Elise Stefanik shape-shifted from conservative Republican to MAGA diva

Echo opinion letter published in the Press-Republican newspaper, published in Plattsburg, New York.

(Maine Writer- My nickname for Rep. Elise Stefanik is "Lady Macbeth of Congress.  Seems to me, many of constituents conceptually agree with me.😑😆)

Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a Reagan appointee (1987), presiding over a court proceeding called the January 6th insurrection the “antithesis of patriotism.”

Elise Stefanik is auditioning to be a MAGA "president of vice" to run with the Former Guy

He wrote, “In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream. I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”

Nevertheless, New York District 21, Representative Elise Stefanik has wrongly described the January 6th defendants as “hostages.”

She is one of Trump’s allies whom Judge Lamberth is addressing when he says, “I cannot condone the notion that those who broke the law on January 6 did nothing wrong, or that those duly convicted with all the safeguards of the United States Constitution, including a right to trial by jury in felony cases, are political prisoners or hostages.”

If you support Stefanik, you cannot be a patriot. A patriot upholds our nation’s laws.

From Michelle Zelkowitz in Elizabethtown, in Essex County, New York

And this.....TO THE EDITOR: 

Who would have thought that a vote for Elise in 2014, would result in a leader of the radical far-right and a threat to our democracy?

Into her first term, Elise lived up to the promises she made to those voters who elected her. She was the youngest woman to be elected to Congress, a fresh face with new ideas. She was Harvard educated and claimed to be a constitutionalist, with knowledge of and respect for the Constitution as created by the nations founders. 

Her efforts in congress were directed primarily to serving the people of the 21st District. However, that person is not recognizable anymore. Jamie Raskin, representative from Maryland and former constitutional law professor, said recently: 

“A hallmark of fascist political parties is that they don’t accept the results of elections if they don’t go their way. Stefanik is now embracing this tactic to prove to Donald Trump she’s the most obsequious sycophant in the Republican party and can bow and scrape even better than Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

I doubt that many of those who voted for Elise in 2014, would have imagined her transformation into an “ultra-MAGA” (her words) supporter of a would-be dictator. She seems to be blinded by runaway ambition at the expense of her original principles for which she was elected.

Our democracy is strong because of it’s ability to weather the storms that arise from time to time. This is done through debate, negotiation, compromise and always anchored by the balance of power between the legislative, judicial and executive branches, which are guided by the Constitution.

It’s not perfect but it has survived for nearly 250 years and is much better than being governed by arbitrary authoritarian rule. I hope people in the 21st District and in the nation as a whole recognize this threat and vote accordingly.

It may be our last opportunity. 

From Bill Bradley in Plattsburgh, New York