3 days ago
Drop the Arizona 'fake electors' case? Do we excuse the bank robber?
Letter writer Jim McManus thinks the case against the fake Arizona electors should be dropped. In fact, he claimed, charges never should have been brought. He gave a myriad of reasons why:
They were just joking. They didn't really think it would work. Nobody got hurt. His vote still counted.
So, no harm, no foul?
Do we let off the bank robber whose robbery attempt was foiled, because after all, nobody lost any money, and he probably didn't think he'd get away with it anyway?
I would argue that the fake electors were dead serious, thought they could pull it off, and participated in a scheme that contributed to a lot of people getting hurt. Minimizing its seriousness by calling it some 'Republican prank' does nothing to prevent it from happening again.
These people were conspirators in an elaborate illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Their part was to have available fake Trump electors to be put in place once Trump disrupted the certification process, either by convincing (VP) Mike Pence to postpone the process or by doing so through brute force.
(AG) Kris Mayes should continue to try to bring these people to justice. Their actions were no joke.
Dan Peel, Scottsdale
So, letter writer Jim McManus of Phoenix believes that "Arizona's 'alternate' slate of electors was a dumb stunt. But no one was hurt'. Therefore, he asserts, that since it was four years ago, we should all just drop it and forget about it.
Seriously?
By that logic, if I got drunk and tried to shoot someone, but missed, it should be considered a "dumb stunt' and swept under the carpet since no one got hurt.
That is some twisted "logic.'
I'll remind Mr. McManus that actual elected officials at the highest levels of our government made a conscious attempt to subvert our democratic institutions.
Yeah, "dumb,' but also criminal.
I, and millions of other Americans served in the military to defend those institutions and take them very seriously.
Eliot Gross, Chandler
I was disappointed in reading that one of our patrons thought it was a wrong idea by our state attorney general to bring the "fake electors' scheme back to the grand jury. They were attempting to overturn a free and fair election, which is the foundation of our democracy.
Joe Decerbo, Scottsdale
I appreciated Laurie Robert's column on the deceptive and cruel methods ICE used this week to arrest people as they showed up for their scheduled immigration hearings.
As Ms. Roberts highlighted, these individuals followed our laws and represent no threat to the U.S.
Many U.S. voters seem to dislike our asylum laws, yet they haven't pressured their representatives to enact comprehensive immigration reform.
And many voted for President Trump who objected to and fought hard against the bi-partisan immigration reforms drafted last year.
The tough proposals would have strengthened border security, however Mr. Trump prefers to rail against immigrants rather than fix gaps in our laws. We need to follow our laws and honor them until we actually do the work to change them.
Clearly the administration is wasting millions of tax dollars rounding up non-violent, hard-working individuals rather than going after dangerous people who shouldn't be in the country.
I wish those dollars could be used to bolster social security and Medicaid for needy Americans. We are better than this.
Carol Mathis, Scottsdale
Two stories in The Arizona Republic | on Wednesday described the tragic outcome of men with depression, suicidal thoughts and guns. Once again, neither story will likely advance any discussion of keeping guns out of the hands of troubled people.
In one story, a Scottsdale man is accused of shooting and killing a friend who was trying to help him.
In the other story, a Scottsdale man described as depressed and manic shot and killed his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself.
The Scottsdale police described the man who killed his friend as having previously been considered a danger to himself and others and had a large arsenal of weapons. Can anybody spot what's wrong with that last sentence.
The unfortunate friend clearly knew his buddy was in crisis, or he wouldn't have gone to see him. Reports are that the family of the man who killed his wife and daughter were fully aware of the problems he was having.
Intervention of some kind likely could have saved multiple lives here.
Yet we continue to tiptoe around the issue of mental illness and guns. Before my Republican friends try to tell me this is a mental health issue, let me ask them, why is your party cutting funding for mental health services?
Dan Peel, Scottsdale
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Drop the Arizona 'fake electors' case? No | Letters
