Editor,

When I read letters by people like Fred Wilferth (Jan. 11, 2023), who argue that there was really no insurrection on January 6th, I am just baffled. Right after the insurrection both Representative McCarthy and Senator McConnell held President Trump responsible for instigating this attack on the House of Representatives. No one has ever charged them with being “left wing.”

I wonder if there is a gang of people, perhaps former writers from Mad Magazine who, after it stopped publishing in 2019, decided to make Republicans look bad? Some of the letters written in defense of Trump and the Republican Party’s lies and anti-democratic actions are so absurd that it is hard to believe that the writers of these letters actually believe what they write. Another letter writer recently made the preposterous claim that the Department of Justice is unfairly prosecuting Donald Trump, even though the DOJ is bending over backwards to treat him with kid gloves.

In order for us to have a viable democracy, we do indeed need at least two parties. But if many members of one of the parties support the over-turning of elections when they do not like the outcome and if their followers embrace endless streams of nonsense, then I fear for the future of this country. Yes, the Democrats have their own problems and they sometimes get caught up in silliness. But when it comes to corruption and dishonesty, they are way behind Republications. I am not given to nostalgia but I do remember with some fondness the time when Dwight Eisenhower was president and when sensible Republicans like Dan Evans and John Spellman were governors of Washington state. These days it seems that the Republicans who raise their voices are doing their utmost to convince us that Republicans are the most uninformed people on planet earth.

Steen Halling

Greenbank