Remember back a few years ago when every faith-based “Movement Conservative” knew – and I mean absolutely knew – that Mexicans were coming across the border and cutting off the heads of farmers who lived nearby?  The stories were rampant.  Finally, a reporter went on down to the areas around the borders and asked the Sheriffs for the incident reports.  Surely people weren’t having their heads chopped off without law enforcement at least making a report, right?  Turned out, of course, it was just a myth…a Movement Conservative Myth.  Sure, they still believe it.  Nothing can cause them to change a belief they’ve decided on, least of all factual basis.  But for the rest of us, it confirmed what we already suspected: Movement Conservative Blather…nothing more…

It’s the same with this voter fraud…um…fraud.  Every one of the Movement Conservatives knows – just KNOWS – that in-person voter fraud is rampant.  Thousands, millions, maybe billions of fraudulent votes get cast in every single election if you ask them.  In truth, it doesn’t happen, at least not to a statistically significant degree.  When it DOES happen, it’s usually a matter of sending in an absentee ballot and then going to the polling place anyway.  I know Ann Coulter did it.  I’ll bet she wasn’t trying to help Hillary, though.

Trump said it happened again in the 2016 election.  It didn’t.  They said it anyway.  Trump established a commission.  When they started to discover that it hadn’t happened, Trump disbanded the commission.  People argued about it over the internet.  In today’s Guardian appears this article,  ‘Documents disprove White House voter fraud claims, says ex-member of Trump commission.’  Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.  No, don’t try to convince your Trumpublican uncle.  He can’t hear you.  He’s faith-based…

You know what DOES happen, though?  Computer voter fraud.  These are the voting machines built by the companies the build ATM’s but those same companies insist they can’t build a machine that handles complex transactions AND gives you a receipt.  Anyway, you cast a ballot on one of those computer voting machines and maybe your vote gets counted as intended, maybe your vote gets applied to the vile candidate.  There’s no way for you – or anyone else – to know.

I keep hearing about how the Russians interfered with our “election” by saying mean things about Hillary on the internet.  Truth be told, I have a hard time getting upset about it.  The conservatives have been saying absolutely horrible things about Hillary since 1992.  When I saw some lying meme about her during the campaign, the thought of Russians never crossed my mind.  I just dismissed it as more conservative bullshit.  But while all this talk is going on, there’s also talk around the edges about the security of the voting machines.  Did they hack in?  Did they flip votes?

Of course they did.  You don’t really think this country elected Trump, do you?  But the “two parties” don’t want to admit it for two reasons.  The public face is that they want to reassure the public that the voting system is fair and accurate.  But the real reason is that each party wants to try to maintain the ability to hack into the machines and swing elections they way they’d like to see them come out.  In my mind’s eye, I see two “war rooms”, one Republican, one Democrat, each furiously hacking into machines and switching votes.  The Dems flip one, the Repubs flip another.  The Dems flip one the Repubs have already flipped and the Repubs come back to flip it back their way and vice-versa.  Back and forth the battle goes until the polls close and a “winner” is announced.

Either way, your vote probably didn’t get counted accurately – at least not if you wanted to vote for someone other than the conservative.  So, if you want to vote for the conservative, go ahead and use the machines.  (Can you tell I think the cons are better at it?  They’ve had more practice.)  BUT…if you want to vote for someone other than the conservative and you want your vote to count, DO NOT – under any circumstances – use a computerized voting machine to cast your ballot.  Vote absentee.  Paper.  Traceable.  “Unflippable”, if you will…

The major parties won’t like it and the press won’t like it.  It will take FAR longer to count the ballots and announce a winner if they have to count all the absentee ballots – but it will be a better outcome.  Vote!  You just have to, that’s all.  There are no acceptable excuses in this “election.”  But vote absentee.  (Hey, it’s actually easier and you can vote in your underwear – or less, if you’re so inclined.)  Make the bastards count the paper ballots.

I’ll tell you this: we cannot count on our “elected” officials to do the right thing in this matter.  They have too much to lose.  The ONLY way we can take back the vote is if we use paper and the only way we can voluntarily use paper is if we all vote absentee, so that’s what we need to do…

Thoughts?