Many share blame in Capitol mayhem

A reckoning is needed, whether through resignation or impeachment, to show there are consequences for future leaders with autocratic tendencies ["Incitement charge to be brought against Trump," News, Jan. 12]. With all of the siege’s ugliness — deaths, destruction, displays of the Confederate flag, swastikas and other symbols of hate — it was the act of removing the American flag and replacing it with a TRUMP flag that was most revealing to me. It showed what the president and his sycophant followers, and others complicit through their long-standing silence, had wrought: an allegiance to an autocratic despot and not to a democratic republic.

Michael S. Lesman,

Merrick

On Jan. 9, I and one assumes most of the constituents of Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) received a long, self-congratulatory letter from him, which began, "Following Congress’ certification of the Electoral College results ... Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris will be sworn in" as president and vice president. "Right now, I am not going to dwell on any doubt ... the best of America clashed with the worst." Nowhere does he say that, after seeing the worst, he still voted not to certify the Electoral College result. He supported the demands of the mob that went hunting for Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with racists planting the flag of the treasonous Confederacy inside the Capitol, and the anti-Semites wearing T-shirts flaunting "Camp Auschwitz" and "6MWE" (six million weren’t enough). Shame on him.

Arnold Wishnia,

Setauket

In responding to attacks on Rep. Lee Zeldin for his supporting the effort by congressional Republicans to challenge the pro-Joe Biden electoral votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania, a Zeldin representative suggested that such criticism was divisive. In my view, by supporting the attempt to prevent the Electoral College certification of President-elect Biden’s victory, Zeldin and the other congressional Republicans who voted as he did bear responsibility for their own divisive actions that helped to convince President Donald Trump’s voters that the election was fraudulent. Regarding Zeldin’s claim that the challenge was no different from what Democrats have done in years past, the violent assault on the Capitol by the ginned-up Trump mob is more comparable to the attack on that building by the British during the War of 1812. The excuses by Zeldin and his similarly voting Republican colleagues sound like those of grammar school students who didn’t study for the final exam but who then complain about the failing grades on their report cards. Zeldin must be held accountable.

Chuck Cutolo,

Westbury

Editor’s note: The writer worked on Capitol Hill for 17 years, mostly as legislative director for former Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

As a Democrat who feels strongly that Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) should not be in Congress, to me, the calls for him to be expelled are misplaced. He has not broken any law and to take his fate away from the voters shows the same disrespect for democracy as President Donald Trump has done. I have heard nothing to suggest that Zeldin sought to incite an insurrection, and he had the legal right to vote to uphold objections to counting of electoral votes, as wrong as that might appear. In my view, what this country desperately needs is respect for the rule of law and the role of democracy in determining who are our government leaders. We should not fall deeper into the abyss of mob rule. I say Zeldin should be punished by being defeated in his reelection bid.

E. Christopher Murray,

Stony Brook

And what of Rudy Giuliani? He was once New York City’s hero who reassured us with his leadership in the wake of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Since then, he made a Faustian deal with the devil and became President Donald Trump’s personal attorney. He encouraged rally participants in Washington with this: "Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent. And if we’re wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail." Then, to a roaring, cheering crowd, he said, "So — let’s have trial by combat!" And this is from someone who vowed to represent law and order. At the very least, I say Giuliani should be disbarred in New York State.

Ellen Mason,

Stony Brook

It appears that the only Operation Warp Speed that our lame-duck president was involved in is the one that uses warp speed to challenge democracy and to try to overturn democratic elections in states he lost.

Elaine Rauch,

Lynbrook

On June 26, our president issued an executive order mandating up to 10 years in prison for defacing public buildings and monuments. Why are the Jan. 6 seditionists not facing those 10 years? Oh, wait. I just reread the order — it applies only to "left-wing extremists." These insurgents are "right-wing patriots." When will they get their Medals of Freedom?

Dennis Dunne,

Selden

It amazes me that one of the letter writers was "sickened, saddened and terrified" by the media coverage of the Capitol protest and not by the protest itself, in which items were broken, stolen and trashed and five people died unnecessarily. And he was appalled by the "Gestapo-like" response to the protesters. I can’t imagine a member of the Gestapo during a pogrom stopping to take a "selfie" with one of the people they were trying to restrain. I also wonder how many protesters would have ended up dead or severely injured if they were dark-skinned.

Ann Weiss,

Merrick

President Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office while the rioters he instigated caused havoc and damage to the Capitol. He wanted to be remembered. Now, he will — for trying to turn our democracy into a dictatorship, for inciting rioting, for endangering Americans, for making a mockery of the presidency, and for possibly causing hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 deaths by misleading the public. I believe he has made his mark in history — as the worst and most dangerous president. God save the United States of America.

Gail Sills,

Oceanside