America's Biggest National Security Threat Isn't Putin Or Xi
You don’t need to be a psychologist to understand that when individuals attribute their own undesirable thoughts, feelings, or characteristics onto others, that is a defense mechanism called projection, originally proposed by Freud. Generally, it involves projecting one's own feelings of inadequacy, guilt or anxiety onto someone else, often as a way to avoid facing or acknowledging those feelings within oneself. Thanks to their leader, it is embedded in the DNA of the Republican Party now. Ever get a feeling the GOP and its media allies are distorting reality by attributing qualities and intentions of their own onto Democrats? That’s projectionism, and it allows them to disown or externalize aspects of themselves that they find unacceptable or threatening. By projecting onto others, they can— at least temporarily— alleviate their own anxiety or discomfort associated with these aspects of their own identity… or just trick, whether consciously or unconsciously. third parties.
Trump, of course, has a long, well-documented history of making inflammatory, false and controversial statements, often targeting political— and judicial— opponents, critics or members of the media that reflect characteristics and behaviors that Trump himself exhibits— dishonesty, criminality, narcissism, lack of empathy, etc. You can always count on Trump to reveal exacrly what’s wrong with himself by what he says about his enemies. And the GOP, as an entity, has seamlessly picked up the very unattractive trait.
Yesterday, for example, a judge in Atlanta, Lisa Boggs, ruled that Brian Pritchard, the Georgia Republican Party’s first vice chairman and a right-wing Hate Talk radio host, violated, election laws when he voted nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence. Democrats don’t do that. Republicans do— and they therefor assume everyone else does as well. It’s part of the nature of conservatism. The Judge fined him $5,000 and sentenced him to— wait for it— a public reprimand from the State Election Board. Pritchard has been screaming on his show that the 2020 election was fraudulent— and he knew it was, except he never mentioned where that fraud was coming from.
Peach Pundit, Jason Shepherd, wrote that “The accusations about Pritchard illegally voting in NINE elections while he was under probation for a conviction for felony forgery, a crime involving moral turpitude, had been known since Pritchard had made an ill-fated run for the Georgia House of Representatives in the special election following the death of David Ralston. When his past conviction and possible illegal voting became an issue in the campaign, Pritchard defiantly told the AJC, ‘I’ve not done anything wrong here. I guess if you’re apprehending public enemy No. 1, here I am.’ Pritchard has remained steadfastly defiant in the accusations, basically claiming ‘stupidity’ as a defense to the illegal actions for which he has now been convicted, basically claiming he did know he was still under probation for his 1996 felony conviction. However, according to the AJC, records show, “that [Pritchard’s] probation had been repeatedly revoked and extended until 2011. Georgia law prohibits felons from voting until they’ve completed their sentences… [Boggs] wasn’t convinced of Pritchard’s ‘I KNOW NOTHING’ defense, writing, ‘The court does not find the respondent’s explanations credible or convincing. At the very least, even if the court accepts he did not know about his felony sentences, the record before this court demonstrates that he should have known.’”
Bogg’s decision also notes that Pritchard testified that he was not represented by counsel (court records show he was), that he did not recall that his probation had been extended at the hearing or that he was ordered to continue paying restitution (also contradicting the court record), but he claimed he did remember that Judge McGregor told him the matter was a “civil judgement” and that the judge “did not want the matter in his court any longer” (which is not found anywhere in the court record).
Pritchard also claimed he did not know anything about a 2002 order to reappear before Judge McGregor where, on April 2, his probation was revoked and a new sentence imposed adding an additional two years of probation with the special condition that he pay $40 to $50 a month in restitution and report to his probation officer by phone. Despite Pritchard’s testimony that he did not appear in court on April 2, 2002, records show he was indeed present (pages 5-6 of the decision).
…Pritchard’s testimony shows what had become all too evident in the new grifting class that has moved into the leadership of today’s Republican Party, especially in Georgia…that far too many will defend and/or dismiss clear evidence of violations by Republicans while steadfastly condemning perceived violations from the other side where no evidence, but only speculation and conspiracy theories abound.
Even the RNC is now asking job applicants if they believe the 2020 election was stolen.
There is no good way to spin Pritchard’s testimony or defensive claims. He is either someone willing to lie under oath in the face of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, or suffering from some severe affliction greatly affecting his memory. But I’m sure there will be many who continue to rally around him and blame “the System” or “the Establishment” or “RINOs.”
Is there any tradition or convention Trump would see as a bridge too far? Anything he would allow to stand in his way of wealth, lust, avarice, power? Nope— and neither would his party and many (most?) of the people who vote for him/it. Yesterday a trio of Washington Post reporters wrote about how his gay diplomatic envoy, Richard Grenell has been working fascists around the world, many of whom are virulent homophobes. I guess Nixon shattered that wall of decency when he and Kissinger persuaded the North Vietnamese to not make peace while LBJ was still in the White House. But— other than Reagan— interfering with a sitting president’s foreign policy was pretty much been a no-no. Grenell, for example, tried interfering with the peaceful transfer of power when. Reformer beat a fascist in Guatemala last year. Needless to say, Trump and Grenell were backing the fascist who lost the election but was trying to claim the presidency anyway.
“Grenell,” wrote the reporters, “met with a hard-line group that sued to block the inauguration. The group thanked him for his ‘visit and trust.’ He defended Guatemalan officials who had seized ballot boxes in an effort to overturn a vote declared ‘free and fair’ by the United States and international observers, and he attacked the U.S. State Department’s sanctions against hundreds of anti-democratic actors. ‘They are trying to intimidate conservatives in Guatemala,’ Grenell said in a television interview. ‘This is all wrapped into this kind of phony concern about democracy.’ Grenell’s intervention highlights the extraordinary role he has carved out in the three years since Trump left the White House. From Central America to Eastern Europe and beyond, Grenell has been acting as a kind of shadow secretary of state, meeting with far-right leaders and movements, pledging Trump’s support and, at times, working against the current administration’s policies... Grenell’s globe-trotting has sparked deep concern among career national security officials and diplomats, who warn that he emboldens bad actors and jeopardizes U.S. interests in service of Trump’s personal agenda. In the process, Grenell is openly charting a foreign policy road map for a Republican presidential nominee who has found common cause with authoritarian leaders and threatened to blow up partnerships with democratic allies.”
