Archive for the ‘election 2024’ Category

My Answer to Ed Kilgore’s Question: Chain of Custody, Open Verifiable Counts

Posted: August 4, 2023 by datechguy in election 2020, election 2024, elections

At NY Mag Ed Kilgore asks: What Would a ‘Legitimate’ Biden Victory Look Like to Republicans? and attacks the very notion that an election might be questioned as bigotry:

There’s a sort of ancestral white Anglo-Saxon Protestant belief that “big-city machines” controlled by Democrats use chicanery to get their voters to the polls and then to put heavy thumbs on the scales to change the results. This mythology — which goes back to lurid tales of “bosses” buying votes from Irish immigrants in the nineteenth century — is hard to shake, closely connected as it is to racial and ethnic prejudices. And speaking of prejudices, today’s conservatives continue to embrace the idea that minority voters — including immigrants — “vote themselves government benefits” in a way that creates a corrupt bargain between liberal elites and their inner-city clientele. It was exactly what Mitt Romney was talking about when he was caught on tape in 2012 warning Republicans that “47 percent” of voters are non-taxpaying parasites in the bag for the opposition. If you feel that way, then you don’t need evidence of specific irregularities to feel that any Democratic presidency is in some respects “illegitimate.”

For all his bluster the answer is quite simple:

  1. A Clear chain of custody for the ballots to ensure they are actually being cast by the voters in question.
  2. An open, transparent and verifiable count of the ballots accepted, preferably streamed so there can be no question that it is honest.

An election under those condition would be no more questionable than the score of yesterday’s Jets Vs Browns game. Everyone who watched saw the players play, everyone who watched saw the calls made and the points being scored and everyone who didn’t watch can access both the video and the audio calls of the game that were made at the time.

Why we would insist on such openness in determining the results of sporting contests and not do so for the election of our leaders is odd.

So Ed if you want me to trust the count on election night, that’s all I need.

Closing thought: Glenn Reynolds posted this at 7:42 PM tonight:

IT CAN’T BE A FRINGE BELIEF IT THAT MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IT: 69% of Republicans now believe Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate: New poll released before Trump’s January 6 arraignment shows GOP supporters believe there WAS widespread fraud.

And, regardless of actual fraud, if your electoral system is that untrusted, it’s time to make it more clearly trustworthy. The failure — more like refusal — to do that is producing a constitutional crisis in this country.

emphasis mine

I left the following comment:

If the charges of fraud were specious the media and government agencies in charges of the specific counts would have happily and enthusiastically demonstrated the fact with the evidence of same.

That they never did speaks volumes

When people aren’t transparent it’s for a reason.

Ace Offers a Deal

Posted: July 30, 2023 by datechguy in blogs, election 2024, elections, politics
Tags: , , , ,

Stacy McCain had a great piece noting that it’s generally a bad idea to piss off Ace of Spades.

Something I realized long ago, sort of Rule Number One for survival in the conservative blogosphere: Never piss off Ace of Spades.

Ace has very good instincts about who is or is not Down For The Agenda. If he ever starts taking shots at somebody, you can bet that sooner or later that person will prove himself to be an unprincipled quisling.

But why bring up Allahpundit at this late date, eh?

If you look at the RCP average, Trump is beating DeSantis 3-1 and, quite frankly, DeSantis is starting to look like This Year’s Scott Walker. It is therefore remarkable that Ace would take this stance just now, when Trump looks like a shoo-in for the 2024 GOP nomination.

But Ace being Ace is a person who tends to say what he thinks and de damned to what the numbers are:

Every one of Trump’s problems gets weaponized against DeSantis, and then people wonder — Gee, why aren’t DeSantis’ supporters more interested in talking about Trump’s problems?

Tell you what: If Trump issues a STRONG statement clearing him from the previous lies that DeSantis is a pedophile, gay, cheats on his wife, killed more people with Covid than Democrat governors Newsom or Cuomo, then I’ll join you in your calls for STRONG statements clearing Trump of crimes which, let’s face it, he probably did commit.

And while Ace notes the horrible double standards being applied he says the line that for some Trump supporters will be considered Crossing the Rubicon:

The argument is really about selective prosecution of crimes that The Regime has previously not charged prominent Democrats for, not for Trump’s actual innocence.
And as the DOJ was bringing more charges against Trump, it was also dropping all campaign corruption charges against the second-biggest donor to the Democrat Party in 2020.

All of this was actually avoidable by simply pushing the Trump record as president which is a pretty good one, but Stacy has one final suggestion to those who are all in on Trump:

Everything I’ve seen so far suggests to me that Trump is a lead-pipe cinch for the 2024 nomination, however much anyone may wish otherwise, or however much better DeSantis might be as a candidate in the general election.

Is there some way that could change? I don’t know, but maybe some of Trump’s more outspoken supporters should think about toning down their rhetoric just a wee bit, because they appear to be in danger of violating Rule Number One: Never piss off Ace of Spades.

All of this is good advice but while Ace’s deal is a good one and Stacy’s advice is even better none of it answers the question I have been asking for months:

If we believe that the last election was stolen and there have been no consequences for it, what steps will either a re-nominated Trump or a newly nominated DeSantis do to prevent this from happening again?

Because if neither Trump nor DeSantis have an actual workable plan to counter those tactics then neither of them have any business being nominated.

Five Thoughts Under the Fedora: Ayotte Ok, The Countdown Continues, That explains it, So does this, Channeling Lincoln in Foxborough

Posted: July 24, 2023 by datechguy in culture, election 2020, election 2024, elections, nfl, politics, Sports, under the fedora
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kelly Ayotte is running for Governor in NH. It’s my opinion that she was one of the few victims on 2016 because the left knew they needed the same kind of “help” in NH that they later arranged in 2020 in counties from Arizona to PA.

My friends at the Grok are underwhelmed but my thought is she was an OK Senator and would certainly be a better governor than any Democrat out there, neverayotte folks not withstanding.

On a personal note Ayotte always gave me time and never ducked a question I asked, again the Grok guys know NH better than me but I’d take her for Governor like a shot over who we have in MA.

There are four days left if you want a sub from mighty subs in Needham MA as they prepare to close their door after 33 years.

My advice if you want to avoid lines and the risk of them running out of bread which happened every day this week. Get their by 7 AM or 8 at the latest. Believe me they’re worth it and you only have four more days.

Here is my video from 11 years ago

Mighty subs in year 22 of 33

Saw a tweet at instapundit that I had to answer, that tweet and my answer explains a lot.

People with power do what they do for a reason.

Speaking of explanations:

https://twitter.com/giftgab538/status/1683072436210921472

I always thought that it was interesting that the same folks who were attacking and censoring people like me who say election 2020 was rigged and stolen never had the thought of demonstrating that the counts and the ballots were on the up and up, which is what you do if you have run a clean election that someone questions.

I submit and suggest there is a reason for this.

Finally I’m really getting sick of the “Replace Bill Belichick” chorus on talk radio lately.

Now I confess I don’t know if Bill has a plan to get back to the playoffs or the superbowl or just to last long enough to get the all time wins record but I do know two things.

  1. Barring a lot of luck and major injuries all over the league nothing he could do in the next three years will get this team back to the Superbowl
  2. There is not a better coach available that has even an outside chance of achieving that goal in the time frame I just mentioned.

I’m reminded of when a newspaper editor came to Lincoln demanding the removal of General George McClellan Lincoln asked him who he thought should replace him, he received the answer “Anybody” and Lincoln replied that anybody might be OK for him but he needed SOMEBODY.

Until I get a name who can do better I think I’ll stick with Bill.

Don Surber, You’re wrong on This

Posted: July 19, 2023 by datechguy in election 2024
Tags: , ,

I like Don Surber, he is one of the best writers on the net and his substack site is one of the first places I go to when I wake up in the morning or get back from Mass if I wake early enough to go and I recommend you read him every day too, but I think that his statement that we have no choice but Trump in order to fight the false prosecutions against him is not only incorrect but the wrong way of looking at things.

Basically his argument is we have to embrace Trump because of the Democrat attacks, I reject this because it’s the same argument that took place when Rushtie was attacked, you HAVE to buy the book because he was attacked by terrorists or you don’t support him.

I reject that argument because it’s still subsuming my decision making to someone else rather than deciding for myself. Furthermore I reject throwing away folks like Kurt Schlichter because you don’t win by shrinking the voter pool.

There are many good arguments for Trump, primarily his record and there are arguments against him, his sticking with Facui and others and electability due to irrational Trump hatred. It doesn’t matter if the irrational hatred is unfounded or wrong, it exists and has to be considered.

I have no problem with him as the nominee but my primary concern and the primary concern of all those who see the political prosecutions of Trump for what they are should be one thing: WINNING!

If we win we have a shot at stopping this, if we don’t then we won’t.

Some say we owe Trump the presidency because the last one was stolen from him, which it was. I say we owe it to ourselves to defeat the Democrats so that this doesn’t happen again and if Trump is the best vehicle to do so fine, but if we have a candidate who is better choice what happened in 2020 should not prevent anyone from voting for him.

We need to look at this election the way Lincoln looked at emancipation and let me close by paraphrasing him on the subject of this election

My purpose is to defeat the Democrat agenda by electing a republican to the white house in 2024 and it is not to re-elect and avenge or defeat and humiliate President Donald J Trump.

  • If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by embracing and nominating Donald Trump as the GOP candidate in 2024 I will do it.
  • If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by rejecting Donald Trump and nominating someone as the GOP candidate else I will do it.
  • and if I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by having a long primary with a drag out fight between Trump and DeSantis or another candidate and then standing by the winner who survives the test for the nomination whoever he or she is I will do that too.

That is how this election should be looked at by any person who wants the Democrats stopped, any conservative who decides to sit out the election if Trump is the nominee or decides to sit out the election if Trump is NOT the nominee is going to end up with the Democrat agenda that they rightly deserve and will have the added pleasure of knowing that they inflicted it upon themselves.

You have been warned.

Older Entries
Newer Entries