Back in October, Bluestem asked the question, MN07 Republican challenger Steve Boyd doesn't think of himself as extreme. Why would anyone?
The short answer in part from his press release:
He is also a Constitution Coach for Patriot Academy, a national organization dedicated to teaching citizens about America’s founding as a Christian country. In that capacity, he teaches Biblical Citizenship courses at local churches and online.
Read the post to learn what might be thought "extreme" about that.
A post on X by Minnesota elections expert Max Hailperin on Tuesday caught my attention:
That's one heckova of program, from a product of the ultra conservative Epoch Times (Media Bias/ Fact Check rated it a "Questionable Source).
And the Westbury/James family as witnesses to "what really happened"?
They were the opening cast for Stephen Montemayor's Web of Deception series at the Star Tribune: ONE FAMILY’S PATH TO JAN. 6' Alternate reality built on falsehoods led to insurrection.
Earlier, the family had attracted attention as far away from Lindstrom as Great Britain's Guardian for North Branch Republican state senator Mark Koran's support. At the Guardian, Minnesota politician backs fundraiser for alleged Capitol attackers.
Could Boyd's focus be related to Fischbach's own history on January 6? Boyd's got some competition here.
For documentation of her own January 6, Bluestem turns to a group request from Mitchell Hamline School of Law studfents published in MinnPost on March 8, 2021. Led by Michael Everett, Katy Rollins, and Richard Penny, they say in Michelle Fischbach should resign from the U.S. House:
The representative from Minnesota’s Seventh District directly contributed to the incitement that led to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
On Jan. 6, a mob, fomented by then-President Donald Trump and his political allies, laid siege to the U.S. Capitol in a direct attempt to disrupt one of our democracy’s most sacred ceremonies — the counting of the electoral votes from November’s presidential election. For the first time since the War of 1812, the Capitol was breached. Rioters in tactical gear carried plastic restraints, fought past Capitol Police, and chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” This was nothing short of an attempted coup d’état and is the most serious threat our republic has faced in over a century.
Minnesota Rep. Michelle Fischbach, Congressional District 7, an alumna of one of Mitchell Hamline’s predecessor institutions, directly contributed to the incitement that led to the siege of the Capitol. First and foremost, she played a role in stirring up the insurgents by claiming on Fox News, without evidence, that the Democratic Party manufactured votes. These claims of election fraud are baseless and dangerous; 61 lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies in an effort to overturn the election were rejected by the courts, and many of the lawyers involved now face sanctions or disbarment. Refusing to tell people the truth about the election was a significant contributing factor in the attack on the Capitol. The former president has allegedly admitted privately that he knows the truth — that Joe Biden won the election fairly — and that this was nothing more than political theater.
Second, Fischbach has still refused to acknowledge that the former president, his supporters, white supremacists, and the Republican Party provoked these seditious acts through their false and unproved allegations about election fraud. Furthermore, Fischbach has not even acknowledged that the former president’s supporters were involved in the attack. Worse still, she engaged in efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters, many of them BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), in Pennsylvania and Arizona by voting to challenge the counting of their Electoral College electors’ votes — even after the Capitol fell under attack by a mob that included white supremacists and fascists.
At the start of their term, representatives swear this oath:
I, … do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
Fischbach has violated this sacred oath through her actions. Her falsehoods about the election outcome undermined our constitutional processes and added to the fomentation that led to the siege of the Capitol. Additionally, her efforts to disenfranchise millions of Americans is a disgusting insult to our democratic values. Fischbach based her objections on the Electoral Count Act of 1887, but according to Rebecca Green, director of William and Mary School of Law’s election law program, “It’s very clear that the states are the ones who evaluate any claims of irregularities. And it’s the job of Congress to count the official state certifications. Congress is not intended as the correct body for Congress to vet election irregularities.”
Claims of irregularity were evaluated and rejected: Pennsylvania officials certified their election results on Nov. 24, 2020, and Arizona officials certified the results of their election six days later. Officials in both states and of both parties announced that they were confident that the election was accurate and fair. Subsequent challenges by the president’s legal team failed to withstand judicial review. Concerns about the 2020 election were litigated in the proper forums ad nauseam, and yet Fischbach continued with an improper objection.
Fischbach holds a position of immense power and privilege, and she holds this position in part because our school’s predecessor institution trained her in the law and awarded her a Juris Doctor degree. As a result, she has a platform to commit these abuses and to promote these inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Dr. Benjamin Franklin is famously said to have quipped that we have “[a] republic, if [we] can keep it.” Our republic can be maintained only if people stand up in moments like this. The consequences of our national institutions’ failure to act in moments of crisis are now abundantly clear, and in this moment of grave national crisis, the people have an obligation to stand up and speak out. Failure to act now will cost us our republic.
This opinion piece is but one small act, yet we have an obligation to hold every member of our community accountable in upholding the values of justice and the rule of law. We call on Fischbach to resign her seat for betraying her sacred oath of office, contributing to the heinous falsehoods about the election, and working to disenfranchise millions of voters. This is not a request we take lightly, but for the sake of our blessed republic, truth, and the rule of law, those culpable for leading our nation to this crisis point must be held accountable. . . .
Bluestem isn't sure how Boyd's going to beat Fischbach on this score. We're puzzled as to why some of his supporters are calling her a RINO, but then, God doesn't make megafauna like she used to.
Photo: Rep. Michelle Fischbach, Fischbach for Congress, via MinnPost.
Related posts
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments