"Operation Red Mirage"?

We should understand that from now until the elections in November, there will be a series of attempts to manipulate the American electorate:  to condition it to produce and/or accept a politically correct outcome, one that favors the progressive left and destabilizes the "deplorable" faction in US politics.  The first signs are here already, and in case you missed them, I'd like to point them out.

First, consider The Democratic Strategist.  In its own words:

A Message from Managing Editor Ed Kilgore

The Democratic Strategist has three editorial goals–(1) to provide an explicitly and unapologetically partisan platform for the discussion of Democratic political strategy, (2) to insist upon greater use of data and greater reliance on empirical evidence in strategic thinking and (3) to act as a neutral forum and center of discussion for all sectors of the Democratic community.

As The Democratic Strategists’ editorial philosophy states, the publication will be “proudly partisan, firmly and insistently based on facts and data and emphatically open to all sectors and currents of opinion within the Democratic community”.

Kudos to them for being so honest and up-front about their agenda.  Not all political organizations are.

Ed Kilgore wrote an article in the New York Intelligencer, a left-wing journal.  Note that he did not identify his own affiliation and outlook, potentially misleading readers, who might thus take his words for serious journalism instead of party political propaganda.  He warned of what a progressive digital data firm, Hawkfish, calls a "Red Mirage", where initial election results might show Trump ahead, but later ones (incorporating many postal votes) might overturn his winning margin, leading to confusion and confrontation.

[I]f by election night all polling place ballots and 40% of vote-by-mail ballots (in states where vote-by-mail will surge high above historical levels) are counted, Trump will temporarily lead in even safely blue states. Given his history of false claims and dismissal of vote-by-mail, Trump may exploit this Red Mirage to claim victory and dispute any subsequent change to the electoral map.

. . .

So at this point, the faith in an Election Night result is not being shaped by Trump campaign preparations for pulling a fast one. That will likely change, so there is no time like the present to begin educating everyone on the red mirage and its sources.

There's more at the link.

On the face of it, his article might be expressing genuine concern that the public would misunderstand the counting of many postal votes, which could radically change the announced results of the election so far.  However, there's another side, one expressed by more conservative commenters.  For example, commenter Matt Bracken circulates this diagram on social media (click it for a larger view):

Bracken concludes:  "... the entire DemSocRat reason for pushing mass universal mail-in ballots is to swing the election with fake votes after Nov. 4."  He sees the so-called "Red Mirage" as an attempt to condition the American electorate to accept the result of such manipulation, and not to question it.

You'll have to decide for yourself whether you believe Kilgore's or Bracken's interpretation of what Hawkfish has to say.  I must confess that from my perspective, looking at how the progressive left has warped and manipulated anything they could get their hands on in recent months, I'm inclined to agree with Bracken.  When postal votes are issued en masse, with few if any safeguards to ensure they reach those they're supposed to reach, and even fewer safeguards to prevent their manipulation and misuse before they're returned, that's far from a remote possibility.

As if to echo Mr. Kilgore's warning, in the Washington Post, Rosa Brooks warned yesterday about the possibility of post-election turbulence.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.

A landslide for Joe Biden resulted in a relatively orderly transfer of power. Every other scenario we looked at involved street-level violence and political crisis.

. . .

[To avoid chaos] The media also has an important role. Responsible outlets can help educate the public about the possibility — indeed, the likelihood — that there won’t be a clear winner on election night because an accurate count may take weeks, given the large number of mail-in ballots expected in this unprecedented mid-pandemic election. Journalists can also help people understand that voter fraud is extraordinarily rare, and, in particular, that there’s nothing nefarious about voting by mail. Social media platforms can commit to protecting the democratic process, by rapidly removing or correcting false statements spread by foreign or domestic disinformation campaigns and by ensuring that their platforms aren’t used to incite or plan violence.

Finally, ordinary citizens can help, too — perhaps most of all. As the jurist Learned Hand said in 1944, “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it . . . while it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.” This is as true now as it was then: When people unite to demand democracy and the rule of law, even repressive regimes can be stopped in their tracks. Mass mobilization is no guarantee that our democracy will survive — but if things go as badly as our exercises suggest they might, a sustained, nonviolent protest movement may be America’s best and final hope.

Again, more at the link.

Reading Ms. Brooks' article in isolation, despite its strong left-wing perspective, one might think she was merely offering suggestions as to how the news media might help to avoid complications.  On the other hand, reading it in the light of Mr. Kilgore's article a couple of days earlier, do we detect an attempt to build momentum, to "educate" news media in their "progressive responsibilities", to get them all "on message" and make sure that their propaganda is prepared for use well in advance of the need for it?  Is this part of preparing the ground for what Mr. Bracken describes as the "Red Mirage" takeover bid?

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.  For continuing perspective on this, look for more articles in the mainstream media on the same theme in coming days and weeks, all pointing out the need to warn people that the initial election results might not be the final ones, and to expect confusion.

Consider this, too, in the light of the ongoing Antifa/BLM riots and unrest across the country, all designed to destabilize our society and pressure voters into supporting a liberal/progressive agenda and candidates.  Putting that together with the "Red Mirage", I can't think of more fertile ground into which to inject thousands, if not millions, of fraudulent postal ballots, in an attempt to overturn what might otherwise be unfavorable election results, and ensure a progressive victory.  Can you?  Are you connecting the same dots I am?

Peter