Dear Friends,
It’s a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short! Yesterday was a travel day for me, and I was studiously tapping away on the plane, but when I got home I was A) Too tired to finish it, and B) Not really happy with the content. So I thought I’d sleep on it and get The Square Inch to you on a Saturday this week. I apologize for your disappointment yesterday.
It has been a good week of travel, but I’m struck by how hard it has been. COVID shut down nearly all my travel this year, and I didn’t realize just how attached I’d become to just being at home with my favorite people all the time. It’s been a silver lining, as we’ve all discovered anew just how much we like each other.
This trip had a new delight—Bailey (14) took it upon herself to write and seal seven envelopes. Kind of like a feel-good version of the book of Revelation, I guess. She gave me the whole stack, and I was to read one each day. They followed the themes of what she knew of my itinerary each day, and they were delightfully creative notes of encouragement. And they really were encouraging. I know she’s my daughter and all, but what a great friend.
Okay, I’m at the end of a trip so I’m feeling sentimental. Let’s find something to talk about, shall we?
Fraudulent Claims of Fraud
Those of you who know me know that I was very discouraged in 2016 about the state of the Republican Party. I watched in disbelief as a great number of people I love, trust, and respect looked at a wide field of competent potential candidates, focused in on the Orange guy, and said, "Yes! Him! That’s the one!" I did not begrudge those who, after his nomination, sought to make the best of the situation. It was early-adopters who most disappointed me.
I confess that I am more discouraged today than I was then, this despite a sensationally great election year for the GOP. This time it isn’t the early adoption of Donald Trump. It’s the late—non-existent—concession that he lost his re-election bid. I have friends who are very smart and worldly wise (in other words, ought to know better) who are beclowning themselves on Facebook and Twitter on a minute-by-minute basis about how the TRUTH about mass election fraud is going to be exposed any minute now.
I’m going to just say it, and you can unsubscribe if it makes you angry: every single theory about how those devious leftists stole this election is...how to be polite? Detached from reality? I guess that’ll do. Nuts. It is getting close to full-on 9/11 Trutherism—at least I hold both conspiracy theories in equal contempt. These election fraud theories only exist on Twitter and the OANN cable network. No actual attorney would dare allege some of these things in an actual courtroom in this country because they’d have sanctions slapped on them and they’d be disbarred, so devoid of merit are they. And, on top of that, the things lawyers actually are alleging have no possible chance of overturning any race. I wonder if my friends really believe that Trump really won or if they’re just cynically building a future monetizeable audience of disappointed MAGA people by demonstrating their uncommon loyalty to the Dear Leader. Either way, it is disheartening to me. I won’t unfriend anybody over it (never let politics determine your friendships), but I will probably have to distance myself a bit professionally going forward. That is a sad state of affairs.
I can hear it now: "Brian, you don’t understand just how evil these people are." Sigh. I will not waste too many words on this topic because I’ve figured out that some people are impervious to rational argument. If “they” are that evil, and, more importantly, that competent, and they do this all the time, how did Trump get elected in the first place? Did the thieves just take 2016 off? How do Republicans ever win any election? I mean, they’ve hacked the voting machines, right? That makes it even more bizarre: they fixed the election for Joe Biden but didn’t bother with any other Democrat candidates? What a weird conspiracy.
There is one popular Twitter maven whom I will not name or link because she deserves no serious attention. She reminds me of Bellatrix Lestrange ardently trying to let everyone know that she, and she alone, has been the Dark Lord’s most faithful servant all these long years. Seriously, the sycophancy of her Twitter feed is a sight to behold. Anyway, she commented incredulously something to the effect of: "You mean to tell me all these people voted for Republican Governors and legislators but also for Joe Biden? Don’t make me laugh."
Well, that is what I mean to tell you. They might not have voted for Joe Biden, but they did write someone in or just leave the Presidential race blank. I know this will come as a shock to Ms. Lestrange, living in a hermetically sealed bubble as she does, but a significant number of people are just not that into her guy. A significant enough number for him to lose a fairly close election. And that is what happened. Occam’s Razor—the simplest explanation is likely the correct explanation. There is no need (well, beyond the psychological self-serving need to blame someone, anyone, other than Trump) for a vast conspiracy of hacking voting machines or dumping tens of thousands of excess illegitimate ballots into the mix in the middle of the night.
At the end of the day, math is math. I may not be good at it, but I do know that it exists and that there are lots of people who are good at it. Here’s a further thing to consider: our knowledge of the electorate in this country is very granular and refined. We know, county by county, how many registered voters there are. Actually, because of legislative districts, we know all about each discrete neighborhood in this country. We know the entire history of their voting patterns. What this means is that mass irregularities are relatively easy to spot for people who know what to look for. And they do look, and they have been looking, and they are saying unequivocally that there is no evidence of the kinds of massive fraud needed to sway this election.
The "fraud" narrative itself is a mass fraud—a dangerous erosion of public trust in our institutions, and so lacking in anything that rises above the level of innuendo that it is unworthy of honorable people. And if you are really interested in having that proven, take twenty minutes to read this article. It will help you get unstuck from Step 1 of the five stages of grief: “Denial.” Then you should briskly move through anger, bargaining, depression, and finally you will arrive at the far healthier place of “acceptance.” Then we can join together and consolidate our political gains (Georgia Senate runoff race, here’s looking at you) and plan for a House takeover in 2022. Or, alternatively, we could just blow up the Party and all credibility for the sake of Donald Trump’s wounded ego.
I’m happy to point out, by the way, that in 2016 when the shoe was on the other foot, the left went into their own delusional conspiracy mongering about the Russians. It’s gross when anyone, without evidence, casts doubt on the integrity of our elections, and I won’t give anyone a pass because of what side of the aisle they are on. This is all symptomatic of an unhealthy nation.
Finally, for Christians this leads to an important practical and theological point, ably expressed by Erick Erickson:
Please stop it.
Ain’t No Grave
Speaking of Jesus being raised from the dead, I had the privilege of giving a chapel message this week at my Alma Mater, Westminster Theological Seminary. The text was Colossians 1:15-23, and I focused attention on the significance of Christ’s resurrection body.
Here’s the video:
As a public speaking event, it was a bit strange because the auditorium only held a handful of people because of COVID restrictions and most of the gathering was on the Livestream. When you’re speaking in front of a crowd, you get “feedback,” eye-to-eye contact, gestures, body language and so forth. It’s very strange to talk for a half and hour into the void. But I trust that God’s word will not return to him void.
Colossians tells us that Christ is the “firstborn from among the dead,” and I tried to expand on the significance of that with reference to Psalm 89, where the Psalmist uses that word, “firstborn,” to describe God’s promise to King David. The Psalmist laments that the promise cannot be fulfilled because all men die, and no one can save himself from the power of the grave.
Well, Jesus, the Seed of David, walked out of the grave. God vindicated his promises, and because Jesus is raised then we, too, shall be raised. This is the great gospel hope.
I mentioned a song lyric in my message: “If you walked out of the grave, I’m walking too.” It’s a powerful line, and I’ll close out this week with the video of Molly Skaggs singing it. Note: the theatricality of some of the performers is something of a turn-off for me, but I at least recommend listening to it. You could do worse than having it stick in your head for awhile. Have a wonderful week.
I bookmarked this to read back in November when you posted it, but it's been a busy season and I'm just now getting to it. And, let me thank you so much for writing this. It's good to know there are still a few sane conservative folks around.