GOP attorneys: We can't let our party's leaders betray our democracy

[UpInArms]

Donald Ayer served as United States attorney and principal deputy solicitor general in the Ronald Reagan administration and as deputy attorney general under George H.W. Bush. Tom Rath served as attorney general of New Hampshire, director of the Legal Services Corporation under President George W. Bush and Republican Party national committeeman for New Hampshire for seven years. Both serve on the Voter Protection Program Bipartisan Advisory Board. The views expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion on CNN.

Wednesday, January 6, shouldn't be a memorable date on the political calendar. To the contrary -- this day is typically a mostly unnoticed step in the certification of the Electoral College votes in the chambers of the US Capitol.

Yet if you follow the baseless claims of President Donald Trump and his staunchest allies, you might believe we are confronting an event of utmost controversy or vast legal questions.

Spoiler alert: We aren't. The voters picked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and they will take office as president and vice president January 20. Still, a handful of Trump zealots in Congress are injecting a veneer of chaos into the process, seeking to undermine faith in our democracy itself.

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In many ways, we face another inflection point -- the kind of moment when our individual and collective actions determine in what direction we will travel, what type of society we will inhabit, what kind of country we will be. It's in those instances when a leader's character can be revealed and a people's fate can be sealed. It's in those decisions that we discover who stood on the right side of progress and who failed to uphold our best interests and values.

These moments are littered throughout our history books. Who fought with then-Gen. George Washington for independence and revolution over despotism and autocracy. Who stood with President Abraham Lincoln for the union and freedom over secession and slavery. Who joined the allies to preserve democracy and human rights against Nazi horrors and fascist violence. Who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis for civil rights, resisting the forces arrayed against human dignity.

More at https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/04/opinions/republican-leaders-cannot-betray-democracy-ayer-rath/index.html

[Skittles]

1. with all due respect

the Greedy Old Pig party has been "betraying democracy" for a long, LONG time

[UpInArms]

2. You and I know that, Skittles

I find it rather amazing that so many have deceived themselves for so very long

[dawg day]

3. Uh, more than a handful

>Still, a handful of Trump zealots in Congress

Even when GOPers try to be honest, they minimize.