Welcome to the commentary magazine podcast today is Thursday November 5th, 2020,

we're sponsored today by donors trust the principal then tax friendly way to

simplify your charitable giving I am John Pajor it's the editor of commentary

with me as always associate editor Noah Rothman I know I'm senior writer

Christine Rosen high Christine and executive editor Abe Greenwald high Abe

hi John so we are awaiting what appears to be the inevitable announcement today

or tomorrow that Joe Biden has crossed the 270 barrier and will be the 46th

president of the United States and this a result or you know what has

happened since election night while entirely predictable and was in fact

predicted and warned about has created an entire world of conspiracy

theorizing that the election is being rigged stolen taken something for which

Democrats and Republicans alike have been preparing the argument for at least

16 years you will remember that in 2004 John Kerry Democrats and John Kerry

led by the sainted Christopher Hitchens in part not that he was a Democrat but

Christopher Hitchens against whom no one could ever say an unkind word because

he was a saint and a god and a glorious figure in Martin Amos's best friend but

he was also a horrible crank and and prone to every kind of conspiracy theory

and he was giving a speech at Kenyan college in November 2004 and he determined

that the Ohio election was being stolen because there were long lines at the

polls and the poor students of you know in and around Mount Vernon and Gambier

Ohio were having trouble casting their ballots and this then spread to the

idea that Ohio is being stolen that the D-Bold voting machines were being you

...