Jenny Smith,
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I have a few questions for Trump supporters.
1) Conspiracy sites are full of claims of irrefutable proof of voter fraud in the November election. Why didn't Trump's attorneys filing suits in the battleground states use this evidence? Fifty such suits have been rejected, many by Republican-appointed judges for lack of proof including in the Supreme Court.
2) If Democrats cheated, why did they lose so many down-ballot races? They got stomped in the U.S. House elections. Why didn't Democrats just cheat on the Georgia Senate races too while they were at it?
3) The Georgia secretary of state ordered a recount of the election results after a machine count showed less than a 0.5 percent margin in Biden's win. The hand recount of the paper ballots then gave Biden 90 more votes. Even so, the Trump team still maintains massive fraud due to rigged Dominion voting machines. How do you explain the fact the hand count did not involve the voting machines but still gave Biden the win?
4) About wearing masks: Let's say two people are facing each other 5 feet apart and shooting squirt guns toward each other. If each person opened a cloth umbrella between them like a shield, they will block the squirt from the other person while blocking their own squirt. (by the way, virus particles are mostly transmitted in droplets, not independent nanoparticles). Wouldn't you agree both persons will get less wet from the other person's squirts? Would you mind if the surgeon doing your knee replacement surgery decided not to wear a mask? Or if your unmasked dentist coughed on you as he examined your teeth?
These aren't trick questions. Sometimes, we need to clear our heads of politics and think for ourselves. I have Republican friends that I regard as good people and smart. But it seems on some issues common sense is "Trumped" by whatever nonsense our current president tells them. This is very puzzling to me.
It is a non-starter discussing these issues with Republicans when they think science does not support wearing masks or believe conspiracy theories despite the fact the claims of voter fraud do not hold up in court. I would love to be able to sit down and civilly discuss opposing views with Republican friends, but I don't know how to respond to nonsense.