DICTATOR WATCH
(www.dictatorwatch.org)

Contact: Roland Watson, roland@dictatorwatch.org

REPUBLICAN CHEATERS

October 16, 2020
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/prrepublicancheaters.html

Why are ordinary Republicans so happy to condone cheating?

We know about the top leaders, the orange sociopath on down. They understand they can only win by cheating. Even with Comey's sabotage and Russian manipulation and disinformation Hillary Clinton still won the popular vote in 2016 by almost three million, and this year the margin will be far greater. To get power they have to gerrymander and suppress votes and commit electoral fraud by throwing away ballots (e.g., arrived late, in the wrong envelope, signature isn't a perfect match, …).

But why do ordinary Republicans go along with this? We have to assume they aren't also all power-mad maniacs. And they aren't personally getting the rewards, the money from the corruption, so why do they do it?

Take sports. If you back a particular team and it does something dodgy, such as Tom Brady using an under-inflated football, you won't drop your support. Probably even if it happens a few times - such as the Patriots video-recording other team practices.

But if it occurs systematically and everyone knows about it - it is widely documented and publicized that your team cheats, you would typically end your allegiance (at least until the coach if not the owner is replaced and the cheating stops). If you don't, this means you not only tacitly support the deceit, you are a cheerleader. You are for cheaters, and you know it. Winning is the only thing that matters.

This is what is so difficult to understand about the Republicans. Sure, for "the base," who are hard-core racists, extremist Christians, women-haters (starting with the extremists), and Neo-Nazis, this is exactly what they want. They want "structural cheating." No doubt they would love to bring back slavery, to take away a woman's right to vote, and to burn the Constitution and make America an outright dictatorship. As Trump said, who needs elections, anyway?

But what about the non-base, the people who vote Republican for other reasons, foremost family and occupational affiliations (e.g., spouses, farmers)? Why in the face of the open cheating do they not put the country first, if only in the privacy of the voting booth? Don't they feel dirty? For many if not most one hopes that "winning" - where and when they win - leaves a disgusting taste. They cannot claim it was fair. They know their side won only because it cheated again and again.

To them I would say, don't sell your soul to power. The voting booth is private. Stand up to your tribe (and your spouse). Vote your conscience.