Keizertimes., January 15, 2021, Page 5, Image 5

JANUARY 15, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
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Hither the republic?
An unconscionable attack
As last week’s Keizertimes was be- Capitol were so far from democracy
ing prepared to be sent to the print- in action. One can only imagine the
er, all hell broke loose at the nation’s rapture our foreign adversaries must
Capitol. Protestors who gathered to have been feeling watching the news.
oppose the certifi cation by Congress How can America continue to be a
beacon to the world when
of Joseph Biden as win-
what happened in Wash-
ner of the 2020 election,
ington was not much bet-
attacked the Capitol,
ter than what happens in
even storming the Senate
with histories of
chambers. Vice President
editorial countries
turbulent and violent gov-
Mike Pence, presiding
ernments?
over the certifi cation
Calls for the president’s
process was evacuated.
removal from offi ce rever-
Initial news reports
berated across the country
stated that the Capitol’s
police force was not equipped to han- and across the political spectrum.
dle the riot. For that is what it was, Some called for the vice president and
some elected offi cials called it a coup. a majority of the Cabinet to invoke
Four people were killed during the the 25th Amendment, which wrest
riot, including Brian Sicknick, a U.S. control from the president. Demo-
cratic leaders declared that if the vice
Capitol offi cer.
This is the fi rst time in America’s president did not use the amendment
history that a presidential election has to remove the president, they would
resulted in violent protests, egged on vote to impeach.
The president has his supporters
by the losing candidate. This is any-
thing but a peaceful transfer of power in the country—not all are gun-tot-
from one administration to another. ting, rioting people. Millions of the
The scenes we watched on television president’s supporters cling to the be-
on last week was what we are used to lieve that the 2020 presidential elec-
tion was stolen, not only from the
seeing in other parts of the world.
It was shameful that the president sitting president, but also from them.
ignored entreaties from people with- All without a scintilla of evidence of
in his own circle calling on him to election fraud.
The attack on the Capitol was
send a strong message to the rioters to
stand down. Some of the president’s shocking in part because it was so
supporters outside the administration far outside the bounds of our imag-
were unable to contact Trump to con- ination. We need to reconcile the
vey their pleas for him to tell the mob fact that some of our fellow citizens
are beyond upset about the election,
to stop their actions and disperse.
The events unfolding at the U.S. they are furious and they will not be
calmed. This week the FBI reported it
has received information that armed
protests are being planned at all 50
state capitals and the U.S. Capitol,
again. Political rallies are one thing,
armed protests is another.
Ironically, our democracy permits
Americans to protest, and even open
carry weapons. That same democracy
calls for elections. Until recently, a vast
majority of Americans have accepted
the results.
In news video from the attack
on the Capitol, protestors decried
that the election was stolen and it
was fradulent, denying the president
a second term. In the two months
since the election there has been no
evidence presented to back up that
belief. Fifty cases have been rejected
by various courts. There is no credible
evidence.
Oregon has had its own capitol
protests. During a legsilative spe-
cial session in December, a group of
armed protestors stormed the capitol,
angry about COVID-19 restrictions.
It will be a scary scene if the capitol is
stormed again by election deniers in
the coming days.Armed protests that
result in damage and personal harm
should never be accepted.
There are many stories yet to be
reported about America’s tragic day at
the U.S. Capitol. What happened on
January 6, 2021 can not be repeated
anywhere.
—LAZ
damage results from frustrations and
By GENE H. McINTYRE
Increasingly common, are media disappointments of those who want
reports about the number of new to prevent blacks and others of color
and aspiring groups in Oregon that to reside here to those who want rule
are led by persons who’ve decided to by their hand over what has been a
replace the elected offi cials and es- mainly peaceful way of life in Ore-
tablished authorities with themselves. gon since statehood in 1859.
World history in modern times is
They are exampled by region-
al networks known as New-Nazis, replete with movements that began as
People’s Rights, Proud Boys, White shouting-match protests to destruc-
Supremacists, Three Percenters and tion and death to all who choose not
more. It’s believed most are fascist in to stand with group leaders. We need
their desire for totalitarian regimes, look back no further than the Euro-
seeking a new order where immi- pean nations of Germany, Italy, Rus-
grants of color are disallowed, reli- sia and Spain during the 1920s, 1930s
and 1940s. After World War I
gious intolerance prevails
they went from recovery to
and racism is practiced
seditious groups whose of-
unabated.
ten narcissistic psychopathic
Presumably disgrun-
guest
leaders headed their fellow
tled locally by what they
column
countrymen into uprisings
view as the government’s
that ultimately led to World
imposition by execu-
War II, resulting in death to
tive orders requiring
millions, total destruction,
masks, social distancing,
hand-washing, permits for protest and massive starvation.
In Oregon, for example, we’ve re-
parades with approved routes, and
lockdown of certain businesses such cently experienced what may have
as inside restaurant dining, physi- been a complicit state representative
cal-fi tness clubs and grooming salons, from Independence opening a door
they are more and more frequently to protesters hell-bent on forcing
using super-aggressive means to gain change by violent means. This in-
the upper hand. They also argue ve- cident has resulted in Oregon State
hemently for their versions of right Police no longer willing to com-
of assembly, freedom of speech and municate openly with all legislators.
actions far outside the law and norms. Lawlessness has also occurred outside
In the modern era, anti-estab- the Oregon capitol at the Governor’s
lishment activity in Oregon can be mansion in Salem, local businesses
traced to protests during the Viet- and attacks on government buildings,
nam War and, more recently, when stores, museums and people with
Ammon Bundy, a son and followers much more of the same in Portland.
led an attack in early 2016 to take We have become a nation where do-
over the Malheur National Wildlife mestic terrorism reigns while those
Refuge. Their complaint was not persons of trust, having taken an oath
only focused on freeing from prison to preserve, protect and defend the
ranchers who had practiced illegal people of Oregon, are no longer re-
burns inside the refuge, but also that liable.
What becomes of us if the anar-
private interests should not be denied
access inside the refuge for cattle chists succeed as they attempt to do
ranching, mining, resorts, golf cours- so? Any Oregonian who has appreci-
es, hunting, and any other private in- ated the way of life we have led will
terest devoted to pleasure and profi t. predictably miss the freedoms and
These protests have spawned pro- opportunities when they are gone.
tests to the level of insurrection, in- Meanwhile, anyone so inclined to
cluding those devoted to peaceful read world history at depth and
demonstrations turned riots where breadth will fi nd that many countries
the apparent intent becomes over- have made a serious effort at creat-
throwing the government by violent ing and sustaining a democracy, as
means and destruction of govern- far back as ancient Greek city-states.
ment buildings, private businesses, Unfortunate for their citizens, they
churches, personal property as well failed and disappeared into the dust
as injury and death to those in their bin of history. It’s now up to all of us
way. It would appear to an observer to save our republic or lose it.
(Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.)
that while some of the wreckage and
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sudoku
The worst days for Trump & Trumpists
for Trump came when a segment of a
By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN
President Donald Trump, it turns friendly crowd of 50,000 he just ad-
out, was being quite literal when he dressed concluded its march down the
mall to the U.S. Capitol by smashing
told us Jan. 6 would be “wild.”
And so Wednesday, Jan. 6, was, but its way into the building and invading
it was also disastrous for the party and and occupying the Senate and House
the movement Trump has led for the chambers.
Members of Congress were forced
last fi ve years.
The defeats of Senators Kelly Loef- to fl ee and hide. A protester, an Air
fl er and David Perdue in Georgia’s Force veteran, was shot to death by a
Capitol cop. Vice President
runoff elections were
Mike Pence, who was chair-
confi rmed. The new
ing the joint session, was tak-
50-50 split will put Vice
en into protective custody
President-elect Kamala
other
by his Secret Service detail.
Harris, the president of
voices
Doors were broken open.
the Senate on Jan. 20, in
Windows were smashed, and
position to cast the de-
the building was trashed.
ciding vote on every ma-
All this was seen on na-
jor issue where the two
tional television from midafternoon
parties are evenly divided.
Wednesday, there also came the ac- through nightfall. The East and West
ceptance by both houses of Congress fronts of the Capitol were occupied
of Joe Biden’s 306-232 electoral vote for hours by pro-Trump protesters,
victory over Trump. The last potential whom the president, his son Don Jr.,
hurdle to Biden’s inauguration as 46th and Rudy Giuliani had stirred up in
president of the United States has been the hours before the march down the
mall.
removed.
What Americans watched was a
But the worst of the day’s events
mob occupation and desecration of
the temple of the American Republic.
And the event will be forever exploit-
ed to discredit not only Trump but the
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movement he led and the achieve-
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monized as no one else in our history
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since Richard Nixon or Joe McCarthy.
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What took place Wednesday was a
disgrace and a debacle. But it was not,
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One year:
as some have wildly contended, com-
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parable to 9/11 or to the British burn-
$55 outside Oregon
ing of the Capitol in 1814 during the
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War of 1812. That is malicious hyper-
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EDITOR & PUBLISHER
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towers came crashing down and the
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Pentagon was hit by a hijacked airliner.
2019-2021 President
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And there have been far more serious
Publishers Association
events in the lifetimes of many of us
than this four-hour occupation of the
Keizertimes
Capitol.
In May 1970, after Nixon ordered
an invasion of Cambodia to clean
out Communist sanctuaries, National
Guard troops, in panic, shot and killed
four students at Kent State University
in Ohio.
Today, there is absurd media talk of
removing the president through im-
peachment or invocation of the 25th
Amendment.
If the House votes impeachment, is
the Senate going to hold a trial in 12
days to put Pence in the Oval Offi ce?
As for removing Trump through the
25th Amendment, this would require
a declaration by Vice President Pence
and half of the Cabinet that Trump is
unfi t to fi nish out a term that ends in
two weeks. Not going to happen.
But undeniably, the events of
Wednesday are going to split the Re-
publican Party. And what does the fu-
ture of that party now look like?
After Trump leaves the presidency,
he will not be coming back. The op-
position to him inside the GOP would
prevent his nomination or would de-
fect to prevent his reelection were he
nominated again.
Yet, the size and strength of Trump’s
movement is such that no Republican
candidate he declares persona non gra-
ta could win the nomination and the
presidency.
Trump’s supporters are today being
smeared and castigated by the same
media who lionized the BLM and
antifa “peaceful protesters” who spent
their summer rioting, looting, burning
and pillaging Minneapolis, Milwau-
kee, Portland, Kenosha, Louisville and
scores of other cities.
The Trumpists have been demon-
ized before. They are used to this. And
whatever their sins, disloyalty and in-
gratitude to the man they put in the
presidency is not one of them.
Wednesday was a bad day for Amer-
ica, but it was not the Reichstag fi re.
(Creators Syndicate)
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maze
Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer