Sigmund Fraud
Three days ago, there was a news story about two delegates at the Utah Republican convention who were caught trying to vote twice there. I wrote about this on social media, quipping that there's no truth to the rumor that their defense is they thought it was approved Republican policy and were just practicing for the general election.
I went on to note that at some point there will be a story of a Democrat trying to vote twice. But so far, ever since Trump and the GOP began whining about "Voter Fraud!!" -- and not just an individual case here and there but enough massive, organized voter fraud to change national results – most of the stories that have been big enough to make the national news of actual vote fraud in the 2020 election have been by Republicans.
Not that individual, random Democrats haven't committed voter fraud. Of course they have. But so many Republicans have, in a big enough way to be reported on the national news, that's it's almost become a cottage industry. Which is more to the point because it's the Republican Party that has been claiming so much massive "voter fraud" that the election was supposedly "stolen" from Trump, despite zero actual evidence. It's enough to make Republican projecting their own voter fraud on others turn into a banquet of schizophrenic delusion for psychiatrists.
For instance, you may recall perhaps the most notable instance of voter fraud that made the national news. That’s when Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick offered a minimum $25,000 reward for any tips about voter fraud that could be found. And the only person who responded was his counterpart in Pennsylvania, Lt. Governor John Futterman, when there were two separate cases of voter fraud in in Pennsylvania – both by Republicans. Patrick never paid up.
However, almost a year later, in October 2021, Patrick finally paid out his first reward. And yes, it took that long to get just one tip – well, okay, one tip not from a state official. And yes, as you might suspect, the voter fraud was for a 72-year-old Republican who voted twice. Making the story all the better, the reward was paid out to a Democratic poll worker, Eric Frank. In…Pennsylvania.
By the way, fun fact: Lest one forget, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick himself is currently under indictment for federal securities fraud.
There was also a big story in Arizona that Republicans leaped on about supposed voter fraud, that even made the TV news in the state, which Republicans picked up and ran with. It turned out that the Republican “hero” in the story was actually the one who committed voter fraud.
Anyway, back to the tale here.
After writing my social media post, two days ago there was another news story about a Republican being arrested in Florida for having voted twice.
And then yesterday came perhaps the topper – that Mark Meadows, who was the chief of staff for Trump – was kicked off the North Carolina voters rolls after it was discovered he had voted in a Virginia election. Just to remind you, the only reason Meadows was even on the voter rolls in North Carolina is because he was registered as supposedly living in a trailer, in which he’s never been inside.
The best reaction to this about Meadows comes from Claire McCaskill on MSNBC. Keep in mind that McCaskill is not only a former senator, but she had been the Jackson County prosecutor in Missouri from 1993-1998. She said --
"I’m dying. I’m dying. He registered at a double-wide trailer he never stepped foot in. It is fraud. You can't register to vote in a place you've never stepped foot. His wife signed him up for a double-wide trailer — he was chief of staff for the president of the United States! Prosecute him, Put him in jail."
The words alone, though, don’t do her outrage justice. So, as they say in sportscasting, let’s go to the tape.
McCaskill has been a guest on Nicolle Wallace’s show, along with reporter John Heileman and attorney Dan Abrams, who had been Democratic counsel for Trump’s impeachment trial. (Sorry, to clarify, his first impeachment.) Heileman and Abrams were the ones Ms. Wallace was first talking to when she brought up the news about Meadows, but the segment ran out of time before McCaskill was able to be brought in. But she was so outraged by the story, she jumped in anyway. The whole segment is good and brief, but if you want to jump to her, she comes in at the 2:40 mark.
And her outrage is justified. As she pointed out, “he was chief of staff for the president of the United States!” What she left out was that he was chief of staff as Trump and those around him, including Meadows, were planning an Insurrection to overthrow the government…all based on the false claim of organized voter fraud. A claim they are still making, and a story about which Meadows himself has been subpoenaed by the January 6 Select Committee to testify, and he’s refused, for which the House of Representatives voted Meadows to be in Contempt of Congress, which was referred to the Department of Justice.
And there’s Mark Meadows voting in one state which being registered to vote in another.
But…voter fraud!!!
Yes, voter fraud, what is becoming a Republican birthright. Committing it while whining about the other side.
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