Readers still sounding off on Trump, LaMalfa

Even after the riot, GOP pushed the lies

I have never written a letter to the paper before but after witnessing a murderous mob storming the People’s Capitol on Jan.

6, I am moved to speak. I never imagined I would see the United States president, his son and lawyer, and congressional enablers speak out to incite violence against the government. To turn our country into a banana republic. But that’s just what they did. And from reporting I saw, they did it gleefully.

Gratefully, the shock of what we saw that day was tempered a bit when Congress reconvene to finish the business of the day, confirming the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But then the Republicans stood and again continued to spout the same conspiracies and lies! I couldn’t believe that they are so callous and craven, that even after the violence of the day they would continued with their plans to lie to the American people and try to steal the election.

I now come to the point of this letter to the good people of the 1st district of California. Doug LaMalfa was one of those callous and craven representatives. He voted against the peaceful transition of power. He voted against the will of the people. He owes us a public apology, then he needs to resign. You do not represent me Mr. LaMalfa, and you have proven yourself to be unworthy of the oath of office you took. Resign now!

— Lory Allan, Chico

Practicing violence cannot be allowed

I commend the Chico ER’s editorial calling upon Congressman Doug LaMalfa to resign. Furthermore he and the other Republican members of Congress who attempted to overturn our election, must be put in prison for life for committing sedition and promoting insurrection and being super spreaders of COVID, which likely resulted in at least three members of Congress becoming sick with the virus. And this also goes for Donald Trump, who also hopefully will be removed from office.

As for the insurrectionists who came to our nation’s Capitol to do their terrible deeds, had they been Black, Brown or Muslims, it is for certain that each and everyone of them would have been shot dead.

Everybody is entitled to their views and that includes the right to peacefully protest, but nobody should have the right to preach and practice violence and hatred. Outfits that promote this must be outlawed, and our government must vigorously infiltrate those outfits. Yes, everyone has rights but everyone’s rights must must end where the next person’s rights begin.

— Walter Ballin, Chico

How about we get the election right?

People, you are so misled. Who do you think owns the mega-networks on TV and our newspapers? (It isn’t the Republicans.)

What happened when President Trump won the election four years ago? From day one the media would not let him talk! I’m almost 90 years old and I’ve never seen a situation where we couldn’t hear what the President of the United States was saying on TV or through the media.

Right away they started accusing him of rigging the election with the Russians, and so many other things. The Speaker of the House tried everything to get him out of office. Despite all of this, he did a great job. LaMalfa is right, and I love Loretta Torres’ letter.

I know there are many of us Republicans or far right, so to speak, who wonder if this election was rigged. It sure could have been. As the far left Democrats are powerful enough to keep the truth from us in the media, and this really divides our country. It isn’t President Trump who is doing this, it’s the slanted and downright lies we are getting.

I truly think President Trump did win this election. We need the truth! There were many at the Capitol that were there in peace, thinking they were going to celebrate, that they won the election.

I love what Loretta said, what has happened to the presumption of innocence? We can only know the truth if we are given the truth.

— Barbara Batt,

Forest Ranch

Second impeachment is as baseless as first

President Trump addressed what he thought would be a peaceful demonstration. He intended to draw attention to the lastminute illegal changes in multiple states polling procedures facilitating fraud in the voting process, particularly mail-in voting. He asked demonstrators to peacefully march to the Capitol building and to support and respect the Capitol Police. He said nothing incendiary.

Disregarding Trump’s directions, a small portion of demonstrators broke into the Capitol building. As violence erupted, Trump called on all the demonstrators to “go home peacefully” and activated the National Guard to restore order. Trump is not guilty of sedition. If anyone is guilty of sedition it is Democrats including the previous administration for weaponizing the DOJ, FBI, the media, and others in a welldocumented and illegal attempt to reverse the results of the 2016 election.

The current second push to impeach President Trump is as baseless as the first. Unless the Democratic leadership want to inflame the division in this country further, they should drop impeachment and censure Maxine Watters and others who have actually advocated violence.

So what is the point of threatening impeachment? By monopolizing news cycles with “sedition” and “impeachment” Democrats hope to suppress scrutiny of their weak, socialistic policies and skeletons in their own closet. Where did the Hunter-Joe Biden investigation go? Has it gotten any coverage recently? If lucky, Democrats can distract Trump from appointing a special investigator into Hunter’s (and Joe’s) corruption. After Biden’s inauguration, the investigation will be suppressed and evaporate like Hilary’s corrupt email fiasco.

— Brian Boswell, Chico

Was LaMalfa’s win also tainted by fraud?

It’s been said that there are legislators in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and a few other states that are questioning the results of voting in California’s First Congressional District. They have heard of voting machine tampering, paper votes being shredded, and fake votes being added in communities in areas known as the “State of Jefferson.” All of this was done to make sure Doug LaMalfa was reelected to Congress. There is no proof, but if stated enough, it must be true. Those out-of-state legislators weren’t there, but they also weren’t there for the moon landing …

— Roland Chell, Chico

Traveling to see Trump leave the office

I’m heading to Washington DC and Philadelphia for the inauguration of President-Elect Biden and Vice-president Elect Harris. I was supposed to go in November but was quarantining. See I currently do gig work and made the decision to go be of service to my community last March instead of staying home.

I’m blessed to remain

Covid free to this point.

I’ve had a great year so I decided to use my stimulus check to make a statement. So while I wasn’t there for when Trump lost, I will be there when leaves the White House, thanks to him. I figured it was a statement I could make because he lacks empathy, humility, and grace, three things a POTUS needs. I’m an independent in case you thought different. I’m not afraid to call it like I see it. — Carlos Estrada, Gridley

LaMalfa should resign from US Congress

Doug LaMalfa should resign from Congress. He doesn’t represent the people with honesty and integrity nor has he fulfilled his oath to the Constitution to defend the country against enemies domestic or foreign. He has shown by his actions that his loyalty to Donald Trump supersedes his duty to our nation. This makes LaMalfa unpatriotic.

By objecting to the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, LaMalfa supported the conspiracy theory lies promoted by Trump and contributed to the attempted coup. His words fed the flames of insurrection. I support the House resolution to expel the members of the House who rejected state votes.

LaMalfa was elected by 100% mail-in ballots but accepted these results because he won. He voted to reject election results from other states that used mail-in ballots after the president lost. The Constitution protects each state’s authority to certify its own election results. The court challenges were rejected by multiple judges who declared that the results were correct with no evidence of fraud. The voting rules that were changed in 2020 in Pennsylvania were proposed by Pennsylvania’s own Republican State Legislators. LaMalfa has NO legitimate reason to reject the results. This action destroys our democracy and the public’s faith in fair elections.

Doug LaMalfa can only be seen as a member of the party of Trump. It was a mistake for Doug LaMalfa to align himself with the worst president in the history of the United States. Doug LaMalfa should resign or be removed from office.

— David D. Hill, Oroville

LaMalfa was right to challenge the election

Doug LaMalfa rightly challenged electors from unconstitutional election processes.

The Constitution is exceedingly clear: The state legislatures hold exclusive power over how elections are run in their states. Not the Governor, and certainly not some bureaucratic election commission.

Yet using Covid as an excuse, election procedures were arbitrarily changed in violation of law in those states. Doug LaMalfa recognized that, rightly objected to it, and the people who are getting the vapors, and falling onto fainting couches while demanding he resign never voted for him in the first place.

There are Constitutional procedures in place to elect a president even if some states have their electoral votes disallowed. Our nation would survive.

But instead, the hyperpartisan voices of this opinion page insist on using absurd exaggerations, and complete distortion of reality. There was no “incitement” to violence, no “sedition,” and no hint whatsoever that our Republic was in any danger of collapse. To characterize otherwise is polarizing at a time the nation needs to dial down the rhetoric.

The crowd in the Capitol building was wrong to be there. But LaMalfa had nothing to do with their presence. And to exaggerate it as an attempt to overthrow our government is just plain false. The only person shot was by Capitol police. There were no bombs. There were no fires, and the lasting image of the “riot” is some guy with buffalo horns standing at the podium where he clearly didn’t belong.

LaMalfa stood for the constitutional process, and deserves re-election.

— Barry Johnson, Chico

Possible thoughts of those invading Capitol

They say that irony sometimes can be proof of the existence of God. I don’t know but it’s interesting. Doug LaMalfa’s election campaigns were noted for the infamous poster that declared, “Vote for LaMalfa. He’s one of us.” I’m pretty sure that some of the violent mob of invaders, burglars, and vandals that entered the Capitol building trying to keep lawmakers from voting against Trump said this to themselves: Don’t bother Doug LaMalfa,

“he’s one of us.”

— Dennis M. Latimer,

Chico

‘Violence’ critics were silent last year

From the flood of angry voices criticizing the recent conflict at the Capitol, you’d think the businesses and livelihoods of innocent citizens were being devastated. But that was last year. Today’s loudest critics were pretty much silent, then.

So who’s doing all that screeching?

I’ve taken a poll, using the methods of leading pollsters, i.e., choose a result I like, and then declare it.

There are two groups making most of the racket.

The loudest is the hardcore Trump hating establishment, made up of Big Tech, Big Business, embedded bureaucratic hacks, and most national news sources. Anyone ever scrutinize the AP national “news” offered daily in this newspaper?

The second group is those too ovine to question the legitimacy of the anti-Trump propaganda and personal attacks, committed by group one 24/7 since Trump announced his candidacy.

There is a third group, witnesses observing how bad stuff can happen to anyone airing thoughts deemed offensive by group one, above.

Then there are the 80 million or so Americans disgusted with the direction group one has been taking the country. We want the freedom of speech, religion, and selfdefense back, as starters. They’re worth fighting for.

One major complaint about Trump is his personality. I hear Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy were really nice folks, in person.

Group One has had no hesitation in using an arsenal of libelous propaganda, malevolent conspiracies, and devious dirty tricks. But we’re told they’re mostly nice folks, in person.

— Jack McWherter,

Cherokee

Who was that man without a mask?

I am an 83 year old grandmother who lives in District 1, and I am horrified by the actions of my representative to Congress, Doug LaMalfa.

What has turned this normally mild-mannered man into a weapon of destruction? I watched him on CNN waving away an offered mask during the January 6 terrorist attack. Who does that? What kind of poison does it take to turn an ordinary man against his colleagues? Where was his common courtesy, his brotherly love, his concern for the wellbeing of his fellow men and women?

Several of his colleagues have tested positive just days after sheltering during the terrorist attack on the capital. One is elderly and has a compromised immune system. What was he thinking?

I, also a normally mildmannered person, find myself hoping that his conscience torments him for the rest of his life. And I certainly hope he loses his seat in 2022. I will personally walk door-to-door for whoever his opponent happens to be. I hope to survive this pandemic in order to applaud his departure.

— Joan Robins, Chico

Congressman should follow safety protocol

Today, I am seeing that the members of the House of Representatives who are debating impeachment are ALL wearing masks. As it has been widely substantiated, wearing a mask protects others, and shows concern for the safety of those around you.

How does Doug LaMalfa explain his behavior during the lockdown in Congress last week? There is a video on YouTube showing that, in the room where LaMalfa was sheltering for his own safety, he was not wearing a mask, refused the offer to take and wear a mask, and then sniggered about the efforts of the Congress member who was offering masks.

So, while making sure of his OWN safety, Doug LaMalfa exhibited wanton disregard for the safety of others around him.

LaMalfa’s actions should anger community members of all political affiliations. For months, we have worn masks to show our consideration of others and to do our part to help stop the spread of COVID.

Why does Doug LaMalfa believe he is entitled to an exception?

— Annette Lilly Russ, Chico