This commentary is by Bob Stannard of Manchester, an author, musician and former state legislator and lobbyist.
— “If we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020, Republicans will not be voting in ’22 or ’24.” — Donald J. Trump.
— “I do think we need to be thinking about the future and not the past” — Sen. Mitch McConnell.
I’ve found politics to be fabulously interesting since 1968 when I was awarded the opportunity to participate in Boys State. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Boys State it is a “summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics.” It’s sponsored by the American Legion. During a week in the summertime the group that comes together must form a government, come up with ideas, submit legislation and try to get it passed. It was close to what actually happens in our democracy minus the corruption from rich corporate donors.
During the summer of 1968 I learned the basics of politics. It would be a decade and a half later before I would learn how the game of politics is really played. Once the innocence of the 1960s wore off, the business of politics was a real eye opener.
When I was first elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1982, things in Vermont politics were different. Sure, there were a million deals happening at any one time, but I never got the sense that there was real corruption going on. Doesn’t mean that there was no corruption; just that I never encountered any.
Fast forward to where America is today. On Sunday night, “Rolling Stone” magazine released a powerful story that alleges a handful of our elected officials were instrumental in organizing and planning the Jan. 6 insurrection. They worked hard to come up with a plan that would hand the presidency to the one who lost the election fair and square.
The 2020 elections were the most secure elections held perhaps in our nation’s history, but that didn’t stop the loser and his allies from promulgating and promoting a very big lie: that the election was stolen. It wasn’t, but that did not stop these folks, and apparently Facebook, from pushing this lie.
In this bombshell article by Hunter Walker, we learned that the following House members were allegedly actively involved in trying to stage a coup: Reps. Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was also involved in this effort and there should be no doubt who the conductor of this traitorous cabal was — the one who stood to gain the most: the losing candidate.
It’s clear to anyone who watched what happened on Jan. 6 that this wasn’t just another day at the Capitol. Radical right-wing Trump supporters were intentionally fed misinformation for the sole purpose of getting them so worked up that they felt the only choice they had was to sack Congress, force V.P. Mike Pence to unconstitutionally render a false decision and hand the election over to the one these radicalized supporters worship.
Fortunately for America, when placed in a moment of history, V.P. Pence found the inner courage to do the right thing. It should be noted that since Jan. 6 the former vice president has worked hard to get back into the fold. Someone should tell him that the former president no longer has any use for Pence and Pence should consider himself discarded.
It seems as though the facts are pretty simple. Trump was apoplectic that he had lost. “Loser” is not a moniker that he wears very well. While trying to decide what he should do, his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, came up with the idea of election fraud. Everyone in the mix knew it was a lie, but as this former president well knows, lies work way better than the truth. The Big Lie has worked so well that some southern states are using the lie to pass restrictive voter laws designed to keep minorities from having their voices heard.
On Jan. 6 of this year, America witnessed the first coup attempt in my lifetime. The intentions of those who lost were clear. Their plans were clear. The plan was executed perfectly and might have succeeded had it not been for the fact that the leader of this effort, the former president, is a transactional man. His attention span only goes so far. He must’ve believed that once the insurrection was successful and the elections overturned, the military would have to do his bidding. He would use the military to quell any opposition to his corrupt move — just like Putin or Kim Jung-Un would do.
I can understand why Mitch McConnell would rather hear no evil and “be thinking about the future and not the past,” because a scant 10 months ago his party and its supporters actively participated in what can only be described as treason. McConnell knows that if the truth really comes out, it’s going to be harder for him to regain power and that’s all that matters to him. He cares little for governing. He only cares about the power of the minority to control the majority.
I never learned about this in Boys State.
