From: Lee Shipman
Columbus
Let me start off by stating two things before I get into this. First off, I am historically an independent voter. My voting history includes voting Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Green, independent and maybe some others up and down the ticket.
Secondly, I want to extend my thanks to Mike Pence for his commitment to doing the right thing with respect to counting the electoral votes in the 2020 election. The third January 6th committee hearing has made abundantly clear the courage and integrity in the vice president’s action. VP Pence really did the stand-up thing, and this single act will forever remain a positive highlight in American history. This brings me to the purpose of this letter.
I read somewhere that there are 149 GOP primary winners at the state and federal level who openly support former former President Donald Trump’s Big Lie in support of a stolen election. Some of those 149 are people who represent me. Let’s make it clear. Had VP Pence done what the former president demanded, we would have in fact had experienced an actual stolen election!
As a voting citizen, I have a requirement of my elected representatives. I demand every single elected official to completely denounce the former president’s lies. I am not looking for the very weak acknowledgment that Joe Biden is the president. I want every sitting member who represents me to publicly state that Trump’s election myths are myths! I can’t think of one thing that has done more damage to our country than his repeating of these lies. I ask you to have a scintilla of the courage that was displayed by the handful of Republicans, (Cheney, Kinzinger, AG Barr, Judge Luttig, to name a few of the few) who have also demonstrated the courage to speak to the truth of the 2020 election. It is not that hard to tell the truth. Just do it! Your job should depend on it.
Finally, you don’t get to say that you love this country, embrace the Constitution, yada, yada, yada, if you refuse to speak the truth with respect to the 2020 presidential election and the lies spun and spread by the former president, and frankly, some of you. Any candidate who does not publicly renounce these lies, will not get my vote and I urge my fellow citizens to also hold their elected officials accountable who refuse to speak the truth. Readers of this letter who still believe the myths are not going to be convinced by me. It is only you, and you know who you are, who must convince those who are in the dark about the former president’s false narrative. To quote Representative Cheney during the Jan. 6th hearings “I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
Just to be clear, from my perspective, silence is defense of the indefensible.
