The Road To Societal Suicide
“A republic, if you can keep it” (Benjamin Franklin)
The Fulton County DA’s indictment of Trump and several others has thrown gas on the already burning question of “was there widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election?” The only honest answer to that question is “I don’t know, and neither does anyone else.” And that’s the problem, a problem that is a major factor pushing the U.S. to the brink of a breakdown of civil society. Other problems that are pushing the country to the brink are the belief that there is a two-tier justice system, and the federal government is using its police powers to persecute political opponents and those they view as belonging to a disfavored group.
The combined effect of these three factors has been to push our nation to the brink of complete distrust in government among a significant part of the population and that will result is civil unrest ranging from mass protests to rioting to armed resistance. Think I’m creating a crisis where none exists? Read about the riots and armed groups of the 1960s.
Loss Of Faith In The Fairness Of Our Elections.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume there was some voter fraud in 2020, but not enough to swing the election from Trump to Biden. Under this assumption Biden was rightfully elected as President, so what’s the problem? The problem is that about half the voters believe the election was rigged and are losing, or have lost, faith in the integrity of our elections.
A Rasmussen poll conducted on November 19, 2020, found that 47% of voters believed it was likely that Democrats stole votes or destroyed pro-Trump ballots in several states to ensure that Biden would win. A Rasmussen poll conducted April 11-12, 2021, saw that number increase to 51% of voters who believed it was likely that “cheating affected” the outcome of the election. Polling on this subject for 2022 and 2023 is a bit scarce but seems to indicate between 40% and 50% still believe the election was stolen. To put that in perspective, the number of registered voters in 2020 is estimated to have been 168,310,000. This means that somewhere between 67,324,000 and 84,155,000 Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen.
When there are between 67.3 and 84.2 million people who believe the 2020 election was rigged, even if they are wrong, you have a crisis of faith in the electoral system. Yet the federal and state governments refuse to conduct a good faith transparent investigation into the alleged voter fraud. To the contrary, they merely tell people there is no evidence of voter fraud, or at least no evidence of wide-spread voter fraud. In other words, federal and state governments are telling the people to “trust us.” That might have worked at one time but not now when Americans’ confidence in Congress is a staggering low 8% and only 26% in the presidency.
While the state and federal governments refused to open an investigation there was, and still is, a steady stream of purported evidence that widespread voter fraud occurred. Much of it has been shown to be inaccurate and some of it false, but some of it is concerning. Additionally, Trump’s attorneys were busy conducting their own investigations, which I believe were flawed, and filed several court cases based on those investigations. Trump either lost these cases or they were dismissed for lack of standing, but none of them resolved the question of whether there was widespread voter fraud.
Trump vocally stating his belief that the 2016 election was “stolen” is often pointed to as the reason for Americans’ lost faith in the integrity of our elections. While it didn’t help to restore faith in our elections, it is not the cause for the loss of faith in them. As an initial matter, Trump honestly believes the election was “stolen” and is justified in being vocal about the issue. Just like everyone of the following were justified in raising their allegations of voter fraud and stolen elections:
- Nixon voter fraud (1960);
- Gore hanging chads and military absentee ballots (2000);
- Kerry voter fraud involving Ohio (2004);
- Clinton allegations of stolen election (2016).
- Trump allegation of stolen election (2020)
Allegations of stolen elections are not the reason for the loss of faith among Americans. Instead, the loss of faith results because the government refuses to address Americans’ concerns, conduct an honest investigation, fix any problems found and prosecute any who violated election laws.
Would investigations have resulted in finding widespread voter fraud? Again, I don’t know and neither does anyone else – because no true investigation has ever been conducted. What I do know, is that an honest investigation, whether it found widespread voter fraud or not, would have addressed the concerns of Americans and there would not be the loss of trust in election integrity that we have today.
Instead, of conducting an honest investigation and fixing any problems found, those in a position of authority repeatedly said “trust us” – which is really saying though we have not investigated the allegations, we know there was no widespread voter fraud, so we don’t care if you believe there was widespread voter fraud. As a result, a large number of those supporting Trump still believe, correctly or not, that the 2020 elections were rigged, and the current President is not legitimate.
Two-Tier Justice System.
A second crisis is the belief among many Americans that there is a two-tier justice system – one for the favored class and one for the rest of America. I don’t think this is a new phenomenon nor a conspiracy theory – some have always been given preferential treatment. However, what is new, is now it has become blatant.
Since leaving office Trump has been indicted four times and in at least three of those cases a number of his associates have also been indicted.
- Manhattan, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg 34 count indictment for business records violation.
- Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Smith’s charges relating to J6.
- AUSA Smith’s indictment primarily for violation of the espionage act (classified documents)
- Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis’ indictment for interference in the 2020 Georgia election.
You can argue the merits of these cases and to be honest, I believe except for the classified documents case, these cases are beyond weak and smell like political persecution. As for the classified documents case I think that has merit, but if you are going to indict Trump for unlawfully possessing classified documents, then President Biden, former Vice-President Pence, and former Secretary of State H. Clinton also need to be indicted.
Yes, I know the argument is that Biden and Pence did not have as much classified information as Trump, and they cooperated with the FBI and DOJ where Trump did not. But cooperation and the number of documents goes to mitigation – what sentence is imposed – not to whether they should or shouldn’t be prosecuted. Further, Clinton had a significant amount of classified material on an unsecure server at her private residence, and she certainly did not cooperate.
By Indicting Trump on these charges and not Biden, Clinton, and Pence highlight the two-tier justice system – one for the favored class and the other for the rest of Americans.
In addition to these cases add:
- The contrast in how those involved in the January 6 riots and protests have been treated legally compared to those involved in the BLM and Antifa riots and protest;
- The sweetheart deal Hunter Biden was offered on tax evasion and a felony gun charge;
- DOJ’s failure to investigate Hunter Biden’s seemingly corrupt dealings with oligarchs from Russia, Ukraine, China, and Kazakhstan; and
- The DOJ’s refusal to investigate President Biden involving allegations of bribery, allegations that are support by more than enough evidence to open an investigation.
When all the above are considered and coupled with the Trump indictments the belief that there is a two tier-justice system is not a conspiracy theory, but a reasonable belief, in fact only 17% of Americans have confidence in our justice system.
Federal Government’s Unlawful and Unconstitutional Use Of Its Police Powers.
The third part of the trifecta is that many Americans believe the federal government is using its police powers against people the government views as members of disfavored groups. To be honest, given the actions of our federal government it is a reasonable, and I believe a correct, belief to have. Just a few examples:
- Attorney General Garland’s fact free investigations into parents the government branded as dangerous for being vocal, and at times a little rowdy, at school board meetings;
- ATF’s persecution of Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL) as a backdoor means of imposing gun control;
- FBI using excessive force to arrest Pro-Life Advocates;
- FBI’s involvement in the Steel Dossier and Russian Hoax.
- FBI’s illegal “backdoor” searches of NSA’s data base without a warrant. In effect, the FBI continues to illegally spy on Americans.
These are but a few examples of the federal government engaging in conduct that is illegal and/or unconstitutional. Additionally, all this conduct was directed at political opponents or those the government views as belonging to a disfavored group – those who oppose the government’s policies.
It’s hard to argue that the “weaponization” of the federal government’s police powers is a conspiracy theory when over 20 heavily armed FBI agents in tactical gear show up at the residence of a Pro-Life activist with no history of violence and no arrest record to arrest him on charges, which he was already cleared of by local and state authorities. He was later found not guilty at trial. Or when ATF agents are strongarming FFL holders into surrendering their licenses. Prior to Biden becoming President the ATF revoked about 40 FFLs per year. In the 11 months after Biden became President the ATF revoked 273 FFLs. The ATF has also begun to revoke FFLs for making simple errors on forms and in some cases missing an attempt by the ATF to contact the FFL holder. These are not isolated cases but are the new the norm.
The above are just a few examples of the government’s seemingly endless abuse of its police powers.
Conclusion.
Talk about the perfect storm. We are a little more than a year out from the 2024 Presidential election that is expected to be contentious at best. Between 67.3 and 84.2 million Americans believe our elections are rigged. A significant number of Americans believe we have a two-tier justice system and only 26% of Americans have confidence in the presidency, 17% in our justice system, and 8% in Congress.
Regardless of who wins the next Presidential election the nation is heading to deeper division and less trust in the government. Unless the powers-that-be start to implement election reforms and enforce the laws fairly for everyone, we will find that we have gone from crisis to disaster at the speed of heat. Distrust of the government will significantly increase from its already alarming levels resulting in civil disobedience by a large section of the population being the norm, and civil violence increasingly likely.
Don’t believe me, read about the 60s and early 70s – the civil rights movement, free speech movement, and anti-war protests. Most of the protests were peaceful, or at least were meant to be peaceful but not all ended that way. The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the 1970 Kent State shootings are two that come to mind. Then there were the Weathermen Underground, Black Panthers, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). While the SDS was mostly peaceful, the Weathermen and Black Panthers were not. Riots were pretty much a norm in the cities, some relatively small, others huge. This civil unrest and violence lasted from the early 60s through most of the 70s and was due to the government ignoring the concerns of Americans resulting in a loss of trust in the government.
If we do not elect people who will reform government. If we all don’t start respecting the civil liberties of others – all civil liberties protected by the Bill of Rights – from speech to bearing arms. If we don’t force our universities to embrace thought diversity and civil liberties. Then we are Doomed to relive the unrest of the 60s and 70s if not worse.
I lived through that era once, I prefer not to do so again.