As candidates for midterm elections begin to throw their respective hats into the ring, it appears that a number of Republicans are facing a litmus test. Either they must agree with the notion that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, or they face the wrath of rank-and-file Republicans who apparently believe it’s okay for citizens to thumb their noses at the courts. (Weren’t they supposed to be the party of law and order?)

According to a recent poll cited in The Guardian, 53% of Republicans believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. See https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/24/republicans-2020-election-poll-trump-biden They believe this notwithstanding the fact that Donald Trump and others suing on his behalf lost no fewer than 86 lawsuits contesting the election. See Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 United States presidential election – Wikipedia

Spirited Reasoners therefore have a series of questions to ask of those who continue to call themselves Republicans:

• Do you believe that the American system of jurisprudence is so utterly flawed that 100% of the judges who decided those 86 were either wrongheaded or corrupt? (Including the ones who were appointed by Donald Trump himself?) If so, then Spirited Reasoners must conclude that you have given up on the rule of law in the United States, since you obviously believe we can no longer trust our courts to decide legal disputes. Note that the next step in your logical argument is that you must believe it’s okay to engage in such unlawful behaviors as storming the U. S. Capitol, since there is no longer any viable system of law to oppose such behaviors.
• How can any democratic system work if the loser of an election refuses to accept the outcome, even after the outcome has been tested in court?
• Do you fail to understand how dangerous it is for leaders in your party to continue to claim that Joe Biden was not duly elected? Don’t you see how weak-minded individuals might think they are acting heroically when they engage in armed insurrection?
• Or are you one of the 47% of Republicans who apparently believe Joe Biden won the election? If so, then how can you remain associated with a party whose majority no longer believes in the rule of law?

But, you say, good Americans can’t possibly be expected to support a Democratic Party that is becoming increasingly socialist. My response to that claim is that no one is required to be either a Republican or a Democrat, especially if they believe both parties are flawed. But one thing is clear: Democrats did not attempt an armed insurrection when they lost the elections of 2000 and 2016, despite winning a majority of popular votes. When their lawsuits failed, they accepted the rule of law.