Time Magazine Applauds "elite cabal" election conspiracy as "a good thing"

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Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

Part of the outcome according to the article was "the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans." (obviously that sounds as "non-partisan" as it really is BTW)

If it were a communist country we would call that sort of thing "propaganda combined with rigging an election", good thing it is America where the only election interference we know of - is Russian tweets and blogs.

==================
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans
==================


Ok so that's the bad news -- now how to slap lipstick on it??...

Well here is the next sentence.

Time added this: "They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it".
That's right my friends - America was being force-fed that medicine "for its own good" according to the left.

Time: "That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream"

And they claim this as a non-partisan effort that was needed to (in their words:) "to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" (as Time put it)... when presumably some of the coordinated work of the secret cabal began to unfold and then be challenged as if there were "a conspiracy" at work.


Anyway it is nice they are officially confessing to the "secret good" they were doing behind the scenes.

Here is a good review of it:

===============================
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy."

"The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign..."

Trumps complaining about evidence appearing of a secret cabal/conspiracy during the election is apparently "an assault on democracy" when viewed from the left. Just part of "President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" as the article put it.

No surprise then that opposing Trump looks like a "non-partisan effort" to the left.

Apparently coordinated opposition to one of the Presidential candidates during the election process is considered "non-partisan" if that candidate is not the Democratic candidate.

And just so we all know that "the left" is not limited to "the Biden campaign" the article makes this point.

"Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign "

=============================

Meanwhile: Democratic senators warned of potential 'vote switching' by Dominion voting machines prior to 2020 election

Judge Rejects Democrats’ Claims of Voting Machine Irregularities

I think any hint of a problem with the machines or the process should be looked into - so that both sides can agree to the accuracy even if both sides are not happy with the outcome. That is the whole point of having election monitoring from both parties given full and unrestricted access to vote process and where monitor's objections are treated seriously and respectfully.
 
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BobRyan

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Nice that they apparently view their work "as a good thing" -- and so are willing to allow this to be published.

One of the horrific things that President Trump might do according to the left leaning group planning ahead for the 2020 elections was supposedly "restricting internet communications in the name of national security”.
The Left Secretly Preps for MAGA Violence After Election Day

Whew! Good thing "that" did not happen! (at least not to the left) We sure dodged a bullet there.

(As long was we don't count the big-tech block of conservatives on the internet - which of course we would never want to look into)

And what about the suspected violence?

A weird thing happened right after the Nov. 3 election: nothing.

The nation was braced for chaos. Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country. Right-wing militias were girding for battle. In a poll before Election Day, 75% of Americans voiced concern about violence. Instead, an eerie quiet descended.
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

How nice - after almost a year of mob violence in 2020 - we had "nothing" happen on Nov 4.

=================================

Another one they listed was "freezing assets of individuals and groups the president determines to be a threat" -- yeah good thing the Trump administration did not do that either! Another bullet dodged.

or was it?

Banks Close Accounts of Trump, Conservatives

Financial Blacklisting: Chase Bank Withdraws Service from Independent and Conservative Figures
 
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2PhiloVoid

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Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

Ok so that's the bad news -- now how to slap lipstick on it??...

Well here is the next sentence.

Time added this: "They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it".
That's right my friends - America was being force-fed that medicine "for its own good" according to the left.

Time: "That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream"

And they needed to "to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" (as Time put it)... when all the coordinated work of the cabal began to unfold and be challenged.


Anyway it is nice they are officially confessing to the "secret good" they were doing behind the scenes.

I'm think'n the application of "secret" to this whole thing is a little excessive. It's not like we all didn't already know that folks on both sides of the political divide are, and have been, talking to each other here and there behind the scenes to push against the other side.

Frankly, I don't care if it's secret or not since the presence of a snowballing liberality is conspicuous through and through in the history of modern Western politics.

This article comes as no surprise to me ... in the least. :dontcare:
 
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BobRyan

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"THE ARCHITECT
"Sometime in the fall of 2019, Mike Podhorzer became convinced the election was headed for disaster–and determined to protect it.

"This was not his usual purview. For nearly a quarter-century, Podhorzer, senior adviser to the president of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest union federation, .. Among Democratic insiders, he’s known as the wizard behind some of the biggest advances in political technology in recent decades. A group of liberal strategists he brought together in the early 2000s led to the creation of the Analyst Institute, a secretive firm that applies scientific methods to political campaigns.

"...It was only after months of research that he introduced his concerns in his newsletter in October 2019. The usual tools of data, analytics and polling would not be sufficient in a situation where the President himself was trying to disrupt the election, he wrote. “Most of our planning takes us through Election Day,” he noted. “But, we are not prepared for the two most likely outcomes”–Trump losing and refusing to concede, and Trump winning the Electoral College (despite losing the popular vote) by corrupting the voting process in key states. “We desperately need to systematically ‘red-team’ this election so that we can anticipate and plan for the worst we know will be coming our way.”

"It turned out Podhorzer wasn’t the only one thinking in these terms. He began to hear from others eager to join forces. The Fight Back Table, a coalition of “resistance” organizations, had begun scenario-planning around the potential for a contested election, gathering liberal activists at the local and national level into what they called the Democracy Defense Coalition. "

..."it was crucial for voters to understand that despite what Trump was saying, mail-in votes weren’t susceptible to fraud and that it would be normal if some states weren’t finished counting votes on election night."

from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election
======================= end quote

So then... a "tiny bit" of planning went into the result after all.
 
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BobRyan

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" New York Times article from 2010, which noted, “votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show.”

The Times article also says “fraud is easier by mail.” This should be common knowledge, and already was among election officials. Leon County, Florida elections supervisor Ion Sancho told the Times: “The only cases of election fraud have been in absentee ballots… The more people you force to vote by mail, the more invalid ballots you will generate.”

The New York Times article concludes: “Election experts say the challenges created by mailed ballots could well affect outcomes this fall and beyond. If the contests next month are close enough to be within what election lawyers call the margin of litigation, the grounds on which they will be fought will not be hanging chads but ballots cast away from the voting booth.”

from: Democrats Know Mail-In Voting Means Mass Fraud, And Pushed It Anyway

===========================

Well then "we were warned" and both sides knew about the problem before 2020

So then how curious the spin on reality for 2020 that went like this
..."it was crucial for voters to understand that despite what Trump was saying, mail-in votes weren’t susceptible to fraud and that it would be normal if some states weren’t finished counting votes on election night."

from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election
 
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Sparagmos

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Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

If it were a communist country we would call that sort of thing "propaganda", good thing it is America.

Ok so that's the bad news -- now how to slap lipstick on it??...

Well here is the next sentence.

Time added this: "They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it".
That's right my friends - America was being force-fed that medicine "for its own good" according to the left.

Time: "That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream"

And they claim this as a non-partisan effort that was needed to "to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" (as Time put it)... when presumably some of the coordinated work of the secret cabal began to unfold and then be challenged.


Anyway it is nice they are officially confessing to the "secret good" they were doing behind the scenes.

===============================
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.

"The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign..."
This is a story of people working together to ensure our democracy was not compromised. Protecting people’s right to vote and countering a deliberate misinformation campaign aren’t nefarious activities. I’m proud of what everyone involved did.
 
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BobRyan

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This is a story of people working together to ensure our democracy was not compromised. .

Interesting that in the OP there is a video by Tim Pool where he points out that very POV as one that some people will have depending on their political preference.

 
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Sparagmos

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Interesting that in the OP there is a video by Tim Pool where he points out that very POV as one that some people will have depending on their political preference.
That’s the POV of the Time article itself.
 
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Erik Nelson

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Interesting that in the OP there is a video by Tim Pool where he points out that very POV as one that some people will have depending on their political preference.
Preserving Democracy for EOs ?
 
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FreeinChrist

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The article was good.

The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. “The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.
So because a bi-partisan group cared about the US and democracy, and feared the actions/words of Trump will hurt the US, they worked "to ensuring it [the election] would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted".

Key statement: "The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding."

They wanted a free and fair election. They were not working to make sure Trump lost but that if he won or lost, it was fair and credible election, preserving democracy.

Good.
 
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BobRyan

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They wanted a free and fair election. They were not working to make sure Trump lost but that if he won or lost, it was fair and credible election, preserving democracy.
Good.

Well here is one example where they "let the cat out of the bag"

" New York Times article from 2010, which noted, “votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show.”

The Times article also says “fraud is easier by mail.” This should be common knowledge, and already was among election officials. Leon County, Florida elections supervisor Ion Sancho told the Times: “The only cases of election fraud have been in absentee ballots… The more people you force to vote by mail, the more invalid ballots you will generate.”

The New York Times article concludes: “Election experts say the challenges created by mailed ballots could well affect outcomes this fall and beyond. If the contests next month are close enough to be within what election lawyers call the margin of litigation, the grounds on which they will be fought will not be hanging chads but ballots cast away from the voting booth.”

from: Democrats Know Mail-In Voting Means Mass Fraud, And Pushed It Anyway

===========================

Well then "we were warned" and both sides knew about the problem before 2020

So then how curious the spin on reality for 2020 that went like this
..."it was crucial for voters to understand that despite what Trump was saying, mail-in votes weren’t susceptible to fraud and that it would be normal if some states weren’t finished counting votes on election night."

from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

In their "protect America" agenda - here are some examples of what they were claiming to protect against Trump doing -- which "he" did not do but others apparently did.


Nice that they apparently view their work "as a good thing" -- and so are willing to allow this to be published.

One of the horrific things that President Trump might do according to the left leaning group planning ahead for the 2020 elections was supposedly "restricting internet communications in the name of national security”.
The Left Secretly Preps for MAGA Violence After Election Day

Whew! Good thing "that" did not happen! (at least not to the left) We sure dodged a bullet there.

And what about the suspected violence?

A weird thing happened right after the Nov. 3 election: nothing.

The nation was braced for chaos. Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country. Right-wing militias were girding for battle. In a poll before Election Day, 75% of Americans voiced concern about violence. Instead, an eerie quiet descended.
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

How nice - after almost a year of mob violence in 2020 - we had "nothing" happen on Nov 4.

=================================

Another one they listed was "freezing assets of individuals and groups the president determines to be a threat" -- yeah good thing the Trump administration did not do that either! Another bullet dodged.

Banks Close Accounts of Trump, Conservatives

Financial Blacklisting: Chase Bank Withdraws Service from Independent and Conservative Figures

Remember the idea is that this was not a partisan effort to oppose the President that millions would have voted for...

And yet -- they said this

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."
...
And they claim this as a non-partisan effort that was needed to (in their words:) "to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" (as Time put it)... when presumably some of the coordinated work of the secret cabal began to unfold and then be challenged.
 
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The Barbarian

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At this point, Trump had over 50 lawsuits, going over every possible form of error/cheating. They couldn't find even one case that made a difference in any state.

Time to make an accommodation to reality, and move on.
 
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BobRyan

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At this point, Trump had over 50 lawsuits, going over every possible form of error/cheating. They couldn't find even one case that made a difference in any state. .

Not true. They never "looked", which is why they kept referencing "standing" and "latches" and "probably fewer" in the decision to "not look"

Hint:
Johnson v. Benson -- is not "the Trump Campaign" filing a lawsuit
Johnson/Stoddard v. Benson - is not "the Trump Campaign" deciding to file a lawsuit
Kelly v. Pennsylvania - is not the "Trump Campaign" deciding to file a lawsuit

By contrast we have...

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court: In Trump v. Boockvar, the campaign challenged the three-day deadline extension given to mail-in voters missing identification to supply proof of identification.

  • Status: Relief granted. The court found that the secretary of state had no authority to provide an extension. The secretary of state's office has said the total number of votes is probably fewer than 100 statewide.
So that is an example of an actual lawsuit by Trump's lawyers where they win but get a "vote is probably fewer" result.

Meanwhile "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign" is now starting to come to the light of day. More reviews of that are "likely".
 
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At this point, Trump had over 50 lawsuits, going over every possible form of error/cheating. They couldn't find even one case that made a difference in any state.

Not true.

Demonstrably true. The courts looked at all the investigations, recounts, and other assorted stories, and found nothing that showed anything that would have changed any results in any state. Some of the judges were Trump appointees.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court: In Trump v. Boockvar, the campaign challenged the three-day deadline extension given to mail-in voters missing identification to supply proof of identification.

  • Status: Relief granted. The court found that the secretary of state had no authority to provide an extension. The secretary of state's office has said the total number of votes is probably fewer than 100 statewide.
So that is an example of an actual lawsuit by Trump's lawyers where they win but get a "vote is probably fewer" result.

Pennsylvania was a particular embarrassment for Trump. After all the recounts and investigations, Biden's lead actually increased. Apparently, more Trump votes used that extension, and the lawsuit disenfranchised them. If that's a win, you have a clue as to why Trump lost.
 
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