EPISODE · Feb 5, 2026 · 6 MIN
Let's Give Ourselves Permission to Admit that Republicans Cheat to Win Elections
from Walter Rhein Podcast · host Walter Rhein
Every time I get on social media, I see manifestations of the same underlying fear. I’ll talk about the primaries and the midterms and people snort at me.“You don’t think there will actually be midterms do you? The Republicans are going to invoke the insurrection act in order to cancel the elections. You’re a special kind of stupid if you think there will actually be midterms.”“Oh,” I reply, “so you think the Republicans are going to cheat?”“Hey now! I didn’t say that. I’m not an election denier! I’m not going to be like them!”To me, this scenario reveals the fundamental dysfunction of the opposition mindset. It’s time that we took a deep breath, took a step back, and got on the same page.We all need to admit that our fear that the Republicans are going to try to cancel the midterms are proof that we all know Republicans are guilty of cheating.Let’s admit it to ourselves.Republicans lie. Republicans cheat. Republicans steal. Republicans cheat on their wives. Republicans cheat at business. Republicans cheat on their religions.They’re a completely dishonest, immoral, and lawless organization. When we go high, they go lower and lower and lower. Apparently there is no bottom because if there was the Republicans would have found it years ago.When it comes to election fraud, there’s no trick they haven’t tried. They purge voter rolls. They spoil and discard ballots. They threaten people with legal consequences for voting. They gerrymander districts.Before you try to say, “Well, Democrats gerrymander too,” stop and take a long hard look at reality. There is no Democratic movement to artificially create Black, or Latino, or LGBTQ+ districts. Democrats don’t do that because they are corporate owned and they would see such a thing as a threat to their power. When they gerrymander for their own benefit, they’re reluctant to give themselves any true advantage.This brings me to another set of social media arguments that I see all the time. People puff out their chests and say, “Well, the American people voted for an insurrectionist!”I saw a post to that effect this morning and I replied, “No, the Republicans cheated.”This set off another round of self-righteous lecturing that began with, “There is absolutely no evidence that the Republicans cheated.”There’s a lot of ways I can respond to that:* Well, no, that’s factually inaccurate* The Democrats didn’t demand recounts, so it’s impossible to know the extent of the cheating* The Republican candidate was convicted of election fraud in 2016 and indicted for election fraud in 2020, but somehow we’re supposed to assume 2024 was clean?* Why do you insist the election was fair even though it hasn’t been investigated?* Actually… there have been a lot of investigations that turned up many questionable findingsWhen it comes to how much Republicans cheat, we’re hit with wave after wave of contradictions. It’s the same old playbook of the narcissistic abuser:* You’ve got no proof* I didn’t do it* If I did do it, it wasn’t that big a deal anywayThen they just get louder and more hostile until you become exhausted and you give up. Here’s a word of advice: Don’t give up.Why are we so reluctant to call Republicans cheaters? Literally all they do is cheat. They get into office and they steal our taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves. They manage to inflate the military budget to an obscene degree, and then they make sure the pentagon can’t pass an audit.Where do the billions and billions of dollars go? They go straight into the pockets of Republicans and white supremacists. They spend hundreds of millions on right wing hate podcasters, and make sure rational, accomplished, educated people never have a platform. They attack schools. They attack unions. They defund children’s cancer research. They protect child rapists.They give themselves bail outs and PPP loans and subsidies and huge military contracts. They accept bribes in the form of 75 million dollar movies that nobody wants to see. They lie. They cheat. They steal. They do it over and over and over again.If anybody calls them out on it, they’re confronted by a wave of anonymous accounts on social media who rise up and say, “Hey now, that’s inappropriate, there’s no evidence that Republicans cheat.”For some reason rational people allow themselves to be cudgeled into silence by that argument. But if you really believe it, why are you scared down into your bones that the midterms will be cancelled?I’ll give you a hint: IT’S BECAUSE DEEP DOWN YOU KNOW THAT THE REPUBICANS CHEAT!Every effective resistance starts with a personal choice. Are you going to believe the lies of the party, or are you going to believe the evidence of your eyes and ears? Are you going to submit to their authority, or are you going to embrace your own autonomy?Make the choice!Give yourself permission to say that Republicans cheat. They cheat at literally everything. They lie, they cheat, they steal. They defend child rapists and then get all haughty when we ever accuse them of wrongdoing.We are not the sinners. They are the sinners. Every accusation is a confession.Don’t expect them to ever roll over and admit that what they did was wrong. Don’t try to meet them in the middle. Don’t try to understand them. And certainly don’t assume that they’re playing by the rules even as they fight tooth and claw to prevent any investigation.Demand the investigation. Let their rage wash over you and recognize it as a poorly conceived tactic to distract from their guilt. We have the right to ask questions. We have no obligation to submit to authority. Compliance doesn’t make us fair, compliance doesn’t make us reasonable, compliance doesn’t make us good.Compliance only makes us enablers of evil. If you “don’t want to be like them” then NEVER comply!If they have nothing to hide, make them prove it. Never take their word for anything. Republicans steal. Republicans lie. Republicans cheat.Give yourself permission to recognize that fact and act appropriately. Don’t back down. Demand truth and accountability. Give yourself permission to call out the cheaters.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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Let's Give Ourselves Permission to Admit that Republicans Cheat to Win Elections
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