It is remarkable that when we say the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name….) that we include asking our Lord to “lead us not into temptation”.

It recognizes that if we are being led by someone who we trust and are loyal to, that we are susceptible to being led into temptation.

I reflect on this often when witnessing the tragic destruction of lives associated with Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 Presidential Election was stolen.

There are 1,111 January 6th rioters who have been arrested, 641 have pleaded guilty.

Consider the 17 lawyers who have been sanctioned for filing frivolous / unsubstantiated lawsuits. This list notably includes Alina Habba, Rudy Guliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and 7 other Michigan lawyers.

In Michigan, there are 16 fake electors facing 8 felony counts each.

Separately, Matthew De-Perno,
Daire Rendon, and Stefanie Lambert face felony charges for voting machine tampering.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has named Donald Trump and 6 unnamed, uncharged, co-conspirators with felony charges for efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election.

The DOJ has named Donald Trump, Walt Nauta, and Carlos De Oliveira in felony charges related to illegally possessing and concealing classified documents, obstructing investigations, and making false statements.

Georgia cited Donald Trump and 18 co-conspirators in felony racketeering charges for efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 Presidential Election results. These charges include threats, intimidation, improperly accessing election equipment, forgery, false statements and writings, conspiracy to defraud the state, and others.

More than 1,173 individuals
are suffering legal peril from their association with Donald Trump’s claims that the election was stolen.

Then, there are the everyday surrogates who continue to place their loyalty to Trump over their own well being, or over their social credibility in how they are perceived to view facts, logic, and justice.

So I wonder. If loyalists of Donald Trump would have placed a premium on “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” would so many individuals be experiencing the stress of mounting a legal defense? Will the GOP’s losses continue through 2024? How far will some follow a leader who appears to have led them into temptation?

I leave you with a Waylon Jennings quote: ”Be careful of something that’s just what you want it to be.”

Sincerely, Eric Cadeau L’Anse, MI