A lot has been said about QAnon conspiracy theory GOP legislators and candidates sprouting up all over the country.
Even though the focus has been more about Trump's "enemies," we can't ignore all of the Republican controlled legislatures adopting these same QAnon tactics to smear state Democrats. Like one QAnon candidate said:
“A conspiracy theory only sounds crazy until it’s proven.”
And up until now, "Projection" has always been the underlying ploy of the Republican Party.
But thanks to Trump, now all you have to do is fabricate something, then question the fabrication, to get believers to...believe.
"Expressed Uncertainty" and "Open Questions" new GOP Trick: Which brings me to the next and most obvious tactic. I recently discovered this revealing research about spreading "uncertainty" with planted "open questions" meant to manufacture conspiracies..and it's working. Here's the source and tweet:
Example: Republicans Scott Fitzgerald and Robin Vos are using "open questions" in lieu of finding any actual fault with Gov. Evers. Here's their most blatant attempt to date:
The staffer who secretly recorded a phone call last month between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and GOP leaders may have committed a felony if nobody on the call authorized the recording.
Want to know how flimsy this whole "felony" outrage is? The standard is extremely low:
It is not unlawful for a person who is a party to the communication to record or authorize another person to record the conversation without the knowledge or consent of the other parties,”
That's it. Struggling to trash Gov. Evers, they've made up this "open question:"
Fitzgerald said , “The governor should be in control of his office — the buck stops with him. So if one of his staff committed a felony, he needs to hold that person accountable.”
“The governor needs to immediately make clear who from his office created the recording, who authorized it, and what disciplinary actions his staff is facing,” Fitzgerald said. “After bipartisan condemnation of these actions, he also needs to assure legislators that no more recordings exist between our members and the governor or his staff.”
The amendment approved by the Intelligence Committee was an adopted version of Warner's FIRE Act, which he introduced last year. It would require all presidential campaign officials report to the FBI any contacts with foreign nationals trying either to make campaign donations or coordinate with a campaign. When Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, blocked the bill in June 2019, calling it a "blatant political stunt." President Donald Trump applauded her efforts on Twitter.
Republican Judges Given Pass to Steal the Election in Wisconsin: Just prior to rejecting campaign reporting of foreign offers to help with elections, this mind-numbing decision hit the fan.
In a sweeping decision that took more than three years to come out. The decision was issued by three judges appointed by Republican presidents — Easterbrook, Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes on Monday that reinstated limits on early voting and a requirement that voters be Wisconsin residents for at least a month before an election.
Still not convinced? Check out this down the rabbit hole thinking that, beyond a doubt, shaped their magical court decision around their desired and desperate outcome:
Pay very close attention to the jaw dropping first insane sentence. You can't make this stuff up JSOnline:
“This record does not support a conclusion that the legislators who voted for the contested statutes cared about race; they cared about voters’ political preferences.” Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for the unanimous court (that) "If one party can make changes that it believes help its candidates, the other can restore the original rules or revise the new ones.
Also, imagine thinking that just one place for early voting in a small town is just like having one place to vote in a major city. That's not crazy, right? It's not a substantive problem? It's all magically the same...:
"We do not see a substantive problem with days-and-hours limitations," Easterbrook wrote. "They leave all voters with equal opportunities to participate."
By coincidence, Republicans have been saying the same thing for the last 3 years after they passed this lunacy. Isn't that odd?:
Andrew Hitt, chairman of the state Republican Party, praised the ruling. "Today's ruling ensures that Wisconsinites have equal access to the polls regardless of where they live."
ANTIFA provocateurs? Anarchist takeover of Seattle? Fox News seems to thinks so, imagining the worst...
…and this was fun speculation and conspiracy base on the right wing's favorite source of research, "anecdotes:"
The Seattle Police Department warned business owners located in the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to call 911 if protesters occupying the area demand money from them … “We have heard, anecdotally, reports of citizens and businesses being asked to pay a fee to operate within this area. This is the crime of extortion. If anyone has been subjected to this, we need them to call 911.”
As CNN reported, it's all amazingly similar to the late 60's love in demonstrations:
TRUMP: “Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle.” — tweet Wednesday.
THE FACTS: No they haven’t.
This weekend the six-block zone in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood resembled more festival than protest. Thousands packed the area known as CHAZ for Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone or CHOP for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. Some meditated or painted. Others listened to speakers. The zone is stocked with granola bars, water, toilet paper and toothpaste.
When Republicans are exposed by their own racist words, it's the governor's fault...again:
On the secret recording of a phone call last month with Gov. Tony Evers, Vos blamed high numbers of COVID-19 cases in Racine on immigrants.
Here it comes...
Fitzgerald added the recording will “completely erode our ability to work together for the foreseeable future.”
Oh no, not that. Just when you thought the legislature, after all their politically condescending hysterical criticisms and phony outrage, were finally going to get along with the Gov. Evers administration...our dreams were crushed? See if you see any hint of Fitzgerald trying to "work together," or seriously considering pandemic safety precautions:
Rep. Robin Vos blamed Evers who said he didn't know about the recording. Not only that, the recording only came out because of an open records request, not slipped anonymously to the media...so how can you plan that? Still, Vos "suggests" a conspiracy and victimhood, that sends the necessary signal:
“I sincerely doubt that he did not know,” Vos said.
You see, Vos outright blamed Hispanic and Latino immigrants for a spike in Covid-19 cases, you know, because of their "culture." They live "much closer" together...you get his meaning, right?:
"I know the reason, at least in my region," Vos said in the recording, "it's because of a large immigrant population where, you know, it's just a difference in culture where people are living much closer and working much closer."
Science, FINALLY: Again weaponizing another racist stereotype, like when Republicans used the high rate of Covid-19 cases in black communities to stoke lockdown resentment in white rural parts of our state:
Vos responded on Twitter, saying: "Listen to what was said and not the sensationalist headline. Facts show communities of color are disproportionally impacted. That's science."
The post shared by Tusler (R-Harrison) features a photograph including of a group of people, primarily African Americans, who appear to be entering a store through a broken window. It reads, "LOOTING: When free housing, free food, free education, and free phones just aren't enough."
Never letting a cheap shot moment go unexploited, Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Vos' created another comically transparent opportunity to whine. In other words, they've got nothing else:
Vos said by refusing to answer who consented, which is required by law, "clearly there is a cover up in progress. I’m waiting to see what Gov. Evers’ actions are. Not his words, I’m sick of words. What are his actions to deal with this clearly, clearly unprecedented breach of trust?” Fitzgerald said Evers had lost control of his office in an appearance on a conservative talk radio show Thursday. "I think we've got a half-engaged governor with a staff that continues to manipulate. I don't think he's got control. In 26 years in the Legislature, this is one of the most brazen examples of unethical, unprofessional conduct I have ever seen. The governor has gone so far off the deep end, he’s making secret Nixonesque recordings from the East Wing of the Capitol. This conduct is totally unbecoming of our state’s top executive and opens up questions about what other recordings his administration may have.”
Notice how Vos and Fitzgerald spread "uncertainty" with planted "open questions" that are only meant to manufacture conspiracies within their paranoid voter base. Here's my source:
Sadly, and because the Dems continue to play the abused partner in politics, they found the weakest way possible to fight back against this racist assault...
Democratic state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff of Milwaukee said the staff member who recorded the conversation should be fired immediately. Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said "It's bush league and amateur to have something like that happen and I do not condone it in any way."
Wow, now that's focusing like a laser on Vos' outrageous racist stereotype? When it comes to framing an issue, Democrats are pathetic!
Less than 24 hours after a recording became public of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos blaming a coronavirus outbreak in Racine County on "immigrant culture," critics have responded with calls for the GOP leader to resign or apologize.
Just another lesson NOT learned. But some were telling it like it is:
Jenny Tasse, a spokesperson with the Milwaukee Jewish Federation said leaders can’t blame one group like immigrants for the coronavirus.
"In the Jewish community we are all too familiar with this dangerous trope. Immigrants are the blood of our communities. Rather than deflect and blame, Speaker Vos should applaud the workers that keep our communities running."
Vos is covering for an unhealthy increase in his district. Heck, he wanted to open early and forever removed the states ability to deal with future pandemics...what, no consequences?
As in Milwaukee, the hardest hit communities in Racine have been communities of color. About 45 percent of the city of Racine’s population identifies as African American or Latino. About 85 percent of the coronavirus cases in the city are people of color, Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a previous interview with WPR.
In that county, by ethnicity, 23% of positive cases are Hispanic or Latino, 74% are not Hispanic or Latino ... 74% are reported as white, 13% Black and 14% other.
When will news media finally realize Republicans don't solve problems, and never will?
Yet no one seems to have noticed this, all the while Republicans like State Sen. Van Wanggaard, a former police officer, are blocking attempts to reform policing to stop a growing problem that is dividing the nation. Sure, ask a guy who was a part of the problem.
Like the GOP's inaction on mass shootings, Wanggaard is repeating the same insulting talking points; there really isn't a problem, and more impossibly thinks we can change "human nature." In other words, we're not going to do anything.
The thing is, Wisconsin Republicans have been playing this little trick for years; like saying "they'll look into it," or take the long way starting from scratch instead of relying on successful national and global studies to more quickly reach a solution. Oops, did I say solution? That's a word Republicans don't understand. Like this hard work from a Democrat:
This is a societal problem coming from public law enforcement agencies nationwide. Being public, citizens and their representatives get to call the shots on what is acceptable law enforcement.
Instead of seeing a problem, Wanggaard sees black protesters and supposed ANTIFA infiltrators, quite a different picture than the a few hundred good ole boy protesters carry guns and white nationalist confederate flags demanding we ignore the pandemic and get back to work.
Wanggaard's cheap shot at "liberal activists" says a lot about how seriously he takes an actual global protest.
"...a scathing response from Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), accusing them of micromanaging and misunderstanding police. He dubbed the measure, “clearly written by liberal activists who have never served with law enforcement, and apparently never even talked or listened to them.”
In the Upfront interview below, Wanggaard would be happy dealing with the problem after-the-fact, when its already too late, just like he would with mass shootings. Here are some of his other cliched favorites...:
1. "...how did it happen, why did this happen." 2. "this isn't about throwing it out there, this is about doing it right." 3. "there's going to be sense of assuredly, that when an investigation is done, its not a coverup or like that, that we have actually someone going and looking at "what's happening, and how can we fix it so it doesn't happen."
Of course we're already at point 3, trying to fix it so it doesn't happen, but Wanggaard clearly doesn't even agree with his own suggestion. Go figure. See, he and Republicans will never solve a problem, ever:
In another appearance, Wanggaard spewed out a few other classics that lets the carnage explode. WPT's Here and Now:
1. "No matter what is in this bill, would not have changed what occurred..." 2. "We need to get at the root cause...we need to look at how can we address those issues." 3. "We have a piece of legislation we've been working on for 2 years..."
