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Wild Bill's avatar

"Given that Trump is essentially on trial for “lying” about the theft of the 2020 election, his defense rests upon proving that he was telling the truth."

This is overreach. First Trump does not need to prove anything; all he must do (these are criminal allegations with jail time attached) is create a reasonable doubt about the government's case against him. This is a far lighter burden, and it is even lighter than the 'preponderance of evidence' standard used in civil cases.

Secondly, the issue is not whether Trump was telling the truth, it is whether Trump believed he was telling the truth. You do hit on this fact elsewhere, but it is a very important distinction. It is this distinction which gives Trump the right to bring evidence forward regarding his state of mind. If the matter was simply about 'the truth,' Trump's state of mind would be irrelevant; the government would be free to present whatever evidence they deem relevant to establishing 'the truth.' Trump's beliefs would be irrelevant; but in reality they are the essence of the matter.

Trump's right to bring forth evidence supporting his belief that the election was stolen from him is key to his defense, and also key to the disclosure that he and the White Hats are planning. The government cannot deny him the right to present this evidence, though they may well try. Those decisions (which would be violations of due process) may be appealed and if there is a pattern of obstruction by the government, can be cause for recusal, change of venue, or even dismissal with prejudice.

My belief is that these indictments were a smoke screen, intended to draw attention away from something [they] did not want people to see -- evidence of the Biden crime family's nefarious acts. The government does not want these cases to be heard, instead they will likely end up dropped as quietly as they can manage.

David Poe's avatar

The Five Rules of Propaganda

1. The rule of simplification - reducing all data to a simple confrontation between 'Good and Bad', 'Friend and Foe'.

2. The rule of disfiguration - discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.

3. The rule of transfusion - manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

4. The rule of unanimity - presenting one's viewpoint as if it were unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure , and by 'psychological contagion'.

5. The rule of orchestration - endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.

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