EDITORIAL – Did Trump borrow his ‘rigged’ line from right here in Canada?

An ArmchairMayor editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

IT’S BAD ENOUGH that the U.S. presidential election is “rigged.” And that all the polls are “rigged” as well. And that the media are part of a giant industrial-media complex conspiracy to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.

Of course, if The Donald wins the election, then he’s already given notice that he’ll take it all back.

One of the American TV networks counted up the number of times Trump used the word “rigged” yesterday. Seven, in one minute. Give him credit, at least, for sticking to his key message, though there’s no evidence whatsoever that there’s any rigging going on in the election or the many public-opinion polls that now show he’s behind Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately, the word has crossed the border and crept into politics here at home. Or was it the other way around? According to a mail-out from some Conservative MPs reported last week, the Liberals are trying to “rig” the next federal election by changing the electoral system.

The Hill Times says the householders’ headline reads, “The Liberal Plan to Rig the 2019 Election And How You Can Stop It.” The way to stop it is by demanding a referendum.

It can’t be verified independently from here, because our own MP Cathy McLeod thankfully didn’t include it in her latest householder that arrived in the mailbox last week, but The Hill Times is a reliable publication.

A referendum, to be clear, should be the way to decide if Canadians want to change the electoral system.

But, seriously, “rigging”? The word “rigged” means fraud or cheating, and that’s a gross exaggeration when it comes to the Liberals’ misguided attempt to push through proportional representation by way of committee instead of a national vote.

This isn’t the first time the Conservatives have accused the Liberals of rigging. Way back in February, Tory MP Scott Reid sent out flyers urging constituents to “Stop the Liberals from destroying our democracy” and making the same claim about “rigging” the next election through electoral reform, so who knows — maybe Trump got the idea from us. And, maybe the Conservatives simply felt emboldened by Trump’s use of their word and decided to trot it out again.

On both sides of the border, there’s a special word for using terms like “rigged” without foundation and for crass political gain. That word is “dumb.”

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