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To defend our 245-year-old democracy, a rational bipartisan Congress would have convicted Trump at his second impeachment trial and nullified his future return to power.
Instead, most Senate Republicans opposed his conviction, thus sanctioning his role as the reigning standard-bearer for their party. Unbelievably, the alternate reality fabricated by this autocratic sore-loser has been embraced by his indoctrinated supporters, and current Republican legislators and office seekers must comply with his directives.
Republican leaders have vainly tried to whitewash the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attempt by domestic terrorists to overturn the most monitored election in history, enraged by months of Trump’s Big Lie and incited by his rally call to action. This attack and the related legislative actions are the most dangerous homegrown assault on America since the Civil War.
After the arrest of 535 violent rioters, new heart-wrenching scenes of brutal attacks on Capitol police are still being released.
Based merely on unceasing lies, many states are proposing a multitude of voter suppression laws masquerading as restoring “election integrity.” Chillingly, some laws make it easier to overturn future legitimate elections.
The justice department has warned of threats of more violence if Trump’s false rhetoric continues. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano has launched an audit plan based on the Cyber Ninjas fiasco in Arizona. Pennsylvania election officials and legislators must oppose this unwarranted, harmful maneuver.
When four Americans were killed during a Libyan diplomatic attack, majority Republican legislators spearheaded 33 Benghazi hearings in 2012. However, after the ignominious Jan. 6 attack, most Senate Republicans rejected formation of an independent commission to uncover major facts and how to prevent future attacks.
Small donor Republicans have contributed millions to Trump’s reckless folly in spite of his scandals, scams, lies, pandemic mismanagement, deaths/lives ruined as a direct result of his Capitol rally and lawsuits in Georgia, New York and Washington, D.C.
In 2020, a majority of exhausted Americans desperately needed a change and return to normality. That is why 81,282,903 citizens voted for Biden; enabling his 306-232 Electoral College margin to legitimately win the presidency.
Even Fox news ran disclaimers on Trump’s election lies during his televised July conservative CPAC speech. Catering to the delusional diatribes of this narcissistic bully should have ended eight months ago; Republican leaders must choose their Constitutional duty to America over Trump.
Karen L. Baranoski
Wilkes-Barre