Editor,

Several days ago I asked the Republican Party of Los Alamos about their position on the insurrection attempt at the capitol. The fact that it took so long for them and that it took me asking their position for them to put anything out in the papers is deeply saddening. At the time, I thanked Mr. McKerley for his response, and said it was good to hear that the party doesn’t condone the attack. However, after reading his letter it seems plainly obvious to me that this isn’t the case.

 The letter begins with an offering of condolences for the lives lost, then follows it up with the reasoning for the letter, and  “I assume the question is sincere and that the person asking will accept the response in an open, bipartisan manner.” This is an almost insulting way to open the letter, as it’s a cop-out that is trying to say “I hope this person isn’t goading me, and will blindly believe my answer no matter how absurd it is.”

The response should have been swift in condemnation of the attack, with no party rhetoric thrown in. Instead, the response was very short in condemning the insurrection, and then immediately jumped into a rant about numerous debunked election fraud claims. Not only does this undermine the condemnation of the attack, it plainly shows that they do in fact condone it since they are clinging to the talking points that led to the incitement of the attack in the first place. The letter is about 75 percent election fraud ranting, with a brief “oh yeah, we don’t condone the riot” tossed in there. That’s not condemning the insurrection, that’s using debunked claims in an attempt to justify why the attack took place.

If the Republican Party of Los Alamos truly wishes to condemn the insurrection at the capitol, then they will immediately call for the responsible parties to be held accountable. This include the members of congress who repeated the lies that sparked this violence, as well as the President for his direct incitement of the attack. Accountability must come before any “unity” can be had. You cannot attack our government and then say “we must come together”. Once the responsible individuals are held accountable, then we can work towards “unity”. After all, we must have law and order, right?

I’ve been an Independent for some time now, because I didn’t feel like I “fit” in to either major party. Now, I have concluded it is time to pick a side, as one is treading on a very dangerous territory. Congratulations, you have just created a new Democrat.

Aaron Walker
White Rock