Re: Letters, Brian Richards, Sept. 20.
Among other things, in his letter, Brian states that “we are not a democracy.” This is true, as far as it goes! We are a democratic republic. In a republic, we have representatives who vote for us in the public body (or public bodies) that run our country. In a complete democracy, every time there was something that required a decision, everyone, all 330 million of us, would have to get together and vote yea or nay. So in our democratic republic, we get together periodically to decide who our representatives are to be. These gatherings that we call elections are what we know as democracy.
There has arisen a portion of our populace that would prefer to have a “strong man,” like Fulgencio Batista in Cuba (pre-Castro), or Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. Donald Trump is cut from that same cloth. The problem is that it is impossible to separate what the strong man is doing for our benefit, from what he does to benefit himself and his friends. We also have no peaceful way to replace the strong man.
Brian also says that those of us on the left consider “election deniers” to be treasonists! Treason is a military term pertaining to giving “aid and comfort to the enemy.” I find it telling that for over 200 years we have had a peaceful transition of power. Until we had to take into account Donald Trump’s fragile ego. More than 60 court cases, at all levels of court, were filed. All were dismissed due to lack of evidence. If you are comfortable with denying the 2020 election, at least do so with some evidence or examples of fraud. Saying something over and over again does not make it true. Abraham Lincoln spoke of a government “of, by, and for the people.” Election deniers are at best “anti-constitutionalists,” possibly pro-authoritarian, not traitors. So come on, Brian, “Put up or shut up!”
In another arena, I was told by a signature gatherer outside Trader Joe’s that the left had an agenda to destroy California and then the United States. He stated that the Republicans had a “plan” to “make America Great Again!” Websters defines an agenda as a plan. We are using an ill-defined connotation as a further way to separate us. If we are going to argue, at least make it over something real!
Gary Morrison
Valencia