Hunter Biden Guilty verdict rocks MAGA conspiraverse
June 12, 2024
Cognitive dissonance refers to the psychological discomfort experienced by a person who holds two beliefs that contradict one another. People suffering from cognitive dissonance “try to avoid information that increases the dissonance. The greater the magnitude of the dissonance, the greater the pressure to reduce dissonance.”
MAGA extremists believe that Trump's 34 guilty verdicts can be explained by a conspiratorial worldview in which Joe Biden has weaponized the Department of Justice against Trump (never mind that Trump was convicted by state prosecutors, not the DOJ).
On Tuesday, a federal jury convicted Hunter Biden in a case brought by the DOJ for a crime that is rarely, if ever, charged against Americans not named Hunter Biden.
Wait, what?! Doesn’t Joe Biden control the DOJ? How, then, to explain that “Joe Biden’s DOJ” convicted his son? Worse, how to explain that Joe Biden issued a statement saying,
I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.
What gives?! Does Joe Biden control the DOJ or not? The verdict sent Republicans scrambling “to avoid information that increases” the cognitive dissonance. In short order, MAGAworld invented a new “conspiraverse” (conspiracy + universe) that permits the inconsistent facts to coexist. In that conspiraverse,
Per the Trump campaign, the verdict was engineered by Joe Biden as a “distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.”
Trump adviser Stephen Miller said that the “gun charges are a giant misdirection” and that the “DOJ is Joe’s election protection racket.”
Charlie Kirk said the case against Hunter Biden was a “fake trial trying to make the Justice system appear ‘balanced.’
See Politico, Hunter Biden verdict throws ‘sand in the gears’ of GOP’s attacks on legal system.
If you have to construct a new universe of conspiracies to explain why Joe Biden would convict his son of a gun felony to “balance” the conviction of Trump for election interference, you might be a member of a cult.
Although the jury did its job by weighing the evidence and applying the facts to the law, one juror expressed his belief that the case was “a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The filing of the case was a politically motivated travesty that was a holdover brought by a Trump-appointed special counsel that Joe Biden had the right to dismiss—but did not.
Joe Biden has put his respect for the rule of law above his strong and abiding love for his son. That act is both a personal sacrifice and a sign of Joe Biden’s fealty to the Constitution. He is a good man. History will remember Joe Biden as a great president whose exemplary conduct in office sets the gold standard for future presidents.
Watch Joe Biden respond to protestors at Everytown for Gun Safety Speech
Please watch this video. Hours after Hunter Biden was convicted of a gun crime, President Biden spoke at an event for Moms Demand Action / Everytown for Gun Safety. During the President’s remarks, a protestor shouted something about “genocide.” The crowd began booing the protestor and chanting “Four more years” to drown out the protestor’s comments.
Joe Biden tried to quiet the crowd, saying, “That’s all right. No. No. No.” He then said, “Look. They care. Innocent children have been lost. They make a point.” The video is here: MSNBC: President Speaks after Hunter found guilty.
Joe Biden is a good man. History will remember him as a great president whose exemplary conduct in office sets the gold standard for future presidents.
World Bank says strong US economy is leading global recovery; WaPo explains why that is bad news for Biden.
The World Bank issued a report on the state of the global economy and credited the stronger than expected US recovery for lifting the world economy. See WaPo, Surprising U.S. economy is powering better global outlook, World Bank says.
The WaPo article reports as follows:
The global economy is in better shape than it was at the start of the year, thanks largely to the performance of the United States, the World Bank said in its latest forecast Tuesday. . . . [¶]
[T]he World Bank now expects the U.S. economy to grow at an annual rate of 2.5 percent, nearly a full percentage point higher than it predicted in January. The United States is the only advanced economy growing significantly faster than the bank anticipated at the start of the year. [¶]
“Globally, overall things are better today than they were just four or five months ago,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist. “A big part of this has to do with the resilience of the U.S. economy.”
So, how does the Post make a “bad news story” out of the World Bank’s glowing review of the US performance? By citing to the possibility that the Fed will raise interest rates and pointing to persistent US consumer unhappiness over inflation. The subheader on the WaPo story is, “High interest rates and trade tensions pose risks to a newly upbeat forecast, though.” And the Post adds, “Americans’ unhappiness with high prices remains a key vulnerability for President Biden’s reelection bid.”
While the Post’s observations are accurate, good news is always tempered by the prospect of future bad news. But in the WaPo universe, no story of Joe Biden is allowed to be good news. Because, you know, the Post has to maintain a false balance between a president who seeks to protect the rule of law and a Convicted Felon, a twice impeached former president found liable for defaming a woman he sexually assaulted and found liable for massive financial fraud in New York.
Federal Judge declares Florida’s ban on care for transgender youth unconstitutional.
Ron DeSantis promoted and passed a bill that prohibited gender affirming care for minors and restricted such care for adults. On Monday, a Florida federal judge declared the law unconstitutional. The opinion is here: Doe v. Ladapo | Order on the Merits.
For those interested in the legal bases underpinning the ruling, I recommend reading as much of the 105 page brief as you can. The opinion is grounded on the fact that “gender identity is real”—while the Florida law presumes that youth who identify as a gender different than their “natal” sex are confused. Judge Robert L. Hinkle writes,
Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear. The defendants, speaking through their attorneys, have admitted it. At least one defense expert also has admitted it. That expert is Dr. Stephen B. Levine, the only defense expert who has actually treated a significant number of transgender patients. . . .
Transgender opponents are, of course, free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Whenever I write about legal decisions or legislation involving bans on transgender care, I receive emails from readers that say, “The medical science about gender-affirming care is unsettled.” Okay, if you believe the science is unsettled, you should want the medical profession to work through those issues—rather than having Ron DeSantis determine the standard of medical care for all transgender youth and adults for all time. The issue is the constitutionality of the law, not the state of medical science. In no other area—except reproductive liberty—are legislators prohibiting medical practitioners from working in clinical and research settings to treat recognized conditions. Florida’s law was based on a religious agenda and, as such, violates the Constitution.
Two important stories about eligibility to vote
Republicans in Congress are proposing legislation that would require new voters to provide proof of US citizenship to register to vote—despite the fact that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud based on lack of US citizenship. Like most such rules, they are designed to disproportionately affect poor Americans and communities of color—both which are less likely to have common forms of citizenship documents (like passports).
NPR published a story on Monday about the cynical efforts to disenfranchise US citizens of their right to vote. VoteRiders is a non-partisan organization dedicated to helping voters obtain necessary identification to register. Read about the NPR story and VoteRiders work, here: 1 in 10 eligible U.S. voters say they can’t easily show proof of their citizenship • VoteRiders.
The Civics Center is a non-partisan group dedicated to helping register high-school students who become eligible to vote. The founder of the Civics Center, Laura Brill, writes a Substack newsletter that reports on the good work of the Civics Center. The most recent newsletter has some good news worth sharing. See Michigan Miracle - by Laura W. Brill - The Civics Center (substack.com).
Laura writes:
It’s not every day we get to report on something going great when it comes to states helping the youngest voters register.
When we pulled the state voter file, we were expecting the voter registration rate for 18-year-olds in Michigan to be more or less in line with the rates in nearby Pennsylvania (24%, as of April 2024) and Ohio (32%, as of May 2024) or the national rate (30%, as of Nov. 2022).
But Michigan blew us away: 62.9% of the state’s 18-year-olds are registered to vote as of May 1, 2024. The rate is up by 4.4 percentage points just since March 2024. The state enacted automatic voter registration (AVR) in 2018, as part of a voter-approved constitutional amendment to protect and expand voting rights in the state.
Check out the Civic Center’s website here: The Civics Center
Opportunity for Reader engagement
I received this note from my friends at 31st Street Swing Left:
Biden needs to win decisively! And Arizona is the linchpin to make that happen. And Ohio with Sherrod Brown is crucial to a Federal trifecta that we need get anything done and turn this country around. But there is so much more in AZ and OH, from US House races, to Supreme Court, Legislature to key ballot initiatives. We can support all that through key on-the-ground grassroots groups.
Please join 31st Street Swing Left’s fundraiser supporting a set of Arizona and Ohios grassroots groups, Thursday June 20 at 7p.m ET. Including guests Reginald Bolding of Arizona’s Our Voice our Vote, and Deidra Reese of Ohio Organizing Collaborative.
31st Street Swing Left is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to electing Democrats, up and down the ballot, through persistence and precision, and especially by promoting broad impact, long term infrastructure.
Here is the link to register for this free event. And here is the link to donate to the non tax-deductible 501(c)4 groups. And here is the link to donate to the tax-deductible 501(c)3 groups
Concluding Thoughts
In yesterday’s Concluding Thoughts, I wrote:
Finally, avoid apocalyptic thinking if possible. The 2024 election is hugely important, but it will not be the last election in which we will be called upon to defend democracy.
Several readers in the Comments section disagreed with my statement, saying variously that “This could very well be the last election for the foreseeable future,” that we could “lose our democracy” if Trump wins, and (according to historian Ken Burns), “We’ll either have a continuation of the United States of America or we won’t.”
You can read the entire lengthy exchange here, but I want to move this discussion beyond yesterday’s Comments section and discuss Democratic messaging overall. For their part, the readers who suggested the possible end to our democracy believe that communicating that possibility to voters is essential to motivating turnout. They aren’t predicting disaster because they are defeatists but because they want to win.
Nonetheless, I think that the “end of democracy” messaging is wrong and dangerous. This approach has been adopted by many illustrious commentators—including Ken Burns and Robert Reich (as noted by one reader). I am here to tell you that despite what they may say about the end of democracy if Trump wins, Ken Burns and Robert Reich don’t believe that statement. Indeed, if Trump were to win (and I don’t believe he will), Ken Burns and Robert Reich would be at the forefront of the resistance to ensure that democracy does not end.
The problem with using “the end of democracy” message as a way to motivate voters is that there is a non-zero chance that Trump could win. It is a close race. If Trump does win, what happens? Do we say, “Ah! Well, that’s the end of 240 years of the greatest experiment in democracy! I hate it when that happens!” or do we say, “American democracy is bigger than Trump. It will outlast him by centuries if only we choose to continue the fight.”
Whoever wins in November, Joe Biden will likely receive 85 million votes. Those voters are not helpless sheep who will watch silently as Trump attempts to overturn democratic norms and the rule of law. While he may advance some anti-democratic measures, the infrastructure of our democracy and its great charter will remain.
Said differently, by a show of hands, how many people will give up on America if Trump wins? If any of us do give up on America, we are not worthy of a gift that was purchased with the lives of a million Americans and centuries of endurance and persistence by millions of enslaved people and their descendants who lived under Jim Crow laws for 75 years. If we give up, we would not be worthy of a gift where women have struggled for the right to vote and own property, to control their reproductive decisions, and to be treated equally under the law. We would not be worthy of a country that finally recognizes the right of people to marry those whom they love regardless of sex. But we are worthy of all of those gifts—if only we do not collapse in surrender if Trump wins.
As a nation, we have endured and prevailed over much greater threats than Trump—and if need be, we can endure and prevail over him again.
Am I saying Trump will not inflict great damage on our democracy? No.
Am I saying we should minimize the threat posed by Trump? No.
What I am saying is that we must not underestimate the will and fortitude of the American people. But we do so by the truckload when we say that a Trump victory will be the end of democracy.
So, please, don’t engage in apocalyptic messaging that predicts the end of democracy. Instead, focus on specific ways in which Trump plans to assault democracy and highlight those issues to motivate specific groups of voters, issues such as reproductive liberty; LGBTQ equality; Black voting rights; gun safety; climate; mass deportations; contraception; Social Security and Medicare; equal justice under law; a Supreme Court free of corruption; a federal judiciary that is not an arm of the Republican Party; a DOJ that pursues justice, not vengeance; one person one vote; a tax code that does not favor billionaires; and a political system that is not fueled by dark money.
I believe we are going to beat Donald Trump. But it will take every ounce of effort we can muster. Motivating and sustaining one another is an essential component of our strategy. As I wrote yesterday, “if you are one of the lucky people who can maintain a hopeful outlook in the face of anxiety-producing news, display your optimism and confidence! It is contagious! If you model hope and optimism, you will lift others in ways you will never know.”
This is a tough battle, but we are more than up to the task!
Stay strong! We have every reason to be hopeful but no reason to be complacent!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Robert, I am with you…Biden will win and it’s because there are more of us than there are of them. R’s are busy creating fear-mongering chaos while Dems are hard at work at organizing, speaking, questioning, and signing people up to register to vote. Look at the younger people especially in Michigan…62%. That’s magnificent! The one thing we have that Germany didn’t is social media where we can converse, like this. Newspaper reporting is negative towards Biden, so screw them. We have Fox and NewsMax who are more than willing to spew their BS on the air. Young GenZers, like Victor Shi, David Hogg, and Olivia Julianna are political activists who influence others. Shi and Hogg were at Parkland when the shooting occurred. So is Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, who represents Florida’s 10th District. Economy is in great shape. Alito and Thomas were the emperors with no clothes this week. Jamie Raskin and Jim McGovern just destroyed Comer and Jordan in the Oversight Committee. Nope, I am not afraid.
The simplest and best response to those who say that “medical science about gender-affirming care is unsettled” is this:
ALL science is unsettled. Permanently. That is the nature of the enterprise. That’s what makes it so wonderful and so frustrating.
At one time hermaphrodites were carnival attractions and malaria was caused by bad air. Eight years after I was born, it was discovered that the human cell has 46 chromosomes, not 48…(!)… and I was 20 before continental drift became widely accepted.
The more we learn about genetics and cellular biology, the clearer it becomes that there is an extremely broad spectrum of human sexuality….that genetic sex, gender identification, and sexual orientation are three very different entities…and that the only reasonably well understood topic is genetic sex. The field is in its infancy and as Robert well articulates, basic science belongs with scientists, not with people who contort facts to meet their preconceived ideologies.
The last thing I thought I would see in my lifetime was not simply a replay of the Scopes Trial, but its extension into SCOTUS and our governing bodies in a way that truly threatens our entire polity.
THAT is the reason I am writing personal postcards to folks in Philly and Virginia Beach. It’s the reason that my time will absolutely not be my own for the foreseeable future. I don’t for a minute believe that Trump’s defeat in November will settle the matter. But it’s an important and crucial beginning, and will be a gift to my grandkids.