Republicans Continue Election Manipulation

Flawed RNC Election Talking Points: Republican Manipulation To Avoid Accountability

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The Republican distraction-excuse machine continues. Here are some examples:

(1) Absentee Ballots

RNC Excuse: Republicans argue for disregarding State election laws.

States establish rules on when a voter may choose to cast an absentee ballot. The voter has the discretion to decide at any time whether to vote, not vote, cast an early ballot, or wait until the last minute.

However, it is foreseeable that new information may or may not surface after the voter casts their ballot. Despite this risk, voters can exercise their right to not wait for any additional information and choose to eliminate the republicans from their options, and cast a ballot for another candidate.

The Republicans implicitly suggest that voters cannot make informed, early decisions. The Republicans are confused. They fail to comprehend that an election process, defined and regulated by the states, is a matter only the legislature can decide. However, the voter retains the discretion and judgment to choose when, how, or if to cast a ballot.

The Republican approach to American voters is arrogance. Unless the voters wait until the last minute and cast a ballot for the RNC, the Republicans will absurdly argue that the voter was misinformed. Rather, the problem is the Republicans have defied any reasonable public confidence that they remain stewards of the American Constitutional Republic.

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(2) Disingenuous RNC Appeal To Constitution

Republicans are disingenuous when they claim that the founding fathers did not intend for voters to expand the voting window to include absentee ballots. Voters can choose to cast a ballot when they want; how elections are regulated is not up to the Founding Fathers, but the States.

Republicans cannot credibly invoke the Constitution after trashing it. The Republican appeal to the Founding Father's intent belies their disdain for the rule of law. If the Republican's concern for the Constitution had any substantive merit, the Republicans would have loudly shouted in the wake of 9-11 that there were illegal prisoner abuses in violation of Geneva; and that the President was failing to uphold his Constitutional treaty obligations.

Even if the Constitutional claims were relevant, despite the RNC claim, they can point to no lawsuit claiming the state-level election laws related to early absentee voting are unconstitutional.

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(3) Challenges To Election Results

The Republicans cannot credibly argue that the courts or lawyers do not have a role when reviewing alleged problems with elections and voting. When there are election contests, under our system of separated powers, the judicial branch has a role.

It is of little relevance that the Attorney General and Republican party have disdain for the Article III judicial powers, treaty obligations, or statutory requirements of FISA and the Geneva Conventions.

When there are disputes, the proper approach is to appear before the tribunal, not hide the evidence as this DoJ Staff illegally does; or thwart the DOJ OPR from reviewing illegally Staff counsel conduct, as the President has done.

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(4) Disingenuous Concern for the Public reaction

The Republicans are invoking a speculative public reaction over what the public may or may not do. Yet, the Republicans have no credible track record of concern for public priorities related to the rule of law, integrity, fact finding, or accountability.

After spending five years ignoring open information stating the republican leadership has committed grave breaches of Geneva, the Republicans cannot credibly invoke public reaction as a basis for action.

Even if the public were to complain about war crimes, the RNC doesn't pay attention. How a civilian population is or is not treated; or how they react to a policy issue is of little concern to the Republicans. Their only agenda is to assert a nice sounding image, not focus on facts related to prisoner abuse, Geneva violations, war crimes, or illegal conduct.

Public reaction is important, but not a credible concern of the RNC.

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(5) Unrealistic Republican Forecasts: In Combat, and At Home

Central to the Republican credibility problem are their election forecasts. The Republicans have a failed track record on forecasting combat successes in Iraq.

There's little to suggest election forecasts are any less political than the Polly Anna approaches to waging combat operations.

Forecast accuracy is meaningless to the RNC. When challenged with budgets, the President and Rove lied to the public about whether funding was new, or a roll over.

This reckless republican leadership has ignored their own CIA analysts' forecasts clearly discussing the prospect of insurgents’ attacks.

Where there is a war, the republicans will fudge the forecasts. War to the Republicans can be combat operations involving deaths, or at the ballot box.

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(6) Disingenuous Accusations About the Media

The Republicans have openly admitted they dissuaded the New York Times from revealing details of the illegal NSA FISA violations.

It is disingenuous for the Republicans to assert the NYT has an agenda. The republicans were silent on this so-called agenda on the NYT-Judith Miller complicity with false, inaccurate, and misleading WMD reporting.

Republican attacks on the media, especially the NYT are one sided. The republicans fail to incorporate the benefits of the NYT delaying until after the 2004 Presidential election details of the illegal NSA activity. The Republicans fail to discuss how this charade gave the Republicans an unsustainable boost in public support. Once the illusory mandate rand its course and the NYT revealed the details of the WMD and FISA manipulations, the public sentiment returned to where it should be: Closer to facts, no on the back of RNC fiction and manipulation.

It will take time to dig through the RNC mess. They have absurdly invoked the Constitution as a defense to accountability, yet denied the same rule of law to those they have illegally abused, targeted, and manipulated: American citizens.