In 1973 when I was a political independent and the U.S. Senate investigated Richard Nixon’s Watergate break-in, I was glued to the TV, watching their deliberations live. Likewise, beginning this past June, I watched all the hearings of the current House special committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
The 2022 midterm elections are coming up on Nov. 8. Former President Donald J. Trump has made many endorsements nationwide. Many of them are for Ohio candidates who have accepted these endorsements, which tells voters a lot about the candidates themselves.
Here is a brief summary of the committee’s findings to keep in mind when you vote:
• Trump’s efforts to overturn his election defeat are a first in the history of the American presidency.
• Accordingly, the U.S. House of Representatives formed a special committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
• Representatives Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) agreed to serve on the committee, making it bipartisan. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) chaired the committee of nine lawmakers with Liz Cheney as co-chair.
• Over the past year, more than 1,000 people were interviewed. Many thousands of text messages, emails and documents were examined.
• Witnesses were under oath to tell the truth or face the penalty of lying to Congress.
• Many of the witnesses questioned were members of the former Trump administration; some were close aides or part of the Trump family. Others were either witnesses to, or part of, the insurrection itself.
• Most witnesses cooperated, while several (Roger Stone, a link to the Proud Boys; and Gen. Michael Flynn, an advocate of using military force to achieve political goals) took the Fifth.
• Surprising evidence showed that Trump laid ground work for election denial before the 2020 election in order to set up the mindset of supporters in case he lost.
• Sixty Trump lawsuits that questioned voting results had failed prior to Jan. 6, 2021.
• At the “Stop the Steal Rally,” Trump’s key messages to supporters were: “We have to fight like hell” (to stop the steal) and that Vice President Mike Pence could help “stop the steal” by refusing to certify the Electoral College count.
• Pence, as president of the Senate, refused Trump’s request because doing so would be unconstitutional.
• The committee declared that evidence shows that Trump, with support from close, personal advisors, had been the central instigator of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
• The committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to answer questions.
• The committee continues to investigate at least through the end of 2022.
Try, if you can, to wrap you mind around this: A president of the United States intended to hold on to the powers of his office by any means, regardless of the results of a presidential election.
Hearing this should be beyond shocking to all Americans.
Looking at the 2022 midterms, it is important to know that J.D. Vance, running for Senate; Jim Jordan, running for re-election to the House; and Mike DeWine running for re-election as Ohio Governor have all been endorsed by Trump.
All three have accepted the endorsement. I suppose they think it can’t hurt their chances of winning. I say it should hurt.
Where is character here? Where is courage? What would you call a follower of a president who attempted to overthrow the government? Surely not senator, representative or governor.
I strongly assert that any candidate who does not reject the endorsement of the former president has no right to serve as an elected official in this country.
This should be a deal-breaker when it comes to voting the party line.
The candidates talk about issues. But issues don’t matter if we elect people who don’t make allegiance to the U.S. Constitution their first priority. None of the issues matter if we lose our democracy because we elected leaders who cannot recognize criminal behavior when it is clearly there and do not have the courage to call it out.
This is not “just politics” as usual.
Putting these facts into perspective, people in Ukraine are dying to protect their democracy. Think of those many thousands of Americans who have suffered injury or who have died to preserve our democracy. Voting for courageous, ethical candidates is how we honor them.
In this upcoming 2022 midterm election, there is only one issue. Acknowledging that “no one is above the law,” voters must put “country over party.” Our democracy depends on it.
Carol Ward/Williamson Gibson, of Lima, is a retired English teacher and library media specialist. Her column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
