the last 20 years but that is NOT the same as alleging traitorous behavior.

    Now you have jumped from one extreme to the other. All I said about your original comment was that saying the China connection was “solely” related to Mrs. McConnell being Chinese was inaccurate. Someone else said it was an embedded racist accusation.  You have now admitted the policy positions McConnell has been supporting but go further and seem to want to connect those here who find fault with that to the “tin-foil hat conspiracy crowd”, whatever that is. McConnell and others hurt American national security interests for reasons that very well could be absent “intent”. That does not make it all right. 

    • #70
  11. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MiMac (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    Do you have proof of McConnell intentionally hurting US interests to advance Chinese interests? The conspiracy minded folks can only point to policy positions that were backed by virtually all mainstream GOP figures. Of course, the tin foil hat crowd claims that all those GOP senators were co-conspirators and the conspiracy is vast. You can argue the wisdom of much of US policy the last 20 years but that is NOT the same as alleging traitorous behavior.

    In the recent election, with confirmation from the TIME article, there were wide-spread coordinated and questionable actions designed to defeat the Trump candidacy. Much of the money for that came from sources with close historical ties to serving Republicans. There may have been some serious illegal acts but I would not call them traitorous.

    • #71
  12. MiMac Thatcher
    MiMac
    @MiMac

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    just pointed out that the only linking of McConnell to the Chinese is his wife’s family business

    Is this a deliberate lie or just a careless mistake?

    Do you have proof of McConnell intentionally hurting US interests to advance Chinese interests? The conspiracy minded folks can only point to policy positions that were backed by virtually all mainstream GOP figures. Of course, the tin foil hat crowd claims that all those GOP senators were co-conspirators and the conspiracy is vast. You can argue the wisdom of much of US policy the last 20 years but that is NOT the same as alleging traitorous behavior.

    Now you have jumped from one extreme to the other. All I said about your original comment was that saying the China connection was “solely” related to Mrs. McConnell being Chinese was inaccurate. Someone else said it was an embedded racist accusation. You have now admitted the policy positions McConnell has been supporting but go further and seem to want to connect those here who find fault with that to the “tin-foil hat conspiracy crowd”, whatever that is. McConnell and others hurt American national security interests for reasons that very well could be absent “intent”. That does not make it all right.

    Go back to the original post casting dispersions on McConnnell “and his wife” and specifically included references to China-that is the source of the dispute. That posting included Ms McConnell for no obvious reason. I did not allege racism- I suspect the poster wanted to smear McConnell as being, in effect, a Chinese agent b/c of his wife’s family business (ie money not race). There is much not to like in US -China policy over the last several decades-but the claims that it is b/c of the “swamp” does nothing to further the discussion nor solve the problems. The “swamp” talk frequently goes over the top in accusing people. By the definition of many people it is almost impossible for any politician not to be a member of the swamp- the accusation is therefore of no import. Our China policy is unlikely to get better under the Biden administration (unless China really acts stupidly but don’t put it past them-rape enough Uighurs and even the Dems get squeamish) but those who seek a more forceful policy do not do themselves any favors attacking McConnell and implying bad faith on his part. He is very likely an ally in facing up to China & Russia. Biden seems likely to be similar to Obama- talk tough but be very accommodating to Russia and China (while Trump was often too soft in words but more aggressive in policy). The US needs to push back on many Chinese actions and the truth is after COVID many in the world are less well disposed to China (not only did they lie about the threat of the virus-they then sold shoddy PPE gear to many). I will leave aside the questions of the origins of the virus- even if it was naturally occurring the Chinese lies are damning enough.

    • #72
  13. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    MiMac (View Comment):
    Go back to the original post casting dispersions on McConnnell “and his wife” and specifically included references to China-that is the source of the dispute.

    I finally found that comment #2, but I don’t impute the same ethnic connection as you do. The criticized business connection is there but seems to me purely coincidental that McConnell’s wife is of Chinese heritage.

    • #73
  14. MiMac Thatcher
    MiMac
    @MiMac

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    MiMac (View Comment):
    Go back to the original post casting dispersions on McConnnell “and his wife” and specifically included references to China-that is the source of the dispute.

    I finally found that comment #2, but I don’t impute the same ethnic connection as you do. The criticized business connection is there but seems to me purely coincidental that McConnell’s wife is of Chinese heritage.

    I agree that it wasn’t racial/ethnic -as I said I think they are insinuating financial interests. I am NOT the one claiming racial smears- I think the implied accusation was a monetary one- and conspiracy minded people who are accusing Mitch always throw in Ellen Chao’s name b/c they are trying to accuse Mitch of profiting from favoring the Chinese thru his wife’s family business. But they have no proof of any of these accusations.

    • #74
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.