The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | Comments Off on SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

My podcast partner John Hoge says he is “not completely surprised, but disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the lawsuit filed by Texas (joined by 17 other states) which argued that changes to election procedures in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia were unconstitutional. Jonathan Adler says the decision “should also put an end to the efforts by the Trump campaign and its allies to delegitimize or otherwise challenge the election results,” and further that the result “should not have been a surprise to anyone who was paying attention,” but adds: “There remains a serious legal question about the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to extend the deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots beyond the statutory deadline.” As noted earlier this week (“How to Maintain Your Sanity”), because I am not a lawyer, I did not feel qualified to comment on all this, and worrying about it seemed a source of unnecessary stress.

Once a dispute becomes a matter for courts to decide, the law-abiding citizens of a republic are obligated to abide by the result. This is true, for example, in those cases that attract the attention of the “Black Lives Matter” movement — if a grand jury refuses to indict a police officer who shot a suspect, this is simply the rule of law in action. If you don’t like the law, you organize to pressure the legislature to change the law, rather than looting Target or burning down the courthouse.

If this legal battle is lost — and again, I am not a lawyer, so I can’t say what further remedies might be available — the political war will no doubt continue. We must not surrender to despair.

“Never take counsel of your fears,” as Stonewall Jackson said.

Oh, it’s not a coincidence I’m quoting a Confederate general. Just look at what Texas GOP chairman Allen West had to say Friday night:

“The Supreme Court, in tossing the Texas lawsuit that was joined by seventeen states and 106 US congressman, has decreed that a state can take unconstitutional actions and violate its own election law. Resulting in damaging effects on other states that abide by the law, while the guilty state suffers no consequences. This decision establishes a precedent that says states can violate the US constitution and not be held accountable. This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic. Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”

Deo vindice.




 

Category: Election, Supreme Court, Texas

Holiday News Down Home

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | Comments Off on Holiday News Down Home

How’s your holiday shopping coming along? I’ve been keeping up with folks down home, reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and it seems there’s been a lot of festive holiday excitement:

One man is in custody after shooting a Walmart employee who confronted him about shoplifting Friday morning in East Point, police said.
The shooting occurred just before noon when a loss prevention officer at the Cleveland Avenue store approached 24-year-old Tyler Cortez Johnson about the alleged stolen merchandise, East Point police Capt. Allyn Glover said.
“The male then pulled a gun and shot the employee before fleeing out the front door,” he said.
Channel 2 Action News reported that the shooting occurred in front of customers, some of whom ran outside after hearing the gunshot.
A second employee taking a lunch break in his car saw Johnson running through the parking lot and followed him as he called 911 with the man’s location. Officers then “flooded” the area and took him into custody, Glover said.
“(He) was actually able to follow him and gave us a general direction of where he was headed,” Glover told the news station. “We were able to apprehend the shooter with the gun within a minute or two.”
The injured employee, who was shot in the side, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Just another happy holiday. And meanwhile there’s this festive news:

A man found dead on a southwest Atlanta road last week was identified as a suspect in a 75-mile police chase through Alabama, authorities said.
Matthew William Lloyd, 46, was a passenger in a vehicle that led officers on a multicounty chase on I-20 before he jumped out, fired at officers and disappeared Nov. 29 into a wooded area, according to police in Oxford, Alabama.
Five days later, his body was discovered shot multiple times on a stretch of Kimberly Road near Melvin Drive Park. Atlanta police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding that shooting and have released no updates as of Friday.
Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge confirmed that Lloyd was their suspect, AL.com reported. Investigators were in the process of taking out warrants against him when they learned he was dead, the chief told the news site Monday.
The driver in the chase, identified by police as 41-year-old Lazarus Glover of McDonough, was taken into custody when it ended in the Oxford area. According to AL.com, he is facing multiple charges in several Alabama jurisdictions, including two counts of attempted murder out of Hueytown and a third count of attempted murder out of Birmingham, where a pursuing female officer crashed.
The chase kicked off in Hueytown, a suburb of Birmingham located along I-20. Authorities said Glover and Lloyd tried to break into an auto auction business and shot at officers who responded, AL.com reported.
Several police vehicles were struck by the gunfire, but no officers were wounded, according to the news site. Police from multiple counties joined in the pursuit, which reached speeds of 115 mph.
It ended when authorities used a spike strip, and Lloyd allegedly took off running. A massive manhunt ensued, involving SWAT and police dogs.

I’m sure Atlanta police will make it a top priority to find whoever shot Matthew Lloyd and saved taxpayers the cost of incarcerating him.

Still more cause for holiday celebrations:

A man accused of attacking a mother outside a Gwinnett County gas station and stealing her car with her and her baby inside has been captured after months on the run.
Quinton Rogers, 42, was arrested Tuesday by U.S. marshals and Gwinnett County deputies, police announced Friday.
The harrowing carjacking occurred over the summer, prompting the woman to jump from the moving vehicle with her child, investigators said previously.
Rogers was identified as the suspect in October and faces four charges in connection with the incident, including two counts of kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle and a probation violation, online jail records show.
“Rogers was identified by analyzing physical evidence obtained by detectives,” Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said in a news release. “The investigation has shown that this was a random attack and there was no prior relationship between Rogers and the victim.”
The mother, who was not identified by police, suffered minor injuries after escaping the moving car. Her baby was not injured, though its car seat was damaged.
The Aug. 18 carjacking was captured on security cameras at an Exxon gas station on Boggs Road in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett police said. Authorities said the mother stopped to eat dinner and was standing at the back of her car in the parking lot when Rogers approached her from behind.
The woman was visibly startled in the surveillance footage, Flynn said previously.
Rogers reached for what the woman thought was a gun and attacked her, she told investigators. After punching the mother in the face multiple times, Rogers told her to get in the back seat with the baby before driving away with two of the car’s doors still open, authorities said.
As he was driving, Rogers demanded money from the woman and threatened to kill her, police said. Afraid for her life, she grabbed the car seat and leapt from the moving vehicle. The car was found abandoned the next day in Duluth, according to police.
Rogers has been arrested at least nine other times in Gwinnett, records show. His previous charges include probation violation, drug possession, aggravated assault and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Glad this guy’s in jail. Hope they keep him there. Meanwhile, it won’t be a happy holiday for meth-heads in Georgia:

A drug trafficking suspect was arrested Thursday afternoon after authorities seized about $400,000 worth of methamphetamine from his Hall County home, deputies said.
The search was the result of a “short-term investigation” by several agencies, including the Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, the GBI and the Department of Homeland Security, Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said in a news release. Police said they found about 4 kilograms of crystal meth inside the Otila Drive home.
Edwin Barrera, 30, was charged with one count of trafficking methamphetamine, jail records show. He remained held at the Hall County Jail without bond Friday evening.

Four kilos of meth — yeah, that would be a wild a Christmas party. Meanwhile, a car thief is recovering from a bad mistake:

A man was shot at a northwest Atlanta gas station Friday morning during a fight over a stolen car, police said.
The shooting occurred about 7:30 a.m. at the BP at the intersection of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Bolton Road, according to investigators. Police arrived to find one man with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that another male, who was still at the scene, tracked a stolen car to the location,” Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Avery said. “The two men were involved in a confrontation over the stolen car and the confrontation escalated to gunfire.”
At least two guns were recovered from the scene, but it’s unclear who fired first or if the injured man is accused of stealing the car. The person shot was taken to the hospital and is stable, according to police.

Dude stole the wrong car, obviously. More good news from Atlanta:

A man who was on the Atlanta Police Department’s “Most Wanted List” for more than a year in connection with a fatal shooting at a convenience store was arrested Wednesday.
Eddie Laye, 35, was booked and charged with the murder of Dexter Willis on Westview Drive in November 2019, according to police.
On Wednesday around 5:20 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle run a red light while traveling east on Campbellton Road. After stopping the car, the driver immediately attempted to exit the vehicle after being told repeatedly to stay inside, according to police. Due to the odd behavior, officers decided to detain him.
Police said Laye provided several false names during questioning before he was eventually identified and booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he remains without bond.
He was wanted in the Nov. 2, 2019 shooting of Willis at Westview Grocery in the 1000 block of Westview Drive. When officers arrived on that scene, they found the victim with a gunshot wound to his chest. Willis was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.
Store surveillance video showed Willis and Laye arguing before the suspect pulled out a handgun, fired a single shot at Willis’ chest and fled the scene, according to the police report.
In addition to the murder charge, Laye is now charged with several other offenses, including driving under the influence and reckless driving.

These murder suspects really need to learn how to drive better. You get away with murder for a year, but get caught for running a red light.




 

Category: Crime, Georgia

Eric Swalwell’s Chinese Honey Trap

Posted on | December 11, 2020 | 2 Comments

When Chinese agent “Christine” Fang first befriended Eric Swalwell, he was just a city councilman in a suburb of Oakland, California. So how did she know to target him specifically? Swalwell challenged incumbent Rep. Pete Stark, who had Obama’s endorsement, in the 2012 Democratic primary. Out of all the local politicians in the San Francisco Bay area, why would Fang make Swalwell a target of her influence operation, unless Fang’s Chinese spymasters had some inside knowledge?

Not to get too paranoid here, but it has been reported that Fang raised money for Swalwell, and you have to wonder if Beijing’s influence was a “thumb on the scale” of that 2012 election. In other words, Fang targeted Swalwell because China knew he would beat Stark — the fix was in.

That’s just a theory, of course, but it is a reasonable inference, given what we know about Swalwell’s pro-China/anti-American agenda.

Notice what Axios pointed out about Swalwell’s district:

The Bay Area offers ideal conditions for a foreign intelligence operative aiming to identify and target ambitious local politicians with national aspirations. . . .
Some of America’s most powerful politicians got their start in Bay Area politics, and China recognizes California’s importance. The MSS has a unit dedicated solely to political intelligence and influence operations in California.
Silicon Valley is also the world’s most important center for the technology industry, making it a hotbed for Chinese economic espionage. Russian intelligence has also long targeted the Bay Area. . . .
Democrats dominate the Bay Area, from mayors to its numerous U.S. congressional districts, and anyone seeking proximity to power needs to be in their political circles.

Jonathan Swan of Axios explained why this scandal is so important:

“It shows how the Chinese Communist Party operates inside this country. It shows how they infiltrate local politics, how they identify young, in some cases soft targets, people who don’t have a lot of staff around them, who don’t have experience, who don’t actually understand the tactics of the Chinese Communist Party, and then they follow them up … In Eric Swalwell’s case, he has become a very, very powerful, important member of Congress with access to the nation’s top secrets. So it’s a very important story just to understand how China is operating … right now in this country.”

It is certainly not a coincidence that a Chinese agent targeted Swalwell who, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, was an outspoken advocate of the anti-Trump “Russian collusion” hoax.

The Democratic Party is now controlled by Communist China. Democrats are the anti-American party. They will do nothing to protect us from China, because what is bad for America is good for Democrats.

Ric Grenell warned about the danger on NewsMax:

Democrats in Congress are compromised by Chinese embeds, specifically those tied to intelligence committees like Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., according to former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell on Newsmax TV.
“They have infiltrated academia as well as politics, and something needs to be done,” Grenell told Thursday’s “Stinchfield,” making a call for both the House and Senate Intelligence committees to be investigated for China espionage in classified settings.
“This is extremely deep. This is not the only case. I can assure you, there are many members of Congress and Democrat governors and local officials who have been targeted by the Chinese and the Chinese have pushed leverage.”
The massive foreign espionage campaign influence “has picked up” amid the global coronavirus pandemic, Grenell added to host Grant Stinchfield.
“The Chinese have seen their reputation completely tank because of what the intelligence community made clear that COVID-19 started in China.
“So, we have a crisis on our hands.”

Watch the video interview:

 




 

Category: China, Democrats

Millions Stopped Watching Fox News

Posted on | December 11, 2020 | 1 Comment

The big news this week is that, for the first time, Newsmax got a bigger audience than Fox News. “Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports beat Martha MacCallum’s Fox News program in the 7 p.m. hour, bumping MacCallum down to No. 4 in cable news, behind Erin Burnett on CNN and Joy Reid on MSNBC.” The reason is simple: If you’re one of the 74 million Americans who voted for Trump, Martha MacCallum hates you.

Martha MacCallum is a liberal activist employed by a liberal organization.

Rupert Murdoch handed over control of his business to his children, who do not share their father’s conservative beliefs; quite the contrary, they all supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden this year. The ascendancy of the younger Murdochs has emboldened people like MacCallum (and Chris Wallace) who were always liberals, but spent years pretending otherwise for the sake of luring in a GOP-leaning audience.

Fox News committed suicide. Lou Aguilar writes their obituary:

Like a million loyal former viewers, I disgustedly watched Fox install disgraced Democrat hack Donna Brazile as their new liberal commentator (to back up the insufferable Juan Williams). Watched them boost the China virus doomsday panic. Watched fake objective anchor Chris Wallace transform into a rabid Trump-sniping chipmunk. Watched normally staid anchor Melissa Francis block Newt Gingrich from linking George Soros to riot-supportive blue state AGs. Watched business anchor Neil Cavuto cut off a White House press conference because he disapproved of Kayleigh McEnany’s address. Watched them call Arizona for Biden on Election Night before anyone else did, with the final count still days away. Watched them call a Democratic House expansion before the party lost many seats instead. Watched them call the election for Biden and refer to him as president-elect minus any official recognition. Watched them ridicule the Trump campaign’s perfectly valid remedial fight, with reporter Kristin Fisher openly insulting the Trump legal team’s press conference. Read the tweet by Kathryn Murdoch, wife of Fox News co-owner James Murdoch (son of Rupert), on Biden’s apparent victory, stating, “We did it.” Then, like a million former Fox News viewers, I turned off the channel, probably for good, adding to its current ratings meltdown. . . .

Read the whole thing.

It is with a certain measure of sadness that I report this suicide, and of course I’ll miss certain people I used to watch, but that’s not my fault. They have made a choice — to be loyal to a media organization that hates its own audience — and they must live with the consequences.




 

Category: Fox News

Why Did the Media Suddenly Decide the Hunter Biden Scandal Is Newsworthy?

Posted on | December 10, 2020 | Comments Off on Why Did the Media Suddenly Decide the Hunter Biden Scandal Is Newsworthy?

Blazing Cat Fur:

On Wednesday, Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, admitted learning “that the US attorney’s office in Delaware had advised” his legal counsel that they were investigating his tax affairs.
Yet, this was known long before last month’s presidential election, said Fox News host Tucker Carlson, opening the latest edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, and adding his programme had already covered a criminal probe launched into Hunter’s business dealings with China in the run-up to the vote. The latter can’t be said about other media outlets, which have maintained a wall of silence on the matter so as not to hurt Joe Biden’s chances of winning the election, Carlson went on.

Joel Pollak at Breitbart:

The revelation Wednesday that Hunter Biden is under investigation for tax violations relating to his foreign business affairs confirms that the media/Big Tech censorship of stories during the election about his laptop and emails was entirely without merit.
When the New York Post reported on October 14 that Hunter Biden had introduced an official from the corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma to then-Vice President Joe Biden — contrary to the latter’s denials that he had ever spoken to his family about their businesses — Facebook announced that it would be suppressing the story, and Twitter prevented people from sharing it. Those who dared were suspended; the Post itself was locked out of its account for more than two weeks.
When the Post followed up with reporting that Hunter Biden had launched a joint venture in 2017 with the CEFC China Energy Co., and that he had reserved 10% for the “big guy,” the media deliberately ignored the story. Never mind that the intended CEO of the new company, Tony Bobulinski, corroborated the story. Never mind that Breitbart News reported independent emails that showed Hunter Biden’s associates bringing Chinese bigwigs to the Obama-Biden White House.
In the final presidential debate, Joe Biden called the story a “Russian plant,” citing a letter by 50 former intelligence officials, including some who spread the “Russia collusion” hoax. Biden lied to to America, as Big Tech and the media applauded.
Now, after the election, we are learning that the laptop is central to the case against Hunter Biden. CNN — which spiked the story in October — reported Wednesday that the tax inquiry included questions about a gift from Ye Jianming, CEFC’s founder. Fox News reported that the laptop, seized by the FBI last year, was central to the investigation against Hunter Biden.
Instead of investigating the story, Silicon Valley and the mainstream media censored it.

Well, why was this story — which was suppressed by social media as “Russian disinformation” when the New York Post published it two months ago — suddenly deemed newsworthy on Wednesday?

Two words: “Safe harbor.”

Tuesday was the deadline for states to certify their election results. Once that deadline had passed, the media deemed it acceptable to report the news it had previously suppressed. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.




 

Category: Joe Biden, Media Bias, Scandal

Help the Good Canadian

Posted on | December 10, 2020 | 1 Comment

Years ago, I dubbed Kathy Shaidle the Only Good Canadian.

My general hatred of Canada is so well-known I’m surprised the SPLC hasn’t taken notice, but that’s the thing about hating Canadians — it’s so commonplace that even liberals don’t object to it. Anyway, some of my readers objected that Kathy was not the only good Canadian, and I’m willing to stipulate that there may be a few others like her, but none of them could possibly be as good as she is. Her blog Five Feet of Fury was a regular read back in the day, and she’s been a columnist at various outlets — including a stint at PJMedia, another at Taki’s, and most recently doing film reviews at Mark Steyn’s place. Her most famous aphorism is, “You’re not smart enough to tell me how to live.”

Well, Kathy developed ovarian cancer, which is now in a very advanced stage, and her husband who blogs at Blazing Cat Fur has got an online fundraiser to which everyone should contribute.

Category: Kathy Shaidle

In The Mailbox: 12.09.20

Posted on | December 10, 2020 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.09.20

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Just warming up a joke for tomorrow…

OVER THE TRANSOM
Ninety Miles From Tyranny: The 90 Miles Mystery Box, Episode #1196
357 Magnum: Frank Castle Comes To Chicago?
EBL: The Battered Bastards Of Baseball
Twitchy: MI State Rep Cynthia Johnson Clarifies It Was “Soldiers In Christ” She Wanted To Make Trump Pay
Louder With Crowder: James O’Keefe Says Project Veritas Is Looking Into Occasional Cortex
Vox Popoli: Yellow Fever Syndrome, also, A Canadian Take On The Texas Lawsuit
Stoic Observations: Guns Are Like Algebra
Jewish Voice: Prospect Of Biden Presidency Already Making The World More Dangerous For Jews (h/t Red Pilled Jew)

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Greatness: YouTube Announces Ban On Videos Alleging “Widespread Fraud Or Errors” In 2020 Election, also, 18 States File Briefs At SCOTUS Supporting Texas’ Suit Challenging 2020 Election
American Power: If There Were War Right Now, also, The Peasants Are Revolting – Opposition To Lockdown Diktats Growing
American Thinker: How To Steal An Entire Country, also, Fake News In Hollywood
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: Pope Francis Tells A Child Why Socialism In Cuba Is So, So Nice
BattleSwarm: Rand Paul – No Evidence That Lockdowns Affect Coronavirus Trajectory, also, Paxton’s Supreme Court Gambit
Cafe Hayek: Walter Williams’ Final Column, also, More Remembrances of The Late, Great Walter Williams
CDR Salamander: Biden’s Preliminary NATSEC Direction & Guidance
Da Tech Guy: One-Liners Under Other Peoples’ Fedoras, also, “Freedom Of The Press Is Guaranteed Only To Those Who Own One”
Don Surber: Go Away, Never Trumper
First Street Journal: Our Freedom Of Religion Was The First Freedom, also, Ironic – PA Gov Tom Wolf Contracts Coronavirus
The Geller Report: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Refuses To Explain Affair With Red Chinese Spy, also, SCOTUS – Tennessee Seeks To Join Texas Lawsuit
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, also, Who’s On First
Hollywood In Toto: Joe Rogan Is Having The Last Laugh, also, Big Tech Is Crushing Conservative Comedy
JustOneMinute: Stone Cold Lloyd Austin, also, “The Big One” – A Disgrace From Texas
The Lid: 48 State Attorneys General Sue To Break Up Facebook – FTC Files Separate Suit
Legal Insurrection: A Legal Civil War – 17 States Join Texas Lawsuit, also, Hunter Biden Under IRS Investigation
Michelle Malkin: COVIDGATE Part 3 – Attack On Informed Consent
Nebraska Energy Observer: A Harlot’s Way 3 – Magdala
Power Line: The China Factor, also, California’s Energy Fantasies
Shark Tank: State Rep Sabatini Takes Aim At Red-Light Cameras
Shot In The Dark: #Unity
The Political Hat: Struggle Sessions In San Diego Schools
This Ain’t Hell: Ralph Lauren’s Latest “Creations” Seem Familiar, also, Robert “Mr. Bob” Walker – Official Records
Victory Girls: YouTube Will Ban ANY Video Criticizing Biden Win
Volokh Conspiracy: How SCOTUS Can Quickly Dispose Of The Texas Lawsuit
Weasel Zippers: Sen. Durbin Admits Democrats Turned Down COVID Relief Bill “Because An Election Was Coming”, also, Fox News Cancels Judge Jeannine
The Federalist: Why Does Corporate Media Amplify John Brennan’s Neverending Lies? also, Schiff Won’t Disclose Why He Withheld Details On Swalwell’s Relationship With Red Chinese Spy From Intel Committee
Mark Steyn: China’s Friends In High Places

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

How to Maintain Your Sanity

Posted on | December 9, 2020 | 4 Comments

Some readers have noticed that I have barely commented at all about the legal wrangling over the presidential election. My post on Monday (“The Margin of Theft”) laid out a few points of circumstantial evidence pointing toward fraud in “battleground” states. If you believe Democrats stole the election, I’m totally with you, but the real question is what can be done about it and, because I’m not a lawyer, I am not qualified to estimate the likelihood of success of efforts to challenge the results.

Nothing I might say here is going to influence the court decisions. We have on our side commentators who are eminent attorneys and law professors, fully qualified to speak on the subject, so that there is no need for me to contribute my two cents’ worth of uninformed opinion. You can go on Twitter and find plenty of ignorant opinions on the election. Personally, I’m avoiding the hair-on-fire screeching hysteria, which strikes me as irresponsible and unnecessary, and which also possibly might be harmful to my mental health. Not joking here.

Self-awareness is crucial to good mental health. You must be aware of your own vulnerabilities, the tendencies that might lead you down the escalator to the abyss of stark raving lunacy. And I have assessed that this post-election imbroglio is tailor-made to make me crazy.

First of all, it’s completely beyond my control. Nothing that I say or do is likely to have any impact on the final outcome.

One of the foundations of good mental health is a sense of agency, the belief that you control your own destiny, and that your individual actions make a difference. This election controversy inspires me with a sense of helplessness which is not merely an emotion, but is unfortunately an objective assessment of the situation. While I have a remarkably large and loyal blog readership, and while my audience is potentially much larger through my columns at The American Spectator, what could I possibly write about this subject that would not duplicate what others have written? It has never been my habit to engage in “pack journalism,” part of the media herd swarming around The Big Story. No, my preference has always been to find some story others have overlooked — a diamond in the dungpile — and turn that into The Big Story.

So there was a feeling that the post-election controversy offered no work opportunities, as it were, and this was connected to my sense that the whole thing was beyond my control — no agency, and therefore a source of needless anxiety. That kind of stuff can make you crazy.

Consider what happened to Melissa Rein Lively, the Phoenix businesswoman who fell into the rabbit hole of QAnon conspiracy theories. By the time people started expressing concern about her obsession, Lively was past the point of no return. The intricate web of shadowy QAnon allegations was perfectly designed to trigger Lively’s personal vulnerabilities as a trauma survivor, and once she started digging into it, she rapidly became fixated on the subject.

What drives people crazy? Paranoia is rooted in an urgent sense of threat, a belief that people are getting away with sinister activity, so that when you call attention to this threat, and other people seem to dismiss your concern, you feel isolated, alienated, marginalized. In the case of cult-like conspiracy theory, the True Believer builds a sort of echo chamber around themselves. They tune out any voice that does not share their sense of urgency about the threat — whether that threat is Satanic pedophiles (as in QAnon) or foreign intelligence operatives (as in the “RussiaGate” conspiracy theory) — and feed themselves on a steady diet of information that supports their cult worldview. What drives such people crazy is the belief that they are entirely sane, that the sinister forces are real, and that anyone who doesn’t share their concern is either (a) a deluded “sheep” too stupid to understand the threat, or (b) an active agent of the sinister conspiracy. So you must either buy into their conspiracy theory completely, or else you’re the Enemy.

Trust me, I’ve seen how this works. Remember Jared Loughner, the Arizona wackjob who shot Rep. Gabby Giffords in 2011? He had become obsessed with a conspiracy-theory “documentary” called Zeitgeist. Part of that cult video’s appeal was its “9/11 Truther” angle, but it also wove this into a larger tapestry of conspiracy theories, including a critique of the global financial system, especially the Federal Reserve. No, there are legitimate critiques of the Federal Reserve, just as there are legitimate critiques of the international banking industry, but if you become obsessed with this subject, it can drive your crazy. Let us stipulate that Loughner was always a few french fries short of a Happy Meal; still, the impact of the Zeitgeist video on his vulnerable psyche was not trivial.

Loughner was a not-very-bright community college student, who had no effective means of acting on the information he got from Zeitgeist which, like all conspiracy theories, included a certain necessary amount of verifiable facts mixed into its far-fetched nonsense claims. There is no more reliable formula for mass paranoia than making ordinary people believe they are being victimized by forces beyond their control. That’s what “Black Lives Matter” is doing, for example, by telling black people they are helpless victims of “institutional racism.” Might as well blame it on the Rothschilds, really — it’s those cunning Jews! — in terms of any problem that people can actually do something about.

This same problem exists in relation to the election controversy. However much we might believe that Democrats stole the election, and however much actual evidence we can produce in support of this belief, what are the chances that the Supreme Court will agree with us? Even if I think it’s an ironclad certainty that Democrats cheated (they’re Democrats, and cheating is their historic modus operandi), I am not one of the lawyers working on the cases being sent to the Supreme Court, nor have those lawyers sought my advice. This means that it is beyond my control, and there’s no point getting myself all worked up about it.

A massive show of force — turning out Saturday for the #StopTheSteal rally in D.C. — is perhaps our only way of influencing the outcome. It is important to demonstrate that there is a large number of Americans angry about what’s happening, to petition for a redress of grievances, a right guaranteed under the First Amendment. What worries me, however, is that some people are teetering on the brink of craziness.

If indeed we are victims of a massive conspiracy to steal the White House, after all, what redress do we have? If our electoral system has been subverted, and if Republican Party leadership is complicit in this fraud, what can be done? For some weeks now, I have been struggling against the feeling that we have traveled round-trip, and are headed toward a familiar historical destination in Charleston Harbor.

Surely I am not the only one who perceives the danger here. And I’ve talked to others who share my sense of foreboding. Intelligent, well-informed people who aren’t the least bit crazy are very concerned about the prospect of violence that could explode into civil war. When I shared with one such person my fear that someone on “our” side might commit some kind of terrorist-type attack, this person replied flatly: “It’s not a question of when, it’s a question of how many.” That is to say, he was 100% certain that some kind of “right-wing” violence will happen, and the only question is how numerous such acts will be. In other words, some people on “our” side have already gone past the point of no return on their road to violent craziness, and that sizzling sound you hear is of a fuse burning inexorably toward an explosion.

Everyone who has seriously studied history must share my sense of dread about the near future. We may be only days or weeks away from an inevitable catastrophe which we are powerless to avert.

Here’s a taste of what’s driving this madness:

“Syndicated radio talk show host John Fredericks . . . reported that a GOP member of Georgia’s legislator told him that veteran members of the Republican party are afraid they are going to be harassed and attacked by the left. The older Republicans are worried BLM and Antifa are going to burn down Atlanta and they will be blamed for it.”

Yeah, you can’t have a civil war without burning down Atlanta.

If it’s truly beyond our control, then all we can do is try to keep from letting it drive us crazy. Do what I have done — turn off the TV and tune out any voice that might inspire you toward either homicidal rage or suicidal despair. However bad the situation gets, and it may get very bad, don’t let irrational fear consume your mind. Focus your attention on something that cheers you up, or at least will keep you occupied doing something pleasant and constructive. I should mention that I have an issue with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) so that I always get slightly depressed this time of year. The only thing that cheers me up is when you remember the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!




 

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Election
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