Comments on the center column from our readers ...

Overreacting ...

He gave voters who were "sick of the PC bureaucratic-swamp status quo Republicans" and decades of progressive policy advances someone who stood up, pushed back and voiced their anger. He did not "play nice" with others and a lot of Trump supporters like it.

-Rich Corbett (via Twitter)

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Comments on the center column from our contributing pundits On the Right

Corruption from a Con Man

By Stephen Macaulay

Let’s make this as easy to understand as we can:

Donald Trump claimed, for months before the 2020 election, that if he lost the election, then the election had to be rigged. After all: Everyone loves him. Lots of people say so. Let’s forget about the 65,844,610 people who voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. They had to be wrong. The 62,979,636 people who voted Trump—yes, they knew what was going on.

And in case you’re wondering, 65 is greater than 62. But never mind.

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden got 81,283,098 votes. Trump received 74,222,958.

81 is bigger than 74.

Of course, the reason that Clinton didn’t win, the solid popular vote (you, know, THE PEOPLE) notwithstanding, is because the way the electoral college is constructed. 

Trump received 306 votes in the electoral college in 2016. He called it a “landslide.”

Biden received 306 votes in the electoral college in 2020. Trump called it a “steal.”

There have been recounts and lawsuits brought on by Team Trump. The Capitol was invaded. In the first case, there haven’t been irregularities of any scope that would change the results. In the second case, we can see just how desperate and deluded some people are.

For reasons that are mystifying, there are those who continue to support the false claims of the Biggest Loser.

Remember: He said, before the fact, that if he didn’t win, then the election had to be rigged. Everyone knows that he’s the one more people want.

But look at those numbers:

Clinton: 65,844,610     Trump: 62,979,636

Biden: 81,283,098        Trump: 74,222,958

The people who think that Trump unfairly lost—people who have no evidence of that—should be ashamed of themselves. If they had any shame.

And as the country moves toward the elections in 2022 and 2024 we can only hope that people who understand that things like facts and evidence matter stand up for them in the face of boldfaced lies.

If they don’t, then perhaps we get what we deserve: The corruption caused by a transactional con artist.