The following letter is from Jane Morgan (McCall) Barry and David S. Barry. She was brought up in Arlington and wrote Against My Father’s Will, the subject of a YourArlington news feature in June. Image from The Intercept
We have never written this kind of letter before, but we are alarmed. We see our democracy at dire risk.
The president, with no supporting evidence, is trying to undermine the results of the 2020 election before it has even taken place! He is calling it rigged, a hoax, illegitimate. He has previously said that if he doesn’t win, the election is rigged. Who does this? FRIGHTENING!
In 2016, when he thought that he might lose to Hillary Clinton, he floated the idea of a rigged election. When he won via the Electoral College (losing the popular vote), he completely dropped the idea of any “rigging.”
Instead, when in office and confronted by clear evidence collected by our own CIA and FBI that the 2016 election had been interfered with by the Russians, he studiously ignored or denied the validity of our intelligence services’ information. He did NOTHING to try to counteract foreign interference and “rigging” of our electoral process. His interest is not in our democracy, but in his attainment and retention of power.
Now, in 2020, when all the polls are pointing to a heavy Biden majority, he is at it again, declaring “rigging.” This time he is stating unequivocally that mail-in ballots will be the vehicle for such “rigging.” His own appointed and Republican led commission to study mail-in voter fraud has told him if it exists, it’s negligible.
His own FBI director, Christopher Wray, has said the same, but he insists mail-in ballots will rig the election because he is afraid that it will allow many Democrats, fearful of going to the polls personally in a pandemic, to be able to vote safely by mail thereby defeating him legitimately. Thus, he has tried to disable the U.S. Postal Service by installing a postmaster general to remove sorting machines, mail boxes, cut workers hours, etc., all in an attempt to make the mail-system malfunction at election time.
When he refuses to agree to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose, instead stating there will be a “peaceful transfer of power” because he will simply “continue in office,” we see the plan clearly. Trump has no intention of allowing the votes of the American people to rule. He does not intend to leave office regardless of the election. Something needs to be done to stop Trump from destroying our democracy.
