Oh, Ron, bless your heart

A variation of the following was posted on the website of Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. To be frank, the Senator is not top of mind on a list of truthful Senators. Please feel free to adapt and use.

Senator Johnson, thank you for your service. However, as an Independent and former Republican voter, I must confess my disappointment in your recent comments regarding the insurrection on the Capitol caused by the former president. We cannot have a sitting president, through his misinformation, invitation and rabble-rousing to point his more zealous fans toward the Capitol building telling them to stop the wheels of governance by violence. It is one of the worst episodes in our country’s history and we simply need to hold people accountable, including the former president.

Further, as a southern white man, equating these extremists to the multi-racial Black Lives Matter movement is political gamesmanship. Yes, there are a few zealous folks in the BLM movement and violence has no place in any movement. But, to equate the Trump inspired extremists with the largely peaceful BLM movement is racist and inappropriate.   That is what this former Republican believes.

There is no place for violence. Full stop. This is even more true when the instigator is the president of the United States.

Former Republican Governor and Prosecutor Chris Christie says it all

Chris Cuomo of CNN interviewed former New Jersey Governor and prosecutor Chris Christie yesterday, which is summarized in the following piece by Paul LeBlanc: “Top Trump ally Chris Christie says it’s time to accept Biden won the election.” Here are few paragraphs, but the entire article can be linked to below.

“Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, said Thursday evening it’s time to accept that Joe Biden won the 2020 election as the President continues to push baseless conspiracy theories that his second term is being stolen.

‘Whenever anybody loses an election — party, an individual — there is great disappointment. But elections have consequences and this one was clearly won by President-elect Biden by the same margin in the Electoral College that President Trump won four years ago — by even more, nearly double the popular vote,’ Christie told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on ‘Prime Time.’

‘This election, there has been no evidence put forward that has shown me as a former prosecutor that there is any fraud that would change the results of the election. It’s time for us to accept that defeat. Also, by the way, accept the many victories we had that night. Fourteen new House members, two legislatures at the state level switched, and a governorship flipped to the Republican party.’

‘We had a great night except at the top of the ticket,’ he continued ‘So we need to accept that and we need to move on.'”

Christie’s words pretty much say it all. It is sad, we have still too many like Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Mo Brooks and others, who are stroking the fragile ego of the outgoing president pounding the drum of frivolous and unproven voter fraud claims. But, just to add a little more gravitas, the National Review, a conservative magazine, said today:

“All in all, it’s the worst thing he’s done in his presidency and the worst exit of a defeated president in U.S. history, an effort that is not less infamous for being incompetent and risible.” The full article can be linked to below.

Chris Christie: Top Trump ally says it’s time to accept Biden won the election – CNNPolitics

National Review Says Donald Trump’s Refusal to Concede Is ‘Worst Thing He’s Done’ (msn.com)

“This is not an America I recognize” says Republican Chris Krebs

In an article by Josh Feldman of Media-ite called “Chris Krebs Pleads With His Fellow Republicans to Push Back on Election Conspiracies: ‘This is Not an America I Recognize,’” Krebs testimony at the Senate Homeland Security hearing led by Chair Ron Johnson (R), his words are telling. Here are a few paragraphs.

“Chris Krebs, the former DHS top cyber official who President Donald Trump fired after he publicly and repeatedly debunked election misinformation, pleaded with his fellow Republicans during Wednesday’s Senate hearing to quit spewing conspiracies.

While more Republicans have started to acknowledge Joe Biden won the election, a significant number of them are still digging in on the president’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.

The hearing Wednesday comes in the wake of judge after judge — including ones appointed by the president — completely rejecting the fraud claims brought by the Trump legal team and other allies. The Supreme Court shot down two separate cases just last week.

But with Republicans continuing to indulge in the president’s claims, Krebs made a point of sending a message to his party:

‘I think it’s, again, an affront to democracy that the citizens of the United States of America that are responsible for executing this sacred democratic institution of elections are being threatened on a daily basis. I mean, you name it, whether it’s emails, it’s phone calls, whether it’s people showing up at your house. This is not an America I recognize. And it’s got to stop. We need everyone across — through the leadership ranks to step up. I would appreciate more support from my own party, the Republican party, to call this stuff out and end it’.”

‘We’ve got to move on. We have a President-elect, Krebs said.”

To be frank, I am tired of talking about this. The question that must be asked, is it easier to believe there is a vast voter fraud conspiracy which would include many Republican (even Trump appointed) election officials, governors, secretaries of state, judges, the US Attorney General, head of election cybersecurity and election leaders OR is it easier to believe a person well documented as being untruthful, long before being president, is lying yet one more time, especially after staging for six months the fraud claims?

This independent and former Republican voter sees the outgoing president as threat to national security as he endangers our democracy and people, many of whom are hard working Republicans just trying to do their job. It is time for Mr. Trump to concede after failing to prove voter fraud while losing 58 out of 59 court cases. Plus, the recounts confirm the voter tallies and that he lost.

Let’s follow Krebs closing words above. “We’ve got to move on.”

Chris Krebs Pleads With His Fellow Republicans to Push Back on Election Conspiracies: ‘This is Not an America I Recognize’ (msn.com)

A conversation between Garfield and Odie

The following conversation was spawned by a delightful post called “The Conversation” on Gigisrantsandtraves blog called Rethinking Life. A link is provided below. I caught wind of it by a reblog from Holly of House of Heart.

As Garfield said to Odie, “can you believe this guy is admitting to using the post office to win the election?” Odie nods yes. “Can you believe that senator guy from the cheese state admits that his committee’s investigation is designed to help Biden lose?” Odie nods yes. Garfield asks “Odie, are you nodding yes because you are not surprised they are cheating or they are telling us they are cheating?” Odie holds up a sign “Both, but the question is why is this not considered a problem anymore?”

When Garfield looks surprised at the astute observation, Odie holds up another sign that said “When Kevin McCarthy admitted in an interview in 2015 the continual Benghazi hearings were to help Hillary lose, he was asked to step down from consideration as Speaker of the House. Apparently, lying and cheating are now a new sport.”

Author’s note, while Garfield and Odie are fictional characters, the subject of the stories and conclusion are sadly real. Please read the inventive post by Gigisrantsandraves. This conversation would not have been written without her marvelous post.

https://gigisrantsandraves.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/the-convrsation/