23 Comments
User's avatar
Rxan Smith's avatar

Tell me where I was wrong.

Cate - a Snowball in Hell's avatar

You’re not wrong at all. You’re spot on. Yes, voter fraud exists. Yes, voter fraud should be investigated. The entire country’s faith in Presidential elections was shaken by the 2000 elections when the Supreme Court decided that George W. Bush won the election his first term, but it was quickly overshadowed by 9/11 less than a year later.

There is somewhere an unwritten rule that neither party should have control of the executive branch for more than two consecutive terms. The last time that happened was FDR through Truman. It was agreed that no single President should hold more than two terms in 1951, but we’ve somehow managed to find ourselves distorting that to a single party in a two-party system. I’m not trying to push a conspiracy theory, but it does make one wonder if that’s the voice of the American public speaking. If the Supreme Court had ruled that Gore won in 2020 we would have a different country today, far more invested in climate change. I think the stacking of the Supreme Court has become the gold standard for both parties.

Sandra's avatar

Of democrats cheat… why are democrats had of all 3 branches right now

Rxan Smith's avatar

And... That's actually backwards from what the piece argued. I never claimed Democrats cheat their way to majorities, the whole point of "Show Me The Fraud" was that documented fraud exists but is too rare and too scattered to swing outcomes for either side. Republicans currently hold the White House, the House, and the Senate. Democrats don't hold a majority anywhere right now. If large-scale fraud actually decided elections the way the loudest claims suggest, you'd expect the party in power to just stay in power indefinitely, and that's not what happens. Control keeps flipping back and forth based on approval ratings, midterm backlash, and turnout, which is what you'd expect from real elections, not stolen ones. The current GOP trifecta is evidence for my argument, not against it.

Rxan Smith's avatar

Because they lost... Sometimes the answer is not more complicated than that.

Cate - a Snowball in Hell's avatar

Wait. What? Are you saying Dems are head of all three branches of the government? They most certainly are not. The Republicans have control of the House, the Senate, and the executive branch, and the majority of the Supreme Court’s judges were Republican appointees. It’s what both parties strive for.

Rxan Smith's avatar

If I said that it was a voice to text typo.. but I said is that they lost..

Cate - a Snowball in Hell's avatar

Ooh, sorry. I was referring to Sandra’s reply. Not anything you said.

Rxan Smith's avatar

That's my fault… attempt to navigate the social media page like I am about 30 years older than I actually am.

Privacy please's avatar

We ALL saw the suitcases come from under the tables, the window blocking of voter counting areas, the lies of flooded areas, the facts of Republican ballots being “unavailable” at hundreds of polling places, the thousands of illegal immigrants voting, the proof of voting machines routing results to Italy and other European countries, millions of DEAD voters, many USPS semi-trucks found with millions of unsigned, fraudulent ballots for only ONE candidate. All these facts are “uncomfortable” all right…

Nice try, but no cigar, Pal.

Rxan Smith's avatar

Appreciate this, and I think you meant 2000, not 2020, but yes, Bush v. Gore did real damage to public trust in the mechanism itself, regardless of who you wanted to win. One correction though. The "no party holds the executive for more than two consecutive terms" pattern isn't actually unbroken. Reagan and Bush Senior gave Republicans twelve straight years, 1981 to 1993. So it's less an unwritten rule and more something that happens to currently be true. The Supreme Court stacking point is a different mechanism than manufacturing fraud claims without evidence, even if both chip away at trust over time. Probably worth its own piece.

Rxan Smith's avatar

Every one of these was specifically tested and came back empty, including by the same DOJ under Trump. The voting machines routing to Italy claim is the one Barr's own DOJ investigated by name in December 2020 and found nothing to substantiate. The State Farm Arena footage from Georgia, the one people call "suitcases," was reviewed by the Republican Secretary of State's own investigators and turned out to be standard ballot containers under routine processing, watched by monitors from both parties the entire time. The "millions of dead voters" claim has been checked state by state and lands in the dozens, not millions, almost always a ballot requested before someone died and processed after. The USPS truck story traces back to one postal worker whose account fell apart under the Inspector General's investigation.

I'm not asking you to trust me on this. Bring me one of these with a source that isn't a claim about a claim, and I'll run it down the same way I ran down the Republican side's strongest cases in the piece. That offer's open to anyone.

User's avatar
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37m
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Joyce's avatar
36mEdited

Darn this landed in the wrong thread. Meant for the commenter who is trying to refute your carefully presented article, Rxan.

Rxan Smith's avatar

Haha.. That happens to me all of the time because of the comments look like a slot machine on my computer..

Patrick P's avatar

7/14/26 Go Blue Poem

The Democratic Tent should never be too large

It is important for those who are in charge

To look to the back and sides of the party

Support all candidates who represent democracy

There are some in places who never get attention

The good work they're doing is worth the mention

Candidates from our Mountain west to tobacco road

Carrying Liberty's torch and messages needing to be told

Why are the party leaders sleeping at the wheel

When the nation is struggling under the jackboot's heel

Wake up Schumer, it is time to let the youth take over

They understand the problem. You are just a leftover

Funding needs to be distributed to include every candidate

We are in an uphill battle in each and every state

We need to claw back and get into the fight

Before it's too late and democracy is out of sight

We need to take back our government from the billionaires

They've corrupted our institutions and are polluting our air

America is fighting to remove the coal and oil needle

We are dependent on their energy, leaving our country feeble

We need to repeal Citizens United

A ruling so wrong and the corruption it started

It stole our government of the people

Giving it to billionaires, preaching from their steeple

A con man and rich men, with words that ring hollow

They've polluted our courts with rulings hard to swallow

Our elected officials no longer represent us

They serve the billionaires now earning our disgust

The forefathers gave us the vote and the power

To remove the detriment in DC ivory tower

Let our message of change reach every small town

Take back the Whitehouse from this red tie suit clown

We have to give freedom a chance in the cotton fields

Letting Liberty's bell be heard in the wheat fields

We need to let liberty shine through a northwest cloud

Ring her bell over and over and make Ben Franklin proud

The Democratic message should be unity

It should include those the other party doesn't see

Remember voting is your right

Let us all get back in the fight.

Share the message and leave the hate behind.

Peace ✌️ Packy Paules

Rxan Smith's avatar

The Citizens United point is the one part of this I'd actually dig into. It's a real structural problem, not a partisan one, since it changed how both parties get funded, not just one. Worth noting the "unity tent" argument you're making here is basically the same shape as the argument in my last piece, just aimed at party leadership instead of election claims: check the incentive structure before you check the mascot. Appreciate the read either way.

James North's avatar

He'll be ramping up fear to a higher level in Thursday.

Lauren Luber's avatar

What about Elon Musk and the 2024 election?

Rxan Smith's avatar

As far as Elon Musk in the 2024 election all I can say is that so far there is absolutely nothing that resembles evidence that supports this.. so what I would caution... is that you think about what's different for a Democrat cleaning this, than a republican claiming that Trump's election was rigged in 2020? This is a real problem for the left... When you have a piece like this that points out evidence that the claims of President is making are wrong, instead of taking those claims and using them to have a legitimate debate... the engage in the same conspiracy that the president engages in and I caution everyone to hold yourself to a standard higher than Donald trump. Just saying that well Trump does it so why can't I is not good enough. That is setting your standard for integrity and seriousness, at the exact same level as Trump.

None of what I said is an opinion. That's all fact.

Katie's avatar

Wow! So glad I got the drop down on my screen, while doing something else, of your excellent essay! SO right on target, and you report AND answer every person, with calm and the certainty that your claims deserve. Bravo! You’ve gotten a new follower

Rxan Smith's avatar

Hey Katie. Really glad it found you, and thank you for saying that.

The calm's on purpose, it's kind of the whole point of this publication: that people can handle the actual record without being shouted at either direction. Welcome aboard.

James North's avatar

Besides integrity, the biggest risk I see is unintended voter suppression by making voters think there's no point in voting if Musk will just fix the elections anyways.

Rxan Smith's avatar

That's the closest thing to the correct read of what Donald Trump is doing and everyone seems to miss it… there's a targeted goal on there always is and in this one he's going to use the media's attention of ice, which almost exclusively focuses on the negative outcomes and none of the actual other 99% of the detainments… so there's a real chance that people that have become legal citizens that are from other countries will stay home when they have every right to vote