Posted on 01/04/2021 3:53:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On January 6, the Congress convenes to validate the votes of the Electoral College. As it stands right now, Joe Biden will be the next president, giving the lie to the old claim of “cheaters never prosper.” There is still one last gambit. Several members of the House of Representatives and senators plan on objecting to the electoral votes cast by five states where the results were questionable and, in some places, beggar the imagination. While it is doubtful that this maneuver will change the outcome, it is very important that the GOP lay down a marker for dealing with the incoming Biden administration that says they are viewed as an illegitimate usurpation and will be treated as such. So it was a shock last evening when Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton issued a statement saying that he will not support the challenge to the electoral votes:
“I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail. I also share their disappointment with the election results. I therefore support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections. And after Republicans win in Georgia, the Senate should also hold more hearings on these matters. All Americans deserve to have confidence in the elections that undergird our free government.
Nevertheless, the Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states—not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College—not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts—not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states.
If Congress purported to overturn the results of the Electoral College, it would not only exceed that power, but also establish unwise precedents. First, Congress would take away the power to choose the president from the people, which would essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress. Second, Congress would imperil the Electoral College, which gives small states like Arkansas a voice in presidential elections. Democrats could achieve their longstanding goal of eliminating the Electoral College in effect by refusing to count electoral votes in the future for a Republican president-elect. Third, Congress would take another big step toward federalizing election law, another longstanding Democratic priority that Republicans have consistently opposed.
Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6. I’m grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. But objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term—it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government.”
This, in my view, is a shameful abrogation of responsibility by someone who has been a conservative warrior ever since he was first sworn it.
The sad part is that it is doubtful that Cotton actually believes any of this.
A commission to study something after validating that something is just a punt. It is theater. This commission has two choices: find nothing and declaring the election legitimate or finding the election was not free and fair and then confronting the nation with proof that the president benefitted from widespread fraud and misconduct in his election.
The idea that the Democrats will forswear some act if only Republicans play nice is such nonsense. This crap has been fed to us for four decades and it has never worked. The only reason why the Democrats have never tried this is that the final vote would be by state delegations, and the GOP controls more states.
You don’t prevent something from happening in the future by acquiescing to it now. We are creating a precedent around mail-in ballots and mystery vote dumps and the number of votes cast exceeding registered voters in numerous precincts. By failing to object, Cotton is accepting that this criminality is okay.
It costs Cotton nothing at all to object, and it costs the nation quite a bit by his failure to do so. One has a right to ask why this decision was made as the proclaimed reasons seem implausible. Is this principle, or is he looking at 2024 and trying to innoculate himself against any attacks by the Democrats that he was one of the “conspiracy theorists” and “seditionists” that refused to recognize election fraud as legitimate?
The GOPe is finished.
They’re zombies...dead people walking.
Is he aware that his own State's electoral votes were rejected by Congress in 1872 because of fraud?
Another Rubio type.
Josh for President. Cotton just destroyed his chances for a nomination as it should be since under pressure he failed.
In the past, I have stated on here that I thought the two most impressive young senators in Congress were Hawley and Cotton.
Obviously, that has now been culled down to one man.
It’s past time for a new political party.
These two are not relevant to flyover country.
Too bad
Well at least all of this is showing who is true blue
Appreciate the point of his argument.
The Constitution DOES give the states the responsibility to conduct the election.
There’s good reasons for that.
They failed this time.
However I don’t believe we’ll get reform from our politicians unless challenges are raised now for that reform.
Cotton should join in that effort.
This would have some truth in it, if it didn't ignore the bigger truth. If the steal stands, and the machinery for the steal remains in place, the people have already lost their vote. Democracy died November 4 2020.
He has one chance to turn it around without bloodshed, and he is kicking the can into the ditch.
Cotton just disqualified himself from ever being president.
Which won’t matter, because leaving the machinery of the steal in place means he would never be elected anyway without the prior approval of whoever controls the machine.
Tom McClintoc says Congress ought not get involved. But doesn’t the Constitution default back to Congress in most matters since they represent the people directly? The SC won’t hear it saying it’s a political decision falling in the realm of Congress. What is the proper recourse for dealing with illegitimate voting results from rogue states if not through the courts but Congress? It’s been done before by the Democrats.
The grassroots conservative movement to cultivate authentic primary challengers to these Uniparty swamp rats must start NOW and we cannot lose focus. Even more important is the fight at the LOCAL level - where control over VOTING resides.
We have been asleep at the helm and let communists take over the controls of our democratic process. The only way we’ll ever win an election again is if we restore legitimacy to our elections.
It’s not enough to just send some money to the RNC and show up to vote in the general every two years.
4 Jan: The Hill: Loeffler to challenge Electoral College results Wednesday
By Jordain Carney
“I will vote to give President Trump and the American people the fair hearing they deserve and support the objection to the Electoral College certification process,” she said in a statement...
Loeffler is not expected to sign on to the effort from Cruz, but instead offer her own objection. She is likely to object to the certification of Georgia’s votes, according to a person familiar with Loeffler’s thinking, who added that she could also object to additional states...
Loeffler, in her statement, argued that there were “real concerns” about the 2020 election and she would reintroduce a motion to create a commission to review the election...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/532605-loeffler-to-challenge-electoral-college-results-wednesday
Cotton just flushed himself into the rest of the RINO turd pit.
Many people are saying the GOPe is seriously considering changing its name to the NPC Party.
As far as I am concerned he can drop dead with the rest of the traitors .
Stick a fork in him, he’s done.
I will dance on their figurative grave.
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