I love America even more

Il caro amico Francesco Isgro'  commenta il mancato colpo di stato

Dear Friends,

I have avoided posting political messages on my Facebook account, because I did not want to be drawn into a debate that has divided families, friends and communities. But to remain silent now is a form of complicity.

As a former Department of Justice attorney with expertise in refugee law (including a stint as senior immigration counsel to the Deputy Attorney General during the G.W. Bush era), one of the grounds for seeking U.S. protection from persecution is that an asylum seeker has expressed a political opinion that their government is trying to suppress. Not expressing an opinion or remaining neutral, according to many U.S. courts, is tantamount to expressing an opinion. In my case, I want to be sure that my friends, or those who remain my friends after this post, will not assign their own opinions to my silence, but take a minute to understand my as-yet unexpressed view.

On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Congress was attacked during a critical moment, as the constitutional transfer of power was taking place before a Joint Session of Congress. This was an attempted coup, an act of domestic terrorism, instigated against our Legislative Branch. The Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, officials in the presidential line of succession, and all the elected senators and representatives, not to mention their staffers, were placed in harm’s way.

The time had long passed to prove credible voting irregularities. The U.S. Attorney General had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. More than 60 lawsuits had failed. The U.S. Supreme Court had tossed out their plea. Justice had been done, but not accepted by the thugs who stormed the Capitol, and by those who incited them. As my former boss, President Bush said on Wednesday, “This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic – not our democratic republic.”

January 6, 2021, will be remembered as a day of infamy and I, for one, do not want my silence to be interpreted as complicit with the insurrectionists or their inciters. Fortunately, our democracy prevailed. Personally, as a proud Italian American, I love Italy, but America has been very good to me and my family, and I love America even more.