If you tell a big lie enough times people will believe it. Such a lie has been dubbed the Big Lie over time. Hitler described the idea of the Big Lie in Mein Kampf but did not fully articulate it. However, the idea of the Big Lie was ascribed to Hitler by an American psychological profile of him. In 1943, American psychologists prepared a psychological report on Hitler for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA. In it, the psychologists wrote that Hilter’s
“primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; (i) people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it(i).” (emphasis mine) [1]
Today, the Big Lie is used to describe the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
Because of the Big Lie, Republicans across the nation have been using it to make changes to the voting processes in states like Florida, Georgia and Texas.
Where Is El Paso’s Leadership?
The Texas legislature is considering legislation that some are arguing suppresses voting across the state. Because of the fear of voter suppression legislation coming out of Texas this session, several companies are urging lawmakers not to adopt restrictive voting legislation. Among the companies opposing the restrictive legislation includes HP and Microsoft. Joining the national companies, several Texas local businesses, business organizations and chambers of commerce penned a public letter urging legislators “to support reforms that make democracy more accessible and oppose any changes that would restrict” access to ballot boxes. [2]
Conspicuously absent among the 52 companies and organizations who signed the letter are El Paso’s chambers of commerce and businesses.
Senate Bill 7, which passed the Senate along party lines in early April, limits early voting hours and prohibits drive-thru voting that was popular last year because of the pandemic emergency. Among the threats to voting, the Senate bill wants to impose restrictions on mail-in ballots and changes what poll watchers are allowed to do at the polls.
However, the Texas House of Representatives eliminated most of the Senate’s onerous requirements in HB 6. In a 78 to 64 vote, the House version of the bill passed last Friday. It now awaits reconciliation with the Senate version.
The movement towards voter suppression legislation is driven by the Big Lie that Trump lost the last election because of fraud. Largely discredited, the Big Lie continues to dominate the electoral narrative.
Speaking Up
State and national companies have stepped up to speak out against the proposed laws based on the Big Lie. On May 4, 2021, 100 Houston executives released a letter criticizing the legislation as “voter suppression.” [4]
Business organizations in Florida, Georgia and across the nation have rallied to defend voter rights. No one in El Paso have risen their voices.
Unlike both the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, the Houston executives’ letter came from a breakaway faction of the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston’s citywide chamber of commerce. [4]
Noticeably absent are El Paso’s business leaders who contribute heavily to candidates during elections.
Author’s note: El Paso Politics is grateful to the reader that brought this to our attention.
Footnotes:
- Walter C. Langer, “A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler, His Life and Legend,” Office of Strategic Services (released on August 24, 1999 by the CIA), Page 38.
- Undated Fair Elections Texas Public Letter
- Nick Corasaniti and David Gelles, “Business Coalitions Speak Out Against Voting Restrictions in Texas,” The New York Times, May 4, 2021.
Thank you, Martin, for writing about this. It is outrageous that people like Paul Foster and other El Paso elites who contribute generously to the Texas Republican Party, and Gov. Abbott in particular, are totally silent on the issue of voter suppression. Do they support voter suppression? By the way, they were also silent in 2019 regarding the need for gun control after the Walmart massacre.