Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who represents four rural counties in Central Pennsylvania, has humiliated himself and our commonwealth on the national stage by meddling in the Arizona presidential election vote of Nov. 3, traveling to that state in efforts to secure yet another recount of the vote at the behest of Donald Trump, who will never admit that he lost fair and square both in Arizona and nationwide.
Mastriano seeks to bring yet another election audit to Pennsylvania. He has accomplices within his party, including local Sen. Camera Bartolotta, who has participated in sham meetings spearheaded by Mastriano, the goal being to challenge an election result the GOP did not like. Bartolotta opens the door to another Pennsylvania audit on the basis that she has received myriad calls and messages from constituents who do not trust our system of elections, and she asserts that she has a duty to listen to them.
I wonder if she would feel obligated to listen to constituents who challenge the upset victories achieved by the Republican Party in the auditor general and treasurer races, or if they asked her to investigate whether the Earth is flat.
I believe Mastriano is a dangerous and dishonorable man. He is a friend of QAnon, he seeks to blur the separation of church and state, and he attended the Jan. 6 pre-insurrection rally held by Trump in an effort to overturn the votes of tens of millions of Americans. Most importantly, he will fight to impose the tyranny of the minority, elections be damned.
No sensible, honest and patriotic colleague of Mastriano should be following him over a cliff.
Oren Spiegler
Peters