To the Editor:
Apparently an insurrection to overthrow the U.S. Government, derail the 200+ year tradition of peaceful transition of power, murder elected officials, steal an election and riot against the Capitol police isn’t sufficient grounds to have a bipartisan investigative commission? Why? Because the truth “might make Trump or the GOP look bad.”
Five people died, more than 140 police officers were injured, the Capitol was overrun and ransacked. It was the first invasion since the British burned the White House in the War of 1812. And the Republicans tell us they “have better things to do with their time.” Oh, and it “might make Trump or the GOP look bad.”
Please remember this “waste of time,” a phrase Republicans kept repeating, comes from the party that held 33 hearings on Benghazi over several years. The only purpose of those hearings, as admitted by minority leader Kevin McCarthy, was to derail Hillary Clinton’s campaign!
What do you call such people: hypocrites? liars? traitors? Trumpist sycophants? I don’t have an answer, but I can tell you this, the words “honest,” “patriotic,” and “decent” don’t fit.
Michael Frandzel
Portsmouth, N.H.
Michael:
Since you ask, we would call these people the Spawn of the Gerrymander.
Once the Republican Party has a lock on a district, the only way to win that district’s primary is by being more Republican than your opponent. These days that means being more deranged improves your chances.
It must be noted that this is only so because we stupidly insist on conducting elections under plurality voting rules: voters get one vote, they can only vote for one candidate, and whatever lunkhead gets the most votes wins.
Ranked-choice voting would change all that, but nooo….
The Editor