Monday, November 28, 2016

Call Him on His Lies

Going forward, citizens and especially news organizations need to speak up when the president-elect lies.

A recent tweet of Trump's: "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally"

There is no evidence of large-scale (or even medium-scale) illegal voting, anywhere in the United States. Trump has not given any; no news organization has come up with any as of this writing.

On the other hand, the Stein-backed recounts in three states (which are tentatively supported by the Clinton campaign) have factual impetus behind them—not illegal voting, but electronic hacking:
[A] group of prominent computer scientists and election lawyers … presented findings showing that in Wisconsin, Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes; she lost Wisconsin by 27,000. While it’s important to note the group has not found proof of hacking or manipulation, they are arguing to the campaign that the suspicious pattern merits an independent review — especially in light of the fact that the Obama White House has accused the Russian government of hacking the Democratic National Committee. (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/activists-urge-hillary-clinton-to-challenge-election-results.html)
Note that the unsubstantiated nature of the suspicions are stated right up front. This is the proper way to report on events that have yet to be confirmed.

Trump must be held accountable for lying. Some people might dismiss his untruthful statements during the campaign as politics-as-usual (although I do not); in his present role, and the one he assumes on January 20, his statements are far more serious and frightening.

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