31 December 2020 — 1824 mst
On 6 January, will Rep-Elect Matt Rosendale vote to uphold America's decision to make Joe Biden our next president?
All decent, reality embracing, Montanans surely must expect their new representative in Congress will have the wit to embrace the result of the fair and free presidential election that Joe Biden won. They do not want him to take his cues from Rudy Giuliani, retired General Michael “I’ve been pardoned!” Flynn, Alabama’s Rep. Mo Brooks, and other wackadoodles who are besmirching their legacies by embracing Donald Trump’s lunatic claim that the election was a fraud; that he was robbed.
Rosendale, however, may be pressured by his peers to vote against affirming Biden’s win. CNN reported this evening that:
Two Republican members of the House of Representatives tell CNN that they expect at least 140 of their GOP colleagues in the House to vote against counting the electoral votes on January 6 when Congress is expected to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
President Donald Trump’s Republican allies have virtually zero chance of changing the result, only to delay by a few hours the inevitable affirmation of Biden as the Electoral College winner and the next president.
There have been no credible allegations of any issues with voting that would have impacted the election, as affirmed by dozens of judges, governors, election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Supreme Court. But Trump is determined to claim he didn’t lose — which he did, significantly — and many GOP politicians either share his delusion or fear provoking his wrath — even if that means voting to undermine democracy.
This will be a moment of truth for Rosendale, who has spent much of the decade associating with far right groups such as the Oathkeepers. That may have been necessary to win the nomination of a political party that has devolved into a government hating, tax loathing, authoritarian cult that is willing to damage democracy simply to hold onto political power. But it is the kind of company he must not let guide his decisions if he is to fulfill his obligation to represent all Montanans and the oath he will take to uphold the constitution.
A few days after the election, in an act of honor repeated by few members of his party, Montana’s Republican secretary of state, Corey Stapleton, Tweeted that Trump should acknowledge losing the election and congratulate Biden. When the time comes to affirm Biden’s win, Rosendale should keep Stapleton’s wisdom and courage in mind.