I’ve been noticing something of a bump in posts on social media from cons repeating the big lie – that the 2020 election was stolen from the Dumbass. They genuinely don’t seem to realize they’re fighting in favor of voter suppression. They’ve been told by conservative media they’re fighting to stop voter fraud – and they believe it. So, some of them stick their heads out of their hidey-holes and challenge posts opposed to Georgia’s shiny new Jim Crow voter suppression law because they know – they just KNOW – the election was stolen. I know there are LOTS of stories out there. But they’re just stories. As it happens, people are free to say anything they want in private conversations, on social media, or out in front of landscaping companies. But people with official responsibilities who take those responsibilities seriously, whose jobs and reputations are at stake, are NOT free to just say whatever they want. They have to go with the evidence. Do you know where ELSE people are not free to just spew phrases and insist the phrases are treated the same as facts? Courtrooms. It’s STILL true in this once-great nation that courtrooms require supporting evidence. So I did a little score-counting in the “Stolen vs Not Stolen” discussion.

On MY side (Team Not Stolen), I have 50 individual states all certifying the results of the election. I have the US Congress also certifying the results – despite the January 6 assault on the Capitol by radicalized, far-right conservative contrarians. THEN, I have on MY side, 60 lawsuits on the topic – very helpfully filed by Giuliani on behalf of the Dumbass. Not one of them prevailed. Not one. ALL of them were tossed out due to lack of evidence. So…for “Team Not Stolen” we have, let’s see, that’s fifty, plus one, plus 60 for, ah, there it is; 111 points. “Team Stolen” on the other hand? Well, they have unfounded assertions put forth by some confused-looking dude on Fox so…zero. 0 points. That’s “Team Not Stolen” – 111, “Team Stolen” – 0. The team that scored 0 in a 111-0 drubbing continuing to insist that, “Hey, maybe, secretly, we won” doesn’t come across as “faithful.” It comes across as “separated from reality.”

Now, even in American football, where points can be added six at a time, 111-0 would be understood as a resounding defeat but the election count is one point at a time. Imagine a baseball game that ended 111-0. I suspect that even among the pros they might discuss a mercy rule at some point. Was the election stolen? 111-0 says no. Was there statistically significant voter fraud? 111-0 says no. Do we need vote reform? 111-0 says no.

I’ll tell you this: it’s important to remember that the only thing that matters is what the evidence shows (111). What a person just…prefers to believe (0) means nothing. I imagine the zeros are going to keep up the pretense, though…