Really insightful analysis. This piece should be required reading for anyone who wants to save America. The challenge to all who oppose where the Democrat leaders have taken us: do we have the will and the courage to unite and bring about a 1980-style renaissance? Or will we allow a 1984 plunge over the cliff? Your work on this substack is a brave step toward the renaissance.
It just needs annotations. Every mention of the Party will have (Republicans) put beside it in parentheses. Add a few lines about how all the party leaders were straight white men, make some mention that Winston is gender fluid . . . it won't take that much editing for them to make 1984 palatable for the left.
The GOP establishment (rinos) are trying to pit a Trump vs DeSantis narrative and they're trying to make DeSantis their poster boy. DeSantis won't fall for it. The way forward is for Trump and Desantis to stay united in our effort to purge these rinos out of congress forever. They're just trying to use DeSantis to stay in power. He won't fall for it. Neither should we. If we don't fix our broken elections then neither Trump nor DeSantis will be president.
Don't forget about Kari Lake. They fear her more than Trump or DeSantis
The Democrats & RINO's jumped and poured water on the Republican gains not only in the House but the Senate too.
Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and others still await results that will give the Republicans both Houses of Congress.
As for the bashers of TRUMP, 145 Republicans elected in the Mid-Term are "2020 Election Deniers" yet no one in the media is saying jack squat about it.
As far as DeSantis and Trump the Dem's are eagerly awaiting with a knife to give to either one that will cut the others throat.
Focus on the next 2 years, 2024 will take care of itself.
Your point about election season being the antidote to lack of enthusiasm among the Democrats was very important. The GOP is going to have to start competing in the arena of ballot-harvesting and ensuring its supporters actually complete the process and vote. Republicans are great at nudging you to raise money, not so much at making sure you voted.
Very good at fundraising many of their sites are just filled with give us money see PjMedia group or The Gateway Pundit or Breitbart self-serving ads from hacks that pretend they are better than the MSM.
Kind of depressing...but I think the focus needs to be on messaging the TRUTH.
1) We need to stress the voters get educated BEFORE they vote. Right now, people think they're voting for one thing when they're really voting for another.
2) We need a UNIFIED message, and discipline to not be provoked by the attacks.
3) We need to go on the attack
The way it is now, the people brainwashed think the party of freedom is the antichrist and the commies are the saviors, so we're in trouble.
However, we can't quit.
Trump did get screwed, agree there. Maybe it'll turn out well after all though.
We need to educate the populace. Not just say "Go Vote", but say "educate yourselves on the issues lest you be lied to and taken advantage of". Dems' destroyed the economy, locked us down, forbade us from earning a living, while they were paid by the taxpayer no less, fired people for not taking a shot that didn't stop covid and incentivized crime. Why would they continue to vote for a party that's run their cities into the ground and can't graduate students with proficiencies in Math, reading & writing? Why do these people support them? They've destroyed the black community with their "help".
I liked your comment but I am in doubt about it’s practically because I think the majority of Americans now depend on Democrat Party Socialism in the form of welfare and government employment (eg teachers, college staff, fed, state, city) and this vote Dem. They also pay no net taxes; that is, at the end of the year they are a net tax negative while the private sector middle class and above are net tax contributors. The leeches aren’t going to vote for Republicans that threaten Democratic Party Socialist Welfare.
I'd love to see a study on that to know the breakdown. I do think major blue cities have pensions for example, that they can't afford and when a Democrats in power they funnel money to them.
That's wrong of course and the people should know about it.
But what choice to we have?
Fight or accept the results.
I think it probably has to get worse before it's better.
But until blame goes where it belongs, and the media's held accountable, it'll be challenging.
Where we put our money will help...and educate, educate, educate!
Hey Faith, here are top ten employers in Philly. Basically all tax payer funded government services (eg healthcare, education, etc) for net negative tax payers (or those who receive mor from taxes than contribute).
Trustees of the University of PA Federal Government
City of Philadelphia School District of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Temple University
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Comcast Cablevision Corp (PA) Southeastern PA Transportation Authority Temple University Hospital Inc
UGH...uphill climb for sure. Do they all have unfunded liabilities? They should have to pay for their own people, of course.
They're not as nice and inclusive as they promote themselves to be, are they? That's just another fact that's sickening, the lack of caring about Right vs Wrong, that they're Gods Gift to humanity, while they make it worse for the rest of us, and better for themselves, at our expense.
Education about what's really Fair and right needs to happen! OMG
You do realize a map of PA poverty status while rest there is a section of deep red (poverty/welfare in the Philly area) most of the philly city is deep blue (non-welfare) but the rural is light red to red.
Not wrong. As usual. Every bit of this opinion piece is factual and on point. I have had this exact conversation with friends many times over many years.
And shout out to Michael Tracey, the last modern gonzo journalist. Hunter S. Thompson would have loved him. Dude is hilarious, and I actually look forward to everything he writes....even if it's from a scribe skewering "Republicans." I urge everyone to check him out, if for nothing else, the laughs. Some of the politicians he exposes really deserve it.
I hope you understand that Hunter Thompson was "gonzo" because he presented fiction as fact. Much of his writing was made up. Michael Tracey is not gonzo, he reports facts.
I agree but the reality is that Hunter was a faker. He even admitted it. He dreamed up a fake mental condition for Edmund Muskie and claimed he was taking an obscure drug for it. There're several documentaries about him on streaming. The Hell's Angels said he lied although they admired his writing.
Great read. I agree with future is desantis buttttt, i think the smarter path is a trump desantis ticket.
Ron is being courted by the very # Republicans # that we hate, maga hates. If he takes a dollar from the establishment he will lose MAGA. We are winning without MAGA.
If its desantis only in 24, the media will destroy him and the blue voters will out vote us without en thusiasm from MAGA.
The thing is the leftism requires people to buy into the institutions and to believe in them. Tough to do if most people are cynical.
The left controls culture and media lock, stock and barrel and has probably peaked out in half the country buying in. And that is only going to deteriorate.
I’m with you and a comment from Heyjude caused me to write this on similar essay; Unfortunately, I think the majority of the country are now so completely dependent on government welfare in all its forms (eg teachers and college professors get paid via tax dollars, tax payer funded healthcare, CHIPS, etc) that they now depend on Dem Party socialism/welfare and we will move to greater and greater socialism like Europe has. And as a result our standard of living will diminish like most of theirs did. Eventually we will become like the PIGS and finally when the (net) tax payer funded leeches finally run out of other people’s money, the Ponzi will fail, people will get very hungry, and blood will flow in the streets.
Most tech money (with exceptions where the government plays VC, which it shouldn't) are over-priced contracts with the tech companies for services which they often under-deliver. Not welfare per se, but also not NOT welfare. Energy companies typically get tax breaks and breaks on oil leases, which is not welfare in the same sense that active wealth redistribution is welfare (more comparable to, say, the childcare tax credits). On the other hand, agricultural businesses get legitimate welfare. Tax payer money is used to subsidize corn and sugar and those subsidies are bought with donations to both parties. Arguably Big Pharma is on the corporate teat, too, with tax payers picking up billions in R&D costs just recently.
Sorry Corporate welfare since they live on the government to make more profit. In the end its still subsidizing someone elses lifestyle with your money. The best part is the companies who shield their tax assets overseas and still get this pork.
Abortion was on the ballot this time. Literally because of Dobbs. Plus many Republican candidates forgot that they could not just criticize their opponents, they had to sell themselves in the process. It is as simple as that.
A few things - first, Republicans haven't "lost" the election, at least not yet. There are still a number of Congressional seats left to be decided and Republicans are leading in many of them. At present, Democrats have 202 seats and Republicans 211. Republicans only need 7 more seats to control the House. The Senate is still up in the air. Laxalt has a slim margin in Nevada and Georgia is headed to a runoff. Most of all, far more voters voted for Republicans in the House than for Democrats, which is usually the reverse. It currently stands at 51.7% to 46.6%.
Regarding "denialism," it's one more "ism" invented by Democrats, the media and academia to sway voters, just like "racism" and "white supremacy" are Democrat/media/academia inventions. As you said, it started with the Holocaust when not everyone went along with the ADL and "Holocaust" survivor's claims. Even some Jews deny the claims, such as some don't see evidence of gas chambers at Auschwitz. Ovens, yes, gas chambers, no. There is overwhelming evidence that large numbers died in the camps but less that they were gassed. Maybe, maybe not. David Cole Stein is one Jew who believes the numbers are inflated. (Bear in mind that the ADL was established to rebut claims that Leo Frank killed Mary Phagan.)
I don't know about DeSantis. That he won counties in South Florida isn't that much of a surprise since that area contains large numbers of Cubans. The old New Yorkers who once dominated that area are dying off. That Brian Kemp defeated nationally known Stacey Abrams is even more remarkable. Then Greg Abbott gave The Fake Mexican a whipping here in Texas.
As for early voting and vote by mail, while there is no doubt Democrats have been using the - PAPER - ballots submitted by mail to falsify results, I see early voting as more of a benefit than a detriment. No one really knows who early votes until after the election, if then. I personally loved early voting because it meant not standing in long lines on election day. I can't remember the last time I voted on election day, and I've been voting since 1968 (absentee as I was in the military at the time). I vote absentee now but here in Texas there are strict regulations on who can vote absentee and how the votes are handled. For example, ballots dropped in ballot boxes must be dropped in the presence of an election official and the voter must show ID. Absentee voting is restricted to those who can't physically vote in person. I vote absentee because I am over 70 and disabled.
I do have a problem with taking ballots to a central location to be counted. They should be counted in the precinct where they are cast and by election officials, not by paid counters. I personally like electronic voting because votes are tabulated in the machine as they are cast. It's a simple matter of reporting the results from each precinct to the county. Granted, there's a possibility that voting machines might somehow be hacked but it's not nearly as possible as having ballot counters who are going to falsify results. After all, American elections have been "stolen" since the days of George Washington and before.
To really save America, it's going to have to be done at the local and state level. Elect legislatures that will abide by the Constitution, not the Democratic Party.
I think I exceeded Substack's limits. Here is the rest of what I said - As for early voting and vote by mail, while there is no doubt Democrats have been using the - PAPER - ballots submitted by mail to falsify results, I see early voting as more of a benefit than a detriment. No one really knows who early votes until after the election, if then. I personally loved early voting because it meant not standing in long lines on election day. I can't remember the last time I voted on election day, and I've been voting since 1968 (absentee as I was in the military at the time). I vote absentee now but here in Texas there are strict regulations on who can vote absentee and how the votes are handled. For example, ballots dropped in ballot boxes must be dropped in the presence of an election official and the voter must show ID. Absentee voting is restricted to those who can't physically vote in person. I vote absentee because I am over 70 and disabled.
I do have a problem with taking ballots to a central location to be counted. They should be counted in the precinct where they are cast and by election officials, not by paid counters. I personally like electronic voting because votes are tabulated in the machine as they are cast. It's a simple matter of reporting the results from each precinct to the county. Granted, there's a possibility that voting machines might somehow be hacked but it's not nearly as possible as having ballot counters who are going to falsify results. After all, American elections have been "stolen" since the days of George Washington and before.
To really save America, it's going to have to be done at the local and state level. Elect legislatures that will abide by the Constitution, not the Democratic Party.
The important insight is the concept of "election season" which has replaced Election Day, and in many states has turned Election Day into a meaningless ritual. With early voting, and ballot harvesting, many Democrats have already won the election long before the official Election Day. The media has kept up the charade with meaningless polls that purport to show a tightening horse race scenario. New York, Oregon, Michigan governor races, New Hampshire, Washington senate races are examples of media deception claiming that the Republican candidates were gaining, or ahead of, Democratic opponents who already had the election wrapped up. Further polls purporting to claim a closing of an "enthusiasm gap" said to favor Republicans also added to the media's fraudulent representation of where the Democrats have taken American democracy. The final insult is attempting to validate the days or weeks delay in vote counting before a winner is declared, which until the 2020 election was long thought to be absolute proof of an attempt to steal an election.
Really insightful analysis. This piece should be required reading for anyone who wants to save America. The challenge to all who oppose where the Democrat leaders have taken us: do we have the will and the courage to unite and bring about a 1980-style renaissance? Or will we allow a 1984 plunge over the cliff? Your work on this substack is a brave step toward the renaissance.
This was a great read. Well done. I sent to my niece in college who is taking a class on dystopian fiction. They’re not even gonna read 1984!
Lol 1984 is gonna be banned soon and we will have obediently forgotten it was ever written.
It just needs annotations. Every mention of the Party will have (Republicans) put beside it in parentheses. Add a few lines about how all the party leaders were straight white men, make some mention that Winston is gender fluid . . . it won't take that much editing for them to make 1984 palatable for the left.
Right! And will change year from 1984 to 1619 Project. Oh wait, that already happened.
In the New Order, all books will be the 1619 project.
The GOP establishment (rinos) are trying to pit a Trump vs DeSantis narrative and they're trying to make DeSantis their poster boy. DeSantis won't fall for it. The way forward is for Trump and Desantis to stay united in our effort to purge these rinos out of congress forever. They're just trying to use DeSantis to stay in power. He won't fall for it. Neither should we. If we don't fix our broken elections then neither Trump nor DeSantis will be president.
Don't forget about Kari Lake. They fear her more than Trump or DeSantis
I would love to see DeSantis/Lake.
Trump has been insulting DeSantis as well as Youngkin... DeSantis has not responded. I am very disappointed in Trump for getting sucked in.
They're baiting the narrative. Stay tuned 😉
DeSantis won't fall for it but Trump already is, I'm pretty sure.
People who underestimate Trump show a marked lack of judgement. Things are never as simple as they appear.
we'll see- He's not dumb
The Democrats & RINO's jumped and poured water on the Republican gains not only in the House but the Senate too.
Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and others still await results that will give the Republicans both Houses of Congress.
As for the bashers of TRUMP, 145 Republicans elected in the Mid-Term are "2020 Election Deniers" yet no one in the media is saying jack squat about it.
As far as DeSantis and Trump the Dem's are eagerly awaiting with a knife to give to either one that will cut the others throat.
Focus on the next 2 years, 2024 will take care of itself.
Our country will survive the D's socialist BS.
Your point about election season being the antidote to lack of enthusiasm among the Democrats was very important. The GOP is going to have to start competing in the arena of ballot-harvesting and ensuring its supporters actually complete the process and vote. Republicans are great at nudging you to raise money, not so much at making sure you voted.
Very good at fundraising many of their sites are just filled with give us money see PjMedia group or The Gateway Pundit or Breitbart self-serving ads from hacks that pretend they are better than the MSM.
They do get money. I hate their fundraising approach and never donate, but apparently it works.
Also, I'm well aware, the Democrats approach to fundraising is just as bad.
Kind of depressing...but I think the focus needs to be on messaging the TRUTH.
1) We need to stress the voters get educated BEFORE they vote. Right now, people think they're voting for one thing when they're really voting for another.
2) We need a UNIFIED message, and discipline to not be provoked by the attacks.
3) We need to go on the attack
The way it is now, the people brainwashed think the party of freedom is the antichrist and the commies are the saviors, so we're in trouble.
However, we can't quit.
Trump did get screwed, agree there. Maybe it'll turn out well after all though.
We need to educate the populace. Not just say "Go Vote", but say "educate yourselves on the issues lest you be lied to and taken advantage of". Dems' destroyed the economy, locked us down, forbade us from earning a living, while they were paid by the taxpayer no less, fired people for not taking a shot that didn't stop covid and incentivized crime. Why would they continue to vote for a party that's run their cities into the ground and can't graduate students with proficiencies in Math, reading & writing? Why do these people support them? They've destroyed the black community with their "help".
Low education voters.
Let's focus on educating them.
I liked your comment but I am in doubt about it’s practically because I think the majority of Americans now depend on Democrat Party Socialism in the form of welfare and government employment (eg teachers, college staff, fed, state, city) and this vote Dem. They also pay no net taxes; that is, at the end of the year they are a net tax negative while the private sector middle class and above are net tax contributors. The leeches aren’t going to vote for Republicans that threaten Democratic Party Socialist Welfare.
I'd love to see a study on that to know the breakdown. I do think major blue cities have pensions for example, that they can't afford and when a Democrats in power they funnel money to them.
That's wrong of course and the people should know about it.
But what choice to we have?
Fight or accept the results.
I think it probably has to get worse before it's better.
But until blame goes where it belongs, and the media's held accountable, it'll be challenging.
Where we put our money will help...and educate, educate, educate!
Hey Faith, here are top ten employers in Philly. Basically all tax payer funded government services (eg healthcare, education, etc) for net negative tax payers (or those who receive mor from taxes than contribute).
Trustees of the University of PA Federal Government
City of Philadelphia School District of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Temple University
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Comcast Cablevision Corp (PA) Southeastern PA Transportation Authority Temple University Hospital Inc
Ref. https://www.workstats.dli.pa.gov/Documents/County%20Profiles/Philadelphia%20County.pdf
Thanks for that info.
UGH...uphill climb for sure. Do they all have unfunded liabilities? They should have to pay for their own people, of course.
They're not as nice and inclusive as they promote themselves to be, are they? That's just another fact that's sickening, the lack of caring about Right vs Wrong, that they're Gods Gift to humanity, while they make it worse for the rest of us, and better for themselves, at our expense.
Education about what's really Fair and right needs to happen! OMG
Back to work I go lol
Basically the rest of PA pays for the tax payer funded “jobs” and welfare in Philly and Harrisburg. So yes - off to work you go!
You do realize a map of PA poverty status while rest there is a section of deep red (poverty/welfare in the Philly area) most of the philly city is deep blue (non-welfare) but the rural is light red to red.
Not wrong. As usual. Every bit of this opinion piece is factual and on point. I have had this exact conversation with friends many times over many years.
And shout out to Michael Tracey, the last modern gonzo journalist. Hunter S. Thompson would have loved him. Dude is hilarious, and I actually look forward to everything he writes....even if it's from a scribe skewering "Republicans." I urge everyone to check him out, if for nothing else, the laughs. Some of the politicians he exposes really deserve it.
I hope you understand that Hunter Thompson was "gonzo" because he presented fiction as fact. Much of his writing was made up. Michael Tracey is not gonzo, he reports facts.
Much more speaking to his prose and approach. Night and day difference from "journalists" today.
I agree but the reality is that Hunter was a faker. He even admitted it. He dreamed up a fake mental condition for Edmund Muskie and claimed he was taking an obscure drug for it. There're several documentaries about him on streaming. The Hell's Angels said he lied although they admired his writing.
Great read. I agree with future is desantis buttttt, i think the smarter path is a trump desantis ticket.
Ron is being courted by the very # Republicans # that we hate, maga hates. If he takes a dollar from the establishment he will lose MAGA. We are winning without MAGA.
If its desantis only in 24, the media will destroy him and the blue voters will out vote us without en thusiasm from MAGA.
The ironic thing is that confidence in the institutions is collapsing just as the left finishes their long march through them.
It was inevitable, given their ideology. That is their goal.
The thing is the leftism requires people to buy into the institutions and to believe in them. Tough to do if most people are cynical.
The left controls culture and media lock, stock and barrel and has probably peaked out in half the country buying in. And that is only going to deteriorate.
I’m with you and a comment from Heyjude caused me to write this on similar essay; Unfortunately, I think the majority of the country are now so completely dependent on government welfare in all its forms (eg teachers and college professors get paid via tax dollars, tax payer funded healthcare, CHIPS, etc) that they now depend on Dem Party socialism/welfare and we will move to greater and greater socialism like Europe has. And as a result our standard of living will diminish like most of theirs did. Eventually we will become like the PIGS and finally when the (net) tax payer funded leeches finally run out of other people’s money, the Ponzi will fail, people will get very hungry, and blood will flow in the streets.
Not just that look at the tech, energy companies every dollar of pork is WELFARE!
Most tech money (with exceptions where the government plays VC, which it shouldn't) are over-priced contracts with the tech companies for services which they often under-deliver. Not welfare per se, but also not NOT welfare. Energy companies typically get tax breaks and breaks on oil leases, which is not welfare in the same sense that active wealth redistribution is welfare (more comparable to, say, the childcare tax credits). On the other hand, agricultural businesses get legitimate welfare. Tax payer money is used to subsidize corn and sugar and those subsidies are bought with donations to both parties. Arguably Big Pharma is on the corporate teat, too, with tax payers picking up billions in R&D costs just recently.
Sorry Corporate welfare since they live on the government to make more profit. In the end its still subsidizing someone elses lifestyle with your money. The best part is the companies who shield their tax assets overseas and still get this pork.
Abortion was on the ballot this time. Literally because of Dobbs. Plus many Republican candidates forgot that they could not just criticize their opponents, they had to sell themselves in the process. It is as simple as that.
Right on
Another classic in the 'it's everyone else's fault, not our candidates or our policies.'
Wow. Full-throated endorsement. I like it and it's true. Thank you.
A few things - first, Republicans haven't "lost" the election, at least not yet. There are still a number of Congressional seats left to be decided and Republicans are leading in many of them. At present, Democrats have 202 seats and Republicans 211. Republicans only need 7 more seats to control the House. The Senate is still up in the air. Laxalt has a slim margin in Nevada and Georgia is headed to a runoff. Most of all, far more voters voted for Republicans in the House than for Democrats, which is usually the reverse. It currently stands at 51.7% to 46.6%.
Regarding "denialism," it's one more "ism" invented by Democrats, the media and academia to sway voters, just like "racism" and "white supremacy" are Democrat/media/academia inventions. As you said, it started with the Holocaust when not everyone went along with the ADL and "Holocaust" survivor's claims. Even some Jews deny the claims, such as some don't see evidence of gas chambers at Auschwitz. Ovens, yes, gas chambers, no. There is overwhelming evidence that large numbers died in the camps but less that they were gassed. Maybe, maybe not. David Cole Stein is one Jew who believes the numbers are inflated. (Bear in mind that the ADL was established to rebut claims that Leo Frank killed Mary Phagan.)
I don't know about DeSantis. That he won counties in South Florida isn't that much of a surprise since that area contains large numbers of Cubans. The old New Yorkers who once dominated that area are dying off. That Brian Kemp defeated nationally known Stacey Abrams is even more remarkable. Then Greg Abbott gave The Fake Mexican a whipping here in Texas.
As for early voting and vote by mail, while there is no doubt Democrats have been using the - PAPER - ballots submitted by mail to falsify results, I see early voting as more of a benefit than a detriment. No one really knows who early votes until after the election, if then. I personally loved early voting because it meant not standing in long lines on election day. I can't remember the last time I voted on election day, and I've been voting since 1968 (absentee as I was in the military at the time). I vote absentee now but here in Texas there are strict regulations on who can vote absentee and how the votes are handled. For example, ballots dropped in ballot boxes must be dropped in the presence of an election official and the voter must show ID. Absentee voting is restricted to those who can't physically vote in person. I vote absentee because I am over 70 and disabled.
I do have a problem with taking ballots to a central location to be counted. They should be counted in the precinct where they are cast and by election officials, not by paid counters. I personally like electronic voting because votes are tabulated in the machine as they are cast. It's a simple matter of reporting the results from each precinct to the county. Granted, there's a possibility that voting machines might somehow be hacked but it's not nearly as possible as having ballot counters who are going to falsify results. After all, American elections have been "stolen" since the days of George Washington and before.
To really save America, it's going to have to be done at the local and state level. Elect legislatures that will abide by the Constitution, not the Democratic Party.
I think I exceeded Substack's limits. Here is the rest of what I said - As for early voting and vote by mail, while there is no doubt Democrats have been using the - PAPER - ballots submitted by mail to falsify results, I see early voting as more of a benefit than a detriment. No one really knows who early votes until after the election, if then. I personally loved early voting because it meant not standing in long lines on election day. I can't remember the last time I voted on election day, and I've been voting since 1968 (absentee as I was in the military at the time). I vote absentee now but here in Texas there are strict regulations on who can vote absentee and how the votes are handled. For example, ballots dropped in ballot boxes must be dropped in the presence of an election official and the voter must show ID. Absentee voting is restricted to those who can't physically vote in person. I vote absentee because I am over 70 and disabled.
I do have a problem with taking ballots to a central location to be counted. They should be counted in the precinct where they are cast and by election officials, not by paid counters. I personally like electronic voting because votes are tabulated in the machine as they are cast. It's a simple matter of reporting the results from each precinct to the county. Granted, there's a possibility that voting machines might somehow be hacked but it's not nearly as possible as having ballot counters who are going to falsify results. After all, American elections have been "stolen" since the days of George Washington and before.
To really save America, it's going to have to be done at the local and state level. Elect legislatures that will abide by the Constitution, not the Democratic Party.
The important insight is the concept of "election season" which has replaced Election Day, and in many states has turned Election Day into a meaningless ritual. With early voting, and ballot harvesting, many Democrats have already won the election long before the official Election Day. The media has kept up the charade with meaningless polls that purport to show a tightening horse race scenario. New York, Oregon, Michigan governor races, New Hampshire, Washington senate races are examples of media deception claiming that the Republican candidates were gaining, or ahead of, Democratic opponents who already had the election wrapped up. Further polls purporting to claim a closing of an "enthusiasm gap" said to favor Republicans also added to the media's fraudulent representation of where the Democrats have taken American democracy. The final insult is attempting to validate the days or weeks delay in vote counting before a winner is declared, which until the 2020 election was long thought to be absolute proof of an attempt to steal an election.