Response to Jan. 6

A number of politicians tell us not to emphasize the events of Jan. 6 when a group of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol and five people died. Instead they say we should seek unity and move on from this event.

There can be no unity or moving on until:

• We have a full investigation(s) and accounting of this event. It is one which should not be repeated. We must learn exactly what happened, and how another event of this type can be prevented from occurring in the future.
• We all accept the fact that there was no fraud in the 2020 election which would have changed its result. Consequently Joe Biden is the lawful and properly elected President of the United States, and he won this office by more than 7 million votes.

In order to make good decisions about the issues facing our country, we need to have a robust debate about them. But no rational and meaningful debate is possible unless we all agree on the facts surrounding any given situation.

To quote Eric Cantor, the former Republican House Majority Leader:

"...If the majority of Republican elected officials work together to confront the false narratives in our body politic -- that the election was stolen (it wasn't), ... that a Democratic-controlled government means the end of America (it doesn't...) all Republicans will be better off. If instead most elected Republicans decide to protect themselves ... through their silence or even their affirmation, we will all be worse off...."

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau