CRIME PAYS?

Watching Republicans circle their wagons to protect criminals in their party reminds me of the leaders of the Catholic Church who protected clergy who molested children.

Herald alum Martin Baron was the editor of The Boston Globe when the extent of the church’s cover-up conspiracy was revealed. At that time, with Pulitzer Prize-winning writing, the public soon accepted the truth. But now, even though great reporters, state and federal investigators and prosecutors have exposed the facts, the Republican propaganda machine mostly is succeeding in distracting with absurd conspiracy theories.

It angers me that my three congressional representatives, U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez and U.S. Send. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, participate in these deceptions. These men are intelligent; they see the evidence of crimes; they know the 2020 election was fair; they saw Donald Trump’s mob attack the Capitol. Yet they look away and misdirect their supporters for their own political expediency.

We’re now also learning how some Supreme Court justices are corrupt.

It’s particularly sad that we live in times when too many voters ignore facts while blindly supporting their party. I hope enough voters recognize that they’ve been fooled before the damage to our republic is permanent. If authoritarian leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to win elections, ban books and speech, whitewash history and restrict voting rights, future generations may never know what America once stood for.

Perhaps it’s already too late.

– Mike Pryslak, Miami