Guest Spot: True patriots defend the U.S. Constitution
Disgruntled Republicans allege that “voter fraud” “stole” the 2020 election but produce no evidence whatsoever to support that claim. In fact, Trump’s attorneys filed 62 lawsuits and lost 61. Under questioning from skeptical judges, and facing legal consequences for lying, Trump’s attorneys repeatedly recanted their claims of voter fraud.
The judicial decisions in these lawsuits completely demolished the allegations of fraud. For example, Trump appointee Judge Stephanos Bibas of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, eloquently stated: “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”
Judge Bibas denounced as “breathtaking” a Republican request to reverse certification of the vote, adding: “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections. [The] campaign’s claims have no merit.” Other judges have issued equally scathing rebukes.
Furthermore, evidence overwhelmingly proves the election was fair. Trump’s own Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency statement of November 12, says: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history… There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised”
Trump’s Attorney General William Barr admitted, “…to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” Additionally, all 50 states certified the election results as true and accurate and numerous recounts in contested states revealed no significant discrepancies that would alter the outcome of the election. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear two cases brought by Trump allies stating the petitioners had no standing, or the case had no merit.
Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, an American hero I admire, once said: “If a political party does not… advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”
We are witnessing a Republican “conspiracy to seize power.” Donald Trump lost the popular vote in both 2016 and 2020. Having failed to overturn the election, the Republican Party now works tirelessly to pass restrictive voting laws that would suppress the vote of primarily minority voters in order to ensure victory in future elections.
This morally bankrupt “conspiracy” makes America less free and much less honorable. All Americans must be guaranteed their constitutional right to vote unencumbered by restrictive regulations.
Finally, It has been said that, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag.” The insurrection of Jan. 6 was an act of domestic terrorism, a Gestapo intimidation tactic taken from directly from the playbook of Adolf Hitler. There were no patriots in that mob. Patriots defend America’s Constitution and democracy, they do not seek to destroy it.
Mr. Gibbons is a former U.S. Naval officer and Vietnam veteran. He taught social studies at Mattituck High School for 35 years and is currently an assistant professor of education at Long Island University.
