"This is literally tyranny of a majority right now that is acting more like a Third Reich than they are the United States. And this is very dangerous."
- Rep. Mike Garcia
Defending Trump's alleged theft of classified documents
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters violently broke into the Capitol Building in an attempt to stop Joe Biden from being declared the winner of the presidential election. Feeding off the "Big Lie" spread by the loser of the election and his minions, Ashli Babbitt joined a mob hunting Nancy Pelosi and was shot to death when she climbed through a broken window despite warnings from the police guarding the Speakers Lobby. She was one of four protesters who died during Trump's insurrection. One police officer also died as a result of the actions that day.
After the Capitol was finally cleared of its invaders, the poop they left behind was cleaned up and the safety of the lawmakers ensured, the vote was able to continue. Despite the death, violence, and vandalism that had just occurred and without any proof of fraud, six Senators and 121 members of the House, still proceeded with their plans to vote against certifying the votes cast in Arizona. There were seven Senators and 128 members of the House who voted to disenfranchise voters from Pennsylvania. Mike Garcia, who represents northern Los Angeles County and Simi Valley, included himself with this group of election deniers.
After a week to reflect on the events of January 6th, Garcia's support of Trump's actions did not change. On January 13, 2021, he voted with Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert to oppose the bipartisan attempt to impeach the lame-duck president for "Willful incitement of insurrection."
The passage of time did not diminish Trump's influence on Garcia as he voted against creating the commission that is investigating January 6th. When Steve Bannon illegally refused to appear before the commission, he voted against holding him in contempt of Congress. Despite the fact that a judge had issued a warrant, Garcia compared the FBI's search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago to the actions of the Third Reich.
Garcia's lack of courage in standing up to Trump betrays any attempt to portray himself as bipartisan. This should not be surprising as at the same time that he is telling the Los Angeles Times that "there's million [sic] ways we can divide"The hard work comes in unifying", he is pledging "Crush Democrats."
On November 8th, Garcia is once again facing Christy Smith, who lost by just 333 votes in 2020. The newly redrawn district is even bluer this time around with Democrats now having a 12-point registration advantage.
His path to reelection is made more difficult by his opposition to abortion rights. However, this advantage will only help defeat Garcia if Democratic and independent voters actually turn in their ballots. Anyone who does not vote in this election is allowing Garcia's attacks on democracy to continue. The result may be that we will all permanently lose our right to vote.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
