Irrational and unproven claims by Congressmen Gohmert and Brooks

The following is a letter to the editor I forwarded to my newspaper. Please feel free to edit and use.

As an independent and former GOP voter, I am puzzled and frustrated by the insistence of followers of the outgoing president, such as Congressmen Louie Gohmert and Mo Brooks, that the election was stolen. The fact the outgoing president has claimed fraud is not a surprise as it was predictable and staged for months. What he did not plan on was losing 59 out of 60 court cases, many ruled on by Republican judges, nor the push back from election officials, secretaries of state and governors (many of whom are Republican).

To me, the oath to the constitution takes precedence over a loyalty to a president. I believe these irrational and vastly unproven claims are detrimental to our democracy and betray the will of the voters. If these folks caught this bus, like the chasing canine, what are they going to do with it? Our democracy, in essence, would be over.

One Republican Senator chastises other Republicans for their “madness”

There are a few voices in the Republican party who feel the need to speak out against the corruption of the outgoing president and those enabling him. In an article called “Mitt Romney tears into Republicans who are threatening to protest the Electoral College vote that will confirm Biden’s election victory” by Salar Shani of Business Insider, the Senator dies just that.

The article can be linked to below. Here a few paragraphs.

“Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said it would be ‘madness’ for Republicans to protest the Electoral College vote set to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

‘Trying to get electors not to do what the people voted to do is madness,’ Romney said, according to NBC News.

Since the election, President Donald Trump’s campaign and some allied Republicans have waged lawsuits in multiple states seeking to overturn the results.

‘This is madness. We have a process, recounts are appropriate, going to the court is approp & pursuing every legal avenue is appropriate, but trying to get electors not to do what the people voted to do is madness,’ Frank Thorp V of NBC News quoted Romney as saying.

A representative for Romney confirmed his statement to Business Insider.”

It should be noted Romney uses the word “madness” twice to emphasize his point. I also liked that his representative confirmed the Senator’s statement.

Let me add that it is also a danger to our democracy and people who are getting death threats from the zealous members of the Trump base. These election officials, judges, governors, secretaries of state are the real heroes here, not the corrupt and deceitful person in the White House who has planned this cheating for six months.

Since Trump supporters will discount Romney’s opinion, how about the opinions of two attorneys who worked for Mr. Trump? Before the 2016 election Thomas Wells wrote “Donald Trump lies every day, even about things of no consequence.” And, his fixer Michael Cohen said under oath “Donald Trump is a racist, he is a con-artist and he is a cheat.”

I agree. Man-up Mr. Trump and admit you lost.

Mitt Romney tears into Republicans who are threatening to protest the Electoral College vote that will confirm Biden’s election victory (msn.com)

Trump appointed Election Official blasts Trump’s false election claims

An article caught my eye yesterday called “Federal election official blasts Trump’s false election claims as ‘laughable,’ ‘baffling’ and ‘insulting'” by Alex Marquardt of CNN. The article can be linked to below. Here are a few leading paragraphs.

“A senior federal election security official who was appointed by President Donald Trump has blasted the President’s false post-election claims, calling them ‘baffling’, ‘laughable’ and ‘insulting’.

Asked in an interview what he would say to Trump about the election, Ben Hovland said ‘these conspiracy theories that are flying around have consequences.’

Hovland runs the Election Assistance Commission which, in part, tests and certifies voting machines. He was nominated by President Donald Trump last year and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He works closely with other federal agencies that oversee elections, like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

‘At a minimum, it’s insulting to the professionals that run our elections and hopefully that’s the worst that comes of it,’ Hovland told MIT Technology Review. ‘Our people, they’re doing their jobs but they don’t feel safe doing it. That is a tragedy. That is awful. These are public servants. This isn’t a job you do for glory or to get rich.’

The only comments to add to Mr. Hovland’s interview are several Republican election officials and Secretaries of State in places like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, to name a few, have said on the record there is no widespread voter fraud in their states. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security said it was the most secure election ever.

It should be noted the president’s lawsuits are not faring well in the various courts, as he has only one won in Pennsylvania, which got a few votes thrown out and has lost about a dozen. It is also telling that two of the law firms representing Trump’s campaign have asked judges to allow them to withdraw as counsel. The reason is their own lawyers are critical of their firms’ efforts to harm our voting integrity.

The hard truth is the president has lost the election as his opponent got more votes in the states where it mattered. Ironically, the electoral college victory of 306 to 232 is the same as Trump won over Clinton, which he called a “landslide.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/federal-election-official-blasts-trump-s-false-election-claims-as-laughable-baffling-and-insulting/ar-BB1aZS6m?ocid=msedgdhp