They’re just sayin’ – Some disagree with the dominant narrative, and so do I

Here and there in the news, the voices of rational people disagreeing with the narrative that is dominating American life over the past few days. 

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, spoke about the recent national elections with some clarity late last week. His words in a November 7 news story from the Oklahoma are worthy of attention, and earn my agreement. 
On his non-official Facebook page (November 5) he observed that Oklahoma counted its ballots in five hours, but those “battleground states”? Well, they “cannot even figure out how many ballots they have left to count after three days. We haven’t seen slow counting showing up in heavy Trump precincts, only in Democratic heavy precincts. … Trust, but verify.”

Then, in a statement from his office, the junior senator observed: “Seven heavily Democratic precincts in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia took days to complete their count when other precincts in the same state were long completed. That does not build trust in their election system. Every state has the obligation to provide an election system that allows everyone to vote, even vote to be counted and every vote to be verified.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, commented over the weekend: “I want Pennsylvania to explain to the American people how six people, after they die, can register and vote in Pennsylvania. I want the computer systems in Michigan that flip votes from Republicans to Democrats to be looked at — and the software was used all over the country.”

Then, there’s South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who on Sunday (November 8) told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News: “I appreciated that President Trump gave us the flexibility to do the right thing in our state and [we’ll] continue to do that. He let me do my job. But the other thing that I think is going on here, George, is that this is all premature. This is a premature conversation because we have not finished counting votes. There are states that have not been called, and back in 2000, Al Gore was given his day in court.”

Noem added, “We should give President Trump his day in court. Let the process unfold because, George, we live in a republic. We are a government that gets its power from the consent of the governed. That is the people. They give their consent on Election Day. Election Day needs to be fair, honest, and transparent, and we need to be sure that we had an honest election before we decide who gets to be in the White House the next four years.”

On October 31, the weekly “ScissorTales” feature on the editorial page of The Oklahoman, included this succinct reflection on a weighty matter: 

 “Germany and France instituted new lockdowns this week amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. In Germany, restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters are closed for a month, and public gatherings can’t exceed 10 people from two households. French residents must stay in their homes much of the time, with bars, shops and restaurants closed if they are deemed nonessential. Italy has seen violent protests since issuing new curfews and early closings of bars and clubs. Notable about these spikes is that during the spring, much of Europe, with lockdowns and mask mandates, was considered the model for how to reduce COVID spread. 
“Some voices in the United States want a return of sweeping restrictions here. The Wall Street Journal offers a better idea: ‘Targeted closures that protect the vulnerable are better policy responses until better treatments and a vaccine arrive or some broader immunity is reached.’ ” 

As adversaries watch deep national divisions persist in America, and as powerful voices instruct contrarians to shut up, I found these reflections most worthy of fresh distribution. As a person who watched closely events in the Georgia gubernatorial race in 2018, and remembers with some clarity the five weeks after Election Day in 2000, Americans need more information before we know what the result of this year’s Election was in, as opposed to in the varied musings and relentless certainty of mainstream news organizations.