Will the non-conservative majority be allowed to defy conservatism?

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reported the Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) talked about how mail-in ballots could be audited with a random sample. That’s already a thing, called “risk-limiting audits.” And these audits and other election security measures are something the GOP, over the last two years, did not permit to come to the Senate floor. The people shouting “fraud” now are the ones who could have prevented fraud – not that there’s been any evidence of it. Hunter of Kos discussed a theory that Republicans and conservative pundits, as they talk about election fraud, are just humoring the nasty guy as he goes through the stages of grief. Wrote Hunter:

The flaw in this plan, even if we were to believe it, is that while Republicans may "only" be humoring Trump's claims, the Republican base is not in on the joke. On the contrary, the already conspiracy-obsessed base appears to be quite certain that Trump's alleged "fraud" happened—even though Trump's own lawyers have not been able to actually describe a single instance—and are being increasingly riled into believing that Donald will either successfully overturn a United States presidential election or Joe Biden will take office as an illegitimate figurehead. The base isn't in on the joke. And that means the arch-conservatives pumping up conspiracy hoaxes are doing so knowing full well that their words will, with near-certainty, lead to a wave of domestic terrorism. ... There are only two possibilities. They know their words fan the flames of violence, but are indifferent to those risks so long as their audiences stay engaged and profitable. Or they believe the violence itself may be useful, or redemptive. ... Republican leaders may claim they are merely giving Trump space to express his malignant grief, but they most obviously are not. They are legitimizing false claims that run the incontestable risk of stoking terrorism by their own supporters. They may think they can pull back on the reins just before things get truly out of hand; they cannot. Once legitimized, those hoaxes will be acted upon by would-be patriots, just as they have time and time again. Republican lawmakers will not, once violence erupts, suddenly eat their words and admit they were spreading politically useful hoaxes, because to do so would end their careers. ... Anyone thinking the same could not happen again has not been paying attention to the words these conservatives are using, and the legacy they are attempting to uphold. Whether or not Dear Leader is saved from oblivion may not even be the most important issue, in their minds; the real question is whether the non-conservative majority of America will be allowed to defy conservatism without consequences. And when those "consequences" begin to happen, the same Republican lawmakers will declare that it was the fault of the liberals and city-dwellers to begin with—for being uppity. For being so very uppity, with their votes, that domestic terrorists felt violence was the only remaining way to contain them.

Walter Einenkel of Kos reported that Mark Brnovich, the Republican Attorney General of Arizona said there is no evidence to lead anyone to believe the election results would change because of these lawsuits. If there was a conspiracy it apparently didn’t work. Einenkel wrote:

One of the biggest problems that Donald Trump is facing in his attempts to thwart democracy and successfully pull off a coup d’état is that the jurisdictions he is accusing of massive voter fraud and failure are under the control of Republican Party officials. These officials have been given nothing even approximating evidence that a single example of voter fraud took place, let alone massive voter fraud.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos reviewed all the personnel changes at the Department of Defense and Pentagon, then discussed what it all might mean. Though there is no conclusion on the meaning and a lot of people are worried. Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund tweeted:

With respect, this not the time for healing. We have not properly diagnosed the sickness or cleaned the wound. We have not begun to investigate why the illness it was allowed to fester so long or identified those who withheld early treatment. We have not addressed the fundamental and systemic weaknesses that made our democracy so vulnerable. We have not agreed on a course of medicine or the proper dosage or length of treatment. We have not determined whether we have in place the specialists needed to course correct should we find the treatment requires refinement and deeper study. We have not ensured that there is a circle of support for our ailing democracy w/i our institutions. We begin healing when we have had the courage first to diagnose and confront the depth of the illness and what we need to make true healing possible. So please, no bromides now. Because we are not out of danger.

Dartagnan of the Kos community said he can’t forgive or forget. He wrote:

But this is a guy who intentionally turned his back on Americans in the face of a national emergency. A quarter million Americans are dead, and hundreds of thousands more are likely to die, because he prioritized his own reelection prospects over saving American lives. He lied about the danger of COVID-19, over and over, causing other people to lie as well. That’s not forgivable—it’s actually beyond any reasonable capacity to forgive, or forget. And yet 70 million or so Americans supported that, tried to rationalize it, and they went right back and voted for Trump. That’s what I can’t get past. Is there anything, in fact, that this person could have done that would have been a bridge too far for them?

Sarah Kendzior tweeted:

The same people who said "It can't happen here" and then "No one could have seen it coming" will now say "It wasn't really that bad." It was. Do not let anyone rewrite the history of the Trump admin years. History must be remembered to ensure it does not repeat.

Kristen Hanley Cardozo tweeted:

One of my autistic kids just walked in and was like, "Huh, I just thought of this, so I haven't thought this through, but the behaviors most associated with autism are things autistic people do when we're upset." She described a situation in which neurotypical parents were asking autistic adults questions and some parents were like, "My kid doesn't have meltdowns. Does that mean he isn't autistic?" and autistic people were like, "No, that means he's happy."

Then she included a tweet from Geeoharee:

We can't distinguish autistic behaviour from trauma because our current society produces no un-traumatised autistic people.

Bill in Portland, Maine, who writes a Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, included a video from the Slow Mo Guys. I’ve mentioned them before. In this one Gavin set up his high speed camera so that he was backlit and the camera could record what came out of his mouth and nose as he coughed, sneezed, and talked. Yes, disgusting. Then he did it again while wearing a mask. It shows wearing a mask makes a huge difference. Then Gavin showed the videos do Dr. Anthony Fauci and they talked about what they saw. The video is 16 minutes. Wear a mask in public. Even talking sprays particles.