“You can’t handle the truth!” was a classic line by Jack Nicholson’s character in the climatic courtroom scene in the film “A Few Good Men.”
Donald Trump, his cult-like followers and most of the Republican Party have confirmed what happens when the truth is denied. Sadly, there are very few good men and women left fighting for the soul of what was once the Grand Old Party.
The truth-deniers refuse to accept that a person who lost the popular vote twice was soundly rejected by a majority Americans who grew weary of his tiresome antics. They refuse to believe that their beloved leader helped to incite an insurrection against our democracy by not accepting defeat, as all previous losing presidential candidates have done.
There are others who can’t accept that those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were not peace-loving patriots, but domestic terrorists. There is blood on many hands. A price should be paid by all who participated in this seditious act. Whether a horn-wearing QAnon “shaman” or an easily misled South Jersey farmer, all should do some time. All who trespassed into the Capitol should get at least a few months in prison, while those who assaulted law enforcement officers should be gone for years.
Trump and other Republicans who insist absurdly that the Jan. 6 participants were “hugging and kissing” police officers or that this was a “normal tourist visit” insult the intelligence of all Americans who know what they saw. And, if it is proven that any current or former members of government colluded with the insurrectionists, they should be dealt with as severely as the law allows.
Truth is powerful. It also could have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and still can.
And, most Americans can handle the truth.
Mark Praetzel, Mullica Hill
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