The nation has long worried about national threats and worked to combat them, mostly successfully.
Now, the threat is especially dangerous and from within not just the nation, but the nation’s government.
A new report made public this week by States United Action reveals that almost a third of Congress “in some way supported Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 results or otherwise cast doubt on the reliability of elections.”
More specifically, 170 representatives and senators — out of 535 — “can be categorized as election deniers,” the Associated Press reported.
The news is not just startling, but frightening.
Despite years of scrutiny in every electoral venue across the country, there has been no proof, none, that significant fraud, malfeasance, technical issues or miscounting cheated Donald Trump out of a single election victory, and absolutely not from his Electoral College contest for president.
That fact isn’t new. It isn’t ambiguous, and it isn’t anything but widespread, absolute and unequivocal.
It means that 170 current members of Congress, and even more trying to get there, are liars. These are dishonest or dangerously deluded people whom we depend on to make critical decisions for all of us, every day.
No longer is Trump’s “stolen election” deceit flouted primarily by populist political creatures like Colorado’s Rep. Lauren Boebert and congressional hopeful and Colorado GOP Chairperson Dave Williams. Now, even powerful members of Congress like House Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump vice-presidential contender Sen. Tim Scott murmur and repeat the dishonest warblings of the nation’s election deniers, such as “we’ll see” and seeing a need for “free and fair elections.”
It is dangerous and impolitic for voters to put trust in elected officials who refuse to accept the will of the voters, and who would instead try and circumvent that will.
As a polarized and fitful nation, we must work harder to increase civil discourse, compromise and consensus when it comes to public policy. Electing flagrant liars makes those goals impossible because of the lack of trust and the danger to credible government.
Despite the insistence of Trump and others, there are no “alternative” facts. Reality is not a debatable quality when it comes to running the government. The fact that the 2020 Election was not “stolen” from Trump is not an opinion, it’s reality.
Trump and other deniers are welcome to continue to search for proof and facts to support their case, but not a single court — even in states where Trump voters prevailed — have found for the deniers.
Deniers are free and welcome to refuse to give up or even give in, but they can’t run the government. That’s the opposite of democracy, and it’s unacceptably dangerous.
The clear duty for voters, as the 2024 Election gets underway in earnest, is to press candidates for certainty on this question.
“Do you believe that, anywhere in the United States, election fraud prevented Trump from an electoral victory?” Or to be even more clear, “Do you have faith in the current electoral system, and will you honor its results?”
If the answer to the last question is “no,” voters should disqualify that candidate for their own benefit, and that of the nation.
Unfortunately, we have come to a place where ethics and morality no longer matter. If you have paid any attention, both presidential candidates lie on a regular basis. Dishonesty is now a standard part of virtually everything. If we could go back to where honesty and honor were a part of our national ethic, we would be far better off as a nation. We should go away from the two party system that promotes winning elections at any cost.
What a mealy-mouthed cop out.
To suggest that the candidates are equally dishonest, let alone unfit, is ludicrous.
Anything asserted by a Massachusetts leftist should be automatically rejected.
You wrote: It means that 170 current members of Congress, and even more trying to get there, are liars.
Fixed it for you: It means that 170 current “republican” members of Congress, and even more trying to get there, are liars.
Yes, thank you, TJB.
I still remember when newspapers, televised news, and even news radio used to be comprised of investigative journalists used to report the news and now it seems more like they want to tell us what to say, think, and feel according to their bias. I think we would be better off with less coverage because it seems like it all went to heck when we became inundated with “journalists” spewing their opinions as news around the clock. Even beady-eyed Joe Scarborough reads newspaper headlines on air and that’s called journalism too, so sad.
“As a polarized and fitful nation, we must work harder to increase civil discourse, compromise and consensus when it comes to public policy.”
Translation: “Stop resisting the left-wing political agenda.”
Republicans are too dim witted to think of anything themselves. They just copy what they see Democrats doing. Long before Trump started his silliness, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams all asserted their elections were stolen. When Republicans question the results of an election, they are labeled “Election Deniers.” When Democrats do the same, they are said to have reasonable concerns. One thing is for certain, Democrats always cheat in elections, they always have. “Vote early and vote often” was the mantra of Democrats even back in the 60s.
Each of the 3 you mention conceded. They did not engage in sedition or conspire to overthrow our government. Nor did they continue to file baseless cases after all the courts found their claims to be without merit. Even now the brainwashed ReTrumplicants in Congress and MAGAniacs persist in their delusions. There is no equivalence.
With all respect, the equivalence is that they all denied the legitimacy of elections they lost. Either they all are “election deniers” or none of them are. We are all getting a little tired of the double standards by the biased media.
As far as engaging in sedition, you may have noticed that Trump has never been charged with any such action. This is highly unusual since Democrats have charged him with any and everything they can think of. Therefore, we must conclude that either there is no reasonable evidence of this, or the Democrats have a newfound love and compassion for the former President.
The Democratic and Republican parties are in lockstep agreement that any threat to their anticompetitive two-party duopoly is the real threat to their pitiful existence. Together, they’ve epically failed to produce worthy candidates for the office of President– yet hard-core partisans still insist that the other team is the most dangerous. Save the hyperbole and fear mongering. Both parties should be tossed in the ashbin of history.
Partisan domination does NOT lead to better government and people are wising up to that. RFK might just surprise folks. I would take his winning as a positive sign for the country, clearly.