General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump lost both the 2016 and the 2024 elections.
I have no proof, I have zero evidence, but I do have a "gut feeling" and I have common sense. In both elections the conspiracies to elect Trump were so "diabolical", first with the Russians in 2016 followed by Musk in 2024, that coming up with irrefutable evidence is all but impossible.
Botany
(78,045 posts)Musk has admitted to cheating in the 2024 election when he said that he had a special app
that let him see the results of the election earlier. That wasnt an app that was a hack.
questionseverything
(12,117 posts)MadameButterfly
(4,226 posts)about having the power to do whatever they want; they could barely keep it inside. If we could only have called up Tom Cruise I'm sure we'd have had a "Damn right I ordered the code red" moment.
kacekwl
(9,279 posts)Plausible as trumps claims.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)AloeVera
(4,545 posts)OGBuzz
(779 posts)They just replayed Johnson's comments from yesterday and now I'm angry all over again.
IcyPeas
(25,949 posts)I know instinctively that Mike Johnson is a big fat liar.
— Khashoggi's Ghost (@urocklive1.bsky.social) 2026-06-08T20:43:38.525Z
OGBuzz
(779 posts)IcyPeas
(25,949 posts)that the speaker of the house is promoting election lies.
Trump's consiglieres must have some diabolical dirty dirt on Saint Mikey.
Jacson6
(2,265 posts)End of Message.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)EdmondDantes_
(2,221 posts)We have that there are protections in place to protect voting both through elected officials and poll workers. We have that all the claimed evidence people like the this will hold substack falls apart on looking closer. We have our success in down ticket and off cycle elections. We have that Biden won in 2020. We have that the elections were pretty close to pre election polls.
You have a gut feeling.
These don't deserve the same weight even if you want to say all of the above other than the audits are just circumstantial or inferential evidence.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)Anyhow, I was channelling Moses Mike Johnson from yesterday when he said that "diabolical" forces were at work in California and were responsible for eliminating Spencer Pratt from the LA mayoral race.
Dave says
(5,492 posts)Which means neither have sufficient weight.
mr715
(4,662 posts)elsewhere.
Cheers.
MadameButterfly
(4,226 posts)was enough to make the case for a stolen election. It's not like Dems haven't had plenty of reason to suspect skulduggery. We just don't try to charge anybody if we can't prove it. Then it looks like they are the only side with a complaint.
questionseverything
(12,117 posts)FHRRK1
(185 posts)If they are going to state every Dem win is due to fraud, then it seems to be fair to put every Dem win into doubt.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)before trying again in the future.
I meant to post to who you responded to AND messed up my post.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)FHRRK1
(185 posts)And I am the dumbass
Kid Berwyn
(25,291 posts)For some reason, I have a problem with the fact the voting machine companies are owned by the Epstein Class.
malaise
(298,761 posts)Doubting malaise 😀
PatSeg
(53,813 posts)we have to remain "doubters". We know from experience that they WILL do whatever necessary to win. It doesn't matter if it is legitimate or not. We've seen this for many years now. If they can cheat, they will.
I know enough about stolen elections financed by local and foreign interests in this hemisphere.
I hope I live long enough to see evidence to justify my doubts.
PatSeg
(53,813 posts)I just can't abide liars and thieves; there are SO many of them.
Melon
(1,815 posts)How can it take weeks to count votes? And then once it happens only a manual recount can audit? Its crazy in this day and age. All of this should be fast and transparent to the general public. It should take days to digitally audit every vote against voter roles. Our system should never be so convoluted that its questionable by any party.
questionseverything
(12,117 posts)Tim S
(333 posts)You decided to skip your obligation to help shape your government? Then you get fined
everytime youre stupid enough to sit it out & just gripe that theyre all bad.
If voting were mandatory for everyone, then there would be a LOT less Republicans in office (and therefore a LOT less scheming). And the oligarchs would have a tougher time (finally!)
sarisataka
(22,954 posts)why do they have to be ordered to vote?
Why are we failing to convince them their vote matters?
MichMan
(17,494 posts)Lock them up?
The right to opt out is important.
Tim S
(333 posts)It might even break the two-party stranglehold that upsets many citizens and put us on the road to coalition governing in our congress (like most other countries)
mr715
(4,662 posts)When they sue on the grounds that they shouldn't be forced to reduce down their politics to a single checkbox, how do you litigate
Tim S
(333 posts)It makes sense to me to tie it in to another event thats mandatory: paying our income taxes. If you dont submit proof of voting (issued at the polling station or receipt for mail-in ballot) then youd be liable for $1,000 as a tax fee. Thats for Federal. For states? Not all states have income tax so I dont have anything for that.
Voting in primaries shouldnt mandatory because some folks insist on not being in a party (i.e., not helping to select final candidates). But I think voting in general elections should be mandatory force everyone into becoming part of the solution some skin in the game instead of being a do nothing complainer.
mr715
(4,662 posts)I understand the spirit of what you are trying to do, but we aren't parliamentary like Australia.
States administer elections, right? So there would be 50 states with 50 different ways of doing things. Plus, you'd require people in Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. to vote without any representation?
Mandating voting is not feasible in our system
Tim S
(333 posts)There *are* some Federal regulations regarding Federal elections (like when Election Day is). I suppose NOT paying a $1,000 election fee to the IRS by submitting proof of voting is, by definition, incentive-based. Maybe Im too old-school, but I still believe that voting is a responsibility of every citizen. We have, what, 40% turn out? Something like that.
If the oligarchy keeps going the way it is, big money will find a way to incentivize NOT-voting paying people not to exercise their right to choose their government, If voting was mandatory, we could make that scenario impossible. (Kinda future-proofing ourselves from worsening conditions)
mr715
(4,662 posts)or a 13 seat Supreme Court to break the oligarchy now.
Mandatory voting, which is effectively state mandated speech, ain't going to survive here.
I know courts consider voting as speech. Government mandated speech sounds pretty Orwellian, but then again, what happens if you refuse to swear an oath when subpoenaed to testify in a court of law? Isnt that mandated speech? (Im just being silly now)
mr715
(4,662 posts)It is a tough question. I think the Constitutional answer is subpoenas compel you to show, but not to self incriminate.
As for oaths... it is problematic that we can put our hand on a Bible, or Quran, or Analects or whatever... I guess people "affirm" on secular texts.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)Melon
(1,815 posts)No thanks. With freedom comes
.freedom.
You do you boo. Forcing people to do things, even in the countries interest is unAmerican. Self determination is a thing.
Sympthsical
(11,225 posts)You know, compare notes. Share all this evidence that's apparently laying around everywhere.
Stephen Colbert used to make fun of this stuff. Truthiness, when you don't need facts, because you feel it in your gut.
kentuck
(115,814 posts)Would Trump cheat if he had the chance? I think we all know the answer to that question.
in2herbs
(4,630 posts)https://kaitjustice.substack.com/p/ivanka-trump-albania-epstein-kushner
Access the above link and then scroll down to Kait Justices May 21 post titled The Gap in How America Detected Election Fraud I Found in the Epstein Files.
yellow dahlia
(6,701 posts)flashman13
(2,603 posts)The chances of winning seven swing states by margins just large enough not to trigger automatic recounts are damned near zero. That could happen in land slide elections like like Reagan vs Carter and Mondale or Nixon vs McGovern. In those elections none of the state margins were close. But 2024 was a 49/49% squeaker and I don't see any way there could have been a seven state sweep.
Think about it this way. They are called swing states because they could go either way. Coins are like that. Flip a coin and it could go either way. Flip a coin seven times. Odds are that you will get a 4 - 3 split. You might get a 5 - 2 split. Chances are very low that you will get a 6 - 1 split. Statistically speaking, the chances of a 7 - 0 split are damned near zero.
The Democrats should have challenged voting in the swing states. Yes, I know, they didn't want to sound like whiners. Now we are stuck with a raving lunatic for a President that whines everyday like a spoiled child.
malaise
(298,761 posts)Rec
questionseverything
(12,117 posts)mr715
(4,662 posts)A coin flip happening n times is n independent events.
States are not moving independently. PA, WI, and MI have a lot in common.
Edit: I think it is called Bayesian modelling. The question isn't the probability of having won or lost all 7 swing states. The question is the probability of winning X GIVEN you have won either PA or MI or NC or whatever.
MichMan
(17,494 posts)The chance of flipping a coin and getting a 6-1 result is 5.47 %. The chance of getting a 7-0 result is 0.78%. Coin flips are completely independent of each other, so that isn't really a good analogy.
Barack Obama won nearly all the swing states in both 2008 & 2012 for example. Joe Biden in 2020 won the swing states of Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, & Nevada. Only one he lost was North Carolina. It isn't as statistically impossible as you think it is.
Dave Id
(354 posts)safe bet, he IS guilty of doing.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)ShazzieB
(22,998 posts)I'm not saying you're right, and I'm not saying you're wrong. I honestly have no idea. I just think it's a moot point:
*Most people use moot point to indicate that continued discussions on the topic or issue at hand would be a waste of time because there will never be an agreement, or the topic simply doesn't matter anymore.
*You might also call a topic a moot point if you could talk about is indefinitely without ever reaching an agreement, answer, or solution.
*A moot point is a fact that doesnt matter because it doesnt apply or contribute to the current situation or topic.
Source: https://www.poised.com/blog/moot-point
In other words, like my mom would say if she were still alive, it's all water under the bridge. Whatever happened, happened; he got into office both times, and we're stuck with the resulting mess.
If he did steal both of those elections (and whether he did or not, I'm sure he wanted to), that's just 2 more items to add to the already encyclopedically long list of his high crimes and misdemeanors. It's frustrating, but everything to do with him is frustrating.
OGBuzz
(779 posts)on the primaries in California because their boy Spencer Pratt didn't make the cut for the LA mayoral race. JD Vance pretty much said the same. So for Republicans it's only a fair election if they win, otherwise the election must be rigged. Trump needs to learn about 'moot point' because he's been claiming the 2020 election was stolen for 6 years. Now he's got Todd Blanche at DoJ, and Bill Pulte managing 18 intelligence and security agencies, and I'm quite certain they'll get right on it.
Polybius
(22,211 posts)Hmm...