This letter to the editor was submitted to LebTown. Read our submission policy here.
Dan Meuser doesn’t want my vote to count. I was among the earliest beneficiaries of the 26th Amendment, which allowed me at the age of 18 to cast a vote. I have never missed an election since. I am a citizen of the United States and duly registered to vote as such. Despite all that, Dan Meuser doesn’t want my vote to count.
Read More: [Letter] Congressman Meuser: Moving forward, we must focus on greater good
In his recent letter, Meuser gives three reasons for his objection to the certification of my vote. First, he claims that many people in Pennsylvania feel disenfranchised. This is true, but it is only true because politicians like Meuser have acted in lockstep with our erstwhile President in spreading lies. This is the culmination of a twisted application of logic: first create doubt by spreading lies, and next point to that very doubt to justify your response to that doubt. Of all people, the absurdity of this illogic was stated best by Mitch McConnell. In rejecting calls for him to object to certification, he stated:
“…nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive
scale that would have tipped the entire election nor can public
doubt alone justify a radical break when the doubt itself was
incited without any evidence.”
The second justification relied upon by Meuser for his pernicious objection is that the Democrats have objected in the past. By this reasoning we are instructed that bad behavior is acceptable as long as someone else does it first. Addressing this exact argument, Mitch McConnell also recognized past transgressions in regard to vote certification, but unlike Meuser did not interpret it as permission for further wrongdoing, saying: “…we must not imitate and escalate what we repudiate.”
Finally, Meuser tells us that there was “mathematically no chance” that his actions would change the election results, so it made no difference in any case. Meuser portrays his objection as an act of courage but his only real motivation was to pander to the primary voters who populate his district. His objection was not an act of courage, it was an act of cowardice. His objection was not an effort to seek justice, it was an effort to retain his own power. In stark contrast to Meuser, at least some Republicans had the courage to do the right thing, even if it posed jeopardy to their base of power. On this precise point, one more quote from Mitch McConnell is in order: “I will not pretend such a vote would be a harmless protest gesture while relying on others to do the right thing.”
Meuser relied on others to do the right thing. He chose the cowardly route in a craven effort to retain his power, and he now attempts to justify those actions by reference to the lies he helped spread both before and after the election. I learned back in kindergarten that sometimes the answer to what I wanted and asked for was just “no”. Apparently Meuser went to a different kindergarten than I did.
Harry Fenton is an attorney in Lebanon.