Delusional 

What's it going to take for 5th District SLO County Supervisor Debbie Arnold and her ilk to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election and that SLO County elections are run fairly and accurately? Will anything?

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Arnold willingly submerges herself in the swampy, gaseous world of unproven conspiracies and misinformation, which was on full display in Atascadero on July 23, when 4 The Republic hosted "Exposing Election Fraud," a presentation by David Clements and his wife, Erin Clements, founders of New Mexico Audit Force, who claim to have uncovered overwhelming evidence of voter fraud and a stolen presidential election. They haven't.

I missed the live event, but thankfully, local Trump-thumpers 4therepublic.org posted the nearly three-hour celebration of Trump Delusional Syndrome on Aug. 4, so if you want to get a gander at the depth and desperation of the unhinged right, tickle your fingers across the keyboard and find it.

The opening frame is red, white, and blue jingo-tastic—"4 God, 4 Truth, 4 Liberty, 4 Constitution"—and in the upper right hand corner, Proverbs 11:11. I looked it up for you: "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown."

Hm. Are liberals—who gave us Social Security and Medicare, clean air and water laws, public education, worker safety laws, child labor laws, and all the other stuff that makes people's lives better—the wicked or the upright? I'm confused.

A lady in a spiffy off-white outfit (Maria Smith of 4 The Republic? Maybe? She didn't introduce herself) addressed the gathering.

"Debbie Arnold is in the house. Debbie Arnold is one of the lone voices on the Board of Supervisors that is truly fighting for election integrity, so thank you, Debbie. And John Peschong is here. Sorry! John Peschong from District 1."

Technically, Peschong wasn't "here." He was invited but didn't attend, though he joined by Zoom. After cajoling a kid into leading those assembled in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and then scolding the kid for not saying "amen," she introduced David Clements, a law professor suspended and later fired by New Mexico State University for rejecting the university's mask and vaccine mandates.

"When they witnessed the nonsensical results of the 2020 election, they felt called to find out what happened," said Lady in White who's maybe Maria Smith.

(Hand raised!) "Oo, oo! I know what happened! Pick me! Their candidate lost, and they're so delusional they actually believe, deep in their two-sizes too small hearts, that the majority of Americans think like they do, so there was no way, no way in hell, Trump lost ... except the majority of Americans don't think like conservatives and didn't vote for Trump in 2020, and he lost fair and square, but now the Clementses have committed their lives to spreading conspiracy theories and traveling the country preying on other delusional Americans because ... 'Thanks for your prayers and donations, suckers!'"

According to—I'll just call her White Lady—some of Clements' fraud claims include that "the tabulation machines are more than just vote counters but have the capability of printing ballots and even marking up ballots as if humans did so."

(Insert widened, incredulous eyes.)

Another Clements "gotcha" argument is that vote counting "mysteriously stopped" on election day at 10:30 p.m. and didn't resume until the following morning. Um, OK? You think people overseeing the vote count deciding to go to bed and resume work in the morning is evidence of fraud? The gullibility of people buying into these arguments is breathtaking.

What about those 60 or so lawsuits alleging election fraud that were unable to offer any evidence and were dismissed? Clements argues it was a vast conspiracy even though judges appointed by Trump or other Republicans oversaw dozens of the dismissed lawsuits.

This stunning dearth of election fraud evidence means absolutely nothing to these people, who are like hungry, angry dingos with their jaws on your election baby. They ain't lettin' go! Why would they? They've surrounded themselves, submerged themselves, hell, they're slow-basting themselves in a stew of misinformation perpetuated by the likes of White Lady, the Clementses, and organizations like 4 The Republic and the San Luis Obispo County Citizens Action Team (Made up of the same people?) that's raising money to continue the local recount, which so far has shown zero fraud and zero counting errors. Zero.

Worst of all, this delusional bullshit is sadly swallowed hook, line, and sinker by our own elected official Debbie Arnold. Really, Debbie?

"You've given us confidence," Arnold gushed at the presentation. "We made a run at this before and we were shot down publicly."

Yeah, because you're wrong and the Clementses' presentation is a snipe hunt only a child would believe.

At least Peschong isn't a total nitwit. He recently told New Times he was "open" to any evidence but that nothing in the Clementses' presentation convinced him fraud had occurred. Peschong as the voice of reason? Who knew?

The bottom line is we've had vote by mail for years and we've used the same voting machines for years, including in 2016 when Trump won.

See what I just did, Debbie? Even though I can't believe anyone would vote for him, I admit the 2016 election was fair and Trump won. Your turn! Δ

The Shredder prints, marks, and eats ballots. Admit you believe it to [email protected].