READY, SHOOT, AIM
We’ve recently experienced a lot of rash actions and statements rushed into public view without thinking. Three in particular are especially troubling: Major League Baseball, Coca Cola and Delta Airlines rushed to spread misinformation about a Georgia Election Law they had never read; A sitting US Congressman has been judged guilty until proven innocent of violation of sex trafficking laws; The January 6, 2021, protest inside the US Capitol resulted in militarization of our nation’s capital, smears against members of congress, and a presidential impeachment based in part on easily-proven false statements. It is beyond time to make deliberation the default reaction, instead of throwing tantrums.
The new Georgia Election Law has been slammed not only by private entities but even the U.S. President characterized it as “Jim Crow on Steroids.” None had read the law before leaping to action. Reading the text is helpful; speculation about intent carries hazards; outright lying by private and public officials needs to be called out. The actual text can be found on The New York Times, Fox News, BTE News and elsewhere. Pick a site, find your own, but please actually read the law before throwing a tantrum. Then, please, deliberate what you read before letting someone else – anyone else – tell you how to think.
The most egregious tantrums were based on what I, on reflection, can only conclude was willful blindness at best, and blatant lies at worse. The law does not prohibit providing water or food to people in line waiting to vote. It closes a loophole frequently exploited by politicians and their advocates to conduct otherwise illegal politicking at the polling place. Focusing on the water and food instead of the loophole is misdirection. Nothing prohibits poll workers from providing free water and food to voters waiting in line, and in more than fifty years of voting in six different states I have found that to be the norm at most polling places. In fact, politicians and their activists can still provide water and food to voters, so long as they do it from a distance of fifty feet. The Georgia law is now in agreement with the majority of voting laws in the country on this matter.
I’m only a few years younger than President Biden, and followed his career while living in nearby Maryland. He and I both know what “Jim Crow” was. It included labels on drinking fountains for “White” and “Colored,” segregated waiting rooms for trains, buses, streetcars, bathroom facilities segregated by race, movie theatres divided into balconies for “Colored,” and main floor seating for “Whites.” It contained subjective literacy tests allowing black voters to be disqualified because of skin color, poll taxes to prevent the poor from voting, a common practice of disqualifying all black jurors, schools segregated by race, travel restrictions and lynching. Characterizing the Georgia Election Law as those practices “on steroids” is patently false and beneath the President of the United States.
Another untruth is that the law unfairly targets black precincts for removal of absentee ballot drop boxes. Instead, it requires every county to have at least one such drop box, expanding access to voting. It includes voter identification requirements. Their absence obscures the audit trail, thus voting integrity. It outlaws ballot harvesting, which breaks the audit trail, thus breaking voting integrity. It is claimed that African-Americans have a more difficult time obtaining identification than whites. Not a single example has ever stepped forward. Claimed reasons are that blacks cannot read, do not know how to use the internet, aren’t smart enough to find where to get identification. The first two, if true, are an indictment of education, not voting laws; the last is a racist lie.
There’s a tantrum about the law shortening the runoff period. I cannot see the downside; can someone please educate me? Another tantrum about reducing access to voting by reducing time available for early voting is directed at the wrong state. Georgia has 21 days and allows every county to designate two Sundays for open polls. That’s more than twice as long as New Jersey’s early voting period. But, don’t take my word for it. Read it for yourself here.
Yet another is that the bill is intended to suppress voting by black Georgians. I cannot disprove that, because I cannot read minds. I’m waiting for those claiming to read minds to let the rest of us in on the secret of how they do so.
The most confounding tantrum is thrown over the mis-named “Mail in Ballot.” The critics insist that it is the same thing as an absentee ballot. It is not, and I cannot believe that those claiming this aren’t aware of the truth. Absentee ballots are requested by the voter, establishing an audit trail. In Georgia, no reason needs be given to request an absentee ballot, making access to voting easier. New York, where Major League Baseball is located, restricts voting by requiring a reason to request an absentee ballot. Major League Baseball has not yet declared its intent to move from racist vote-suppressing New York. Baseball is punishing Georgia by removing a $100M-impact event from majority-black Atlanta to Denver, which is 9% black. Whom is the move intended to hurt or reward?
More important, the “Mail in Ballot” is actually a “Mail Out Ballot.” It is sent to everyone on the voting rolls to the most-recent address. Americans move on average every five years. Requirements to match signatures are decried as racist; I do not understand that. I do understand that a blank ballot falling into the hands of anyone other than the intended voter opens the door to fraud. I do not claim that fraud decided the last election; I do claim that until we identify and close all opportunities for fraud to enter the electoral system, there will be no reason for the losing half of the country to trust its results.
The three primary legacy airlines – American, Delta and United – have all condemned the Georgia law. All three operate at the sufferance of the federal government and current administration; I find the juxtaposition of those two facts jarring. Atlanta baseball fans wishing to attend the All-Star game in Denver cannot fly without identification. On arrival, they cannot pick up their game tickets without identification. Should they choose to remain in Colorado, they will have fewer days of early voting and still have to produce identification at a polling place.
The Representative Matt Gaetz affair is troubling on every level. I am what Arabs call Abu Binat, Father of Daughters. Sexual predators have no place in society. If Matt Gaetz is a sexual predator, he needs to be removed from society. Following investigation, trial and conviction. Under the Doctrine of Ready, Shoot, Aim, he is presumed guilty based on rumors. That flies in the face of two centuries of US jurisprudence. Even Jeffrey Dahmer had to be afforded due process.
The New York Times cited anonymous sources in proclaiming that Gaetz was under Department of Justice investigation for possible violation of sex trafficking laws. It includes breath-taking statements, such as “It was not clear how Mr. Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people.” Bravo. The Times assumes that Gaetz met the girl; I don’t know why one wouldn’t lead that bit of rumor with “It was not clear whether Mr. Gaetz met the girl, whose identity is unknown, nor how he met her.” That narrative is more complete, which might be the problem. It doesn’t meet the standards for Ready, Shoot, Aim.
The Times goes on to cast guilt-by-association accusations of inviting a Holocaust denier to a State of the Union Speech, attending an event where security was provided by the Proud Boys, and “barging past Capitol Police into the secure rooms of the House Intelligence Committee to briefly break up the (impeachment) investigation of the President.” I’d like to address each of these in order.
Fifty-five years ago, in college, I invited a KKK member to an integrated social event. One attendee was even an admitted homosexual. I know no better way to deal with bigots than to force them to confront their bigotry. Is that what happened with the Holocaust denier? I don’t know. Neither does the Times.
In 2008, the New Black Panther Party (it and the Proud Boys are both led by African-Americans) provided polling place armed security in Philadelphia. That does not justify disapproval of Philadelphia voters. As for the hearings into impeachment of a President, those have always been conducted in public by the House Judiciary Committee. Secret hearings are the stuff of tyrants, and impeaching a president based on the accusation of someone not called to testify is simply unacceptable in a non-authoritarian regime. As distasteful as I found President Trump personally, I find it far more distasteful to compromise a solemn constitutional duty for partisan advantage. I’m only sorry I wasn’t there “barging by” with them.
The most bothersome accusation from the Times was Given Mr. Gaetz’s national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Mr. Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said. Imagine my horror at the idea of the Department of Justice investigator notifying an Assistant Attorney General - appointed by Trump!!!!! – that he was investigating a Member of Congress.
Later, the Times applied the coup de grace: “The Times has reviewed receipts from Cash App, a mobile payments app, and Apple Pay that show payments from Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg to one of the women, and a payment from Mr. Greenberg to a second woman. The women told their friends that the payments were for sex with the two men, according to two people familiar with the conversations.”
Yet again anonymously sourced. I’ll assume the receipts exist, I’ll assume that the unidentified women told their unidentified friends that the payments were for sex with the two men, according to two other unidentified sources. The idea that this evidence would be adjudicated admissible in a court, without the receipts themselves bearing the notation “Payment for sex with a minor” or something equivalent, is bizarre. The idea that a first-day prosecutor who barely passed the bar exam would consider prosecuting based on that evidence is delusional.
Yes, Mr. Gaetz is under investigation. If it is concluded that he violated any federal laws, or at any time engaged in predatory behavior with minors, then try him, convict him and jail him. Assuming his guilt from the accusation is a witch trial. Note that there is no input from anyone familiar with how investigations are begun and conducted. Let me provide the missing part: The federal investigation was opened of a corrupt politician in Florida, an associate of Gaetz. Please spare me the pearl-clutching about associating with a corrupt politician. If you are in politics it is impossible to avoid. Any crime carrying a potential felony conviction, especially of a public official, triggers a look at the target’s close associates because they are first potential witnesses, and second potential accomplices. Thus, an investigation was opened into Gaetz. That is standard investigative procedure.
Cards on the table: I have twice been investigated by the federal government about felonies. The first was on suspicion of committing espionage. The basis for the investigation was failing a polygraph examination, something called a loyalty poly. Anyone familiar with polygraphs knows what variabilities exist that can cause inconclusive results, or even Deception Indicated. I’ve witnessed dozens of polygraph exams. Even well-trained and experienced polygraph examiners can fall into confirmation bias. I watched an exam in which the exam “proved” the subject was a Russian spy. I asked the examiner to try another country. Now he was “proved” to be a spy for Nigeria. That went on until the polygraph examiner was ecstatic: he had uncovered the first person proved to be spying for more than ten separate countries at a time. I doubted anyone had the time or skills to spy for so many masters, but who am I.
A clinical psychologist was called in to examine the person and explain what happened. His explanation was simple: The good news is that the Deception Indicated exam is worthless. The bad news is that all of the No Deception Indicated exams ever conducted on him are equally useless. You’ll need to resolve this through other means, because the subject has more neuroses than we can untangle.
I have a personality type that leads to frequent over-thinking. In addition, I may be at the edge of the autism spectrum, an ultra-high functioning autistic. The examination turned up no evidence of espionage, and a polygraph examination is considered a predicate for an investigation, but not evidence of guilt. I was cut off from access to government information classified higher than top secret, which was the best thing that could have happened for my life.
The second investigation was initiated when an Explosive Detection System alarmed at Dayton International Airport. I was enroute to Montreal via Chicago and was detained by TSA. In that situation I strongly recommend that one cooperate fully and be polite. It worked for me. I watched as the technicians went through testing the machine, my luggage, and me. Getting upset or hostile is useless. Yes, TSA does have authority to inspect you, your luggage and your possessions. No individual agent has the ability to change that. “I know my rights” gets you nowhere. It is a tradeoff we made consciously following 9/11.
I answered every question truthfully and politely. Eventually I was cleared and allowed to board a later flight to Chicago, with my luggage. According to Ready, Shoot, Aim, I am a terrorist and spy. Be forewarned; I may show up in my wheelchair and blow you to bits.
The January 6 insurrection was a horror in many ways, including the number of lies spread about it. The first was repeated often in the House of Representatives in immediate reaction to a demonstration that could truthfully be called “mostly peaceful,” unlike those that included looting, burning and violent attacks on African-Americans and their businesses. “President Trump incited a riot.” You can read declarative statements to that effect on Yahoo, in Fortune, in the New York Times, in Time Magazine and elsewhere. It was repeated in the Article of Impeachment against Trump after he left office. It continues being repeated today. It must be true, with no room for doubt.
Rather than tell you what to think, I’ll take a novel approach. Watch the speech and decide for yourself. If you believe you don’t need to watch it to know what is in it, please preface all criticism with “I have not actually seen Trump’s speech, but . . .” That’s called truth in advertising, cards on the table, or basic honesty. You wouldn’t want to spread misinformation, would you?
It is widely known that five people died in the insurrection, killed by pro-Trump rioters. Two seem to have died of natural causes, one woman was crushed to death, one woman was shot at point-blank range by a capitol police officer. Another capitol police officer died from being beaten with a fire extinguisher. This was included in the Article of Impeachment filed January 25, 2021. The only problem is that much of this is a lie.
The evening of January 6, 2021, Officer Sicknick texted his brother to say he had been sprayed with pepper but was otherwise fine. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Washington, DC, released a report April 7, 2021, listing causes of death for four of the five dead. Ashlee Babbitt was shot by a capitol police officer. In response, the mob inexplicably failed to set fire to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The woman reported crushed died of amphetamine intoxication, ruled an accident. Two men died of natural causes. Which left Sicknick, for whom the OCME has yet to issue a determination of cause or manner of death. Since he reported himself as fine the evening of the incident, and no one has reported a dead body with a fire extinguisher buried in its skull, we can probably rule out the initial murder story. A month-and-a-half after loudly proclaiming that Trump protesters had beaten Sicknick to death, the New York Times quietly retracted its claim.
Claims were made by a Member of Congress that another Member (of the other party) had given private advance tours of the Capitol to members of the mob. Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Republicans they would be punished if they were involved. Led by Representative Mikie Sherill, thirty-four Democrats published a letter accusing un-named Republican Congressmembers of secretly supporting rioters. In response the Department of Justice opened an investigation. With the publicity box checked, DoJ has allowed the matter to fester. No evidence has been presented, but I’m not sure that was ever the objective.
The capitol building was surrounded by a fence and National Guardsmen were brought in, ten times the size of US Forces in Afghanistan and more troops than were defending Washington during and following the First Battle of Bull Run. The Speaker expressed her gratitude by instructing them to sleep in a garage without heat or bathrooms.
"It's terrifying and revolting that members of the military and veterans could be involved in an insurrection in an attempt to violently overthrow the government," Sen. Richard Blumethal, D-Conn., and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Thursday. There are indications, he said, that members of active-duty and reserve troops and veterans took part in the attack. Blumenthal accused white servicemembers of complicity in the attempt to overthrow the governent. Ready, Shoot, Aim paints with a broad brush; so what if our military is collateral damage?
I am angry with Donald Trump, although not because he incited a riot and directed his supporters to commit violence. He did not do either. I am angry because, in the aftermath of the election, he made the issue all about himself actually winning. It needed to be about restoring faith in the integrity of our elections, and Trump caused us to miss an opportunity for an unemotional inquiry. It also created an opportunity for merchants of mendacity to militarize our capitol, abjure even the pretense of bipartisanship, and use one-party government to browbeat the opposition into silence.
I’ve enjoyed all the Ready, Shoot, Aim I can stand.
So well written. I am a Canadian that is fascinated with the US elections and the passion assigned to the rights surrounding your vote. I read the speech given by Donald Trump on January 6th, word for word, and at no point did I connect his words to inciting a riot. People have stopped thinking for themselves and regurgitate what gets played in the media loop. I really enjoyed this article.
Taking the time to read everything before judgment is seldom done. A loss to deliberation.