Leaders must listen or anger will endure
Jan. 6, 2021, the tea was thrown in the harbor. After the past four years, what did Democrats and RINOs expect?
Since Donald Trump made the trip down the escalator over four years ago, we (his supporters) have been called deplorable, Nazis, bigots and stupid.
Trump, conservatives and their supporters have endured deeply personal attacks. Flags burned, statues toppled and cities ruined because we are too conservative, too racist and too Trump. Antifa good, Trump bad.
Now, after a questionable election and denial of standing by courts so none of the evidence is heard, a protest at the nation's capital has Democrats, RINOS and the media shocked.
Half the country has had it; no one listened to them.
A revolution is at hand, and like former President Obama's inability to condemn last summer's antifa/BLM violence, I can't fully condemn the actions of the people on Jan. 6. Now it's up to elected officials to either listen or have the fires of revolution stoked.
Bill Bastenbeck
Dayton, Tennessee
All who abetted mob must be held to account
We are not ruled by the mob. We are a nation of laws. Actions bear consequences.
Republicans who stood with law and decency should be honored. Their actions enabled our government to rise above this and continue to certify the election. We owe them our gratitude.
Jan. 6, 2021, the Confederate flag flew in the nation's Capitol, and a sitting president encouraged protesters to be "marching to the Capitol," saying he would like to join them. Capitol police and various security forces assumed the roles of Keystone cops, letting terrorists in and leaving staff, media and elected officials in danger.
Each invader must be identified and arrested. Police who aided and abetted must be disciplined, and when appropriate, charged.
Senate ringleaders [Josh] Hawley and [Ted] Cruz should be censured and hearings established to evaluate the damage they did to the democratic process. Hawley's raised fist to insurrectionists provides a telling picture of his guilt. Blind-eyed participants in the House and Senate must be censured.
I am not affiliated with a political party. I weep for my country.
Helen Barrett
States, not feds, are authority on elections
The U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 1 & Amendment 12), as well as Title 3 of the U.S. Code, identifies states as the presumptive authorities in determining presidential election results. When Congress meets to count electoral votes from states, its primary role is to formally declare presidential election results.
A reasonable understanding of Title 3 suggests objections by members of Congress to votes submitted by states should be limited to allegations that electors were either not lawfully certified, or votes were not validly cast. Thus, it is the prerogative of states, not the federal government, to determine accuracy of the underlying electoral votes.
Objections made by Republican members of Congress to this year's formal electoral vote count represent dangerous overreach by the federal government into matters for which the determination of states should be conclusive, subject only to legitimate legal challenges as adjudicated by our court system. Similarly, objections made to the 2005 count by congressional Democrats should be recognized as equally ill conceived.
Conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans should feel equally troubled when politically motivated federal representatives intrude on matters that should be the purview of states.
Patrick Lavin