By Jeff Simpson
In the final Trump V Clinton debate, Donald Trump finished the debate, the way he began - pure craziness.
Cue the outrage, which started almost immediately.
Threatening to upend a fundamental pillar of American democracy, Donald Trump refused to say Wednesday night that he will accept the results of next month's election if he loses to Hillary Clinton. The Democratic nominee declared Trump's resistance "horrifying."
Trump had spent the days leading up to the third and final presidential debate warning voters that the election would be "rigged." Asked whether he would accept the outcome if Clinton emerges victorious, he said, "I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense."
Trump's assertions raise the prospect that millions of his supporters may not accept the results on Nov. 8 if he loses, thrusting the nation into uncharted territory. Free and fair elections, with the vanquished peacefully stepping aside for the victor, have been the underpinning of America's democratic tradition since the country's founding 240 years ago.
The Republican National Committee immediately disavowed Trump's statement. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and election officials across the country have denied and denounced Trump's charges.
Apparently the national press corp, Hillary Clinton and members of the RNC have never been to Wisconsin. Once again, we were Trump Crazy before it was cool. Although instead of Scott Fitzgerald, this time it is his boss, formerly convicted felon Scott Jensen.
* Republican insiders discussed ginning up concerns over voter fraud in the days after then-Supreme Court Justice David Prosser narrowly defeated challengerJoAnne Kloppenburg in April 2011."Do we need to start messaging 'widespread reports of election fraud' so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number? I obviously think we should," wrote Steve Baas, a senior vice president with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, to a group of conservative operatives on April 6, 2011, a day after the Prosser-Kloppenburg contest."Yes. Anything fishy should be highlighted," wrote former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, a Republican. "Stories should be solicited by talk show hosts."
We know with the benefit of hindsight, that when Scott Jensen said "jump", Vicki Mckenna said "how high". While she knows what side her bread is buttered on, and needs to keep her bosses happy to keep her show on the air, the end result is the same. They wanted to make sure that if by chance Judge Kloppenburg actually won the election after the recount that no one would accept her as legit.
How is that different exactly?
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