Almost every American versed in our history is familiar with the name Benedict Arnold (or at least should be).
Initially a hero during the Revolutionary War, he became the most infamous traitor in American history after entering into secret negotiations with the British. Believing that he was not being appreciated for his efforts, he broke ranks with the Colonial Army in 1779. In exchange for the U.S. military post at West Point in New York, he was to receive financial compensation and a command in the British Army. His treachery was discovered, but Arnold managed to escape capture and safely ensconce himself behind British lines. His name became synonymous with “traitor” and has been applied to treasonous turncoats ever since.
Now, 241 years later, we are in a new period of the American Revolution.
Though we are not currently engaged in a kinetic or “hot” war, patriots are in a battle for the Republic’s very soul. In this information warfare stage of the battle, we rely on conservative faces and voices to keep morale high. Unfortunately, as of late, we have a new batch of traitors and turncoats in the mix. They are everywhere, from spineless (and sometimes corrupt) Republican legislators to so-called conservative media personalities and pundits. We even have a few corporate entities.
In this series, I will be looking at all of the facts and available data to determine who future generations will understand to be the current battle’s biggest traitors. So, who will win the not-so coveted title of the new Benedict Arnold?
In this installment, we will look at state legislators, specifically governors.
Currently in the running are Georgia’s Governor, Brian Kemp, and Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey. Both are registered Republicans, both have worked with Donald Trump, both serve traditionally red states that during this election cycle have gone (according to those paying close attention) inexplicably blue. Brian Kemp was even endorsed by the President!
Let’s begin with Georgia and Governor Kemp.
The amount of information coming out about this man and his underhanded dealings with Dominion Voting Systems (which I examined in a previous piece here at American Reveille) is staggering. As I have been researching, I have been appalled at my findings. Kemp seems to be at best inept and at worst absolutely unscrupulous. Interestingly enough, a current Dominion lobbyist is a former staffer of Gov. Kemp, “…Dominion, whose lobbyist, Jared Thomas, was Governor Brian Kemp’s chief of staff and press secretary from 2012 to 2015 when Kemp was secretary of state.”
READ: SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF THE DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS CORPORATION
That alone gives a disconcerting impression of a conflict of interest. Sidney Powell, the patriot and powerhouse attorney, focused on Dominion’s alleged electronic voter fraud, took the allegations against Kemp a step further, stating, “pay-for-play kickbacks to public officials, potentially even Georgia GOP Gov. Kemp for a late ($100M) grant to use Dominion Voting Systems.”
The certification and use of Dominion in Georgia is complicated, to say the least. According to Pamela Gellar of The Gellar Report, “Georgia officials awarded a contract for 30,000 new voting machines to Dominion in late 2019 scrapping the state’s 17-year-old electronic voting equipment and replacing it with touchscreens.”
To be frank, while the state’s previous voting system, licensed through ES&S (also mentioned in the Dominion piece), was old, the company had been offering software updates for years. When the state went looking to update, the legislature budgeted $150 million. At $107 million, Dominion came in well below the state’s budget, which would ordinarily be a good thing; unfortunately, it also came with the lowest quality and security score. Keep in mind, a former staffer of Kemp’s is a current lobbyist for Dominion and, according to Powell, her “investigation has revealed ‘money or benefits being paid to family members of those who signed the contract for Georgia.'” If that’s not damning enough, Kemp is stonewalling attempts to get Powell’s evidence before the legislature.
According to leftist “independent media site” Alternet, “Trump supporters in Georgia believe Kemp should have called a special legislative session to make changes to absentee voting, or somehow deny certification of Biden’s win, and there’s a movement afoot to remove him from office before 2022.” Pierce County GOP chair Kay Godwin states, “He [Kemp] will be primaried. I’m just hoping and praying we get the right one this time.” We will get to the importance of the state legislature a little later in the piece. The important thing is, why doesn’t Kemp want the information known?
Powell and fellow attorney Lin Wood have been fighting to access the actual voting machines to perform forensic audits. They requested the machines be turned over as they were the night of the election and butted up against a hostile Secretary of State (also “Republican”). Over the past several days, political observers have gotten whiplash trying to keep up as a judge first granted their plea, then withdrew, and finally granted it again. Unfortunately, amid that confusion, the server in Fulton County (which includes Atlanta) crashed and was ultimately “wiped” during an “update” by an IT technician who is also a county employee. The accidents just keep adding up, and the swamp just keeps getting deeper. Not to be outdone, Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey has also rushed to certify.
Yesterday (Monday, November 30), Ducey certified the questionable results in his state while an evidentiary hearing before the state’s legislature was actively occurring! Ironically enough, Ducey has been known for bragging about his close relationship with the President, to such a degree that he changed his phone’s White House ring tone to play “Hail to the Chief.” In fact, as Ducey signed the certification, those familiar strains were heard trilling out from his suit pocket. Ducey went on to tweet a long thread defending his actions on Monday night, stating that, “The problems that exist in other states simply don’t apply here. I’ve also said all along, I’m going to follow the law. So here’s what the law says… It requires the Secretary of State, in the presence of the Governor and the Attorney General, to canvass the election on the fourth Monday following the general election. That was today.”
You can read the rest of his tweets here.
I find it interesting that Gov. Ducey states unequivocally, “The problems that exist in other states simply don’t apply here.” Even as credible witnesses came forward to explain that, yes, the *exact* same issues that we have seen in other states were also seen in Arizona. The juxtaposition of those two facts is mind-boggling. However, the good governor did remind people that there is a five-day window after certification for “credible challenges” to be brought to court, so perhaps he isn’t totally turning his back on the President and is opening the door for legal challenges. While he never mentioned that ultimately, the state legislature does have the final call! The jury is still out on his ultimate standing, though.
Tangentially, does it even matter if the evidence of election fraud gets before the state legislature?
It turns out that it matters a great deal. To explain, I turn to another source, not known for its conservative leanings, The New York Times. According to a November 16, 2020 article, the NYT states, “The Constitution gives state legislatures the power to determine the “manner” in which electors are appointed to the Electoral College, the body of 538 people who formally choose the President.” If there is any question about the election’s integrity, the legislature reserves the right to pick who will serve as electors and which way their votes will go. The NYT piece unsurprisingly does not look favorably on this, calling it a “far-fetched scenario;” however, if the brave GOP legislators of Pennsylvania have anything to say, it might hold more merit than they expect.
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