Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

We are being confronted with a number of crisis that are simultaneously demanding our attention; for example, the Ukraine war and the expense of maintaining an empire of 750 military bases around the world, the rising inflation in fuel prices, groceries, housing, etc., , the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roes vs Wade, the growing disparity of incomes, the unaffordability of health care when hundreds of thousands of people go bankrupt every year because they can’t pay their medical bills and the rising debt incurred by those seeking a higher education in order to have a place in this economic order.

Oh and add to that the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic and the terror of mass shootings and gun violence that have received inadequate legislative responses. And there is the problem of human induced global climate change and the ensuing mass migrations.

So, where does the insurrection fit into this cacophony? And was it merely an insurrection or was this a well- planned effort at a coup d’etat (overthrow of our elected government)?

It is quite clear at this point that there was a serious attempt to prevent the orderly transfer of power from one Presidential administration to another: Donald Trump’s to Joseph Biden’s. Though this incident might seem to the casual observer to not be of great importance, it stands out to be not the case.

Had it been successful, the entire democratic process would have been compromised and the ability to deal with all the other problems mentioned above would suffer the consequences.

I have watched all six of the hearings conducted by the January 6 House Select Committee and at times did fall asleep, mostly because of my 85-year-old constitution. But, every detail of this series holds my rapt attention. Corroboration is being offered by more than 1000 witnesses (plus 140,000 documents) who saw the invasion of the Capitol building or have relevant information and have participated with the House Select Committee’s investigation of how the insurrection happened, who was responsible and how it could be prevented from happening again in the future.

Many who testified had nothing to gain except the self-respect they could not live without. We all have to live with the decisions we have made in our lifetime and these witnesses thankfully came to that realization.

Estimates have been given as to the cost of that insurrection that vary from about $1.5 million up to $30 million. I suspect that the first estimate is based on the physical damage to the Capitol building and the second might refer to the cost of the human afflictions it caused, like the 140 policeman and others who suffered physical damage in this altercation.

Then, add to that the cost of conducting the hearings. The latter would easily account for the second estimate.

Books will be written about the insurrection that happened at the Capitol Building on January 6, but I thought it would be useful to recount what has been revealed in the first six hearings. As a former public/school librarian in Hulett, I realize that non-fiction books are not all that popular among the readership and that more people might be confronted by the problem if it was presented to them in their local newspaper (well, that is one hypothesis).

Liz Cheney, who sits as the Republican co-chair of the Special House Commission beside Bennie Thompson (the Democratic Chair), and seven other panel members have done a spectacular job in their interviews of the witnesses who have appeared before the Commission. These witnesses have volunteered/ summoned or both have revealed very relevant information about this event that would not have come to light without their interviewing skill and interest.

As our only House Representative from Wyoming, Liz Cheney deserves everyone’s respect for the dedication she has shown in the search for the truth in this regard. Though I myself am a life-long Democrat ever since FDR, I recognize this devotion to the truth as should others whatever their political persuasion.

Essentially, Rep. Liz Cheney has outlined President Trump’s seven-pronged attack on the electoral process and this is reported by Victoria Eavis in the June 11 issue of the Casper Star, which is offered here with additional information in light of the ongoing hearings:

Pres. Trump engaged in a massive effort to spread false claims of voter fraud to the American public ever since the 2016 election. Attorney General William Barr told Pres. Trump that such claims had no merit and decided to resign when those claims were not accepted.

Pres. Trump intended to replace the Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen by Jeffrey Clark, someone totally unqualified for that office, to gain support for his fraudulent election claims. When confronted by Acting Deputy AG Richard Donoghue with the prospect of a massive resignation of DJT’s legal team and many within the Justice Department, Trump withdrew his nomination.

Pres. Trump tried to coerce Vice President Pence to deny the Electoral Vote and send the decision back to state legislators to replace the existing electoral votes by fake ones. VP Pence did not comply with DJT because it was unconstitutional. Electoral College procedures have been in place for over 200 years and there was no precedent to do that.

Pres. Trump tried to influence state election officials and state legislators to alter the results of the election. Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger refused to comply as did several election officials such as Arizona Speaker of the House, Rusty Bowers. Their personal information was subsequently broadcast to the public and consequentially they received numerous threats because of it.

Pres. Trump’s legal team, most notably John Eastman, and other associates encouraged Republicans in several states to forward false slates of electors and transport them to Congress and the National Archives.

President Trump assembled a violent mob on January 6 and encouraged them to enter the Capitol Building with the encouragement “to fight like hell” and to the chant offered by members of the Proud Boys, 3%’ers, QAnon, Oath Keepers, “Hang Mike Pence”, he offered the response: “He deserves it”

And then announced that he would be there with them and the only reason that didn’t happen was that when he reached for the steering wheel while being transported back to the Oval Office, he was prevented from gaining control of the Presidential SUV. Representative Cheney described this situation aptly:

When the full force of the violent mob was realized, Pres. Trump ignored multiple pleas for assistance and failed to tell the invaders to stop the violence and leave the Capitol Bldg. for hours. Nine people died in this insurrection and in its aftermath.

So far, some 800 people have been charged with various crimes, some who will be spending years in prison. As Pres. Trump attempted to join the insurrectionists, he made it clear that he did not feel threatened by this crowd, which was armed, as they did not come with the intention of harming him.

But what about others like Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi? They had received death threats and a symbolic gallows was erected for Mike Pence.

I have personally attended two demonstrations at the Capitol Building: April 17, 1965 along with 17,000 others to protest the Vietnam War, and a second time in April of 2017 to stand up for the application of science in important decision making. In neither was there the slightest hint that we should invade the Capitol Building, the White House, State Department or Supreme Court.

But then, we were not being encouraged to do so by the President of the United States!

Rodney Knudson