Second Republican Presidential Candidate Debate Results & Comments

 

 

Breaking News on 10-1-23:  NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN !!!! 

 

Last night my wife and I watched the 2nd Republican Debate. And, as we waited for the debate to begin, there opened second window containing Brian Tyler Cohen already commenting on what to expect from the soon to arrive candidates debating the issues.

My wife and I liked Cohen immediately. He's articulate, very well informed, and he has an enjoyable style. 

Wikipedia said this about Cohen:  "Brian Tyler Cohen is an American progressive YouTuber, podcaster, political commentator, and MSNBC contributor."

I looked at his channel and subscribed.

Cohen made just a few helpful comments and opinions during the debate. Of his two million or more subscribers, during the debate 20,000 of them were repeatedly rating the top four candidates into an order of preferences. During the debate Cohen reported on the raters' standings for each candidate. After the first 5000 the rating were very stable.

The ending preferences were:

Nikki Haley was first at 38%.

Chris Christie was second at 25%.

Vivek Ramaswamy was third at 23%.

Ron DeSantis was fourth at 15%.

Cohen also performed fact checking on what candidates said and he organized the results into five categories:

3 Falsehoods: one by Chris Christie; one by Vivek Ramaswamy; one by Tim Scott.

4 True Statements: three by Nikki Haley; one by Ron DeSantis.

6 Misleading Statements: three by Mike Pence; one by Tim Scott; one by Ron DeDantis; and one by Vivek Ramaswamy.

1 Exaggerated Statements: one by Mike Pence. 

4 Statements Needing Additional Context: one each by Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, and Ron DeSantis. 

Therefore, altogether these are just 18 fact checked out of thousands of statements made on stage. Note that the above numbers are not percentages of what types of statements each candidate uttered.

We can, however, say that when Nikki Haley's statements were fact checked three times, she was always judged true.

I observed that Haley of all the candidates put out the most specific and clearly articulated and well-targeted facts. She was fact checked and never found false, misleading, exaggerated, or lacking needed context for her statements. 

Some candidates reveal authoritarian tendencies and you can read about tyranny and authoritarianism in my blog titled: "No Mysteries About Donald Trump---Dangerous To America, Unrepentant, Unredeemable."

 https://votersgettingcontrol.blogspot.com/2023/07/no-myteries-about-donald-trump.html

WHAT I NOTICED ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

Vivek Ramaswamy:

He was the most unusual personality on the stage. 

Very hyper, smiling way too much, exaggerated gestures (moving his arms, changing standing positions, pointing his finger minute after minute like it was stuck in the air), talking too fast and unable to stop his talking. 

Ramaswamy frequently spit out exaggerated assertions and deviated his way forward through a paragraph of disconnected thoughtless comments--all while he seeded to take great self-satisfaction in his racing flood of words.

He was the most discourteous, most confident, and apparently self-satisfied person on the stage. A spectacle unpleasant to watch. 

He showed his ignorance of LGBTQ+ issues by stating that "Trans" [transgender] is a mental health disorder. This statement was found to be false when fact checked. 

I do not view him as presidential.

Chris Christie:

I found Chris Christie to be appropriate, on-target, articulate and well-informed, and genuine.

I knew previously of his agenda for insuring Trump does not again become president and I greatly respect his goal. I view Christie as a very engaging and important politician.

I view him as presidential.

Doug Burgum:

Burgum did not get much talk time in the first debate. In this second debate he made determined efforts to get talk time to show what he had to offer. 

He indicated he was a businessman prior to entering politics. On stage he was indeed businesslike and capably and favorably revealed himself to the TV audience.

Several times, listening to him, I felt him to be very presidential. He speaks forthrightly, with passion, and his verbal output is well organized. He did not talk fantasies or make up convenient false facts for others to have to waste time disputing.

I view him as presidential.

Mike Pence:

In the first debate he looked his usual up-tight and stiff self. He's characteristically reserved and courteous. In the second debate he appeared more unsure of himself. He seemed more tired and lacking the energy to be assertive, dynamic, and convincing. This doesn't bode well.

I do respect Mike Pence as an honorable man, knowledgeable of government, a man who has shown an incredible amount of bravery for helping America get through the Trump era--at least so far. 

Personally, I would like to see him contributing to our American democracy. However, he is too far right to ever represent the majority of moderate republicans--or democrats for that matter. He has a very rigid view on abortion rights and were he successful legislating on this issue, he would exclude the majority freedom of choice position.

He is not in the top four most likely possible candidates.

I do not view him as presidential.

 

Nikki Haley:

Nikki Haley's governmental experience includes serving as Governor of South Carolina and Ambassador to the UN. 

I knew little about her until these republican presidential candidate debates. Now I am already a big fan of hers.

Her intelligence, interpersonal skills, and winsome personality have been naturally and effortlessly on display during these two debates. She was a successful standout in the first debate and she clearly is the winner in this second debate. 

About Haley and her good qualities, she seems to be a naturally good and very capable person. She comes across as an impressive lady who  is not diminished by her  self-assurance and political "fight" capacities. She seems to have what's necessary to go toe to toe with political friends as well as enemies. I did not notice her to have any timidity, as could be noticed when she responded to Tim Scott's attack with, "Bring it, Tim."

Haley appears to have figured out a basic issues platform for her candidacy. On abortion, she recognizes the issue is divisive (about 50% pro and con). Her statements are consistent and recognize that laws must be thoughtfully constructed and respect citizen beliefs on both sides of the issues.   

She is presidential.

Tim Scott:

Tim is known as well respected congressman. 

In the first debate he couldn't get enough talk time. He did get enough talk time in this second debate. He showed commitment to issues he cares about. But what was most noticeable was a one of a kind rant that slavery was not a problem and/or slavery (issues) did not exist in America. 

I believe he intended well but my impression of his rant was . . . well, just weird. 

Maybe he can consult with a trusted colleague and come up with a damage control response. Because of his good reputation, I hope he can do some repair work. 

Not yet presidential but could be.

Ron DeSantis:

DeSantis has been losing ground in the polls relative to Donald Trump. Precisely why isn't entirely clear, but here are two recent issues which may have contributed.

First: In his role as Florida governor, he has endorsed revisions in the state's curriculum. The revisions have added new and misleading content concerning slavery. An example is, "Slaves developed skills which in some instance, could be applied for their personal benefit." This sounds somewhat like justification of slavery. DeSantis made a positive comment about this so called benefit. When criticized about his comment, he blamed it on a "hoax perpetrated by Vice President Kamala Harris."   Commentary from MSNBC was that, 

"So, no, this was not a hoax perpetuated by Vice President Kamala Harris; it was a quote directly from the mouth of Ron DeSantis. But the fact that he was so desperate to distance himself from the truth is a tacit acknowledgment of just how misguided his comments were. It’s almost like DeSantis knows the difference between right and wrong, even if he’s not willing to be honest about it."

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/nikki-haley-won-second-republican-debate-rcna117753?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral

Second: DeSantis' has an issue of antagonism toward against LGBTQ+. It has not arisen so far in the Republican presidential debates. It will be interesting to see whether is does.

I have written a lot about the sickening realities of voters and constituencies sometimes helped but sometimes abused by sneaky and powerful politicians. It is the inherent nature of politics for it to be this way.

DeSantis has achieved significant political success. He's viewed broadly as politically successful and a candidate for higher office, even presidency of the U.S. 

He has also gained some notoriety by taking strongly conservative stances on a variety of issues.

In the last few years he has befallen to an allergy of "wokeness." Of course The word "woke" means an awareness (that is a mental state). So, what are the things he's "woke" and allergic to? It really looks like it's LGBTQ+. And something more:

LGBTQ+ ideas, words, expressions of LGBTQ+ identity, and LGBT+ literature. 

And, additionally, he's allergic to those who try to acknowledge and support the people with the existential realities of LGBTQ+ identity(s). This would include corporations and school systems that condone, indulge, or tolerate LGBTQ+ identities. 

"Woke" is a politically useful and blameful code word by which politicians can refer to their political enemies or political targets. For example: woke democrats, woke liberals, woke left, woke corporations, woke schools.... on and on.

Political code words are a regular part of politics. Woke is just a word but legislation and procedures dictated by government against certain citizen identities (race, beliefs, feelings) is not a policy which will end well. It is discriminating against a class of persons whose LGBTQ+ identity characteristics are substantiated by professional medical organizations as well as federal laws (for example concerning homosexuality).

DeSantis in the past emerged as a viable presidential candidate. But his approval rating across many polls has fallen steadily. 

He recently has made very aggressive public statements suggesting lack of compassion and understanding. His attack on the LGBTQ+ community appears to be a core part of is political platform. Even if he changed this, would the voting public believe it.

I do not view him as presidential.

Any references not found above are on the page  BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED  in the VotersGettingControl.blogspot.com/ blog.

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Donald Trump Is Clearly Dangerous To America

 

DONALD TRUMP ACCURATELY LABELED AS A POPULIST TYRANT

A populist is a politician who keeps talking about saving "the people" from "the elite." And, populists frequently blame the current government for terrible mismanagement, corruption, etc. Moreover, populist politicians first and foremost want personal loyalty from their staff, associated politicians, and from the voters. 

A populist president could possibly become a successful.

But trump never had the necessary experience and he lacked the moral character necessary to be president. He's a well documented record setting liar who has been exploiting government for selfish reasons. He doesn't care about rules and never before has been held accountable for flaunting the usual rules of the game.

Trump succeeded in gaining popularity and he satisfied Far Right Republican agendas but damaged the Republican Party, American democracy, and American culture. Really?  Yes. 

As I've previously written, Trump has always been extremely self-centered, morally deficient, and willing to do whatever necessary to get himself elected. Unfortunately for American citizens--if this wasn't bad enough--he had never held public office, came to the presidency very ignorant of governmental process, and was uninterested in learning anything new about it (see Woodward, 2018, pages 231-233 for example).

Instead of courting good American citizens (with legislation we wanted), Trump courted enemy dictators! He applauded them as great men of good intentions. He floated fantasies of solving any world problems by consulting with them. He ignored and failed to condemn many of their actions which most free world leaders would condemn.

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia since 2012. Putin was formerly head of the KGB.

Xi Jinping, the Head of State of [Communist] China. He is the general secretary of the Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission. 

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. 

 

Moreover, Trump has modeled for American parents and children: selfishness, disloyalty, lying, insulting others, and being generally disrespectful. He has often expressed approval (his favorite words: "beautiful," "perfect") towards American insurrectionists and political bad boys.

 

Trump attacks and punishes any Americans who cross him. But, he has spent lots of time flirting with Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un.

And Trump as President was dangerous to America. He held many outmoded and uninformed opinions on how to react when he felt he or the country threatened. 

A year into his presidency he wanted to undo longstanding treaties with South Korea and other area allies; he was demanding major changes. But what he proposed would disrupt the balance of power and could have provoked a major war. 

At one point, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said to  the National Security Council Meeting, which included Trump: 

"We're doing this in order to prevent World War III" (Woodward 2018, pages 304 - 308).

Woodward described the scene: "[Mattis] was calm but stark. It was a breathtaking statement, a challenge to the president, suggesting he was risking nuclear war. Time stopped for more than one in attendance."

Trump then left the meeting. Trump's staff was exasperated and wondered why they had to have such meetings to justify their reasoning. 

Woodward wrote: "Mattis was particularly exasperated and alarmed, telling close associates that the president acted like--and had the understanding of--'a fifth or sixth grader.'"

TRUMP HAS A LONG HISTORY OF NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES

To help him skirt the rules and not be held accountable, he seeks personal loyalty and surrounds himself with enablers. He prefers this to the better informed advice from his staff.

Personal Loyalty Examples:

(1)  Former president Trump's first attorney general was Senator Jeff Sessions. When Trump was impeached, Sessions recused himself from working on defending Trump at his impeachment. This is what ethical attorneys do. 

Sessions could be loyal to Trump on anything except the impeachment. A different attorney would have to represent Trump at the impeachment.

But Trump, instead of accepting the correct legal and political action, insulted and shunned Sessions, continuing to bad mouth him for being "disloyal." Trump was brazenly unethical. Sessions was ethical and did the right thing. 

Eventually Trump without evidence of empathy fired Sessions via Twitter--without informing Sessions ahead of time. Such a high level of disrespect for staff was not at all unusual for Trump!

(2)   Directors of the FBI are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for a term of ten years.

Trump, soon after he took office, privately questioned Comey to assess whether he would be personally loyal to Trump. Comey reported Trump said, " I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" (Comer, A Higher Loyalty, 2018). Comey's book makes clear Trump was conducting a loyalty test in a manner reminding Comey of a mob boss. Comey's "higher loyalty" was to the laws of the United States and the ethical standards of an attorney.

Trump soon fired Comey in a Tweet without empathy, without forewarning him.

 

 

TRUMP WAS AND IS A TRAGIC FIGURE

When Trump became President, his ignorance and arrogance were so great that his comments were stunningly disturbing to his staff. 

He was too ignorant to lead. He was too arrogant and proud to be tutored. He preferred his ignorant ideas to what his very capable advisors would recommend, and he would often dismissively refer to advisors' real knowledge as "bullshit." 

Trump reportedly watched a lot of TV, as much as six to eight hours a day. He was always interested in what others were saying about him. 

He was not, however, interested in getting the daily intelligence briefings that were routine for presidents. Instead, he took intelligence briefings only twice per week! 

Trump, before elected president, was successful in his unique way. As soon as he became president he was in deep water way over his head. Trump's insensitive and out of line talk and his lack of common sense manifested in many places. For example, when he visited London, England he met the Mayor of London and referred to him [reasons unknown] as a "stone-cold loser" at the start of his state visit to the UK. In response, the Mayor of London likened Trump's maturity to that of an 11-year old. The mayor also asserted that Trump's racist remarks and far right ideologies were damaging to international relations. 

 https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/06/04/sadiq-khan-reaction-trump-uk-trip-comments-ward-vpx.cnn

 

Bob Woodward interviewed many of the White House staff, whose characterizations revealed an unfortunate aspect of Trump's personality:

"Grievance was a big part of Trump's core, very much like a 14-year-old boy who felt he was being picked on unfairly. You couldn't talk to him in adult logic. Teenage logic was necessary" (Woodward, 2018, p299).

CONCLUSION

Since Trump's years in office, the Jan. 6th Committee, the subsequent Federal Criminal Justice investigations, and multiple State investigations have produced an enormous amount of evidence concerning criminal offenses. This has resulted in four separate indictments that include 91 separate charges. 

It is interesting that Trump's level of maturity has been estimated as that of:

    An eleven year old.

    A fourteen year old.

    And a ten year old.

 

Multiple politicians, both republican and democrat have commented on Trump's dangerousness to democracy. Many of both parties have said Trump does not have the character to be president. 

Trump remains a popular personality and is the leading presidential Republican candidate in national polls. Many commentators say he could be the Republican Nominee for president. And polls indicate he and  President Biden are at an approximately virtual tie as to which might win if both ran for president. 

According to Chris Christie, however, the current polls are "national polls" and don't mean much. He says it's the State polls which count and those polls indicate Trump's popularity is not as great as the national polls indicate.

My assessment is that it's a little less likely Trump can gain the Republican nomination. But he never gives up and he is very desperate. And he is increasingly making bizarre public comments and vicious threats like, "If you come after me then I'm coming after you."  

As Federal and State Courts come closer to beginning trials, Trump has continued to do whatever he pleases--even though multiple judges have warned him against biasing and intimidating jurors and judges. 

So far, judges have written two gag orders. Trump, however, has not stopped his usual misbehavior. He continues to shoot himself in the foot with what he says. 

He is desperate, increasingly unhinged. 

Many polled potential voters apparently deeply value Trump's personality output. Or maybe he's a successful "counter-culture hero." I believe there must be something meaningful explaining Trump's popularity. It's generally thought true about him that he's very good at reading the emotions of the public's values and inclinations. And he can read other politicians quite well. His verbal attacks on others are deviously stinging. His nicknames for enemies stick to the unfortunate victim.

But when we citizens are casting a vote for the Presidential candidate, it should be a vote for American democracy--NOT for the personality of any one man. It should be a vote for character and competence, not just for a personality packaging a serious lack of capacity to govern. After all, Trump can't adequately govern himself.

 

For references, see the relevant page on the powertomyvotes.com website.

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Only Criminal Justice Will End Donald Trump's Reign of Chaos

 

INTRODUCTION

Competitive games (think about simple Tic-Tac-Toe) and competitive sports (think about the more complex football) are useful to help us  understand politics—which is crazily complex and confusing. Politics can be understood as a type of competitive game which has rules by which voters, individual politicians, and political parties win or lose.

By fully understanding the rules of a game, one can understand why some players win more often and some lose more often. Everyone wants to be a winner—even in Tic-Tac-Toe!

Did you know that you can always win or draw in Tic-Tac-Toe?

I highly recommend you go to  https://www.wikihow.com/Win-at-Tic-Tac-Toe  to see a great example of knowing rules and strategies by which you can always win or draw when playing Tic-Tac-Doe.

Now let’s look at American football. It’s vastly more complex than tic-tax-toe, but it has specific rules to make it safer to play, make lots of people want to play it, and make it a huge spectator sport.

When there are no referees or judges then both kids and adults will try to cheat; they sooner or later get caught and folks get mad, fights can break out, and people quit! So for games and for all competitive sports there are referees/judges to insure all play by the same rules.

 

 

 

POLITICS HAS THESE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF GAMES

1. The stable rules of the game.

2. The players are the citizens and politicians in the game.

3. There’s always cheating and intentional bending or misunderstanding of the rules which make for blaming, denial, and conflict. Professional politicians routinely add conservative spin or liberal spin as they motivate support for their side of any issue.

The more complex the game and the more invisible the moves of the players, then the greater is the cheating and angry conflict. This plagues politics much more than American football where 95% of it can be seen on the football field.

4.  In politics, there are a wide variety of referees, judges, overseers, integrity and ethics committees, and complaint departments. This wide variety contributes to confusion and pessimism as to what actually too place and what remedies could have any practical significance.

In our further discussion, I use the term “referee-judges” to emphasize how in football someone is on the field of play watching the action to insure fair play. In politics the Supreme Court is the ultimate judge and there are other oversight committees with judgement powers (but they are less distinct or visible).

 

 

 

WHO ARE THE REFEREE-JUDGES IN POLITICS?

They are not the combination of:      

Impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction in the Senate.

These processes are inherently biased political events which reveal political agendas, secrets, and produce much drama. Three presidents have been impeached and all were acquitted by the Senate. Since the beginning of America, there have been just 21 impeachments; these resulted in eleven persons leaving the government. Two hundred years and just eleven problem persons culled out!

 

The frequent and effective referee-judges in American government are:

The Department of Justice (in the Executive Branch), which dutifully attempts to decide the law without bias. For example, the Department of Justice prosecutors are selected to be without any self-interest in the case at hand.

The Supreme Court (the Judicial Branch), which dutifully attempts to decide the law without bias. Of course, experts in the subject of bias inform us that everyone is biased and what's most important is one professionals to be aware of their biases in order to compensate for them. 

And in the House and Senate (Legislative Branch) there are numerous committees having varying degrees of oversight and power to ensure politicians are following the rules of the game. The members of these committees are Republicans or Democrats so partisan bias should be expected but is virtually immeasurable. These committees certainly have value. If nothing else, they force more transparency of decision-making.

 

 

 

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE WILL END TRUMP’S REIGN OF CHAOS

 

Criminal Justice Deals With the January 6^th Insurrection

From Politico  https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/january-6-arrest-sentencing-00099158  :

“As of 5/30/2023, it’s been about two years since the Jan. 6^th riot. Here are the results of the criminal justice efforts.

More than 1033 rioters have been arrested.

About 485 have received sentences.

Two-hundred twenty-seven have been sentenced to jail.

One-hundred thirteen have been sentenced to home detention.

The longest sentence [18 years] was for the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, for the sentence of seditious conspiracy. 

Another member of the Oath Keepers was sentenced to 12 years of jail time."

 

Civil Justice: Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Counter Suit Against E. Jean Carroll

Former president Donald Trump typically denies any wrongdoing.  After E. Jean Carroll successfully sued him for rape, Trump counter-sued her for defaming him. A federal judge dismissed Trump’s counter suit and clarified that: the verdict “established, as against Mr. Trump, the fact that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her [.]”  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-tosses-trumps-counterclaim-e-jean-carroll-finding-rape-claim-sub-rcna98577

 

Some Politicians Are Exemplary American Heroes

I mention these politicians as heroes for quickly providing American citizens the truths about the 2020 election, the seriousness of the insurrection, and for their excellence in guarding our democracy. These are a few of the many heroes: Mike Pence (Trump’s VP), former representative Liz Cheney (leading the Jan 6^th Committee investigation), George Conway (early on predicted Trump’s dangerousness to democracy), Attorney General Bill Barr and Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican Congressmen)  who immediately and publicly stated (Biden won and Trump lost in a fair election). And, of course, Senator Mitt Romney who was the first to boldly on prime time TV describe that Donald Trump was a fraud and did not have the character to be suitable as a president. I also mention President Biden, who had the self-confidence to successfully campaign for President and has honorably served as President. He has been a key player for avoiding greater damage to our country—he beat Trump and his personal strengths for effective collaboration were critical for restoring stability.

 

Republican George Conway Continues to Warn Everyone About the Dangers of Trump

Attorney George Conway since 2016 has accurately predicted the damage Trump would do to America and the Republican Party. The expert political writer Bob Woodward has detailed the damage in his book, Fear: Trump in the White House (2018). Conway recently said the Republicans have “addicted themselves” to Trump and Conway referred to the Republican Party as  “gone.”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-conway-donald-trump-supporters_n_64d35837e4b0fa822c0ca9c8?ncid=APPLENEWS00001

 

Two-thirds of republican voters still believe Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate!

Many recent polls shows that about two-thirds of republicans believe that President Biden’s election win was illegitimate. So, Trump has managed to delude both the Republican Party and two-thirds of republican voters.

But in recent months I have observed that the media, which used to present Trump and counter-Trump statements in a neutral manner, now suggest by well-selected words and nonverbal expressions that Trump’s ideas are not accurate—that they are part of a bold and dangerous conspiracy theory.

From CNN’s Harry Enten (2023): “GOP candidates and the Republican Party apparatus have allowed Trump to sell what is factually a fantasy to Republican voters. These voters have eaten it up and, in return, rewarded Trump with a large primary lead.”

  

Trump Claimed Election Fraud in the 2020 Election, But . . .

. . . Trump was the originator of fraudulent plots to keep himself in the presidency. Only in the last month or two have most of the details become public. For example, recently prosecutors in Michigan have charged Trump operatives with felonies related to wrongly accessing voting machines. Read more on this at: https://apple.news/AEbACxKUDRLa_xoUfKYiZNw

The 2020 was fraud free. No legitimate organizations or speakers alleged there were any voting irregularities which would change the results of that election.

 

The Most Important Summary of Trump’s Fraud and Dangerousness

“Why McConnell’s 2021 speech about Trump is suddenly relevant anew” (Benen, 2023).

The speech Mitch McConnell delivered after Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was important at the time. It’s even more important now.” Trump could win the republican nomination and could win the presidency!

Find it at:

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mcconnells-2021-speech-trump-suddenly-relevant-anew-rcna97688

I have the highest regard for Senator Mitch McConnell as a very conservative Republican who is loyal to America, and to the Republican Party. He is a man of few words, but he has been one of the most powerful men in the Congress.

McConnell in his speech said, concerning the January 6^th siege of the Capitol that:

“There is no question – none – that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. No questions about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on the planet Earth.”

 

I encourage everyone to click on the above link and read Senator McConnell’s speech. Back in 2021 he said that the “criminal justice system” should be the road to holding Trump accountable.

 

Never before in American history has a president ever been indicted. But former president Trump has been indicted in four cases as of 8/16/2023:

·        The Jan. 6^th Insurrection (4 felony counts)

·        The Georgia Election Interference Case (13 counts)

·        The Classified Documents Case (40 felony counts)

·        The Hush Money Case (34 felony counts)

·        TOTAL COUNTS: 91

From Politico:  https://www.politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list/

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

The rule of law has been reinvigorated and is more in charge than misinformation, conspiracy theories, and  chaos.  Out of the many hundreds of offenses, each conviction is an effective lesson to the public on the rule of law.

America has a serious problem. Two thirds of Republicans still believe Trump won in 2020 and President Biden’s win was illegitimate. World history includes many centuries in which false belief systems controlled the minds of the majority. In the past there was a lack of scientific knowledge. Now we have plenty of scientific and political factual knowledge. But a large percentage of citizens are preferring misinformation and conspiracy theories.

I’ve read several authoritative opinions that the public’s preference for misinformation and rabid partisanship didn’t start with Trump; instead, it has increased over a couple different presidencies. I tend to believe this. Regardless of when it started, I don’t believe anyone has a good solution to this serious problem.

 

 

        WORKS CITED

 

Benen, Steve. “Why McConnell’s 2021 Speech About Trump Is Suddenly Relevant Anew.”  MSNBC. 8-2-2023.

 

Enten, Harry. “The big reason Trump leads the GOP field: Republicans think he won the 2020 election.” CNN. 8/5/2323.

 

“Judge tosses Trump's counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll, finding rape claim is 'substantially true.'”  NBC News, 8-7-2023  ug. 7, 2023, 1:17 PM CDT    By Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian.

 

Moran, Lee. “George Conway Says 1 Brutal Thing Needs To Happen To GOP.” Huffington Post, 8-9-2023

 

“Tracking the Trump Criminal Cases: A definitive guide to the key players and legal risks in the four criminal probes of Donald Trump.” Politico 8/13/2023. Updated 8/16/2023.

 

Woodward, Bob. FEAR: Trump in the White House. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

 

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