Raising $4.8 million to fund recount efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, 66-year-old Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein continues to play the role of spoiler in the 2016 election. Unable to get over one percent of the vote Nov. 8, Stein’s message resonated with a tiny fraction of voters, treated to her campaign gaffes through the campaign. Stein’s had no real message other than trying to take votes away from President-elect Donald Trump. Now she commits what former Democratic nominee Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Trump of doing in the Oct. 19 presidential debate in Las Vegas: Un-democratic behavior. Hillary railed at Trump for daring to suggest he would wait-and-see before conceding, if he lost the election. Now that the shoe’s on the other foot, Stein and the Hillary campaign refuse to concede, calling for wasteful recounts.
Losing by 27,000 votes in Wisconsin, 60,000 in Pennsylvania and 10,704 in Michigan, Hillary now backs Stein’s efforts to recount the votes. Hillary didn’t hesitate to concede to Trump in the wee hours of Nov. 9, after her advisors—and her own eyes—told her she lost the Electoral College Vote by a wide margin, now running 232 to 302, with only 270 needed with win the presidency. No election experts expects the vote to change significantly, with our without costly recounts. State officials in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan have no problem taking in millions for what amounts to a futile exercise. Hillary’s vehement attack against Trump Oct. 19 that he was un-democratic suggesting he wait-and-see before conceding shows voters the total hypocrisy of her campaign. Now Stein promotes her hacking conspiracy theory about why the Nov. 8 results can’t be trusted.
White House officials certified Friday, Nov. 25 that the Nov. 8 results “accurately reflect the will of the American people,” throwing cold water on Stein’s, and the Hillary campaign’s, phony conspiracy theory that Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were hacked by the Russians or some other nefarious group. U.S. intelligences officials found no evidence of hacking, tampering or subterfuge in the Nov. 8 election, regardless of Stein’s nonsense. Calling the justification for the recount unspecified “anomalies,” Stein continues her smoke blowing, pandering to the sour grapes of Hillary-backers that can’t fathom a Trump presidency. Instead of spending the $4.8 million, trying to raise $7 million, Stein’s chooses to throw fund-raising cash down a rat hole with wasteful recounts. Stein, the Green Party candidate, could have helped Native Americans battling the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Stein’s grandstanding about the election shows who really doesn’t accept the outcome of a free-and-fair U.S. election. “These recounts are part of an election integrity movement to attempt to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the U.S. election system is,” read Stein’s fund-raising Website. Pandering to conspiracy theories shows how low Stein will go to make waves, especially after U.S. intelligence agencies reported by the White House certified no irregularities Nov. 8. Getting all the help she needs in the mainstream media, recounts raise an infinitesimal probability to Hillary-backers that state officials got the results wrong. “After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts are causing many Americans to wonder if our election results are reliable,” Stein said on her Website, pushing her conspiracy theory.
When the White House douses Stein’s outrageous claims with cold water, it’s time for the mainstream media to lend some perspective on her charges. Exploiting her following with wasteful fund-raising shows how cavalier Stein has become taking cash from the public. What could be more wasteful than spending millions on recounts that won’t amount to anything other than a hill-of-beans. All the street protests by Hillary backers after the election shows that the U.S. education system has failed to explain to U.S. citizens the civic duty of U.S. elections. Time for protests are before, not after, elections. Hillary told voters Oct. 19 that it was imperative to protect U.S. democracy to accept election results. With zero evidence of election shenanigans, Stein’s claims promote the most cynical manipulation of voter sentiment after a closely contested general election.
Giving an X-ray into Stein’s real motivation for the recounts, she talks about “a divisive and painful presidential race.” Stein doesn’t really see voter fraud, she epitomizes the sour grapes of watching Hillary lose. Stein’s personal frustration should be no reason to take millions of fund-raising dollars from like-minded voters, unhappy with the election’s outcome. “These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 election is certified. We deserve elections we can trust,” said Stein, pushing her phony conspiracy theory after the White House debunked her motivation for the recounts. Stein seeks recounts to boost her fund-raising after a failed debt-ridden campaign. When the 115th Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2017, it should look into passing a law preventing scoundrels like Stein from promoting conspiracy theories to steal cash on false pretences from gullible voters.
