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We were taught as children that lying had consequences. Is that still true? The jury is still out. Events last week serve as a reminder that an epic political struggle is underway in this country between forces defending the rule of law and the integrity of elections and those who would subvert it.

Thats why voters should regard the casting of ballots on Nov. 8 as something more than a midterm election. Its also a referendum on core American values, notably the integrity of state and national elections, and the ability to uphold criminal and civil laws when public figures are caught lying.

It is an unassailable fact that Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Voter fraud played no role in the outcome in any of the 50 states. More than 60 state and federal court judges rejected claims by Trump and his circle of fringe supporters that the election was stolen.

Yet many Republican officeholders and candidates in Texas and across the country continue to support Trumps Big Lie. Evidence gathered by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, most of it provided by Republicans who served in the Trump administration, shows that Trump, his family and his senior advisors all knew he lost to Biden by more than 4 million votes.

Yet the Big Lie persists. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was front and center in the many unsuccessful efforts to take the Big Lie into federal court and overturn the election. He did so even as he remained under criminal indictment on two securities fraud counts, charges that are now seven years old.

Will Paxton be held accountable?

Paxtons political power in this red state has enabled him to evade trial on the charges. In his case, allegedly lying about his own business affairs and lying on behalf of Trump has not resulted in any consequences, at least not yet. Voters can send a message and strip Paxton from his apparent legal immunity by voting him out of office on Nov. 8.

Republican voters should set aside party loyalty and vote against any candidate who supports Trumps Big Lie. Consider it a vote for an enduring democracy.

A rambling 14-page letter Trump released Friday following his subpoena by the Jan. 6 House committee repeats his false claims that he won the election. Trump openly brags about the size of the mob that came to hear him speak before marching on the Capitol, and he dismisses the House committee work as a political witch hunt.

Will Trump be held accountable?

Its now up to the Justice Department to take the committees work and its own investigative findings and decide if Trump is fit to run for office again or whether, as the evidence shows, he was party to insurrection against the U.S. government and is therefore disqualified from holding office.

Voters, meanwhile, continue to be fed lies by right-wing fringe media figures and social media feeds, including lies delivered in Spanish and intended to suppress or mislead Latino voters. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro joined other Latino leaders last week in calling out the disinformation campaigns spread via Youtube, Facebook and other channels.

Will conspiracy theorist Alex Jones be held accountable?

Juries have delivered damning verdicts against the Austin-based Jones and his Infowars podcast and website, and last week a Connecticut jury returned a stunning $965 million judgment against Jones. Will the courts ultimately require Jones to surrender his fortune, estimated to be $270 million, to financially compensate the families who lost children in the Sandy Hook school shooting and then were victimized again by Jones and his Infowars broadcasts and postings claiming the school massacre was a government-staged hoax?

For me, the Nov. 8 midterm election is both the first opportunity to hold a free and fair election after 2020 and a prelude to the 2024 presidential election and the ability of the nation to continue to select a president without powerful political forces seeking to undermine the vote.

As early voting polls open eight days from now, election integrity should be on the minds of voters who can send a message that telling the truth and not spreading lies still matter.

This seasons vote is all about accountability.

Link:
The Big Lie still poses a threat to democracy and election integrity - San Antonio Report

Anything can happen between now and 2024, but as Republicans understand, and Democrats begrudgingly acknowledge, theres more than a decent chance that the White House will return to agree with me that of all the Democrats, arguably the one with the best chance to beat Donald Trump and the worst chance to beat any other Republican nominee is Joe Biden, who would be days shy of his 81st birthday.

In that case, why wont Republicans finally cut the cord and let Trump sail into the Florida sunset paving the way for Ron DeSantis or some other presidential hopeful with formidable credentials and Trumpian pedigree, but without Trumps baggage? Why risk trying to win in a squeaker when a near-landslide might be attainable?

For many reasons, some more obvious than others.

There is, of course, brand loyalty, Trump being the brand in question here. Not his ties, steaks, or wine, but his founding the MAGA movement and leading it all the way to the presidency.

Then, theres the undeniable fact that Trump is a proven product. He won in 2016 and in 2020 gained more votes than any incumbent president ever. Can DeSantis do the same? Maybe, maybe not. Lets not forget that in 1984, many Democrats thought their best hope to beat Ronald Reagan would be astronaut John Glenn, a national hero. Twenty years later, they thought another affable national symbol, General Wesley Clark, could be the one to topple George W. Bush. And in 2008, long before John McCain won the GOP nomination to face Barack Obama in the general election, the Republican heavy favorite was Americas Mayor, Rudy Giuliani.

But Glenn, Clark, and Giuliani never caught traction on a national scale. (On the other hand, the last governor Republicans were this excited about running for president was Ronald Reagan, who exceeded their highest expectations.)

Theres the sliver of fringe Trump voters who believe hes fighting a secret battle against a Democrat satanic and pedophilic cabal, run from a DC pizza parlor and resulting in discarded bodies buried underneath the White House lawn, on orders from the Clintons and the Obamas. Thankfully, those uber-conspiracy theorists are probably too small in number to field a baseball team.

And even those who dont believe those warped tales have been political misfits their entire lives and were lured out of the woodwork by Trump, whom they are convinced is the best president ever, by far, and the only one who really tells the truth and cares about the American people.

Those Trump absolutists too do not comprise the largest slab of his loyalists.

The most common type of Trump voter is the law-and-order, national security, anti-establishmentarian populist, who is grateful that Trump rescued the party from its country-club, libertarian, and even Evangelical factions. Ideologically, theyd be just as happy with DeSantis, et al. so why dont they just cut Trump loose?

For a less obvious but deeply practical reason: they want to win in 2024, and if they reject Trump, hes not going to go away quietly.

Consider this scenario: the Democrats nominate, say, California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2024. Sure, the prospect of a President Newsom is a national nightmare to half the country (me included), but suppose that DeSantis edges out Trump for the GOP nomination. Is it out of the question to think that Trump couldnt stomach his protg beating him out for the nomination? He might be more bent on stopping an ungrateful, disloyal DeSantis than keeping a Democrat from winning. He might run as an independent, or even form the MAGA Party. That would split the Republican vote, giving the election to Newsom, about whom Trump might say weve spoken on the phone before. He was very nice to me.

Of course, to Democrats and Never-Trumper Republicans, the terrifying scenario I just described would be a dream come true. Both sides would love to drive Trump out of politics for good, and each would enjoy an added bonus: The Democrats would have one of their own back in the White House and the Republicans would ease the pain of another loss by the hope of reshaping the party back to its establishmentarian tendencies. Mitt Romney would emerge as its elder statesman and George Will would write about it with glee.

To the rest of us, though, thats not OK. Were not always happy with what Trump says or does even though we think he did much good in his four years in the Oval Office. Were not in Trump or bust mode. If Trump simply stepped aside and endorsed a successor who shared his platform but not his shortcomings, wed be all for it.

But we are absolutely not going to squander our opportunity to reclaim the White House from the most ineffective president since Jimmy Carter by allowing a Democrat to win by default as Woodrow Wilson did in 1912 with just 41 percent of the vote, because two Republicans canceled each other out.

Essentially, then, Trump is holding the Republican Party hostage. Dont get me wrong, its not as if they dont have affection for him and faith in his leadership, but they also realize they have no choice but to go along with him, because hes got just enough ultra-MAGAns that will follow him off the side of a mountain, who think the Democrats are such cheaters that Republicans wont ever win another election anyway.

It boils down to this: either do Trumps bidding, or say hello to President Newsom. And even on Trumps worst day, I wouldnt take Newsom over him. Not in a million years.

The rest is here:
Why the Republican Party and its Voters Will Not Abandon Donald Trump - The National Herald

House Speaks Paul Ryan greets US President Donald Trump as he arrives on stage to speak at the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner at the National Building Museum on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump will not be the Republican Party's White House nominee in the 2024 election, former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan predicted.

"Trump's unelectability will be palpable by then," Ryan said in an interview with consulting firm Teneo that aired Thursday. Ryan is vice chairman of the firm.

"We all know that he's much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle, so why would we want to go with that?" the former lawmaker from Wisconsin said.

"Whether he runs or not, I don't really know if it matters," Ryan added. "He's not going to be the nominee, I don't think."

Ryan, who in 2012 was the presidential running mate of now-Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and succeeded John Boehner as House speaker in 2015, has worked in the private sector since leaving Congress in 2018.

Ryan had a tumultuous relationship with Trump before and after his one term in the White House.

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump bombarded Ryan with insults, labeling him weak and disloyal. Ryan had refused to continue campaigning for Trump late in the election, following the release of an Access Hollywood recording from 2005 in which Trump is heard bragging about groping women.

Since leaving elected office, Ryan has urged the GOP to ditch Trump, who remains the de facto leader of the party and the likeliest candidate to clinch the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Trump has openly floated the possibility of launching another White House bid, though he has yet to make an official announcement. Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, but never conceded the race and continues to falsely claim the election was rigged against him.

Trump's conspiracy claims before and after that election spurred thousands of supporters to swarm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when a joint session of Congress had convened to confirm Biden's victory. Ryan said he "found himself sobbing" as he watched the Capitol riot unfold, according to a recent book.

In his interview with Teneo, Ryan said the only reason Trump is still in power is because "everybody's afraid of him."

"He's going to try to intimidate people out of the race as long as he can," Ryan said.

That fear of Trump will cause other GOP presidential contenders to delay their decisions to run, waiting for "somebody else to take the first plunge," Ryan predicted. After Trump attacks that first person, "they can follow in behind," Ryan said, likening the situation to a "prisoner's dilemma."

But that ultimately won't stop would-be candidates from throwing their hats in the ring, he said.

"The one inexhaustible power in politics is ambition, you can count on that. There's a handful of people who are going to run because it's really the only cycle they can run, and they can't wait until 2028," Ryan said.

"They've got to go now if they're ever going to go, and they don't want to die not ever trying," he added.

"As soon as you get sort of the herd mentality going, it's unstoppable. So I think the fact that he pulls so much poorer than anybody else running for president as a Republican against a Democrat is enough right there," Ryan said. "He's gonna know this, and so whether he runs or not, I don't really know if it matters, he's not going to be the nominee, I don't think."

Link:
Trump won't be the Republican nominee in 2024, ex-GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan predicts - CNBC

The week in extremism: New news about two conspiracy theorists and one former president.

Alex Jones ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook victims

Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $965 million to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.

Cody Godwin, USA TODAY

Conspiracy theorist and huckster Alex Jones has been ordered by a Connecticut court to pay almost abillion dollars to people who suffered from his lies. Meanwhile, another notorious conspiracy theorist, the founder of the extremist gang the Proud Boys will appear at an event atPenn State Universitylater this month. And there was a pretty explosive Jan. 6 committee hearing, too.

It's the week in extremism.

It was a bad week for Jones, who has made aliving by lying to his audience andfeeding Americans a steady stream of conspiracy theories and propaganda via his platform "Infowars." In the second civil case he has faced this year, Jones was ordered to payalmost $1 billion to victims who suffered from his lies about the Sandy Hook massacre.

Next: Jones still faces a third trial in Texas.

Gavin McInnes, the right-wing provocateur who founded the extremist street gang the Proud Boys, is set to appear at an event at Penn State University later this month. Students at the university are not impressed and have launched a petition to have the event canceled.

More: They joined the Wisconsin Proud Boys looking for brotherhood. They found racism, bullying and antisemitism.

Leader? McInnes has recently shown signshe is taking a more active role in the Proud Boys again, posting on Telegram about the group.

Thursday's meeting of the house select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection was a wild one. The headline is that the committee voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump for questioning. But plenty of other revelations came out of the meeting, including:

What now? It was the last scheduled meeting of the committee. Trump will almost certainly fight the subpoena in court.

We're monitoring last night's shooting spree in Raleigh, N.C. which left five people dead including a police officer.

Last week in extremism:Extremists cheer Musk Twitter deal; Oath Keepers trial heats up & more LGBTQ harassment

Read this article:
Alex Jones, Gavin McInnes and Donald Trump Jan. 6 hearings - USA TODAY

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Legacy Sports USA on October 09, 2022 in Mesa, Arizona.Mario Tama/Getty Images

A jury was told that Trump's tweets encouraged the far-right Oath Keepers to storm the Capitol.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, he tweeted that there would be a "big protest" that would be "wild."

One Oath Keeper later said, "He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!!"

Donald Trump's tweets about protests in Washington DC to oppose the January 6 certification of President Joe Biden appeared to pump up the far-right Oath Keepers, a jury has heard.

The militia group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates are being tried for seditious conspiracy. Seditious conspiracy is a Civil War-era law against attempting to overthrow the government. In the case of the Capitol riot, it refers to an attempt to block the transfer of presidential power.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, the court heard testimony from an FBI agent about a string of tweets from the former president, shown to the jury. On December 19, Trump rallied his supporters to a "big protest" on January 6 and said, "Be there, will be wild!" reported AP.

Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keepers leader from Dunnellon, Florida, wrote to other group members, "He wants us to make it WILD. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!!" AP reported.

An Oath Keeper from Idaho in Bozeman, Montana.William Campbell/Corbis via Getty Images

The indictment against the Oath Keepers details how the group planned to bring weapons to Washington DC on January 6, after hosting "unconventional warfare" training.

Meggs also wrote on December 25: "We need to make those senators very uncomfortable with all of us being a few hundred feet away." adding, "I think Congress will screw him [President Trump] over. The only chance we/he has is if we scare the shit out of them and convince them it will be torches and pitchforks time if they don't do the right thing. But I don't think they will listen."

Defense lawyers for Rhodes plan to argue that the Oath Keepers founder is not guilty because he believed Trump was poised to invoke the Insurrection Act. The far-right militia he led would be called upon to defend the nation's capital.

Story continues

He was in Washington DC on the day of the riot but did not enter the Capitol but was "like a general looking over the battlefield, surveying and communicating while his troops stormed inside," prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler said in his opening statement to the court earlier this month.

This case is not the first time this specific Trump tweet has been described as encouraging the Capitol rioters. In a July hearing of the January 6 panel, Representative Stephanie Murphy described Trump's "be wild" post served as "a call to action and in some cases as a call to arms."

Representative Jamie Raskin said the former President's tweets "electrified and galvanized" rioters and extremists.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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The far-right Oath Keepers appeared to be energized by Donald Trump's tweet about a 'wild' protest on January 6, jury hears - Yahoo News