Letter to the editor: Grassley proudly stands with democracy’s foes

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The "destruction and violence that occurred in nearly every major city over the last year" is related to the destruction and violence that occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 1921.

To the editor:

The alarm that we felt watching the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection demands a thorough investigation. The attempt to stop the transfer of power that day with violence is unconscionable. The peaceful transition of power is an essential element of a functioning democratic government.

In voting against the creation of an independent commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, Sen. Chuck Grassley objected that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not agree to form a “bipartisan committee” to “look at the many other attacks on government buildings and officials that occurred in the months leading up to Jan. 6.”

Grassley said, “If we truly want to get to the bottom of antigovernment violence, intellectual honesty demands that we take a broader look at the destruction and violence that occurred in nearly every major city over the last year.”

The violent attack on the Capitol Police and the trashing of the Capitol are not comparable to the many peaceful protests that in a few cases turned into riots. We already know what protesters were marching for across the nation last summer: racial justice. We do not know the insurrectionists’ intent in tearing down our democracy.

Julie Stewart Ziesman
Waukee

9 COMMENTS

  1. Oh my God! you are a clueless sheep. A few peaceful protests turned into riots? And there is now proof that some of the people at the capitol on Jan. 6th were actually Antifa and BLM plants. And of course there are the lies like a policeman was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher, and that dizzy moron AOC claiming she feared for her life when she wasn’t actually anywhere near the demonstration. You liberals are a piece of work. Nothing but sheep. lmao.

  2. Wow! There was so much wrong here. It would take too long to explain what insurrection means. Or the Capitol police letting people in, the involvement of Antifa/BLM, the actual people that died as a result of Capitol was one person, and you don’t know her name. The fact that Pelosi said no National Guard and waited for hours till she did okay them. Videos of Antifa changing into Trump supporters hats and clothing. This rant is what you get when you don’t ask questions of known liars. Follow blindly and turn your head when common sense arrives. This is sad.

  3. Many believe that those who broke windows in the U.S. Capitol and injured over 100 Capitol Police were actually Antifascists and Black Lives Matter followers. Hopefully, you all are writing Sen. Grassley and Sen. Ernst to vote for a commission comparable to a 9-11 style investigation to find out the facts.

  4. Fact check: We are not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. If you don’t know the difference, turn the TV off and quit listening to career politicians who ignorantly and often purposely mislead the population by using the phrase “our democracy” to describe our system of government. Research the topic. Know the supreme law of the land- our Constitution. Don’t think the Constitution is the supreme law of the land? Think again. Article 6. Nowhere in the entire Constitution does the Constitution use the word “democracy” to describe the United States of America. Nowhere. However, it does use the word “republic.” Article 4- Section 4. Read it!

    • Actually, I have read it, and I took a semester of political science in college along with all my years of American history and social studies from the eighth grade and into high school. Those politicians aren’t nearly as ignorant as you think, neither are the vast majority of Americans who are high school graduates, and I’m darn well not ignorant either. The mistake you’re making is just because we have a republican form of government doesn’t mean it isn’t democratic in nature. They are not necessarily contradictory terms. We have what is rightly defined as a democratic republic. Besides, American citizens have been misled by politicians since the very beginning. The only difference now is which party tells the biggest and baddest lies and how often. Returning to the original subject of the letter: white supremacy, patriarchy, religious bigotry, the marginalization and exploitation of blacks, natives, homosexuals and any minority group whose very existence threatens white male hegemony have been part and parcel of our culture since we were still colonies of England. It is so pervasive and insidious as to be totally invisible to at least half of white Americans. It is a diseased society that refuses to admit it’s sicker than a dog. I will at least give some credit to the fascists and the Klan. At least they admit to being bigots.

      • #1: We are RIGHTLY DEFINED as a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC, not a democratic republic. We always have been. This is more ridiculous word play, like changing ‘socialism’ to ‘democratic socialism’. Just because you put ‘democratic’ in front of something doesn’t mean it suddenly becomes righteous or right. Democratic socialism is still socialism and is still an insidious form of communism and fascism. They are all closely aligned on the left side of the political spectrum. They all require a centralized government controlling peoples’ lives, which inevitably devolves into tyranny.

        Having communism or socialism or fascism voted into existence by popular ‘democratic’ vote DOES NOT MAKE IT LEGITIMATE OR RIGHT. This is exactly why our Constitution GUARANTEES a republican form of government in Article 4 Section 4–so people don’t get the idea in their head that they can just ‘democratically vote for socialism (communism/fascism)’ or some other insidious form of government by simple majority vote.

        One of the most insidious, evil, totalitarian regimes in the world, North Korea, calls itself this: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I notice the words ‘democratic’ and ‘republic’ in there. We are not a democracy, and we are not a basic, general republic, like 1st century Rome. We are a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC, where THE CONSTITUTION IS THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND- Article 6. Therefore, the supreme power is contained in this constitution. The people have the power to change it through the amendment process spelled out in the Constitution, but the people DO NOT have the power to ignore it or ‘re-interpret’ it.

        #2: Of course our republic is democratic in nature. BUT WE ARE NOT A DEMOCRACY. Again, there is a difference. In a true democracy, the sovereign (supreme or ultimate) power lies with the people, who exercise the lawmaking power through direct majority votes rather than through any elected representatives. There either is no written constitution, or, if their is a constitution, it is just a ‘guide’; it does not contain the sovereign power. Because this government is based on the popular sentiments of the people at any given point in time, it is frequently an unstable and fluctuating government that ultimately degrades into ‘mob rule’ or ‘mobocracy’, and ultimately, dictatorship. Tyranny of the majority is no better than tyranny of the dictator. It is not a stable, reliable way to guarantee liberty & freedom. Our Founders knew this and discussed it at length in the Federalist Papers.

        #3: Why does “this diseased society that refuses to admit it’s sicker than a dog” have millions and millions of people from all over the world trying to enter into it?

        How did “this diseased society that refuses to admit it’s sicker than a dog” elect a black president two elections in a row?

        How does “this diseased society that refuses to admit it’s sicker than a dog” have an African-American (Clarence Thomas- appointed and confirmed by Republicans and opposed by Democrats), a Latina woman (Sonia Sotomayor) and three women overall on the Supreme Court? The highest court in the land?

        Answer: This society IS NOT DISEASED. It’s actually the human race that is diseased. The disease is called: SIN. It’s not just a white thing. It’s not just a black thing. It’s not just a Hispanic thing. It’s not just an Asian thing. It’s not just a United States thing. It’s a WORLD THING. It’s THE HUMAN CONDITION. And Jesus Christ is the only cure. Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. It’s THE TRUTH.

        #4: I’m very familiar with the Marxist philosophy of creating ‘oppressed groups’ and ‘oppressor groups’ in order to implement a centralized, all-controlling, socialist/Communist/fascist government. First it was ‘the workers are the oppressed groups’ and ‘the business owners- bourgeoisie are the oppressors’.

        Well, that philosophy never led to socialism/Communism like Marxists hoped it would, so now modern Marxists have changed the definition of ‘oppressed’ and ‘oppressors’. But the end game is the same. Destroy capitalism and replace it with socialism/Communism/fascism.

        The largest cities in America have the worst social outcomes. Who runs these cities? DEMOCRATS. Perfect example: Who is the mayor of Minneapolis who supports police unions that keep bad cops like Derek Chauvin on the force? DEMOCRAT Jacob Frey. Who is the Governor of Minnesota as this all went down? DEMOCRAT Tim Waltz.

        Sounds like a worldview problem to me.

  5. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of democracy is “government by the people; esp: rule of the majority.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of a republic is “a government in which supreme power is held by citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives governing according to law.” They can be interchanged when expressed in general terms.

    • We are not a republic like 1st-century Rome. We are not a parliamentary republic or representative democracy like the United Kingdom, Denmark or Japan. We are a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. We always have been. Again, there are huge differences.

      The people do not hold the supreme power in our system of government. The supreme power is in the Constitution and what it says. That’s why every single elected official and military veteran swears an oath to uphold and defend THE CONSTITUTION (not the people) from ALL ENEMIES, foreign and domestic. However, the people DO have the power to change the supreme law of the land via a specific amendment process spelled out in the Constitution. Besides the oath above, the other proof that the Constitution contains the supreme power and not the people is this: We do not have the power to ignore the Constitution or the power to ‘re-interpret’ it. It can only be amended THROUGH THE AMENDMENT PROCESS. So where is the supreme power located? IN THE CONSTITUTION.

      I highly suggest you read my full response to Nick Eakins above to know the difference. Democracy and republic are not being compared. Democracy and CONSTITUTIONAL Republic ARE being compared.

  6. A constitutional republic is a state where the chief executive and representatives are democratically elected by the people, and the rules are set down in a written constitution.

    The United States is more accurately defined as a constitutional federal republic. Constitutional refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States.

    The Constitution of the United States is the foundation of our Federal Government. The system of the Federal Government is democratic because the people govern themselves. It is a republic because the Government’s power is derived from its people.

    The framers of the Constitution wanted to form a government that did not allow one person to have too much authority or control.

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