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As we begin to see candidates line up to run for U.S. Senator, Wisconsin governor, attorney general and other lesser offices in the 2022 elections, unfortunately we continue to see the state’s Republicans trying to undo the 2020 presidential election, which Donald Trump lost decisively. Trump lost the national election by over 7 million votes and the electoral college by 74 electoral votes. Virtually all nonpartisan voting experts categorically state that the 2020 election was probably the most honest and well-run election in recent American history.
Despite the fact that absolutely no evidence of election fraud was found after the 60 plus lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign were dismissed post-election, Wisconsin Republicans are still denying the facts and conducting a couple of very partisan investigations. The investigation commissioned by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will probably get the most attention because it is well funded with our tax dollars by and has subpoena power. Initially, to his credit, Vos did not contribute to Trump’s big lie of winning in Wisconsin and the nation. Then Trump yanked the leash on Vos and as a longtime Republican operative disgustedly said, Vos came cowering to Trump like a whimpering puppy.
Vos Bows to Trump and Starts an Investigation
Vos initially allocated $680,000 for the investigation. He then hired a few former police detectives and former State Supreme Court Justice Gableman to lead the investigation at a salary of $11,000 per month plus a very generous expense account. Two former police detectives promptly quit within weeks of getting hired. Regarding Gableman, assuming Vos was trying to get some credibility for his dubious “investigation” by selecting a former justice, he made a questionable choice for several reasons.
In 2008, Gableman won his court position getting 51% of the vote with a false and racist campaign against the only African American to serve on the high court. Gableman’s campaign was so dishonest that after the election, the Wisconsin Judicial Commission charged Gableman with violating their judicial ethics. Over his 10-year term, Gableman proved himself to be such an embarrassment on the court that he wisely decided not to even try to get reelected.
Gableman’s first act in his new position was to use taxpayer dollars to fly to Arizona to visit the totally discredited Cyber Ninjas and go to South Dakota for a symposium by one of Trumps chief conspiracy characters, the MyPillow Guy, to get the “real facts.” This is just one example of how our tax dollars are being spent by Vos as he joins the ranks of the subversives trying to sow doubt about the integrity of our elections, which severely weaken our democracy. If Americans do not believe our elections are honest and accurate, then how can anyone govern and how can we have a peaceful transfer of power after an election?
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Will Patriotic Republicans Try to Save their Party?
If you are a patriotic Republican, it seems impossible that you wouldn’t be questioning the motives of the anti-American activity of some of our Republican elected officials. For example, the first act of our two new Wisconsin Congressmen, Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald, was to vote to not accept the electoral college results. Up until this year, voting to accept the results of the electoral college has been a perfunctory act. What kind of people are we sending to Congress?
Our U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has been arguing that Trump won the election for the past 10 months, yet he is now on video camera clearly stating the Trump lost because he underperformed other Republican candidates down ballot. Johnson said, “He didn’t get 51,000 votes that other Republicans got, and that’s why he lost.” After stating Trump’s defeat and even explaining why he thinks Trump lost, he continues to spread the subversive lie with absolutely no evidence that there was election fraud.
It appears that Johnson is trying to undermine the credibility of our elections, which is one of the first steps in destroying the foundation of a democratic system. Another early step is to discredit the media with actions like calling it “the enemy of the people,” so when they present the facts, people won’t believe them. Another step is setting up competing media that tells a very different story, what Trump aid Kellyanne Conway called “alternative facts” to further create distrust.
At the same time that they sow doubt about both facts and elections, so people aren’t sure what to believe, they also generate fear—whether fear of government or immigrants or minority groups based on racial, religious, sexual orientation or any other grouping. Then, only they can save you from their manufactured threat. If you want to see this currently happening elsewhere in the world, look at what is happening in Turkey, Brazil, Philippines, Russia or Hungary to name just a few “democratic countries” that are in various stages of becoming autocratic states.
The current and real threat to our democracy is coming from the Trump supporters including the violent white supremacists and unfortunately from too many Republican politicians like our senator who is cheering on the Trump followers and adding to the misinformation. We just hope there are enough patriotic Republicans left to help steer their party back into being the conservative party in our two-party system.
