Republicans are really good at repeating a claim made in manifestly bad faith so many times, in so many places, that it turns into a non-musical brain worm infesting the entire populace. I’d like to discuss pesticides that can be used on a couple of the big ones causing a national infestation right now.
Worm 1
First, let’s kill the idea that prosecutions against Trump are an attempt at election interference. Democrats supposedly cannot defeat Trump at the ballot box, so they must prevent him from running! Similar forms of the worm are that “politics is being criminalized” “The government is being weaponized”…
What kind of country can long survive that seriously entertains the thought that 90 indictments arising from four separate cases, three of which are totally independent from one another, could arise from some gigantic nationwide conspiracy in favor of “the Democrats”?
But that is not my main point — my point, also made by many others, is that these cases were not brought to stop Trump from running for President. The truth is 180 degrees away from that claim. Donald Trump is running because he hoped to head off these prosecutions. Failing that, he is attempting to put great pressure on those bringing cases against him, and on witnesses, and on co-defendants. He declared for President, a full two years ahead of the election, because he heard footsteps getting closer.
Worm 2
The other worm that needs to be put out of its misery is the one that says “What Trump did is no big deal, A RICO prosecution of the type used on Mafia gangs is totally overkill. This is a two-tier justice system that has it out for Trump.” One of the most ludicrous claims in this vein was made by a columnist appearing regularly in one of the nation’s leading newspapers, who said that those who forged election documents were just fooling around, like kids playing pretend on Halloween.
To anyone making that claim, I will immediately ask: “What if these acts succeeded?” Would these people have said “Hey ho, we were just joking, carry on as normal!” No, America immediately would have sunk into political chaos. Our more than 200 year old democracy, which triumphed over the British Empire, the Civil War, won world wars, and the Cold War, may well have fallen. How much more serious can something be?
Another way to put this into perspective: when one person is caught committing election fraud, it can be a very serious thing. They can be jailed for years. Well, when in several states, documents were forged to empower fake electors, the plan was to take the vote away from millions upon millions. Neutralizing and defrauding our votes. How much bigger a crime is this than a single person’s election fraud?
So to painfully mix metaphors: when you see someone rising to the bait, try these dewormers. And feel free to add your own prescription.