Overview:
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by seizing over 650,000 ballots during a special election concerning Proposition 50. Author S.E. Williams criticized Bianco's actions as part of a larger pattern of political misconduct and blind loyalty to Donald Trump. The columnist emphasized the importance of holding local officials accountable against populist delusions.
S. E. Williams
Despite his continued, boastful haranguing and embarrassing nonsense about election fraud in Riverside County, Trump-enamoured-sheriff Chad Bianco, once again embarrassed himself trying to do the president’s bidding.
The California Supreme Court made sure everyone saw the scrambled, political egg on Bianco’s face recently when it ruled that Riverside’s now infamous sheriff, and failed California gubernatorial candidate had actually broken state election law when he seized more than 650,000 county ballots earlier this year.
The court’s ruling shut down Bianco’s bogus claim regarding citizen ballots cast in the November 2025 Special Election related to Proposition 50. The proposition sought and received voter approval of a special redistricting initiative in California to offset President Donald Trump’s efforts in other states to gerrymander Republicans into the U.S. House of Representatives. Such victories in Red states in this year’s mid-term election would ensure Trump’s ability to maintain control of all branches of the U.S. government.
Those of you who follow this column may recall my occasional references to the book “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” by author Charles McKay.
As an avid reader, I was initially drawn to this book years ago because of its catchy title. Aptly described as an “historical study of how people fall into collective irrationality,” in this work McKay explores the idea of crowd psychology and how, at times, large groups of people can act in ways that they probably never would act as a lone individual. A crowd mentality can override individual reason. At times, according to McKay, this can lead to mass speculation, on occasion, hysteria, and periodically, popular delusion.
“In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.”
Charles McKay
Historical examples of popular delusions include episodes throughout history influenced by social pressures like the Crusades and the Salem witch hunts for example, horrible episodes in human history driven by speculation and/or misinformation despite evidence that existed to the contrary. In my estimation, the Make America Great Again movement is one such popular delusion.
Believe me, I am not giving Bianco a pass for his immature and illegal act of seizing ballots, etc. but we have all witnessed how easily led and influenced he is by those with money to support his political ambitions and the power he believes as county sheriff, makes him as high above the law as the president he so admires. However, like his dear leader Donald Trump, Bianco is learning that there are some legal boundaries he can not cross—seizing ballots is one of them.
McKay stressed in his book that irrational actions influenced by crowds was not unique to his generation and it is certainly not unique to this era. Such actions are historical. McKay noted however, that they are also “cautionary” because there are dangers in following a crowd mentality. For example, consider the dangers to the people of this country brought to us by President Donald Trump via Project 2025 and his plethora of executive orders, his at-will wars, his reduction of food and other essential life-sustaining services to those in need in this nation. These are the popular delusions Bianco upholds.
The people of Riverside County must continue to challenge Bianco and hold him accountable to the people of this region. These are the people he was elected to protect and support—not the likes of the Republican Party or those suffering the Madness of MAGA Crowds and its popular delusions.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.