Wrong, wrong, wrong
Dear Editor:
Chrystal Perrow’s letter published Nov. 18 (“Dig deep”) has it exactly wrong. She has been shocked by the mess and corruption of our country’s voting system. While I’m sure it can be greatly improved (hours-long lines anyone?), the only corruption exposed so far is that of the president and his silent enablers. Ms. Perrow must be listening to Sean Hannity and the Trump Campaign too much.
Let’s look at the facts. Not one state’s election board has complained of large-scale voter fraud. Not one, Republican or Democrat! Only the Trump Campaign and absurd surrogates they dig up to dubiously complain of a handful of misdirected votes. Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by 60,000 votes last time I looked, Michigan by 150,000, Georgia by 14,000, etc., etc. He in fact won the Electoral College by the same margin as Trump four years ago, which Trump called a “landslide.” Moreover, Trump lost by 3,000,000 popular votes in the previous election, and a pet Republican Congressional committee set up to investigate voter fraud couldn’t find any. Biden has won by about 5,500,000 votes — certainly a decisive victory.
And yet. Yet the Republican falsehood machine continues to pretend that the outcome is in doubt. It’s not. What’s in doubt is the survival of our democracy. Democracy works when the loser recognizes the people’s will and allows a smooth transition. If every possible trick is employed to throw doubt on the election and disenfranchise voters who didn’t vote their way, then we risk losing our democracy to Orange-hair-inspired chaos.
We all have heard of third world countries thrown into upheaval because of endlessly disputed elections and voter fraud. There wasn’t fraud in this one, just a manufactured dispute. They got MAGA wrong. The Trump campaign is trying to make the U.S. a third world pretend democracy. MATW: Make America Third World. Not even Republicans will enjoy the result.
Peter Bauer, Winthrop
Where’s the evidence?
Dear Editor:
In her letter to the Methow Valley News last week, Chrystal Perrow expressed concern that the voting process nationwide is filled with corruption. I worked in our county’s elections office during this last election and I can assure her that the process in Okanogan County is squeaky clean. If every state adopted the exact same election procedures as Washington state, I’d be very happy and I hope Perrow would be, too.
As far as her assumption that the process is filled with corruption, I think we should look at the numerous lawsuits filed by President Trump and his allies. Statements alleging fraud and corruption made at press conferences or in tweets are easy to made, and Trump has made plenty of them, but there’s no penalty for falsehoods. The President has filed 22 lawsuits trying to overturn the results in states where he lost and he’s won none of them. He’s lost or withdrawn 18 cases, with four cases still pending. If corruption is so widespread, I wonder why the president can’t make a better showing in court. Perhaps it’s because he needs evidence — not just assertions — to win a lawsuit, and in court, lawyers and witnesses are required to tell the truth. They put themselves in legal jeopardy if they lie.
Finally, Perrow says it’s too early to be calling winners. We need to wait until each state validates its results. This is a brand new standard and I wonder how far it applies. I, along with most of the voters in the valley, have accepted the fact that Dan Newhouse won reelection. Is Perrow still wondering who will be representing her in Congress next year?
Emily Sisson, Winthrop
Biden won, deal with it
Dear Editor:
This should have been so simple and obvious. Joe Biden won the popular vote by over 6 million votes. With 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232, Biden won and Trump lost the election.
Every other losing candidate would have long ago made a dignified statement conceding defeat. Instead, Trump has just lied about the outcome. Even worse, virtually the entire Republican Party leadership has followed him down that delusional rabbit hole. They’re not thinking at all about the good of the country.
More than 20 Republican lawsuits have not produced a shred of credible evidence to support Trump’s claim of widespread election fraud. Indeed, the top election security official in the federal government, a Trump appointee named Chris Krebs, called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.” Krebs was (until a few days ago) director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a part of Homeland Security.
The agency’s official report also said: “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted “or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” When the report came out, Trump quickly fired Chris Krebs. If there is one thing Trump hates, it’s anyone who contradicts his lies with actual, concrete facts.
Speaking of delusions, with the U.S. COVID-19 rate skyrocketing, Vice President Pence just said that the country was in fine shape: “America has never been more prepared to combat this virus than we are today.” Ironically, that’s probably accurate. The federal government was unprepared when the pandemic started and it is still unprepared. By blocking the usual transition preparations, Trump has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t want Joe Biden to be able to deal with the virus, either.
Let’s say it one more time: Biden won and Trump lost, in a fair election. End of story. Time to move ahead.
Randy Brook, Twisp
