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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023

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I don't understand why you are being so vague. The uncharitable explanation is that you wish to avoid having your opinion scrutinized. So:

Which one are you referring to and why didn't it pass muster? What do you wish was done differently?

"Don't restart counting after telling the scrutineers you were stopping, and don't lie/hairplit/gaslight the public about that afterwards"?

What do you believe is missing? What do you believe should have been done differently with the investigation (if anything)?

I'd didn't say anything about the investigation -- if you don't want people accusing you of fraud, don't engage in fraud-like activity in the first place.

if you don't want people accusing you of fraud, don't engage in fraud-like activity in the first place.

This is really good advice in general, except it wouldn't have mattered here. Sidney Powell accepted a source on election fraud that claimed they got their info from the wind and she still accused people of fraud in a very public and legal manner. Some folks in this crowd were primed to believe anything unfortunately.

You asked about untoward shit that went down on election night, you got some patient answers, and now you slide back to your weakman -- you are the only one bringing up Powell today, why are you fixating on the obviously crazy allegations instead of addressing the things that real people find concerning?

I apologize, I realize now that I misread your response. I didn't realize that your "Don't restart counting..." was a direct response to my "What do you wish was done differently?" and I lost the conversation thread in between checking notifications.

I understand that Powell is disfavored nowadays but she remains relevant as a showcase for the intense credulity many showcased at the time (including at the highest level of government). I recognize her existence is inconvenient for those who wish to believe election fraud allegations were made in good faith, but it's nevertheless still reality. It's not a weakman if it was enthusiastically endorsed at the time. The water main break story was first publicized by Giuliani claiming they were pulling out suitcases of ballots. Giuliani is also an example of somehow displaying intense credulity (or at least motivated reasoning). The water main break story keeps getting replayed and I still don't understand what the core claim is, aside from just vaguely generating smoke. @zeke5123 said "still hasn’t been fully explained" but I genuinely have no idea which part is missing, which is why my questions were about the investigation and how it could've been done differently.

Well, the issue is there was no water main break but they did stop counting / sent people home so the question is why. Perhaps it was merely incompetence but it just looks suspicious. Once again, none of this is proof. And until you have proof the election result should stand.

My overarching point is that the deep state broke laws / convention to stop Trump. Then we know about election fortification and suspect stories. Is it really unbelievable that they (or other actors) wouldn’t “steal” an election? Once again, not proof! Just a point that when you add everything up it wouldn’t be shocking in the least if real evidence ultimately emerged.

Also, Giuliani didn’t publicize the story. I remember it was reported on election night. I remember hearing the report and thinking “shenanigans!”

Well, the issue is there was no water main break but they did stop counting / sent people home so the question is why. Perhaps it was merely incompetence but it just looks suspicious. Once again, none of this is proof. And until you have proof the election result should stand.

Well it's helpful to specify suspicious of what, exactly? The theory (as best as I can understand it) is that someone made up a story of a water main break to get poll watchers to leave, in order to...pull out suitcases full of ballots in front of several security cameras? The water main break / overflowing urinal story makes a lot more sense as an instance of a game of telephone combined with the media's shoddy record with reporting breaking news.

Also, Giuliani didn’t publicize the story.

Sorry I wasn't clear, Giuliani publicized the "suitcases of ballots" security camera footage.