OPINION: Let's at least wait until the dust settles

It seems that most Americans (including many journalists) have already passed judgment on the winner of the presidential election even though vote counts and recounts continue and lawsuits and legal actions are still pending.

I've noted that even suggesting we wait until the dust settles and evidence is weighed draws rabid anti-Trump railing and name-calling -- and that against one who usually supports a third-party candidate more in line with his constitutionalist convictions.

And, perhaps, the most disappointing of all is the way allegations relating to illegal and unethical activities in the election are received by ridiculing and bullying those who have spoken out and by censoring information from the internet rather than hearing the allegations and weighing their truthfulness.

What concerns me most is that, if any of the allegations presented by the Trump legal team are true, we as a nation are in serious trouble. How can we ever trust the election process again if these allegations are not investigated and found to be either true or false, any illegal activities prosecuted, and any faulty election results corrected?

And, if we can't be sure of the election process, we have pretty much lost any certainty that our government is a government of and by the people. Even if there is the possibility that we will tolerate our elections to be skewed by vote fraud, faulty election software, or foreign interference, our republic has become something other than what our forefathers gave us and shed their blood to preserve.

It may not be popular but it is certainly advisable that we take the time to allow all the evidence to be presented and examined instead of allowing our passions to change our views of reality.

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.