A sickening assault
On Nov. 6 we saw an attempted coup at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. An insurrection attempt prompted by Donald Trump. Even Sen. McConnell called it an act of insurrection. It is time to impeach Donald Trump for inciting insurrection and sedition. Yes, he will be out of office in about two weeks, but he is still the acting president and has access to military forces and, more frightening, the nuclear forces. Does anyone now doubt that he is capable of doing anything as long as it feeds his ego or anger?
Impeach him to remove any more threats he may pose and to protect the country from his direct control in the future. Impose the penalty of impeachment that bars a person of ever holding elected office.
All the elected officials who have supported Donald Trump in his efforts to overthrow the election should also be expelled from Congress for sedition and disloyalty to the country.
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We saw rioters and thugs walking through the halls of Congress with Confederate and Nazi flags. As a retired military officer, I was sickened and thought of all the people who have given their lives to protect this republic from people who carried those flags. Those rioters are not patriots, yet that is what Donald Trump called them and they are his forces of choice against America. Trump and his rabid followers are a monster created by the Republican Party, and last week the monster came for them and our democracy.
Greg Bowzer, Omaha
5th Avenue scenario
The current president boasted at a rally on Jan. 23, 2016 (CNN), “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” Figuratively, on Wednesday, he put that claim to the test. What remains to be seen is the reaction of his unflagging Republican supporters in the aftermath.
George and Jim Cox, Omaha
Democratic mob
News reporters, and I combine those two words loosely, wasted no time in characterizing the people gathered in Washington on Wednesday as “The Mob.” A small percentage of those present were actually a mob, much like any number of American citizens who have expressed their opinions throughout this past 10 months of pandemic and social unrest.
Small numbers of those individuals acted inappropriately without concern for how despicable their actions would be viewed. The same can be said of Congress and some former players in Washington. The small group of Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler, Schiff, Comey, Clapper, AOC and Hillary Clinton could be viewed as a mob. Their only motivation of the past four years has been to discredit and steamroll President Trump.
Follow the money and a secondary motivation is quite apparent: Each went to Washington and loaded their pocketbooks. The manner in which President Trump has conducted himself the past two months has not made me happy, but kick a dog every day in the course of a four year period and the dog will do nothing but try to bite antagonist. This group of self-serving Washington elitists accomplished exactly what they intended, and America is more divided and saddened for it.
I doubt that Biden will be the great unifier that he says he wants to be. A leopard doesn’t change it’s spots. Just follow the money!
Scott Long, Omaha
'Fool me once ...'
People who voted for Donald Trump in his first and again in his second bid for the highest office in the land should now feel embarrassed and ashamed. Republican party officials, governors, representatives and senators that continued to support Trump through the election of Nov. 3, 2020, are a disgrace to what it is be an American.
Dennis James Mullin, Papillion
Left/right extremism
To Jim Bilek, Barbara Peckham, et al. (Pulse Jan 8) who rightfully condemn the recent actions of some 200 far-right wing extremists in Washington, I have one question: Have you also criticized the actions of the far left fanatics who have rioted and looted over the past six months in many of our largest cities? If your answer is yes, then my answer is good. If not, then you are hypocrites and part of the problem. Extremism on both sides is inexcusable.
John K. Davis, Omaha
Republicans, take a stand
I am an American who has always cherished the peaceful transition of power and our ability to work together to overcome differences. At this point, the GOP has allowed this proud history to be tarnished by a childish, delusional and criminal politician who has stoked the fire of domestic terrorism and insurrection.
This is not acceptable any longer. Any further support of actions to interfere with the election or interfere with the business of our government and the peaceful transition of power should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
It is time for Sens. Sasse and Fischer to hold those who lit the fuse of domestic terrorism accountable, to censure Sen. Hawley, Sen. Cruz and any other members who fanned these flames.
It is time for Rep Bacon to uphold the oath he took to defend us from enemies — both foreign and domestic — and unseat those who support this insurrection and domestic terror.
Republicans, take a principled stand for once.
Jay Hall, Omaha
The other protests
The only thing I saw on the Capitol was a bunch of peaceful protesters. There may have been "pockets" of unrest. I believe the unrest is the fault of the government officials who refuse to listen to "we the people." I think that about sums it up -- just giving my opinion just like the mainstream media did with all of the riots and protesters (Chop, Chaz, Antifa and BLM) that occurred last summer. They were called peaceful protests but they were not -- remember the fires, the businesses that were looted? It was a hands-off approach, but not with the conservative protests. This country is lost.
Linda Miller, Omaha
They broke the law
I want to thank the protesters at the Capitol that stayed behind the police border and left before the six o’clock curfew. You exhibited respect for the law. But, what will happen to the thousands of terrorists and rioters that assaulted the Capitol and then fled? Some may eventually be identified and charged with any of a number of crimes committed on Wednesday.
Most will go back to their friends and families and proudly show videos of the day’s events shot on their cellphones. I hope that those people watching realize they are watching crimes being committed by their loved ones. If only crossing the police perimeter, they have trespassed onto government property, and by leaving, have flown to avoid arrest. And by showing their videos, they have adopted the methods of gang members, terrorists and bullies who record their crime in order to brag to others. Hopefully, they’ll inadvertently show the videos to someone who respects the law and will turn them into the authorities.
Don Wells Jr., Omaha
Level of crazy
When I saw the images on the TV with people storming our U.S. Capitol, I thought I was watching a movie. This resident of the White House has been inciting violence for years, and it's at the point that we can’t wait for Jan. 20 to get here. We need Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment now, and the members of Congress who laid down and became subservient to this crazy man needs to be expelled. This level of crazy is un-American.
I don’t care who you voted for, but we can’t go on like this as a country. We teach our kids that in life you win some and you lose some. So why can’t folks accept that DJT lost and his behavior played a big role in it?
Edward D. Porter, Omaha
Shame on you
So tell me, Trump supporters: Is the spectacle of what only be called criminals attacking our Capitol what you had in mind when you voted? What are you telling your children is the appropriate way to make your feelings known?
I for one do not know how/what I am to tell my 17-year-old granddaughter who called me in a panic: "Nana, what is going on? Is my country falling apart? What should I do, Nana?"
We don't let bank robbers go free just because they were caught before they could rob the bank. If the folks demonstrating are not arrested and charged, haven't we opened the door for worse behavior?
Shame on you, Trump supporters who have not stepped up and protested the behavior of your compatriots.
Victoria Cork, Papillion
Nonpartisan solutions
When I was in Congress representing Nebraska's 2nd District, I was a member of No Labels, a bipartisan group of House members committed to finding common ground. Six years ago House members on both sides of the aisle formed the Problem Solvers Caucus. The Democrats have a slim majority in the House, and the Senate is equally divided. The 57 bipartisan members of the caucus that include Congressman Bacon were instrumental in the passage of the most recent stimulus. The Problem Solvers now have the votes to move the Congress toward common ground solutions.
In 1937, Nebraska made a choice to go down the road of bipartisanship when the nonpartisan Unicameral convened for the first time. The Unicameral has been the beacon of hope for nonpartisan problem solving to the nation for decades. It is way past time for Congress to follow suit.
Brad Ashford, Omaha
Boost vaccine rollout
It must be a requirement in Trump-World that no sycophant, lackey or toady outshine the big guy. Achieving this requires a pretty high level of incompetence, but Gov. Ricketts has gotten under the bar with room to spare with respect to Nebraska’s COVID vaccine roll-out.
According to the State’s dashboard as of this writing, about 36,000 people have been inoculated out of 96,000 doses available (with more on the way). This is a dismal 40%. One would think that with nine months to plan this, there would have been vaccination centers set up and ready to go on day one. Possibly the time spent helping plot Trump’s attempted coup took away from vaccination planning resources.
There are around 450 pharmacies in Nebraska, presumably all of these have at least one person qualified to administer the vaccine. Add to this, retired medical personnel, EMTs and the National Guard, and there are probably well over 1,000 people in the state that could be vaccinating people without any negative impact on the medical people that are treating those infected.
Test Nebraska (a Utah company), and the others, are testing somewhere around 8,000-10,000 people daily. Maybe we should contract with them to vaccinate our population.
Duane Bier, Omaha
Thanks
What a nice surprise I discovered at our curbside. Wednesday is our scheduled day for trash pickup, and it had rained on and off all day. When I went out to bring in our trash can, I saw that the waste management workers had made a special effort of closing all the trash cans along their route in our neighborhood so that they didn’t collect water. I wanted to say thank you for your extra efforts and kindness. It is much appreciated!
Terri Honz, Omaha
On the ice
The great photos on page B3 (Jan. 7) of the boys playing pick up hockey at Lake Manawa brings back memories of our games during the 1960s at the Hanscom Park lagoon. No referees, no uniforms, no equipment other than our hockey sticks, a puck and skates. It’s nice to see these young men out on the ice getting some exercise in the winter sunshine.
Dave Semerad, Omaha
