A recent poll found that 67 percent of Americans were unconcerned that former President Trump and his supporters might succeed in overthrowing free and fair elections through extraconstitutional chicanery or the use of violence as long as their comfortable lives remained undisturbed.
Chris DeWare, a 31 year-old software engineer in Stockton, California who enjoys water skiing, agreed with the majority in the poll. “While I do find it unsettling that a President of the United States refused to concede and allow a peaceful transfer of power for the first time since the Civil War, I’ll still be coming out here and skiing the Delta every weekend.”
DeWare was referring to former President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his loss to Joe Biden and the subsequent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which was fueled by Trump’s repeated lies about voter fraud despite the fact that he had repeatedly been informed by members of his own administration that no such fraud had taken place.
Kelly Reardon, a thirty-four year old bank accounts manager and mother of two in Atlanta, agreed. “I’m not exactly jazzed about the fact that Trump pressured the Georgia Secretary of State to ‘find’ 11,000 votes or that Republican state legislatures sent fake slates of electors to Congress, but my kids have tennis and piano practice after school, so I don’t really have time for all that.”
Eddie Groening, a 58 year-old barber in Minneapolis, was more troubled by some of the Trump administration’s efforts to stay in power. “That deal where they tried to get Pence to throw out the electoral votes was hinky. And maybe next time, they have someone in place who plays ball.” Still Groening felt there was little the average person could do. “Sure, an informed and engaged citizenry is crucial to the maintenance of a republic and all that, but, come on, we all know that’s just talk.”