Every now and then, I feel like I need to remind anyone who cares to read what I say in the matter of what movement conservative Republicanism/glibertarianism is really all about. And I think the recent interview that CNN’s Dana Bash conducted with Repug U.S. House Rep Chris Jacobs gives us an opportunity to do that (from here).
A lot has been made of the fact that Jacobs was one of the few members of his party to support a gun control bill that recently passed the U.S. House and, thanks to that death eater Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao more than anyone else, stands zero chance of success in the U.S. Senate (Update 9/20/22: I just realized that I never updated this post for this – apologies). And to be fair, I should note that our own wet noodle PA-01 rep Brian Fitzpatrick voted for it as noted here (the only one of 5 Republicans voting for it seeking re-election…though before we rush to congratulate Bri-Fi, it should also be noted that he supports so-called “gun reciprocity,” where someone from a state with weaker gun laws, such as Texas, could basically nullify PA law, so Fitzpatrick is at best a mixed bag on this issue).
The part about Jacobs doing the right thing and voting for the House Bill is noted in the discussion with Bash. However, we’re also treated to the following from Jacobs:
BASH: Do you regret voting (to reject Pennsylvania and Arizona’s electors when the 2020 election results were certified on January 6th, 2021)?
JACOBS: No, because, unfortunately, those two states did violate the Constitution by overturning election law without going through the legislative process, which is a violation of the Constitution. Those would not — my — the electoral votes those added up to would not have ever turned any election over — this election over. But I do believe election integrity is a legitimate issue and needs to — we need assurance going forward for this democracy to work.
I’m sure it won’t come as a shock to learn that Jacobs is lying.
As most of us know by now, there were approximately 60 lawsuits over the 2020 election, and virtually all of them lost. The one that actually won (I’m pretty sure) had to do with counting PA mail-in ballots where voter information was improperly written on secure envelopes that were supposed to remain blank (I’ll admit I’m a little fuzzy on that at the moment, but the point is that IT MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE DAMN ELECTION).
Again, Jacobs is lying. He’s purposefully spreading disinformation. He knows he’s spreading garbage, but as far as Jacobs and his party are concerned, it’s all about message discipline. It doesn’t matter if the “message” has nothing whatsoever to do with verifiable truth and reality.
All that matters is the ultimate goal of the message. And in this case, it is to overturn the independent function of election administration and to turn it over to a state legislative body, which is often run by Republicans. Because, if somehow our 45th “president” disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, the political organization he is in charge of (and let’s have no misunderstanding about that) would STILL be doing all it could to turn our elections over to legislatures favoring his party (to me, this is another awful consequence of the Bush v. Gore decision giving primacy to the Florida “lege” in that disputed contest, though I’ll admit that legal scholars can debate that point better than I can).
This thoroughly corrupted message in the service of a cause utterly destructive to democracy is, of course, the origin of the “zombie lie.” As we know, that is the lie that can never be killed once and for all. This is so because Jacobs and people in his party continue to propagate it no matter what.
Often (and I’m definitely speaking for myself here), when I feel like there’s an “A-HA!” moment of proving a liar to be wrong (often a Repug, but not always), the temptation is great to say, “See, I’ve done it! I’ve defeated the BS from this person” and call it a day. That, of course, is a big mistake.
That is because the “party of Lincoln” lies so brazenly, so contemptuously, and often so stupidly that it requires seeming eternal vigilance. And if we let our guard down, the “zombie lie” finds its way into the corporate media bloodstream, to the point where one day, months later, we may hear Dana Bash say (in an interview with, say, a Democrat…and there are some of them guilty of this too),”Senator, we had U.S. House Rep Chris Jacobs on our show months ago saying that legislatures should decide our elections. Would you care to comment on that?” without realizing that the gambit of propagating the zombie lie has worked and a politician who may not be wise to the game may end up validating the lie. All of a sudden, the next thing you know, Fox “News” has a headline all over the place saying “Joe Manchin Supports Legislative Control Of Elections” and that has given the zombie lie the cover of alleged corporate media legitimacy.
The Republicans most definitely know how to play this game (with our corporate media tending to be conservative anyway). They know how to push the buttons of the voters of this country.
And it continually makes me want to scream knowing that the Republicans have a much better strategy for communicating their often nonsensical policies and legislation, opposed by the majority of this country, than the Democrats do for communicating their often-sound policies and legislation, which is frequently favored by about the same margin.
Update 12/6/23: I would say that this also proves my point.
The Liberal Doomsayer 