Stopping the Steal

Anyone can make a film where they embolden confirmation bias by interviewing people and presenting evidence that only supports their own position. That is part of the disease of today's social media culture. The strength of this film is that it presents a hypothesis-that Donald Trump knew he lost the election, and there was no evidence to support it and proceeded anyway, from the position of pre-Trump supporters, State Officials, and Washington insiders. These people all wanted Trump to win, but they believed in truth more, The film shows how they were systemically targeted and vilified as they could not find any viable evidence to support the outrageous allegations made by the President's election team. It really is heart-wrenching to watch. Mike Pence, whom I was never a fan of, is a hero. He is a hero, for not only not overturning the election, but, as you will see, by not abandoning The Capitol while under siege, as he could have. This is a must watch.

The amazing effort Dan Reed put into this project is surpassed only by his brilliant result. It's the trial America has been needing. A verdict is soon to be rendered and this film will most certainly ensure a better outcome. Stopping the Steal was so engaging it was easy to lose sight of one's own perceptions and convictions; although, some extra name tags would have helped my brain recall all the players. The interview with Rusty Bowers stole the show and was especially inspiring. Of course, re-living Rudy Giuliani's drippage just made me lose my snot. In the end, it wasn't about presenting evidence, it was about revealing intent. Mr. Reed did the job well. Remaining denyers will either have to step out of their echo chambers and seek a new master, or find even more emotions to persuade with, because all reason has now been exhausted.

As "Stopping the Steal" (2024 release; 90 min) opens, we are in Arizona, a key swing state in the 2020 presidential election, and the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, controlled by Republicans, are facing increased pressure to declare Trump the winner, even though he lost. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: most critical in this documentary is that it is entirely seen and assessed from the Republicans' perspective. Not a single Democrat or independent voice is heard. Indeed, the remarkable thing is that the open and blatant attempt by Trump and his crew to throw out the will of the voters is thwarted primarily by... elected Republicans. We hear them time and again lamenting "we're simply doing our job". The documentary captures all the classis moments from election day to January 6, and to see it laid out so clearly is both chilling and horrifying. Of course we all know that Trump never has been, or is, or will be, a Republican. He simply hijacked the GOP for his own purposes and interests, and the GOP just let him do it. The timing of this documentary, released less than 2 months before the 2024 presidential election, is no coincidence of course. Already we see Trump cast doubt, every single day, that the election is "rigged". The fact that there is no evidence of that is of course nothing but a minor inconvenience, just like in 2020. It remains to be seen if our Republic can survive another open and blatant attempt to overthrow the will of the people...

"Stopping the Steal" started streaming on Max 10 days ago, and I finally found the time to watch it the other night. If you have any interest in politics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Trump has had fostered hatred within our nation. By exploiting vulnerabilities in the minds of a significant portion of the population, he has convinced the more susceptible that their lack of happiness or success is a result of actions by those in the opposing party. He consistently portrays himself as a victim and consistently criticizes and intimidates anyone who opposes his quest for absolute power. Saw a great meme yesterday. Shows somebody interviewing Trump. The caption states "Let me get this straight. You got fired from your last job as a top executive? Then you refused to leave called all your friends to vandalize the workplace, and on the way out of the office took a lot of the company's confidential documents. When you got caught you refused to give many of them back. And now you're reapplying for the same position?" He talks like a child and thinks he knows everything. He's just a few of his highlights, "I know more about the military than anyone." "I know more about the economy than anyone." "I know more about health care than anyone." "I alone can fix it." He's going to to throw a tantrum when he loses again this November.

A comprehensive and narratively gripping recount of MAGA's attempts to pressure, intimidate, and smear Republican election officials into overriding the will of the American people. If you know anyone who didn't follow the events of the last election closely and still isn't quite sure what happened, I implore you to show this to them.

Behind the act, the man portrayed in the testimonies here is the real Donald Trump. A dangerous, self-obsessed narcissist who would have never taken no for an answer - even if he'd decisively lost every state in the nation.

Let it be a warning of things to come should we make the same mistake again.