Climate Etc by Judith Curry 1/12/2021
We need to allow all voices to be heard.
Like everyone else on the planet, I have been riveted by the events of the past week. And I have been suffering from a great deal of cognitive dissonance in interpreting these events – how to reconcile my staunch advocacy of freedom of speech and abhorrence of censorship, with my abhorrence of violence.
I was going to post on this on Sunday, then cancelled (do I really want to wrestle with this tar baby?). I then decided again to post Monday night, then cancelled this morning. This
essay by Matt Nisbet that I just read has convinced me to post on this topic.
Election. The results (and ensuing challenges) of the Presidential election are at the root of what has happened. Were there irregularities in the voting process? It would be astonishing if there weren’t (based on the thousands of texts I’ve received to my phone, it appears that I am still a registered voter in Fulton County, GA). Were there some bad actors involved here? Wouldn’t surprise me. Is there anything here that would lead to overturning the result that Joe Biden won the election? It doesn’t seem that there is. This was not a close election, unlike the nail biter Bush vs Gore election. Further, there is indirect evidence that Trump lost in that Biden won the popular vote by large margin, and the down-ballot Republicans did quite well. Are people within their rights to ask for audits and to complain? Of course. But the process has played itself out, and the meeting of Electoral College effectively put an end to this. Do members of Congress have the right to raise issues about the electors at the Jan 6 Certification? Well, in 2017 apparently there were 11 Representatives that raised issues challenging Trump’s win. Joe Biden, who presided over this, knocked these challenges back since there hadn’t been any corresponding concerns raised by Senators. Do losers of elections continue to complain about an ‘unfair’ election? I certainly recall complaints from Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi well into 2017 about illegitimate election, after Trump and the Republicans won in 2016. Stacey Abrams never conceded her loss in the Georgia gubernatorial election. Do U.S. election practices need improvement? They certainly do, in some states. But one of the safeguards in U.S. elections is that it is impossible to comprehensively rig what is essentially 50+ separate elections that are administered at the county level. Of course, in a close election rigging a few key counties can make a difference. But this election was not that close.
More:
https://judithcurry.com/2021/01/12/the-big-cancel/#more-26879
