Legislatively Speaking
By Senator Lena C. Taylor
Lena C. Taylor
The game of Monopoly is based partly on chance and partly on skill. A Community Chest card could enrich your wallet and landing on a well bank-rolled property could bankrupt you. Yet nothing seemed worse than pulling that “Go Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go” Chance card.
It was only a few years ago that I actually learned the truth about both the real inventor of the famed board game, Lizzie Magie. It was heartbreaking to read how she was basically cheated out of millions in royalties and credit, when Charles Darrow became acquainted with her real estate game. After some modifications, he dressed it up and passed it off as his own.
While I’ll admit it’s a stretch to connect the two, we have a modern day real estate plutocrat in Donald Trump. He sought to makeover the 2020 election results, and steal the election from Joe Biden. In finding a merry band of enablers, Trump sought to rebrand the face of presidential electors. He wanted to redesign the look of local election commissions. With a few tweaks here and there, Trump was hoping to hit the jackpot like Darrow. In denying the truth about Magie, Darrow became a multimillionaire. Trump would have won re-election.
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has done in 5 public hearings, what it took years for the public to learn about Darrow. They have proved that Trump was a fraud. With surgical precision, the January 6 Committee has proven that the embattled former U.S. President knew that there was no voter malfeasance. He was repeatedly told by his closest advisors that they could find no proof to support his wild claims or conspiracy theories.
The hearings have also yielded information about those that were willing to go along with the ruse. Wisconsinites learned of the role that U.S. Senator Ron Johnson had in moving forward a slate of fake presidential electors. Within 24 hours, we watched him flip-flop between denial and the truth. We learned about pardon requests from GOP legislatures.v
After spreading misinformation about the 2020 election results, applying pressure on the Justice Department to support their false claims, and working to try to illegally keep Trump in power, they were seeking Get Out of Jail Free Cards.
However, the lies they helped spread have become commonly held beliefs, in Republican circles. As in Magie’s case, the truth is unpopular and contradicts everything Trump wanted people to believe about his loss. In calling our elections corrupt, he set in motion a perceived monopoly on the truth. His supporters want to cling to the Big Lie and suppress anything that contradicts the facts. But just like Lizzie Magie’s story, the truth always comes out. Yet, make no mistake. Everyone connected to perpetrating this fraud on the American people should go directly to jail.