We are entitled to our opinions, but not our facts

“I have noticed the ‘write in Tim Bertling’ signs all over the county,” a Boundary County Republican Central Committeeman wrote today on the Boundary County Politics Facebook page. “One thing that I noticed, is that most of the signs are placed on the properties of people who are members of the corrupt families that have been running this county, for years. These families are petrified that they are going to lose control of this county.”

He goes on to discourage readers from writing in a long-proved voice of reason, writing, “The Conservatives in this town have already spoken. May Tim Bertling and those like him be displaced and purged from positions of power. When you shine light into the darkness, the darkness cannot hide its corruption.”

Notice that there’s no proof cited, no evidence offered. Just strident accusations, ill defined. It’s the new GOP, whose members are no more “conservatives” than the members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party in the 1930s were socialists. They just co-opted and corrupted titles that once meant something so as to legitimize their authoritarian and extremist bent. Like never before, this nation’s electorate is populated by candidates and voters eager to accept wins as legitimate, but poised to claim fraud if it doesn’t go their way.

The “conservatives” marching on all fronts in the United States of today are remarkably similar to the good and decent German citizens who once laid logic and reason aside to follow the blandishments of a charismatic but deeply flawed artist who promised to make Germany great again, much to the detriment of a proud nation. It took a global effort to repudiate Hitler and his uber-right Nazis.

Now, as then, truth doesn’t matter so much as the title, the affiliation, the right to wave the banners and flags and wear the pins and be part of the movement. To be recognized as righteous so that you can shout the party line, indicate umbrage at imaginary monsters and level accusations against people who have no idea what you are talking about.

Mark Moseley, victimized conservative, author of the post above and pin-holder in the vaunted Make America Great Again movement, is entitled to his views, his opinion. But he nor anyone else is entitled to their own version of truth, their own rendition of logic. And thus far, every objective test has shown that the heartfelt assertions of the neo-conservatives are wrong; lies all.

Joe Biden won. The MAGA monsters, like Bigfoot, are myths. The Democrats and RINOs are not enemies, but legitimate players in our party politic. Those incessantly accused of being “leftist criminals,” Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton especially, have withstood intense scrutiny by all the agencies of our system of justice, and were not prosecuted. Not because of a leftist cabal that secretly exerts control but because there is no sufficient evidence.

Not so on the “conservative” side.

Donald Trump saw more members of his administration convicted of federal crimes and granted his people more pardons than any U.S. president before him. Twice impeached, he is now facing legal peril on multiple fronts. He too might be exonerated, or at least spared prosecution. Our nation has never before been embroiled in such controversy. It has never been held in thrall to such a brilliant and unscrupulous huckster as its 45th president. There has never before been elevated to such lofty heights a conman so brazen as Donald J. Trump.

And there have never before been more questionable and unqualified candidates, Trump sycophants, all, cluttering up ballots nationwide in this mid-term election of 2022. It is likely to be a farce, setting the stage for a truly stolen election in 2024 and possibly the demise of this grand experiment in Democracy..

It is not my place to tell my neighbors how to vote. I don’t this year, either; I believe your choice is sacrosanct. But I would ask you to think. To judge. To ascertain with assurance by which to convince yourself of the veracity of what you’re hearing sufficient to enable you to make an informed vote. Don’t fall for unfounded accusations, don’t accept false promises, unproven premises. Most importantly, don’t trust others; study the candidates and cast your own ballot.

In the history of our nation, there have been few times more perilous than now. What the adults in the room do November 8 may well determine the fate of a nation that ever has room for improvement, but that is and always has been great.