LETTER: A ‘disgraceful’ point of view

Many of Donald Trump’s supporters have tried to downplay the Jan. 6 violent onslaught aimed at overturning a fair election by comparing it to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. The BLM protests were marred by some who damaged property, but anyone actually paying attention to the facts knows the vast majority of those protesters were peaceful and intended to support a just cause. Much of the violence around BLM demonstrations was by counter-demonstrators, including a person armed with a rifle who killing two people. Outrageously, syndicated columnist Patrick Buchanan suggests that it is those of us who believe Trump should be held accountable for his part in the insurrection at our capital who are somehow demonstrating the “spirit of a lynch mob.” He wrote this in spite of the fact that the mob called to Washington, D.C., by Trump had erected a gallows outside our Capitol building and actually shouted, “hang Mike Pence.”
Buchanan’s evil, convoluted attempt to distort the current situation by suggesting people who supported the historical struggle for racial justice condoned violence is disgraceful. He extended his distortion to those who today try to make this a better country by supporting advancement of equal treatment for all. It is bizarrely dishonest to use this whataboutism technique to try to distract us from what actually happened on the day Electoral College votes were to be tallied. It was a violent attack on our democratic electoral system in an attempt to keep an autocrat.
The increasing number of people who see that Trump is responsible are not just Democrats. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, a staunch conservative, said the insurrectionist mob that attacked our Capitol was “provoked by the president and other powerful people” and he said, “the mob was fed lies.” Buchanan chose to disparage the statements of representative for Wyoming, Liz Cheney, who stated the facts clearly. She said, “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution” and “The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.” Rightly, she concluded, “I will vote to impeach the president.”
Donald Fitch
Amity