LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Facts may make us cringe, doesn't make them lies

In his desperate effort to defend Joe Biden’s, and others, lies about the Capitol Riot, Roger Kuhle claims that it is “insulting” to point out those lies. He then states, “There is no defense to the charge that what happened was criminal, that law enforcement people were injured “. I never claimed any “defense” to that charge and expressly stated that the event was a “riot that should never have happened.” I never disputed that the riot, like any riot, was criminal and that law enforcement personnel were injured.

This tactic by Kuhle is known as the “straw man fallacy”. You make a false claim that an opponent has a position they don’t actually have, the “straw man”, and then you refute the position your opponent never took, i.e. you set up the “straw man” and then you knock it down.

Kuhle repeats the lie, that “several [law enforcement personnel] died directly because of the crimes against them and the country.” This gives the impression that rioters inflicted injuries on police officers that directly caused their deaths. If that is true, please tell me who was charged with murder for inflicting the officers’ fatal injuries? The answer is no one because no such deaths happened.

Kuhle makes the false claim that “It’s indisputable [Trump] created the event long before January 6.” Really, where is the evidence that Trump ever planned or acted with the intent to create the riot? Put up or shut up, Mr. Kuhle. As I previously pointed out, Trump had a legal strategy to retain office which required peace at the Capitol. There is no logical reason why he would create a riot to disrupt that peace. There is no logical reason why, if Trump wanted a riot, Trump would try, only to be vetoed by Democrats in charge of the City and the Capitol Police, to provide 20000 national guard troops to prevent violence on January 6th. Kuhle’s charge is illogical and false.

Blaming Trump for the Capitol Riot is like blaming the person who filmed the George Floyd murder for the riots, lootings, murders and burnings that followed. Rioters and peaceful protesters choose their own reactions to events. The rioters should be held accountable for their acts. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Kuhle refers to the January 6th Committee as if a one-sided, result pre-determined, no due process, no cross-examination, no Trump representation, inherently unfair kangaroo court is credible. Even the staffers on the January 6th Committee were very upset that Cheney, who controlled the report, focused on Trump, as the supposed cause of the riot, to the exclusion of anyone or anything else. The Washington Post quoted a typical staffer who said, “"We all came from prestigious jobs, dropping what we were doing because we were told this would be an important fact-finding investigation that would inform the public,But when [the committee] became a Cheney 2024 campaign, many of us became discouraged."