The following is from an article about "Gaslighting" that I submitted to @TheDailyCourier on Sep 24.

In this month’s edition of The Atlantic, when the interviewer asked Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election, he said: ...<THREAD>

"Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer frankly, there’ll be a continuation."

This is Trump’s strategy. He keeps telling the same lies over and over again hoping his supporters will believe him. “The ballots are a disaster.” That’s a lie. Mail-in ballots are safe and we’ve been using them successfully for years here in Arizona.

Repeating a lie to try to make someone else believe it was made famous in the 1944 movie, “Gaslight,” with Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotton. A must see!

Another lie that Trump repeats is that if he loses the election, Democrats will come into your homes and do all kinds of horrible things to you. That was the underlying premise in another article from The Atlantic by Peter Wehner, (A must read!) ...

“Why Trump Supporters Can’t Admit Who He Really Is” which was published on September 4, 2020. The main point is that they believe: "If Joseph R. Biden Jr. wins the presidency, America dies." This is a constant theme by Trump. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/predicate-fear/616009/

In the Daily Courier on September 24 there was a political cartoon of Nancy Pelosi with a quiver of arrows labeled Impeachment, Riots, Looting, and Mobs. Same message. Gaslighting!

The lie is that if Trump loses, the rest of us will lose our way of life or even our lives. The opposite is actually true. It’s Trump who has been promoting violence and intimidation toward people who are not Trump supporters. https://www.tmz.com/2020/09/06/arizona-trump-supporters-heckled-black-lives-matter/

I saw that firsthand on Sep 4 at the BLM rally where armed militias showed up on the Courthouse Square waving Trump 2020 flags and Trump supporters were trying to provoke an altercation with the BLM protesters, all of whom were locals. I know that because I was one of them.

"Get rid of the ballots.” One of Trump’s strategies is to destroy mail-in ballots before they’re counted. “We’ll have a very peaceful ... transfer frankly, there’ll be a continuation.” He keeps repeating that because he hopes we’ll go peacefully if he tries to steal the election.

Trump repeatedly warns about a rigged election. Gaslighting. Yet he is openly trying to hamper the effectiveness of the US Post Office because he knows mail-in ballots are less susceptible to fraud.

Trump has other tactics, like recruiting 50,000 volunteers in 15 blue states to challenge voters in polling places to “intimidate and discourage” Democrats from voting. Fortunately in Arizona, we have mail-in ballots and over 80% of us are signed up for it.

If Trump is successful in stealing this election through whatever means he can, including abusing the powers of an incumbent president, our democracy is gone. Dead! For those of us who love democracy, this is a defining moment.

It is time for us to wake up and face the truth of what Trump is doing. If we don’t, this will probably be the last time I will vote in a democratic election. As a veteran who has served my country for over 20 years in the US Air Force, that would feel like a slap in the face.

“Thank you for your service” would feel like salt rubbed into a deep wound. I don’t know about you, but Trump’s gaslighting has sharpened my resolve. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t get elected and that he doesn’t steal the election after Nov 3.