The Value of Perception
Considering things like our Constitution and election integrity, perception can be reality.
Why is the Constitution of the United States simultaneously powerful and priceless?
The answer is simple.
It isn’t because someone or some authority says or decrees it is, it is because we treat it as if it is powerful and priceless, largely because if it isn’t, our entire system of justice and governance collapses into a smoldering pile at our feet.
Treating the Constitution, the way we do creates the perception that it is supremely valuable.
It is an interesting, but true, exercise in circular reasoning. The Constitution is powerful and priceless because we perceive it is and we perceive it is because it is powerful and priceless.
That would seem to be a logical fallacy. Perhaps by definition, it is – but some philosophies state circular reasoning cannot be avoided in some cases because the arguments always come back to axioms or first principles. In such cases, the circles tend to be very large and do manage to share useful information in determining the truth of the proposition, as is true for the Constitution – it is based on bedrock principles and we have proof throughout its existence that, when followed, it yields results consistent with those principles. Conversely, when it is not followed, the results are inconsistent with our founding principles.
In a very meaningful way, we have been able to test the validity of the Constitution by falsifying the premises surrounding it. We have proof.
That falsifiability must be applied to everything flowing from any government that claims to operate under the auspices of our Constitution.
Elections are a pretty good example.
For decades, we believed elections were sacrosanct, free from illegitimate influences and the results were accurate and true, largely because we treated them that way. We didn’t allow any partisan tomfoolery around election procedures and regulations, and we trusted the people who ran the elections and counted the votes – at least until we were given reasons not to trust them.
And now, like a lost reputation, once sullied, it is difficult to get that trust back.
2020 burns in everyone’s mind, but it wasn’t the first time.
The election of 1876 was even more contentious, with Congress exercising its constitutional role as an arbiter of competing electoral slates sent by the states.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation notes:
“The presidential election was close. Only 84 Electoral College votes separated the contenders. Widespread allegations of ballot fraud were claimed by national party chairmen in 11 states, with court challenges lasting into the middle of the year following the election. Changing the results in just two states would flip the election.
The fraud allegations were serious, including dead people voting and votes far in excess of registered voters in some counties. Yet partisan election boards quickly certified the results while local judges, loyal to the political machines that installed them, threw out legal challenges.
No, this isn’t a story about 2020. It’s a story of 1960. U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated two-term Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election by 303 to 219 electoral votes (with 15 ballots going to Sen. Harry F. Byrd). Nixon “lost” Illinois by 8,858 votes and Texas by 46,257. Had those two narrow losses been overturned, Nixon would have won, and America might not have fought and lost the Vietnam War.”
650 people were charged with election fraud after the 1960 election, but only three were convicted, all given short sentences and JFK was still the president.
As we found out in 2020 when the State of Texas sued Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin alleging the results were tainted by sidestepping state election laws and that disenfranchised Texas voters and again when Texas sued Pennsylvania for changing the election rules in violation of their own state constitution by bypassing the Pennsylvania legislature, the court system, including the Supreme Court, is pretty much worthless in remedying election challenges. All that remains are recounts and audits, but if the ballot pool is polluted before the counting starts, recounts and audits are completely and totally ineffective.
I am aware of no legally actionable evidence that there was fraud in any of the elections after 2020 – but I also have no evidence there wasn’t fraud and corruption that changed the outcome. What I do know is that there was collusion with the media to protect Joe Biden and damage Donald Trump and, as it was in 1960, a swing of 40,000 votes in key states out of over 155.5 million votes could have changed the outcome.
It isn’t so hard to believe that 0.26% of that vote were swayed or incorrectly submitted when spread over 4 or 5 key states (actually, over just a very few counties in those states), especially when the bias was not to even investigate concerns.
Biden trumpets his 81 million votes as if that is a meaningful number, but it isn’t. It’s the Electoral College that matters, and 40,000 votes changed the outcome of the election.
The entire point is that it is the duty and responsibility of the state governments to not only protect and defend the sanctity of elections, but to answer legitimate questions about the policies and procedures leading to the outcomes of elections. To maintain confidence in election integrity, the states have no choice but to respond to all concerns expressed by the public to prove there wasn’t undue influence and adopt policies and procedures to assure complete confidence in the outcomes, Supreme Court or no Supreme Court.
Just repeating the mantra that “the 2020 elections were the most secure in history” without answering the questions from people is simply not enough. It isn’t the duty and responsibility of the public to discover if elections are clean, that falls to the states to prove, something they failed to do in 2020 and 2022.
As with the Constitution, elections are only valuable when everybody, including the responsible parties in each of the several states, treat them that way.
This is what I tried to tell all my friends when this was unduly dumped on Pence. The various states GOP representation sat idly by and allowed it to happen.