Itโs time to stop the real steal
No, not that false narrative about an election โstealโ by Democrats. Iโm talking about Arizona Republican legislators trying to steal our votes. We already know that Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs and state Rep.Mark Finchem supported the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and that the GOP-dominated Arizona Senate plans to use taxpayer money to conduct a useless audit of Maricopa Countyโs votes.
But wait, thereโs more. Republican legislators are proposing new restrictions on voting by mail, more burdensome requirements for election officials and the most outrageous proposal of all, a law to let the legislature overturn the results of future presidential elections in the state. This last one is being proposed by Rep. Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix, the wife of a member of Arizonaโs Supreme Court. I guess she and maybe her husband havenโt read the state Constitution.
While hopefully none of this becomes law, we need to stop the GOP from trying to steal our votes by voting them out of office in 2022.
Karen Schickedanz
SaddleBrooke
Republicans, what is your vision for America?
Republicans, itโs up to you now. Your elected officials continue to support the radical right of America. Why do you support their cries of a stolen election? Why do you support stonewalling the efforts to bring a cohesive federal response to the virus, pass a stimulus bill and honestly address the crimes of the past president?
Why do you support this corruption of American values? The United States cannot continue as a shining example of democracy to the rest of the world until you demand of your representatives a return to a semblance of reason. Arenโt you afraid of where they are leading you? What is your vision for America?
James Hailey
Foothills
A farewell
to the Republican Party
Well โฆ to be safe, I waited until after the inauguration to be sure no one could mess with my vote. As of last week, and after 62-plus years of being a Republican, I am now a registered Democrat.
I could no longer put up with the incredible nonsense that has become the Republican Party. Having voted for a Democrat my last three presidential elections, I find I have given up on whatever the Republican Party has become.
As far as I am concerned, itโs now a party without principles, which has disassociated itself with truth and science. It is the party of the โBig Lie,โ somehow needing conspiracy theories and white supremacists. And it is a party that has distanced itself from we, the people, to snuggle up naively with a would-be dictator, to clearly move away from the tenets of democratic nation.
So long to the Party of Lincoln.
Frank Parsons
Northeast side
Maybe itโs a longer con than anticipated
If the last three months leave any doubt that Republicans are terrified of true democracy, look no further than a proposal by Arizona state Rep. Shawnna Bolick. Her bill would allow the legislature to overturn results of a presidential election that they didnโt like, even after the results have been legally certified. Just wipe them away with a simple majority vote.
Thereโs more. In any lawsuit contesting the election, the judge is prohibited from dismissing the suit, even when there is no legal merit or evidence. In this case, 12 jurors get to decide who won. The case would eventually be appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, which currently sets court procedures.
The rich irony here is that Bolick is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick. One wonders how he feels about his wifeโs attempt to dismantle democracy while usurping judicial prerogatives. It must make for interesting dinner conversations.
Dan Gipple
Southeast side
Small window for GOP to split with Trump
The Republicans have a small window of opportunity to rid themselves of the Donald Trump faction and return to basic party values.
Trump has split the party into three groups: the Trumpers, the Grin and Bear It group, and the Defectors who have become independents and the Lincoln Project faction.
If the real party would pull together, the Grin and Bear It group and the Defectors they could let the Trumpers go their own way. A two-party system has worked well for our country for over 200 years. It could again.
We need a cooling of rhetoric and crazy actions, a return to law and order, and respect for our Constitution and those who defend it.
The window for this activity is not large. We have seen what following Trump can do to our democracy. Now is the time for the Republicans to drop their fear of Trump and his minions and coalesce around a true leader. That could save our democracy.
Sandy Elers
Northwest side
