Trump's big lie wasn't successful

To The Eagle:

Georgia recounted its presidential election ballots three times before Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified that Biden had prevailed.

Thereafter, the Washington Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times received an audio recording of a one-hour phone call between Trump and Raffensperger. Aides of each joined in on the call. Its content has been confirmed and fact-checked by Verify.

Searching for an accomplice to overturn the election results, Trump said “So look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes.” Trump then insisted that “ there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated.” So yes, Mr. Brawn, The Eagle’s editor accurately quoted Mr.Trump’s brash attempt at Presidential intimidation, election tampering and solicitation of election fraud.

Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, like Trump, extolled and exploited the value of The Big Lie. Goebbels said “Tell a lie big enough, repeat it often enough and people will eventually believe it.” Goebbels had radio, newspapers and storm troopers to help spread his lies. Trump’s mendacious claims metastasized through Fox News, Republican legislators and the social media platforms.

Those platform’s toleration of the lunatic fringes of free speech ended when Trump’s reelection campaign devolved into a circus of virulent disinformation and malicious propaganda to spread his Big Lie - that the election was being stolen.

Freedom of speech is constitutionally protected except for well-defined and narrow limits that include fraud, incitement, true threats and speech integral to already criminal conduct. Our former Fascist-in-Chief exceeded those limits when he malevolently assailed the integrity of the electoral system and fallaciously claimed that the election had been stolen. He attempted to embroil an elected official in outright election fraud.

After delivering a speech that was as incendiary as it was false, Trump gave his verbal blessing and a warm send-off to the seditious mob that attempted to derail this country’s electoral process at his urging.

He then returned to the White House to enjoy on TV the climax of the ongoing disaster that he’d been cultivating ever since he was elected four years ago.

JB Bouchard

Puget Island