Political parties and fraud

I recently received an invitation from the Skagit County Republican Party to its annual Lincoln-Reagan gala. I've never voted for a Republican, but I do recall long political discussions with my father, a lifelong Republican,. We often disagreed on policy, but never about basic facts.

So, out of curiosity, I explored the website of the Skagit County Republicans and was immediately swept down the proverbial rabbit hole. In one blog post (April 27) county chairman Bill Bruch refers to "the Marxists who are currently running our country", meaning (I guess) the centrist administration of Joe Biden. On April 23, he claimed that "WA State Radical Socialist Democrats continue implementing totalitarian laws and expanding draconian Marxist government powers". Marxists? Really?

Heated rhetoric, no facts. The website includes a podcast (February 23) accusing Arizona governor Katie Hobbs of being "linked to drug cartel money to steal elections". Hobbs beat Republican election denier Kari Lake in 2022, an election which Lake is still contesting.

These are just a few examples of literally hundreds of blog posts and podcasts on the site accusing Democrats of committing fraud to steal elections, including the 2020 presidential election. Trump and his allies have lost (to date) over fifty court cases challenging the results of that election. Not one – not one – backed up claims of fraud. On the evidence then, the Skagit Republican party and its leader exist on the lunatic fringe of our political system. That's not a good thing – there are no such things as "alternative facts," only lies and misinformation.

Lastly, a post (January 5) on the party's website featured a petition headed "Don't Seat Serial Liar Clyde Shavers in the State House." Democrat Shavers was elected to a District 10 seat in 2022.

Ironically an article about Bruch's own candidacy for state representative in this newspaper (Oct. 21, 2020) pointed out that in 1998 Bruch was convicted in civil court of defrauding elderly investors out of around $1,750,000. So perhaps local Republicans should clean their own house of its liars and cheats before baselessly accusing others of fraud.

Just saying.

Tony Harrah

Greater La Conner