Letter Raises Concerns

I am very concerned about the publishing of the letter to the editor by Yatindra Bhatnagar (Jan. 14, CVW). While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, they are not entitled to their own facts. This letter is full of already debunked conspiracy theories. I would urge the author to read articles such as https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/interactive/2020/election-integrity/

Specifically:

• Yes, there were months of BLM protests. Most were peaceful, but there was looting and violence at a few. Both Biden and Pelosi condemned the violence [Google June 2, 2020 + (Biden + violence) or (Pelosi + violence)].
• There were no “game-changing” election irregularities. There were more than 50 lawsuits filed in state and federal courts by Trump’s attorneys/supporters, with nearly all thrown out. For example, Judge Bibas, a Trump appointee, said: “Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”
• Attorney General Barr said on Dec. 1 “we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
• As far as ballots “appearing” … In states like Pennsylvania, mail-in ballots were not allowed to be counted until Election Day and, because it’s time-consuming (signature verification), not all ballots were counted that day. More Democratic voters voted by mail this year (Biden encouraged early voting while Trump criticized mail-in ballots), so after Election Day the lead changed. This had been predicted in advance.

Breaking into the Capitol with zip ties (to kidnap or kill our elected officials), Confederate and Trump flags, and the deaths of five people (including one Capitol police officer with injuries to others) is not defending democracy. It is an attack on democracy to try to overturn a legal election.

The people who broke in (and are now being identified) are Trump supporters who were egged on by Trump’s comments about “stolen” elections and told to march to the Capitol.

Trump tried to get GOP state officials (“find 11,780 votes”) and Pence to overturn the election results – again, not defending democracy.

I appeal to CVW to not publish letters with debunked conspiracy theories that can lead to further polarization and violence.

Jackie Gish
Glendale

Urges Self-Education to Learn the Truth

Yatindra Bhatnagar wrote a very disturbing letter last week. He apparently does not believe any of our respected news sources; nor Bill Barr, the former attorney general of the United States; nor Chris Krebs of the Dept. of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); nor all the election officials in the “swing states” – all of whom assured the American public that the Nov. 3 election was fair and Joe Biden won both the popular vote and the electoral college tally. Some authorities have said there were a few irregularities: a couple of people voted their deceased parents’ ballots. But this sort of fraud was very rare and could not change the outcome of the election. Yatindra spewed nonsense about all kinds of irregularities – mysterious boxes of ballots, etc. – none of which has ever been found to be true.

Yatindra traffics in ludicrous assertions –­ that “peaceful” Trump supporters were overrun on Jan. 6 by infiltrators and provocateurs who engaged in “minor” destruction. That is completely untrue. There was a murder of a policeman and the death of a MAGA supporter. We all saw what a terrible day that was and the evidence clearly points to a ginned-up, enraged Trump crowd seeking to overthrow the government because they had been lied to, like Yatindra has been.

To Yatindra and others who are steeped in “alternative facts:” Please come back to reality. Read the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, watch David Muir on the Nightly News on ABC or other major networks’ news. MSNBC might be too liberal for you (but, boy, do they have smart people reporting and commenting). Most of all – please shut off the clowns you are following on social media. You deserve to know the truth.

Bonnie Finn
La Cañada

Where’s the Evidence?

The letter to the editor in the Jan. 14 edition regarding the violent insurrection on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C. contained many assertions with no evidence. This Jan. 16, 2021 Washington Post article details many of the arrests: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/arrests-capitol-riot/

Those arrested are Trump supporters who believe his lie that the election was stolen. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won fairly. Sixty-plus lawsuits alleging fraud have been duly considered and thrown out as baseless, many by Trump-appointed judges. It is Trump who is trying to steal a second term he did not earn.

The nation cannot come together unless there is an honest review of the facts and consequences for criminal behavior. The Confederacy fought the Civil War to preserve enslavement of African Americans. It was based on white supremacy. It was not a noble cause and there never should have been public statues to the traitors who tried to overthrow the U.S. government. That a Confederate battle flag was carried into the Capitol by the rioters clearly shows the connection 150 years later.

Many of the insurrectionists came to take over the duly elected government and kill elected officials. History has shown us we cannot tolerate this behavior. Any who participated in the violence should turn themselves in now and face the consequences of their actions. It is not their speech that is criminal; it is the destruction, assaults and killings that require atonement.

Sharon Weisman
Glendale/La Crescenta