Four days after the U.S. election, I asked and answered the following question:
“Could the Electoral College pick Hillary?
“Yes, they could.” HERE
“You do realize there were already electors, before the election took place, who stated, for the record, that they would never, ever vote for Trump if he won. Yeah, go google that. Now, for every one of them who dared to speak out, how many, many more of them must there be who kept quiet? Somebody is going to figure out it is indeed possible to rig the this. It is being worked on right now, without any question.”
We also already knew the tactic they would employ to pull this off:
“The second and more important reason the Electoral College exists is in the event a person with a lack of character – unfit for the office – should win the vote.
See where this is going?
If you think that Hillary’s lack of character is far worse than Trump’s, well I have news for you. It doesn’t matter that you’re right. These people think Trump is the most vile human being ever. Go look at youtube for 15 minutes. Not only that, but didn’t you notice that the entire GOP establishment was against Trump? There are dozens and dozens of RINO electors just begging for the right combination of bribes and promises to flip their vote. The best part is, they’ll get to bathe their treachery in the soothing warmth of “following their conscience.””
Since that post, a few news items have emerged. As you read through what is happening, keep in mind that in the majority of states, it is the winning PARTY who nominates the electors, not the winning CAMPAIGN.
From The American Catholic: HERE
In Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp issued a statement today asking people to stop threatening his state’s electors:
Our office has received numerous reports of individuals hurling insults and threats at Georgia’s Electors because they are unsettled with America’s choice for President of the United States. This is absolutely unacceptable and those participating in or encouraging these efforts should stop. The electoral process in America has worked, and everyone – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and others – should respect the will of Georgia’s voters and the Electors who represent them.
Idaho‘s Secretary of State made similar comments earlier in the week after reports that the state’s four electors were being barraged with harassing calls and messages. From the Spokesman-Review:
“A lot of ’em use bad, rough language,” said Layne Bangerter, one of the four electors. “Nothing I feel intimidated over. But we’re watching it very closely. They’ve got our home phone numbers, our cell numbers, our emails, our Facebook. We’re just getting an orchestrated barrage from the left.”…
Bangerter, who worked for U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo for more than a decade, said he’s received around 40 messages on Facebook alone. “They attack my religion, they attack my politics, they tell me that I must be a terrible father, I must be a terrible American, they use foul language – every swear word,” he said. “They’re just trying to steal this thing. They won’t be able to do it, but they’re trying.”
In Tennessee, electors told the Tennessean they were receiving 200 emails a day:
Several members of Tennessee’s Electoral College delegation told The Tennessean this week they’ve received as many as 200 emails per day and a handful of phone calls. Electors in other states told the Tennessean they too have received similar barrages of email.
“Certainly I would call it harassment,” said Pat Allen of Clarksville, Tennessee’s Electoral College representative for the 7th Congressional District.
In Arizona, electors say they are facing “total harassment” from mostly out-of-state emails. From the Arizona Republic:
Robert Graham, chairman of the state Republican Party and an elector, said the emails are mostly coming from out of state and appear to be part of a coordinated effort to try to deny Trump the presidency by swaying enough electors to back anyone but him…
“It is total harassment,” said Graham, who estimates he has received about 1,700 such emails and letters. “It started about a week ago. Now? Bam. It’s hardcore.”…
Sharon Geise, an elector from Mesa, said the emails have also flooded her inbox. She estimates she has received 8,000. Many of them are similar.
“Hillary’s got a great campaign going,” she said. “It’s the same thing, pretty much. Basically: Vote for Hillary Clinton. It’s bizarre. I don’t dare answer my phone.”
A similar flood of harassing emails was received by an elector in Iowa.
Meanwhile, in Michigan 22-year-old elector Michael Banerian has been receiving death threats. From the Detroit News:
“You have people saying ‘you’re a hateful bigot, I hope you die,’ ” he said. “I’ve had people talk about shoving a gun in my mouth and blowing my brains out. And I’ve received dozens and dozens of those emails. Even the non-threatening-my-life emails are very aggressive.”
The Detroit News verified one message containing a death wish and another containing a death threat, in which the person told Banerian he would “put a bullet” in his mouth. Banerian said he deleted the rest of the emails and messages “because as you can imagine they’re clogging up my email.”
From NBC DFW: HERE
The 38 Texans who will vote are all Republicans, because Donald Trump won Texas, but they don’t have to vote for Trump. In Texas, unlike some other states, electors may change their mind, and it has Democrats from around the country urging them to do just that, said Alex Kim, an elector for Texas’ 24th Congressional District.
“At first everyone was kinda enchanted by it,” Kim said. “Now all the electors are starting to get beaten down. There are some electors who have been threatened with harm or with death.”
Kim was named an elector at the Republican Party of Texas State Convention. Since the election, he said he has been receiving thousands of e-mails a day from all across the county.
“Usually the Electoral College is very ceremonial. You’re there, you cast your vote and you’re done…I had no idea it would be like this,” Kim said.
From The Detroit News: HERE
Michael Banerian wants to show that young adults still have faith in the political system, but he said his selection as one of Michigan’s 16 Electoral College voters has prompted emails urging him to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton and even threatening death…Trump’s opponents have deluged Banerian and other GOP electors with pleas and nasty emails to reverse course and cast their ballots for Clinton, according to the Michigan Republican Party.
“You have people saying ‘you’re a hateful bigot, I hope you die,’ ” he said. “I’ve had people talk about shoving a gun in my mouth and blowing my brains out. And I’ve received dozens and dozens of those emails. Even the non-threatening-my-life emails are very aggressive.”
The Detroit News verified one message containing a death wish and another containing a death threat, in which the person told Banerian he would “put a bullet” in his mouth…
Another elector, Kenneth Crider, said he hasn’t received any death threats or intimidating emails but has gotten more than 300 emails from people in other states asking him to vote for Clinton instead of Trump on Dec. 19.
The 51-year-old heating and air conditioning professional from Livonia said many of the emails were from teachers and professors trying to explain to him the gravity of the situation, urging him to change his mind.
And from Oath Keepers, in case you think I’m making too much of this: HERE
CALL TO ACTION: Oath Keepers Pledge to Protect Electors from Terrorist Death Threats
OFFER OF PROTECTION TO ELECTORS: Oath Keepers is hereby issuing a standing offer of volunteer protection to any of the Electoral College Electors who may feel threatened or in danger from leftist radicals attempting to coerce them into changing their vote as Electors.
All communications and requests from electors will be kept in the strictest confidence, and only vetted, trusted, qualified Oath Keepers members will be dispatched to provide security.
That protection can be overt or covert, or a combination of those two postures, at the discretion of the Elector after consultation with our security team leaders, and will consist of our unpaid volunteer retired police officers and experienced combat veterans with personal security detail training and experience. We can, and will, provide this protection from now through their vote on December 19. 2016, and even thereafter if they still feel threatened by terrorists seeking reprisal and punishment for the Electors not bending to their will.
CALL TO ACTION: Due to the gravity of the threat to our Republic from terrorists attempting to steal the election through coercion, this is also a call to action to our state and local leaders, and in particular to our Community Preparedness Team (CPT) leaders, to prepare security details in each of the targeted states to be on standby for immediate deployment if a request for protection comes in from an Elector.
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS: In the wake of President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory on Election Night, Republican Electors across the country have received an increasing wave of harassment and threats, in the form of phone calls, emails, messages on social media, and even in-person visits to their homes, by leftists who seek to pressure those Electors into changing their votes from Trump to Clinton when the Electoral College meets on December 19, 2016. Such harassment and threats intensified after anti-Trump groups published online the names, addressed, phone numbers, emails, gender, and race of Republican Electors in states that went for Trump.
As I stated in the original post, I think a much more likely scenario is using the threat of overturning the election as a blackmail tactic against Trump.
We shall see. Or maybe we won’t.
ABS assumes the Trumpsters know this and have already responded. Trump is an Alpha Male who is not going to let his election be stolen but one suspects he also knows a specific public response would do more harm than good right now.
It was to be expected that this would be tried given how it is the left who is riven with hatred and its response is in proportion to its shock at having been rejected by the people but Trump will strike at the heart of this perfidy or he is not the man his supporters think he is.
Have confidence and don’t let the barking moon bats ruin your sleep.
As usual, the left will make a lot of noise, but when it comes to actual personal sacrifice, I doubt they will risk all to take any particular action. Like the 3 ft., 40 lb child throwing a tantrum, the 6 ft. 200 lb adult will just let the child tire himself out. Should the child be foolish enough to attack the adult, well . . . physics.