Poor comparison of election fraud claims

While reading Byron York's Jan. 7 self-indulgent defense of current Republican values, as usual I was amazed how much of history he conveniently disregards. He lessens the events of Jan. 6 by comparing the Democrats' reactions to their losses in 2000 and 2016 to the GOP response to Donald Trump's loss in 2020.

True, I do remember how the A.G. of Florida halted a recount of votes in the largest Democratic precinct in Florida, how she was overruled by the Supreme Court of Florida and then reversed 5-4 by the U.S. Supreme Court, paving the way for Bush to win Florida and subsequently the 2016 election.

The swing vote, in the SCOTUS decision was Sandra Day O'Connor, who had thrown a fit the night of the election, thinking Gore had won, because she wanted to retire but couldn't if a Democrat could replace her.

Oddly, Gore presided over the Senate on Jan. 5, 2001, to count the electoral votes and declare Bush the winner, never once calling for his supporters to storm the Capitol.

I do not remember the Democrats ever stating that voting machines were programmed to switch Clinton votes to Trump, or that Putin was flying in thousands of votes to Arizona, all in Trump's favor. Nor do I remember Clinton urging her supporters to "fight like hell" or to "stop the steal."

Byron York, it was your guy that maintained months before the 2016 election that the only way he could lose was a "stolen election." He said it then, he continued it throughout the 2020 election and he still maintains it to this day. HE is the reason Republican have lost their sense of identity, HE is the reason we worry for democracy and the longer you grovel to HIM, the more we slide down this slippery slope.

Tom Dillivan

Schaumburg