President, lawmakers deserve blame for siege
A fundamental truth about human behavior is that words have consequences, especially when uttered by elected leaders and amplified by media outlets. The world saw this in real time as pro-Trump extremists overran the U.S. Capitol after attending the president’s vile and lie-filled speech. But, beyond the president’s inexcusable role in this tragic event, many legislators in Congress also deserve blame.
Our own Sen. Daines, in his written statement after the incident, decried the assault, crowing “We will not let today’s violence deter Congress from certifying the election. We must restore
confidence in our electoral process.” Horse pucky! Since the November election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Daines and his Republican allies have done nothing to correct the President’s fantasies, and in some cases embellished them, which only served to undermine voters’ confidence in the election. And, they did so knowing full well there was no evidence of cheating and with assurances that November’s election was the most secure in U.S. history.
Daines and a few other Senators dropped their phony objections to certifying the election just before Congress voted — but only after the Capitol had been ransacked and people died. Sen. Daines’ defended his behavior, reportedly saying he played no role in the siege, an excuse that would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so dire. The legacy of the assault on our Capitol — and on our
democracy — will forever brand Donald J. Trump and dishonor the turncoats in Congress whose words and inactions emboldened this wannabe dictator. Steven Sweeney
Bozeman
Daines knows better, owes us an apology
I would like to add my voice to the growing dissent over Sen. Daines playing a “follow the leader” game with his recent indiscretions over alleged voter fraud in the National Election in November and the very recent attack on the Nation’s Capitol: Sen. Daines may claim he had no role in the recent “siege” of the Nation’s Capital Building (Daily Chronicle, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, front page).
Indeed, he was inside already and did not join the mob which perpetrated the attack. His was an inside job, sitting with his co-conspirators who supported the President in raising the anger of the
crowd with his continuing claims of gross voting discrepancies in the face of authenticated voting results.
True, Sen. Daines was not a malicious invader that day. He is, however, guilty by association, supporting the false claims of voting fraud made by our now infamous president. Sen. Daines vocally
approved those claims and by his actions condoned and spread Mr. Trump’s assertions until the ultimate damage was done. Only then did Mr. Daines capitulate to the will of the majority of the full Congress and finish the job of the day.
Sen. Daines violated his oath of office, if not his conscience and/or his upbringing. He knows better. He owes all of his Montana constituents, and indeed the world, at least an apology for his poor
judgment and his failure to apply measured representation of false allegations and information.
Robert Weirick
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letters to the Editor 1/19/21