In his letter “Trump supporters’ claims undercut by
facts,” comedian Pat Ashton lets loose a couple of great belly laughs.
Ashton claims “to ideologues, facts are inconvenient
things.”
Here are some inconvenient facts Ashton and other
constitutionally illiterate liberals refuse to recognize.
Fact: the rules for the electoral process for
electing the President of the United States have been in place since the
ratification of US Constitution in 1788.
Fact: In 2016,
one novice candidate understood the rules and pursued a campaign strategy to
win the election under existing rules.
The other “well-seasoned politician” in the race ignored the rules and
then attributed her loss, not to her own lack luster effort but rather, to the very
rules she chose to ignore.
Fact: Instead of trying to understand why they lost
the 2016 Presidential Election, liberals have taken to whining like cut dogs
and demanding a rules change to favor their current political situation.
Trump supporters'
claims undercut by facts
The latest talking
point of Trump supporters is that “impeachment is a bogus attempt to undo the
results of the 2016 presidential election,” as expressed in these pages by
Diane Jones (“President, legal citizens need legislative protection,” Letters,
Jan. 4).
The many Trump
supporters promoting this meme have completely – and conveniently –
forgotten that it was Donald Trump himself who for most of the eight
years of the Obama administration actively promoted the completely discredited
claim that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and therefore both of his wins were
illegitimate. And, by the way, Obama overwhelmingly won both the popular and
the electoral vote in both of those elections.
Contrast that with
Jones' assertion that Trump's election was “a referendum by the sovereign
citizens of the United States.” Since Trump in fact lost the national popular
vote by more than 3 million votes, it seems the “sovereign citizens”
of this country elected Hillary Clinton in 2016, and it was the Electoral
College that elected Trump. But to ideologues, facts are inconvenient things.
Pat Ashton
Fort Wayne
In his letter “Democrats not to blame for electoral
inequities” of Jan 13, 2020, George Bauman holds forth on the basic tenets of
Democracy.
Trying to explain the Constitution to liberals is difficult. Trying to explain it to liberals who just
lost the most winnable election in US history is all but impossible. Instead of trying to win elections using the rules
in place since 1788, Democrats now insist on remaking the electoral process to
meet their needs.
When they lose the popular vote and the Electoral
College vote in 2020, they will develop another hare-brained scheme that turns
the established rules on their head in an effort to insure a Democrat victory. Nothing is sacred to these people. They look
to Al Davis for the only justification they need – “Just win, baby” they do not
care how, the long-term consequences or what it does to the country.
Bauman claims 53% support doing away with the Electoral
College. Great. Democrats are supposedly well on their way to
amending the Constitution. All Democrats
need now is 2/3rds of both house of congress and 3/4ths of the states to amend
the constitution. Like the gun control
issue, the Democrats will never pursue a constitutional means to change. Instead they continue with their never ending
three year temper tantrum.
Democrats not to blame
for electoral inequities
So it is the “reckless
Democrats” who endanger the electoral system? Need I remind Warren Mead
(Letters, Jan. 2) that Republicans began impeachment talk as soon as Barack
Obama was elected based first upon the false claim that he was not born in the
U.S. and then continued with every other excuse they could think of.
Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama, thereby negating the results
of a “valid election.”
The Electoral College
has served its purpose, one of which was some founders' fear that the
public in the 18th century lacked the ability to be informed and could fall
victim to a demagogue who would win their vote through promises that could not
be kept. If 2016 taught us anything, this is it. In May 2019, a Wall
Street Journal survey found that 53% of voters favored getting rid of the
Electoral College while only 43% favored the status quo.
Mead speaks of the
“basic tenets of our electoral process” that he fears Democrats are
threatening, yet he neglects the most basic of all cherished aspects of our
democracy, the concept of “one man, one vote.” Because of the Electoral
College, my vote is weighted depending upon my state of residence. That is how
we have a president who was elected with a minority of the popular
vote. Did the votes cast in Indiana for Hilary Clinton count for anything?
Did the votes cast for Donald Trump in New York count for anything? Is that
what we want to say about our democratic system of government, that some votes
count more than others and some don't count at all?
I'm not sure
how Mead is going to blame this on the Democrats, but I suspect he will
try.
George Bauman
Fort Wayne
In his Jan 12, 2020 letter “Senators have a solemn
duty” Tim McElwee asserts that after the clown show that occurred in the House
of Representatives that resulted in two idiotic articles of impeachment the senate
has a duty to take the House hoax seriously.
Really?
The Senate should give Nancy Pelosi’s silly House farce
all the solemnity that it deserves – none.
McElwee makes the fantastical statement that “We know the president himself ordered the suspension of
Ukrainian aid and that his team tried to keep his directive confidential.” We “know” nothing of the sort. If the deal was supposed to be “confidential,”
it was the worst kept secret in government.
Republican Senators
ought to give the Democrat clown show of impeachment all of the solemnity the
Hose Democrats gave it while drafting their bogus nonsensical articles.
Senators have solemn
duty
Pundits across the
political spectrum are citing a prescient statement Alexander Hamilton included
in the Federalist Papers, warning that the greatest danger in a Senate
impeachment trial is that the ultimate decision would be determined “more by
the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of
innocence or guilt.”
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell asserts he “will be working in total coordination with the
White House counsel's office” in leading the impeachment trial. Sen. Mike
Braun has declared,“There's not one impartial juror of the 100 in the Senate.
I'm going to vote to acquit unless there's something new that comes up, and I
don't anticipate that happening.”
Braun is correct about
the difficulty of analyzing facts in an objective manner. Any honest juror
would have to admit that after hearing charges against a defendant it is
difficult to avoid forming presumptions of guilt or innocence. The question is
whether that juror is committed to serving as an
open-minded participant, willing to be convinced through the
evidence.
We know the president
himself ordered the suspension of Ukrainian aid and that his team tried to
keep his directive confidential. If President Donald Trump jeopardized national
security for personal political gain, violated the Impoundment Control Act then
attempted to conceal his actions, I hope Sens. Braun
and Todd Young can help us understand how an open-minded juror could
vote to acquit Trump.
Our senators will take
a separate oath to serve as jurors in the impeachment trial. As such they will
not serve as representatives of their party, nor merely Hoosiers. They will
represent the entire country in defense of our Constitution.
TIM McELWEE
Wolcottville
In her Jan 12, 2020 letter, DeVos failing public schools”
Kathy Candioto issues a challenge for “anyone to name something positive that
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has done for public education.”
Okay, I’ll take the bait. DeVos has been a forceful advocate for school
vouchers to allow mostly inner city parents to remove their children from failing/failed,
dangerous, drug infested public school driven to ruin by 40 years of Democratic
Party/Teachers’ Union control and a 19th century education model.
That’s an awesome legacy in my view.
Oh, and if we apply Candioto’s “no rich donors or
persons that send their children to private schools” allowed in government rule
evenly, it’d pretty much wipe out the Democrat field of presidential
candidates.
DeVos failing public
schools
I challenge anyone to
name something positive that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has done for
public education.
A longtime Republican
donor from Michigan (whose family's worth is $5.4 billion), Devos got off to a
rough start when her 2017 Senate confirmation hinged on a tie-breaking vote
from Vice President Mike Pence. The hearings revealed her amazing lack of knowledge
on education law and policy.
DeVos attended private
schools, as did her children. Caring little about public schools, she is strong
advocate for vouchers and charters. It is shameful that Cabinet member DeVos
should be held in contempt of court and her department fined $100,000.
(October, 2019).
Public school
supporters look forward to the end of DeVos' tenure in 2020. DeVos has been a
complete failure to our public school teachers and students.
Kathy Candioto
Fort Wayne
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