By all measures, the 2020 general election was one of the most secure elections in our history. Voters turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots by mail and in person, and the votes were counted in an accurate and timely manner.

These results, however, did not dissuade President Trump and his enablers from loudly claiming fraud when the race did not go his way. In a brazen attempt to overturn the results, he unleashed an onslaught of outlandish claims about widespread fraud in the election.

His legal team filed 62 lawsuits in various courts throughout the land. Sixty one of these were summarily dismissed or thrown out of court.

David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and writer for The Atlantic Magazine wrote in 2018, “If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”

On January 06 the right wing of the Republican Party gave up on democracy. Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. and assaulted the Capitol Building in a brazen attempt to take by force what they could not win at the ballot box.

They were encouraged to storm the Capitol Building by none other than the POTUS Donald J. Trump. They carried signs that said “Stop the Steal” which is Ironic considering that they themselves violently attacked Congress in a vile and misguided attempt to steal an election they lost by large margins.

But they did not succeed in this effort. Within hours they were cleared out of the Capitol, and shortly after 8 p.m. the Senate had reconvened and finished the certification of Joe Biden’s win.

Before the riots, there were probably 13-20 Senate votes for the Cruz and Hawley objections. When the vote was called at 10 p.m. they were down to six. The insurrection attempt had lasted six hours, and all it did was convince more Senators to vote against their cause. Unfortunately almost 150 house members chose to vote against certifying the results of a free and fair election.

Everyone who violated the Capitol on Wednesday must be arrested on federal charges. Donald Trump caused this – he knew exactly what he was doing when he sent the crowd to the Capitol, and by the end of the day, he was congratulating them on Twitter. “Remember this day forever!” he wrote. The blood of January 6th is on his hands.

Jim Porter

Danville