By Beth David, Editor
It’s been a very sad few days for our country. Our own president sent an angry mob to the Capitol building in Washington DC to try to stop legislators from certifying the Electoral College votes, generally a routine event, pumped up with a little flourish here and there.
Trump supporters are trying desperately to say the attack on the Capitol building was no different than the protests in the streets all across the country this summer that protested police brutality against Blacks.
My Facebook threads are filled with comments comparing the rock throwing protesters of the summer to the white supremacists who rampaged through the halls of one of our most sacred places of democracy chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” and “Where’s Nancy.”
Imagine if they had found either one of them?
To add injury to the insult, the president refused to send in the National Guard. DC is not a state, so it has no governor, so the rules are different there. It took hours before help arrived. One Capitol police officer was beaten to death. In the end five people were dead. One Capitol police officer killed himself the day after the riot.
I have lost my patience with people enabling this president. Insurrection is not the same as peaceful protest, or even violent protest. All violence and vandalism should be condemned and prosecuted. These were not protesters. To use Trump’s own words, they were thugs.
More information is coming out daily as the investigation continues.
The sight of thousands of people on the steps, walls, and balconies of the Capitol building looked like something out of one of those “shithole” banana republics Trump is always talking about. They waved huge Trump flags and huge pictures of their supreme leader.
I ask you again: What do you think would’ve happened if they had caught Nancy Pelosi or Mike Pence?
Their purpose was not to make lasting change. Their purpose was not to stage a sit-in and make their voices heard. Their purpose was to force a handful of “elites” as they like to call legislators, to steal away the votes of 81,281,502 Americans who voted for Biden. For you math geniuses, that’s more than the 74,222,593 that Trump got. That means he lost.
There was no “steal.”
I realize I am not being my usual clever self, not especially articulate, or even very compelling. Honestly, I’m too tired. I’ve got other stuff going on. My point here is to go on record with how disheartened and sad I am at what happened at our nation’s Capitol building, the biggest symbol of our democracy. I am sickened by the people I know who are still making excuses for that sad excuse for a human in the White House.
There was no conspiracy to steal the election. The election was not stolen. Your guy lost. He lost. He didn’t get enough votes to win. That’s all there is to it. There is no point in going over it lie by lie.
You’ve chosen to believe the charlatan who’s a big baby who can’t admit defeat than to believe your own eyes.
No…that wasn’t a hearing, it was Rudy Giuliani at a folding table in a hotel or something. If they had any real evidence, they would have presented it in court. But, you see, if you’re a lawyer and you present your lies to a judge, you get in trouble. Lots of trouble.
So more than 60 cases got thrown out by 90 judges. There was no “steal.” Your guy lost, suck it up, buttercup.
The only way this vast conspiracy exists is if every precinct in question had people in on the steal. That means every Republican and Democratic representative on every board of registrars everywhere. Will you please get real?
My country, my beloved USA looks like a banana republic. Stop it. Just stop it.
We have a bit of a controversial story in this week’s issue. Wendy Graves has been named interirm Town Administrator and it was revealed at the last Selectboard meeting that she has applied for the permanent TA position. Well, we found out some disturbing things about her personal finances and some issues with her employment here in Fairhaven. She did give us a thorough statement in response to our questions. I am grateful for that, so that our readers will be able to make their own determination. Dan Freitas of course made a reference to a lawyer and a lawsuit and didn’t answer any of the questions. Keith Silvia didn’t respond at all (Guess he lost his voice along with his backbone). Bob Espindola answered the questions for you. See page 7 for that.
These kinds of stories are hard to do. Honestly, I hate them when it comes to people’s jobs. But the TA position is the top slot in Fairhaven and is in charge of the whole $52+ million budget. Questions of integrity and competence need to come to light. The public has a right to know. And that’s what we do…we tell people stuff.
Just making friends and enemies with every sentence. That’s my job…and I love my job! Now, if I could just make a living at it…
There’s plenty more in here, of course. Please look through to find it all and be sure to notice who our advertisers are and let them know you saw their ads in the Neighb News.
Until next week then…see ya (from a distance),
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Click here to download the entire 1/14/21 issue: 01-14-21 FrancisLastRide