I applaud the Maine Sunday Telegram’s July 25 editorial, “Our View: Getting to the truth of the Jan. 6 attack” (Page D2).
Yes, we definitely need to investigate the attack on our democracy, regardless of the composition of the panel that does it. The Jan. 6 insurrection was probably the most dangerous internal crisis our country has faced since the Civil War. And if we don’t find a way to bridge the partisan divide, we might eventually face a new one. Certainly, any future peaceful transitions of power will be jeopardized if we don’t learn the truth of what happened in January and find ways to prevent another one.
We also need new, national voting rights legislation to prevent states from passing laws that make it more difficult for certain groups of people to vote.
Our democracy is at stake. It’s as simple as that.
Finally, we need to find a way to talk to, empathize with and listen to one another in our communities and to compromise in our statehouses and Congress. So, concurrent with an official investigation of the events of Jan. 6, we should create a nonpartisan commission of academics and social leaders, young people and old, rich and poor to come up with a way to foster civil dialogue and bring us back together so that we can help each other create the America envisioned by Thomas Jefferson and others in the Declaration of Independence.
Arthur Benedict
Peaks Island
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