decided not to print it, so I share it here with you.
It has been a tough time for healing our national schism. A recent article
reads âViolent threat lurks âwithinâ House, Pelosi says.â News outlets are
reporting that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prefers not to work with Ted Cruz,
telling him âYou almost had me murderedâ in the Capitol sedition. New
Congresswoman from Missouri moved her office to not be near QAnon-believing and
gun-toting Marjorie Taylor Greene. Then, of course, there is the second Trump
impeachment proceeding, plus the January 6 armed insurrection itself.
Letâs be honest for a minute. Millions and millions of Americans no longer
trust the Republican party. We recently saw Republicans lying to undermine our
entire electoral system, blatantly encouraging violence or standing by as other
Republicans did. During the election season itself, we watched as your party
leader openly vowed to reject any losing vote, held multiple super-spreader
campaign events, and cynically lied about the dangers of COVID in order to save
face. We saw your Congressmen Stauber, Emmer and Hagedorn fly after exposure
to the virus, flaunting airline regulations and further endangering us. (Those
three also voted against impeachment, apparently finding nothing wrong with
inciting insurrection.) We watched as Republicans nationwide added to their
playbook of voter suppression by throwing up obstacles against safer mail-in
voting during the pandemic, attempting to force the vulnerable to choose
between voting and their own survival.
It is now clear that many in your party truly do not care if we live or die. Or
if you do, it is a much smaller need than your electoral success. But I want
to add another crucial point, at least to me.
Many of us recognize that Republicans themselves have been disproportionately
harmed by these decisions. Some of you attended those super-spreader rallies,
became sick and even died. You have often suffered as the economy shut down,
jobs disappeared and family members suffered and died due to Trumpâs colossal
mismanagement. The most disturbing case for me was in St. Cloudâs state Senate
district 14. I supported Democrat Aric Putnam against Republican incumbent
Jerry Relph. My guy squeaked to a very narrow victory, but Relph died shortly
later to COVID likely contracted at a private Republican victory dinner with no
masks. (You may remember how mad the Democrats were because Republicans were
warned about that exposure, but not Democrats.)
It pains me to have to say this: I wanted my Democratic party candidate to win,
but I absolutely did not want his Republican opponent to die. I do not wish a
single Republican to suffer and die, but I want you to know that some in your
party are now supporting a death cult that will harm you as well as Democrats.
I do not expect you to leave your party but, if you donât, please take it back.
Please contact the Republicans who represent you and ask them to abandon coup
efforts, to support public health measures to protect us all. If they wonât
work for you, primary them in favor of Republicans who will. Or vote them out.
They are killing us all, including you. We want a national healing, but not at
the cost of our democracy or of our lives, neither Democrats nor Republicans.