By Jan. 6, 2021, the 2020 election had already been decided. The results of the election were to be officially certified on Jan. 6th. There had been 60 court cases that had dismissed or disproven any election fraud. Many of these judges were Trump appointees.
Meanwhile on several fronts, a group of Republicans led by Trump decided they wanted to keep Trump as president even after he lost the election.
It is apparent that MAGAs are not aware of this 200-year old election process. The certification by the Electoral College is the official acknowledgment of the election. Trump’s lies convinced many gullible supporters that he could remain president. He led an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power, the process that is a basic strength of our democratic form of government.
One of several ways Trump tried to overthrow the election was to have fraudulent electors replace the official electors. Another way he tried to overthrow the government was with violence by inciting supporters to attack the Capitol to stop the official certification of the election.
In spite of all these facts, Trump’s continuing lies has supporters like Darrel Williams (letter, Sept. 10 7), still drinking that cult Kool-Aid.
Seven hundred people have been convicted of attacking the Capitol, more are awaiting trial. Mr. Williams, what do you think they were doing if they weren’t trying to overthrow a basic function of our government? Vice President Pence was to oversee and certify the election results. Trump was telling the rioters that it was up to Pence “to do the right thing” and not certify Biden as the winner. So they attacked the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence, hang Mike Pence.” They were trying to overthrow the government.
We have come to the point where MAGA Trump supporters have been turned into a cult. The facts witnessed by their own eyes don’t exist and don’t matter. What matters to them is what the cult leader tells them is real.
Traditional conservative Republicans should listen to what Mike Pence is saying about the current Republican Party. Trump has actually said that if the Constitution gets in the way of him serving another four years, we should terminate the Constitution. Trump’s exact quote is “the termination of all rules regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Conservatism is meant to preserve certain values. The current Republican Party has lost all sense of conservatism. There is nothing conservative about going against the Department of Justice, the FBI, the federal judicial system, and lately the U.S. military by republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville, who never served in the military, has essentially put U.S. national security in danger by putting a halt to hundreds of military promotions including senior military jobs, including the commander of the U.S. Marines and the secretary of the navy. For the first time in 200 years the Marines don’t have a leader.
Current Republican leadership is radicalizing the Republican Party, all just because their candidate lost the election. It has become a populist movement based solely on Trump’s personal grievances. And now Trump is using his lies and dominance of the Republican Party to keep himself out of jail.
We should be proud and respectful of our president; Trump doesn’t deserve either one.
Beto Conde
Rancho Viejo
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